Tilley Lamp Enthusiasts Forum - the giddy limit

[VO5]

Progress report on the 1 pint Monitor blowlamp.

I have finished all the cosmetics; repainting handle + nozzle guard, derusting and brightening of screws + washers, all the brasswork to original....

Then the pump would not work. So I took it out...clogged....
The pump has two one way valves inside it. One id sealed, and the other, at the tip, unscrews.
The valve at the tip has a tiny spiral spring in it which is a cone spiral and it must have been dismantled in the past in the mists of time and the spring replaced wrong way round. Fixed that.
But the pump itself was clogged. I took out the plunger and filled the chamber with lighter fuel, soaked it overnight. A lot of black gunk came out. Still no luck.
Then I inserted a fine wire to activate the spring mechanism in the body. That worked but still clogged. Persevered.
Then I replaced the leather with a Tilley spare, because they are identical. Now the pump works at last.
Reassembled. Filled. Pumped...but the collar began to leak fuel.
So I had to dismantle the whole thing again to get at the collar..
I suspect there is a heatproof washer missing (to make the seal between the vaporiser and the tank ). So I am going to fit a Tilley washer...see what happens..
Otherwise, it is ready to belch a jet and make a roaring noise..
Will keep you posted of progress...

 

[VO5]

I think I've become infected too.

Never had any desire to own or operate a pressure lamp before. I had a small wick lamp on Kindred Spirit and that was plenty; kicked the habit with ease when we switched to a more modern style of boat.

Now I've just found myself searching eBay for ex-Army Vapaluxes.

Some of the ads say they can burn diesel (I guess that's why the Army like them). Is that sensible? Must make a hell of a stink.

Still no real need for one. We have LEDs nowadays for light, and if for some reason I want my light to come with heat and flames, I have a Camping Gaz cartridge lamp in the shed.

I quite like the idea of getting a Vapalux though.

Pete

Why ? Because you have a more "modern" boat ?
That is the charm of AWBs.
No AWB is complete without the following minimum inventory:

Tin megaphone.
Hand Lead.
Oiled Souwester hat.
Trailing Log.
Sextant, Chronometer and Stopwatch.
2 pairs Semaphore Flags.
Club Pennant.
Tilley Hat.
Reefer and Chichesters.
Club Cravat.
Bell.
Striking Clock.
Full Flag set.
Aldis.
At least two Tilley Lamps.
Small Fisherman's Anchor.
Champagne and Bucket and boxed set of Flutes.
Wicker Picnic Hamper (but only if you have teak decks).
EPNS Steamer Pattern Coffee Pot, Teapot, Sugar Bowl (with tongs), Milk Jug.
Windproof Lighter.
Humidor.

 

[penfold]

I'll have to post some pics of my paraffin weed-burner in action for you pressure-burner pervs, its basically a 4 inch dia blowtorch with a half gallon tank and wheels. Fuel consumption (with today's insane price of paraffin) is immense and its a sod to get going but when it's cooking the sound and fury are truly impressive.

It is pretty useless as a weedkiller though.

But bloody good for large plumbing jobs; I had to shift a broken piece of 4" cast iron down pipe from the cast iron socket it was soldered into while helping a friend renovate his bathroom. With so much material present even a big handheld gas torch barely scorched the paint so lateral thinking got the lend of a neigbour's weedburner; 10 rather warm minutes later(it was a brisk and chilly november day, but I was sweating afterwards) I had separated the broken stub of pipe and produced about a kilo of scrap lead!

 

[VO5]

Progress report on the 1 pint Monitor blowlamp.

I have finished all the cosmetics; repainting handle + nozzle guard, derusting and brightening of screws + washers, all the brasswork to original....

