Tilley windfall

[tombear]

Hi All
Herself heard that they were going to dump some old lanterns from the quartermasters hut at her scout group and anyone interested could take them away and save the QM the job. Anyhoo some were taken to be garden features (?!) and i asked her to see if they had any of the horse shoe meths primer thingies or other unwanted spares. Anyroad this is what she just staggered in with up to the shed on the top floor.

the box at the front is full of spares, the fourth primer is on the lamp that was missing one. the boxes are arrow marked 1955 and will clean up lovely, i've a tin of the right coloured paint and am pretty good at derusting stuff. The glass bits just need cleaning.but there 3 new straight sided ones in one box and six new round ones in the other cardboard box and one wrapped in cloth in the tin.

Anyroad I'm pretty darned pleased with herselfs Wombling, I think i'll bake her a big batch of ANZAC biscuits tomorrow.

There's plenty of work to get them running, I may have to buy in some parts but I think it will be worth it.

ATB

Tom

 

[Toddy]

Oh yessss

That was worth hauling up the stairs

M

 

[MartinK9]

Result.

 

[Broch]

Jealous
Good haul there; I think she should have negotiated the deal because there's more than one bake's worth there

 

[tombear]

Shhhhhh! she will hear you!

I'm thinking of using all the best parts from the two gold bottomed ones to make one as i already have two workers and Vapurlux

I think I'll put a dividing wall in one of the boxes so it will take two if the stormlights (?) as I'm unlikely to get another wall light.

Cheers!

Tom

 

[Mesquite]

That's a great haul Tom.

I've never seen the wall mounted version before, very unusual indeed.

 

[DocG]

Nice

 

[tombear]

Just finished getting the first Guardsman for testing tomorrow when I've dug out some paraffin and meths.

I've stripped it and cleaned it ( will have another go at cleaning the outside of the font after its tested. ), scrapped out the various holes with a a soft copper rod but there was practically no fouling., flushed the tank out with the filtered fuel that was in it when we got them. I replaced all the washers and seals except the two return valve thingies which looked fine, and swapped in a new vapouriser as there was one in the spares that came with it and the old one was rather rusty. . I did a immersion test and I could find no leaks. The pump worked well and a inspection of the leather cup showed it was pretty much new so I just greased it a bit more. The cup is shot on the other Guardsman so herself has ordered me a 21 piece replacement seal pack for about a fiver off ebay. Should be here Tuesday, free postage.

For no good reason i derusted the cage, I didn't go mad as its quite pitted so pretty isn't a option.

I'll do a bunsen test tomorrow if its dry outside then fit and burn off a mantle, I got a box with 8 still in it for a quid or so at a boot a few years back. Pic to follow if i dont blow myself up.

ATB

Tom

 

[Toddy]

I admit to being rather fond of the light, the smell and the sound of a tilley Memories of gentle warmth and comfort and long gone family and friends.
We didn't have led lights then, and batteries were pretty dire, and expensive and the light was pretty poor from battery torches, etc., Candles were not a good idea when camping or sailing, but the tilley lamps were rock solid anywhere.

You put me to shame Tombear, I have two in the shed needing redd up, and one that is pretty much brand new and good to go.
We don't use them now though, much like the scouts I suspect, so doing anything to them keeps being pushed back on the list of to-do's.

Good to hear of you getting those ones back in running order though

M

 

[tombear]

I put on a mantle ( worst bit of the whole job, fiddly as all hell ) filled the tank with 1.5 pints of paraffin i put through a coffee filter as there was a odd bits floating in it dried the spills off and lit it as per the instruction. Nothing leaked, no pulsing just a lot of light and a gentle chuffing noise. Control works fine, went out straight away. All in all i'm chuffed to little mintballs with it..

I need to find out more on the wall light before I take it apart, especially if it takes the same mantles.

Aye Mary, I think gas lamps and more so LED battery jobs have killed off their use with most youth groups.

ATB

Tom

 

[Macaroon]

Tilleys always bring to my mind the smell and taste of Cocoa and dampers, warm Stormhavens, good company and a glowing feeling of " I never want to be anywhere else". The sound and the light were the first sensations to greet us as we came in from a long day on the hill, a canoe trip or the end of a Wide Game an hour or so before dawn, cold, bone tired, hungry but perfectly satisfied and glowing happy

Anyone remember Wide Games? Do they still have those, and British Bulldog?

Great score there, Tom, and no better man to bring them back to life

 

[Bishop]

Would be curious to see how a vintage Tilley compares to an LED lantern. These old paraffin lamps put out an insane amount of light for 12 hours on a full tank and wonder they stack up against modern battery technology.

 

[bigboned]

I only own one of them campinggas lanterns that takes the bayonet cartridge. I love the light from it over the battery/ led things. Similar to preferring the heat from the wood burning stove over the gas central heating - seeing these pics makes me think I should find me a Tilley. I’ve always assumed that paraffin and leakage/ spillage would be an issue but I’m guessing from the posts here that it wouldn’t be an issue?
Awesome haul by the way, look fantastic

 

[chas brookes]

Hi Tom
if you are not already aware this is a great site for Lamp info
https://classicpressurelamps.com/
;-)

I put on a mantle ( worst bit of the whole job, fiddly as all hell ) filled the tank with 1.5 pints of paraffin i put through a coffee filter as there was a odd bits floating in it dried the spills off and lit it as per the instruction. Nothing leaked, no pulsing just a lot of light and a gentle chuffing noise. Control works fine, went out straight away. All in all i'm chuffed to little mintballs with it..

