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My father in law has just found 2 Tilley Lamps in his garage that he'd forgotten about. Both are boxed / never used and he's giving one to us. Aren't we lucky? We've often toyed with the idea of getting a Tilley or Coleman lamp so we're pretty well pleased with this gift.

The only problem is that we've never used one before. So, is there anyone out there who can give us a few pointers and general do's & don'ts on their usage.

Hi. My dad gave us a old red one too not so long ago and they are a bugger to get started. The mantels are £2.75 each and we went through 6 in 2 days just trying to likght the thing we also payed £7.00 for a gallon tub of paffifin. Mantels are like paper once they have been lit if you touch them they will just falls into crumbs However after striping it apart, finding out how to fill it etc, (there are instructions on the net somewhere under tilly lamps) we managed to get it working and the light from it was loverly. I just could not be bothered with going through all the hassel of lighting it each time and also storing the parrifin when we went camping so we ended up buy EHU. much cheaper and cleaner. But now its all in great working order we will probebly use it on sites with no EHU.

Good luck with it, maybe someone here will have more better advice for you

Pen

need to use meths in the meths cup to pre heat the mantle and tube so that the parafin vapourises properly,and its dead easy ,i have had the same mantle on for ages and can even take the top of to clean the glass with mantle undamaged.all mantles are the same anyway in fragility ,but i got through more in a gas lamp than the tilley somehow

I use Tilley (and equivalents thereof) exclusively. Massively bright and very cheap to run. 2 pints of paraffin will give you >10 hours light (and heat).

The key is the pre-heating with meths. Don't rush it. If it's freezing clod, then two pre heats will help the situation.

There are variations on the 'Storm lantern' (Model X246) which is the 'common' one

1950's are all brass and are the dog's danglies. Unfortunately, being 50 years or so old, they may look tatty. This matters not!

From 70's to the present day, the Tilley bean counters made as much as possible from sh1tty alloy. Still do a good job, though.

As a previous poster mentioned, a new set of seals (Tilley part no. SP3, I think) may be in order. A drop of oil on the pump leather never goes amiss.

Use http://www.base-camp.co.uk for your spares. The guy is very helpful.

Mantels are fragile once lit, but once it's 'formed', then WILL last indefinitely with care.

Use it - you'll love it! And gas lamps will stop working at about 0c. What other reason do you need!!

Here is the Tilley UK site

http://www.tilleylamp.co.uk/index.html

Maybe I'll get one myself someday!

Quote: Originally posted by Breezeblock on 19/11/2006

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Tilley lamps are excellent, once you've mastered the art of lighting them, and are much safer than petrol lamps - for obvious reasons.

There's a picture of mine on my website. It's a pre 1960 (straight legs, all brass fittings and brass pump) and cost just £12 from a local Sunday market. After a strip-down and rebuild with a new set of seals it still works perfectly. I wonder how many of todays lamps will still be working after 50 years service.

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Hi Breezeblock,I have the same brass tilley lamp but it has started leaking parrafin quite badly from the on off valve, any ideas how this strips down and where to get the spares.

Cheers John.

Quote: Originally posted by Breezeblock on 20/11/2006

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Hi john, the link Als has provided above contains an exploded view of all the parts. Although it shows a later model the principle build is the same.

The on/off knob pulls off and then the sleeved nut can be unscrewed. There is an o-ring behind the sleeve that simply needs replacing. That should cure your leak.

Service pack one contains all the service parts you need for the control assembly (on/off knob and valve to you and me) and the pump assembly, but because the service pack is for the later model I did have some bits left over.

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Thanks for the above info Breezy and thanks to Alsparker for the Link.

Cheers guys.

Quote: Originally posted by alsparker on 12/11/2006I have been using my tilly lamp for over  20 years now and  it never given me any problems. once you get used to it you will never want to be without it. as for the mantles , if your carefulwhen moving or storing the lamp they will last for ages, in fact I still have the original box it came in. 

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