Thanks for that ominous sounding advice......
Anything I should look out for?
Cheers, Michael.
Have fun....
Hi,
Tilley stuff has progressively gotten worse over the years. Generally in the stove and lamp 'enthusiast' world the X246b is regarded as being of poor quality compared to earlier models. also at some point the Tilley factory shifted from where to where I can't remember later production is seen as being particularly bad.
As for what to look out for...
If you have the EBay one in the link I'd remove the ventilator ( the black thing on top ) and inside will be the air tubes and mixing chamber I'd give the whole thing a really good rinse through with some hot soapy water but do not disassemble it unless you really have to as its a PITA to reassemble worn and heated brass. Cleaning this out will get rid of any old soot and more importantly old insects and spiders webs. These really stuff up the air flow and hence the mix the lantern burns.
Id get the service packs and replace all of the washers seals and the pump leather and Non return valve 'pip'.
That should give you a lantern with good seals and clean airtubes which is air tight makes good pressure when pumped.
The only things left then are the mantle I'd get the happy mantles as they are easy to fit and the vapouriser tube the vap tube might be in good condition or it could be poked. As its a relatively expensive part if you refurb the lantern as above your leaving the expensive variable to last.
On first fire up preheat the lantern at least twice to get the vap tube good and hot. If its in good nick the lantern will light with a pop and the mantle once burnt in will give a good white light and the flame will burn inside the mantle with no dull spots.
If you have a yellow or orange light which is a bit smokey or the mantle had dull patches then the air fuel mix is off. If the air tubes are clean then the prime candidate is that vap tube is either clogged or the jet orifice is worn and over size allowing too much fuel in and hence and over rich mixture. The remedy is a new vap tube.
The problem is Tilley spare quality is quite variable I've had new vap tubes that are really poor in quality and lasted about 5 minutes.
Have fun.... Don't polish it....