Then the pump would not work. So I took it out...clogged....
The pump has two one way valves inside it. One id sealed, and the other, at the tip, unscrews.
The valve at the tip has a tiny spiral spring in it which is a cone spiral and it must have been dismantled in the past in the mists of time and the spring replaced wrong way round. Fixed that.
But the pump itself was clogged. I took out the plunger and filled the chamber with lighter fuel, soaked it overnight. A lot of black gunk came out. Still no luck.
Then I inserted a fine wire to activate the spring mechanism in the body. That worked but still clogged. Persevered.
Then I replaced the leather with a Tilley spare, because they are identical. Now the pump works at last.
Reassembled. Filled. Pumped...but the collar began to leak fuel.
So I had to dismantle the whole thing again to get at the collar..
I suspect there is a heatproof washer missing (to make the seal between the vaporiser and the tank ). So I am going to fit a Tilley washer...see what happens..
Otherwise, it is ready to belch a jet and make a roaring noise..
Will keep you posted of progress...

Its now sorted. It was the washer missing. Airtight now.
What I have discovered is that blowlamps have to pumped quickly to start otherwise instead of getting a jet you get a dribble which catches fire all over the top of the tank....can be quite disconcerting.
This is what happened to this one apparently while work was being carried out on a roof.
The guy using it panicked and pushed it off the roof immediately.
It landed on the pavement below landing on the extended plunger, which got slightly bent, which I have since straightened.
It is now in showroom condition, very satisfying, marvellous beast it is...

 

[michael_w]

Thanks Bilbo.

No pressure lamps, but I've got three parrafin anchor lights

 

[Tam Lin]

Not sure if I am an addict as I only have one Tilley lamp. Got it in the early seventies by smoking Guards cigarettes and saving the coupons. Gave up smoking after that! Still use it every summer.
Can't believe how difficult it is to get paraffin now. When I was first married we used paraffin heaters to heat the house and garages sold it by the gallon from a pump. I recently asked for it in B&Q and the young man said, "What is it?" How times change!

 

[dylanwinter]

Its now sorted. It was the washer missing. Airtight now.
What I have discovered is that blowlamps have to pumped quickly to start otherwise instead of getting a jet you get a dribble which catches fire all over the top of the tank....can be quite disconcerting.
This is what happened to this one apparently while work was being carried out on a roof.
The guy using it panicked and pushed it off the roof immediately.
It landed on the pavement below landing on the extended plunger, which got slightly bent, which I have since straightened.
It is now in showroom condition, very satisfying, marvellous beast it is...

Pictures please

written porn is all very well but I need images

hopefully moving ones

Dylan

 

[dylanwinter]

Thanks Bilbo.

No pressure lamps, but I've got three parrafin anchor lights

three..... three.....aaaagh!

I am going to sell this light - it is the first step to some form of addiction

D

 

[ffiill]

But bloody good for large plumbing jobs; I had to shift a broken 4" cast iron down pipe from the cast iron socket it was soldered into while helping a friend renovate his bathroom. With so much material present even a big handheld gas torch barely scorched the paint so lateral thinking got the lend of a neigbour's weedburner; 10 rather warm minutes later(it was a brisk and chilly november day, but I was sweating afterwards) I had separated the broken stub of pipe and produced about a kilo of scrap lead!

My Dad had a collection of two tilley lamps;two small blow torches;one seriously big blow torch ;two primus stoves-one big and one small;and a beautiful lightweight petrol fired primus.
After he died I had only got as far as clearing out of his garage before my mum moved the two small blow torches and the two parafin primus stoves which I have along with my modern Seivert blow torch and modern Tilley.The sievert is still capable of delivering far more heat than the average gas torch.
Not forgetting a collection of big tinsmiths copper bodied soldering irons which will solder anything once you have heated them up.

 

[davidej]

I liberated one from my dad's garage when he died.

We used to use it when we went camping 50 years ago. I haven't tried it yet.

He told me he knew Mr Tilley, the inventor who went to my grandfather's church in Southend.

Not that long ago, the whole of Africa was lit by Tilleys

 

[PatrickB02]

That Monitor is exactly like the one I have just restored.

Crikey, that reminds me..! I've got one of those lurking in the garage, awaiting some attention. Could you please point me towards some notes on how to strip/service/repair those...?

I'm insprired by talk of roaring jet fighter noises and sheets of flame..!

Thanks in advance.

