Great to see how well that turned out. The tank really shines !! The Coleman I have is a green base and doesn't reflect like that one. Almost makes me want to strip and polish the base if it wasn't so much work. An afternoon of cleaning 35 years of grime was well worth the effort in my opinion. Baked finishes on metal don't scratch easy. Just remember to put the handle down when you set it down. I burned myself that way a lot as a kid trying to do stuff fast in the cold at night. They throw a good amount of heat as well.
Cheers - would have preferred a full strip and clean, but it's not too bad. Definitely worth the effort. I've not needed to use it that much, but on the odd occasion on the boat for instance, plenty of heat and light...plus safety with a paraffin lamp. So well designed, the handle is long enough you don't get burned, or burn the ceiling if you hang them up.....great in wind etc. No wonder they are still made today.
Thanks for the video Malc. My top tip is to take a steak slice or Cornish pasty wrapped in a couple of layers of kitchen foil along with the Tilley (in my case when I go beach fishing). Place the foiled pasty on top of the running Tilley, turning it over every couple of minutes, and after 6 or 7 minutes you've got a hot snack to go with your flask of tea! All the best, Clive.
Cheers Clive - I have actually done that with a Cornish pasty when boating once. Only thing is, it did taste slightly of paraffin. Best tip is to take a slow cooker.....as long as you've a longish trip in the car. Cheap inverter will run it. Did it on the boat once.....got there, hot meal waiting. Take care mate :)
Thanks so much Malcolm.I just bought one of these on ebay.1940s guardsman.I have a few petromax pressure lamps that I successfully lit but have not lit a Tilley lamp yet.Where do I put the paraffin oil and do I spray methylation spirits on the centre part of the lamp?Love the old ways.Kind regards from Ireland,Fiona
Hi Fiona from Ireland, I noticed Malcolm didn’t get around to answering your question yet so if you don’t mind I will. The paraffin is the main fuel and is put in the main tank at the base of the lantern. To light a paraffin lamp it must 1st be pre heated in order to vaporise the paraffin. This pre heat is done with a “Tilley torch “ soaked in methylated spirit and then clipped onto the central tube ( vaporiser). In Malcolm s vid you see him light this although the Tilley torch isn’t that clear. It’s important to give it a couple of minutes burning to heat the vaporiser properly. If in cold weather you may have to refill the Tilley torch a second time to get the vaporiser up to temperature before turning on the paraffin.
This was very interesting. The lamp cleaned up a treat. I shall have to "google" Tilley lamp now as I have no real idea (just an inkling) of how they actually work and I am also wondering why the mantle does not burn away in flames - yes, it's me, the ignorant one from West Cork!! With all today's over cautiousness and sometimes stupidity about Health & Safety, I am sure that the lamps did not cause too many accidents back in their heyday.
Great - yes considering how long I've neglected it, turned out quite well. They work by heating the paraffin so it vapourises. Good point about the mantles, I've actually wondered about that myself. As long as they are not touched, they glow in the flames....well it's a gas really, same as gas mantles. They are very safe, extremely well designed. A heavy base so not easily knocked over, and if they run out of paraffin, or pressure just go out.
MalcOfLincoln Just looked on ebay for prices - wow, they differ from about 80 to over 600 pounds!! Could do with a couple over here, we seem to get power cuts nearly every other day, lasting between 20 seconds and 3 hours! The price for living almost isolated up in the mountains and also the last property on an electrical loop (so I understand)
Yes they fetch a lot of money these days. Newish ones are usually around £60 with postage. I've just looked www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tilley-lamps-X-2-very-old-/282289219192?hash=item41b9bfa678:g:T3kAAOSw44BYTsZN there ya go get bidding. Can get kits to make them like new. Mind you, if I lived where you do and had power cuts I'd get a generator. What you do is turn everything off, turn off the mains and plug it into a socket. Smallish ones will run lights etc. I personally wouldn't run this computer as it's a desktop direct to mains, but a laptop through a charger would be fine.
MalcOfLincoln I had considered one some time ago, especially as about 2 years back we had 9 days solid of power cuts in West Cork, with Clonakilty & Skibereen without power for 15 days!! Just couldn't commit to the cost though.
Yes they are costly....although much cheaper today than they used to be. So far I've only had a power cut for a day here. The mains cable went at the bottom of the street a few years ago. At Ulceby one winter we had a power cut for a week.
Nice old things, but did you know the old mantles are quite often found to be radioactive..? A few of my old lamps light up the Geiger counter quite nicely. Looks great now, good work!
Cheers Phil - no I didn't know they were radioactive...however mine's safe as I fitted a new one when I got it....mind you....bit of radioactivity might kill my old age problems (grin). When I got it, it was old, not sure of the exact date.....however I've now had it longer than that....time flies.
Course they do....was mixing the name up with a petrol one I saw DOH. Some fishermen were using one a few years ago when I called into Southrey one night on the boat.
