I purchased an X359 from Australia. Although the plate heater has a bad reputation, I decided to have it repaired because I wanted to see it in person. I was worried that the fastening parts of the preheater, which are made of a nylon-like material, might tear when removed. I wonder why they designed it using this material. The pin was missing. I cut a brass rod and filed down the base to create a constricted shape. I was then able to crimp the pin by pressing it into the hole and tapping it in. The original gasket had hardened, so I cut out a piece of nitrile rubber from a sheet. After reassembling the preheater, it was actually usable. Unfortunately, after running it about twice, it stopped dispensing anything but fuel. It seems that the air vents on the side were clogged with debris. That's when I found @presscall post. Tillite from Tasmania A had done an amazing restoration, so I decided to recreate it based on his repair method. When I tried operating it in the state shown in the photo above, there was too much air and it failed to ignite. After that, I reduced the size of the air intake and tried again, and it ignited successfully. It's like a Coleman vaporizer. I decided to use the filter that was originally installed. I used a silicone tube to make it flexible so that it wouldn't interfere with the bottom of the tank. This is a test run using the petromax829. https://youtube.com/shorts/lDPGlFtpJkg?si=P2wqE3biD_vwjNb- Initially, I was soldering to the mounting screws of the preheater and doing a test run, but I overheated it with the flame and the solder on the tank side of the 829 came off. I was really annoyed because I couldn't tell if I was fixing the X359 or the 829. Haha. After two adjustments, I was able to get it to ignite properly. The main unit is no different from other Tilley models, and its simple structure meant it was assembled very quickly. Using a preheater inevitably causes the glass to become slightly cloudy with soot. I didn't like that, so I decided to make my own preheating tray. I also wanted to be able to use the preheater, and to make preheating easier even on windy days, I made it movable. https://youtube.com/shorts/CZgiW8dEcTE?si=Qjbz13xTUttZw6Pu I'd like to thank @presscall for guiding me on how to rebuild the preheater. I'd also like to thank CPL for sharing this forum. I hope this post will be helpful to future generations who repair the X359. Thank you for reading to the end.
I would keep that Petromax pump knob that you used as a further improvement Plenty of ambitious fettling and improvements completed - congratulations! It seems that you really like to play with all different preheating ways and dig into their details. all the best, Piotrek
@presscall Thank you. If it weren't for your post, I would have been sad every time I saw my broken preheater. I would be happy if you continue to share useful information with everyone. @JEFF JOHNSON @LesRiekie Thank you. I'm glad it was repaired. @Piotrek Thank you. I love lanterns with unique features. I think that if something is different from others, even if it wasn't popular at the time, it has a charm that can be passed down to future generations. It's the same with people, isn't it? I also love your lantern restoration work, so please continue to share it.
