Hi All, I recently acquired my first Tilley R55 radiator. I just tried to fire it up to see if it would light but it is leaking from the gland nut and the fuel guage. Can anyone let me know what service kit I need, please, for the seals? Thanks
Have you checked The Fettlebox? I suspect you might need to change all of the seals, and possibly the pump cup. Cheers Tony
This it what you need Tilley Washer Kit - The Fettlebox and for the gauge seal you need a lead washer, I’ve installed an o-ring on mine and “cero” issues
Excellent, thanks a lot. When I had a quick look at the gauge seal I was wondering if it was lead rather than an o-ring.
I found a couple of seals that I used to get it up and running but I have hit a problem and I'm stuck. I've not lit a R55 before but I managed to get it going and there are no leaks and it seemed to run ok but after a while there was a strong smell of paraffin which set the carbon monoxide alarm off (good to know it works....). Does anyone have an idea of what the problem may be? Also, what is the max pump strokes I can put in to it as I'm really guessing at the moment!
A strong smell of paraffin without any obvious pools of liquid will be either a vapour leak from somewhere or incomplete combustion. A vapour leak must be in the burner so check that's screwed together properly. Incomplete combustion may be due to a vapouriser reaching the end of its working life - the jet's enlarged thus too much vapour going into the burner hence a rich mixture. Otherwise, too little air entering the burner through the intake tube because of (usually) spider detritus of some sort will also give a rich mixture. I think I'd give the heater a good clean and treat it to a complete set of new seals as a first step then think about changing the vapouriser. The number of pump-strokes required will depend on how much fuel you put in - it's a large tank. If you put in only a little fuel to test it, you'll need lots of pump-strokes. I suppose there's the possiblity you had too little fuel in it, insufficient pump-strokes thus low tank pressure and and it started to go out. That would also set off the CO monitor...
Thanks David for the possible explanations. I'll give everything a good clean and service and take it from there. It was a bit of a hit and hope with firing it up just to see what it was like!