I need to find out more on the wall light before I take it apart, especially if it takes the same mantles.

Aye Mary, I think gas lamps and more so LED battery jobs have killed off their use with most youth groups.

ATB

Tom

 

[Duggie Bravo]

Don’t use them very often, but we used to have a few leaders that had them and we would all take them to a camp and sit around them if an evening and compare them to the gas lights.

I bought one for the wife, which she wants to be made pink, so I just need to get a garage or a workshop so I have somewhere to work on it.


Sent using Tapatalk

 

[Woody girl]

Gosh what a steal!! I have an old lamp somewhere that needs a refurb. You have inspired me to have a go at getting it going. I got it for a pound at a boot sale. Mind you i have no idea how to set about sorting it out. Never used one before. I'll let you know if I'm successful. Fingers crossed!

 

[tombear]

Cheers! In theory there's another Guardsman somewhere in the wifes storage room amid a million boxes of rotting novels and crates of Denby stoneware I picked up in a job lot once that needed new glass and a fair bit of work. I'll have a poke about for it when i have to go in next.

Spent all day yesterday working on no 2,, The hoods clean but badly chipped from rust lifting off the enamel but is basically sound. The brass nuts that hold the burner to the hood were a complete pig to remove, cross threaded or badly coked up, or both. That took well over a hour on its own I wire brushed the visible threads, applied releasing oil, applied the blow torch to the nuts and cooled the airtubes, used pliers which chewed the brass up horribly. In the end for two of them I did what I hate doing to brass, held one part firmly in padded pliers and whacked the other part with a leather mallet. It worked and everything seams true and the threads all work fine after a good clean, even if the nuts look awful now..

All the seals and the leather cup needed replacing. Thankfully the ebay pack had arrived. I soaked the cup in neetsfoot oil for a couple of hours and the pump now works a treat. I'm less sanguine about the vaporiser which is the one I cleaned up from the 1st guardsman before I decided to use the one new 606 that came with the boxes which just had some surface rust from storage that polished off. I did fit the refurbished one with a new cleaning wire and it seams to work.

Anyroad, it passed the pressurised immersion test, not a bubble from anywhere and when the control cock was opened i got a nice hiss and could feel the air coming out of the vaporiser.

I've scrapped out every vent and tube with the copper rod I use and soaked the burner in 1/3rd vinegar solution for a couple of hours before flushing that through and scraping again then flushing again before blowing through and drying.

It took several goes to flush out the fount/tank before it ran clean, I'll run the paraffin through a coffee filter before I use it again.

By the time it was back together It was too late to fit a mantle and fill it up to try it out so I'll do that later today, fire extinguisher, bucket of water etc to hand! Pic to follow.

Yeah, herselfs lot still do wide games, Not sure about bulldog but since they did it at the lads secondary school its most likely do. I wonder if its still as viscous as in my day?

I've never seen spillage from a Tilley or Vapalux except when a seal has gone and its easy enough to keep a check on those. When you take the pump out to refill a partially empty fount you do get some drips from that running down the outside that's come off the pump tube but that's easily wiped up.

Thanks Chas, that's a excellent site., I will have to join as there's some questions about the SL61 wall light Id like answering before I mess with it.. I have discovered that technically it is a "Hospital and Inspection Light" when in that box and with those accessories .

I've learned about the problem of the base doming out on this sort of lamp and how it can cause dangerous cracks, due to being over pumped. The pressure indicator on both these ones works but I think i will still write on the maximum number of pumps to start them off.on. At least I know what to look for now. Saying that 5 and a wall light is probably enough now!

ATB

Tom

 

[bigboned]

Tom I have to ask, is that a pair of LMG’s behind the lamps in that last pic? Awesome

 

[tombear]

Yup, deactivated of course, but old spec so apart from the barrels being pinned and welded on they can be fully stripped and dry fired

'front ones a 1945 dated Mk 3 Bren, matching serials except the barrel and the rear ones a NZ contract L4A4, also matching serials. I've got new wood and all the legal to swap parts NOS to go on them when i get around to having suncronite baked onto them. I used to have quite a big collection, about 22 MGs and LMGs plus a few rifles and SMGs but it was getting a bit silly so sold them off before the law changed and they had to be welded solid before selling so I didn't lose out.

Too tired after a day out to see to the second Guardsman today so i'll fire it up tomorrow.

ATB

Tom

 

[tombear]

Finally got around to lighting up the 2nd guardsman.

First off I tried it with the pump that came with, Id replaced the seals and the leather cup. It lit fine after two minutes priming with meths, I opened the valve it made a pop and the mantle sort of lit up after 8 or 9 strokes. The pump seamed to not be resisting on the down stroke on every stroke as I gave it 40 strokes, despite the new, tight and well oiled cup and although the light improved and there were no leaks it wasn't anywhere as near as bright as the first one I did up last week, nor did it hiss as loud.. I let it run ten minute, switched off, let it cool and had a think.

Oddly enough yesterday i found pump I must have salvaged from some where, I have no idea where, and cleaned up and replaced the perishable parts on this AM. So I tried that. Much better compression but its still not giving off as much light or is as loud as the other. See above. At least it didnt flare up or smoke or do anything alarming..

Any ideas?

In the meantime I will drain the fount, scrape out the feed pipe some more with the copper rod and have another look at the vapouriser. There's several used ones I can try.

ATB

Tom