 

[dylanwinter]

Crikey, that reminds me..! I've got one of those lurking in the garage, awaiting some attention. Could you please point me towards some notes on how to strip/service/repair those...?

I'm insprired by talk of roaring jet fighter noises and sheets of flame..!

Thanks in advance.

Patrick

if you are really waht us in the Pressure Lamp Apprciation society call a "Clean Skin" then I beg of you please just forget about the Tilley Lamp

don't go near it

you are at a highly infectious stage

step away from the lamp

go sailing

Please, for the sake of the wife and children

D

 

[Habebty]

I now have an inbuilt hatred of Tilley Lamps.

When i was a young technician, I used to attend railway track renewal sites on a saturday night where anythng up to 50 battered Tilley lamps would be hissing away producing a noxious odour that mixed with the welding fumes, tea bucket fumes, and diesel plant fumes to form a hazy miasma that made eyes water.

Some poor bloke had to risk his eyebrows lighting the damn things with meths. I can still hear the squeak of the pumps going every hour or so to re-pressurise them. Then there would be the occasional "****" as someone tripped over due to a disintegrated mantle and resultant sudden darkeness.

Naah....LED for me

 

[dylanwinter]

I now have an inbuilt hatred of Tilley Lamps.

When i was a young technician, I used to attend railway track renewal sites on a saturday night where anythng up to 50 battered Tilley lamps would be hissing away producing a noxious odour that mixed with the welding fumes, tea bucket fumes, and diesel plant fumes to form a hazy miasma that made eyes water.

Some poor bloke had to risk his eyebrows lighting the damn things with meths. I can still hear the squeak of the pumps going every hour or so to re-pressurise them. Then there would be the occasional "****" as someone tripped over due to a disintegrated mantle and resultant sudden darkeness.

Naah....LED for me

well done

you have been immunised by espossure to the real world tilley lamp life as opposed to the Hobbiton style, misty eyes nostalgia of most OLDies

 

[PatrickB02]

if you are really waht us in the Pressure Lamp Apprciation society call a "Clean Skin" then I beg of you please just forget about the Tilley Lamp

You think I should forget the blowlamp, leave it behind; is that so hard..? Well no…and yes. Now it comes to it, I don't feel like parting with it. It's mine, I found it. It came to ME! You want it for yourself! It's mine... my own... my precious...

 

[dylanwinter]

You think I should forget the blowlamp, leave it behind; is that so hard..? Well no…and yes. Now it comes to it, I don't feel like parting with it. It's mine, I found it. It came to ME! You want it for yourself! It's mine... my own... my precious...

 

[VO5]

First part:

Take it to bits. Scrub all brass parts with Horolene. Get the brass bits clean.
Then rub off rust on handle and retaining strap, the three screws and the three washers.
Paint the handle and strap bright red.
Reassemble. See if it works.
If it doesn't we go on to part 2.

 

[doug748]

I am repeating myself now which is the perogative of old age.

Behold the perfect anchor lamp:

View attachment 35722

Quarter inch pyrex glass, round wick for 360 degree illumination, brass and stainless construction......

.....and if the power of the wind ever blows it out, it will be the last thing on your mind.


I also have a primus stove inside a metal bread bin and called a Victory Heater. An uneasy shipmate but we have grown to tolerate each other.

 

[AngusMcDoon]

you have been immunised by espossure to the real world tilley lamp life as opposed to the Hobbiton style, misty eyes nostalgia of most OLDies

Being in my electricity free house this week, and using Tilley lamps every evening, I did an experiment yesterday. After last week's discussion about your problems getting yours alight, and the various responses claiming that the priming cup must be full to the brim with meths, I tried lighting the lamp with the cup only half filled, i.e. full on one side, empty on the other. Result of experiment: lamp lit with no yellow flame as normal.

This is a Tilley Lamp User's Guild public information post on economical use of Tilley Lamps.

 

[john_morris_uk]

When I was a teenager, my skipper lit the Tilley lamp we were going down to the beach to go night Trammel Net fishing on using his wife's perfume. We got some strange looks from the evening dog walkers because the smell followed us for miles.