Heat, preferably not from an open flame unless you've got rid of most of the paraffin. I'mm becoming a convert to the hot-air guns in preference to blowlamps for this kind of thing.

Repeated cycles of heat/cooling may just break things free.

Rob

Hi Jon,

The very best of luck, but if all else fails, try "The Base Camp" in Peterborough for a replacement pump.

It is very likely that was is called paraffin (kerosene ) is quite different from the fuel for which the lamps were designed and developed.

Very probably the fuels have been modified to be more friendly to the environment and users. Possibly to the detriment of calorific value!

Howard.

As far as I know Paraffin/Kerosene is the same light oil as always. No alcohol or anything that might spoil vaporisation unless the oil came from a dirty container. Other additives are possible: Esso Blue and Pink Paraffin had a dash of dye in them and Lamp Oil had something to reduce the smell, but I wouldn't expect them to stop a lamp working.

Air leak due to dirt or corrosion? Pulsating suggests low pressure.

Dave

Thanks Duncan,

I'm currently using Caldo "Premium". It's an improvement over the greenhouse heater stuff from B&Q, but still leaves a little to be desired as described earlier.

Hi Samsaranda,

Isn't Coleman fuel more like petrol? I thought Coleman lamps and stoves worked differently to the Tilley and Primus principle.

Like petrol, I think Coleman's a very light spirit that's likely to go bang or start a fire. White Spirit isn't recommended because it gums up the nozzle. I suspect diesel is too viscous to spray properly – anyone tried it?

The lamp works by blowing a light oil, normally paraffin aka kerosene through a narrow nozzle to create a spray that vaporises in a hot chamber full of air and then burns inside the mantle. The mantle glows white hot and creates the light.

To work the lamp has to be:

• Filled with a light oil that sprays out of a suitable nozzle and then vaporises fully at operating temperature
• Actually creating the spray. i.e Nozzle sized to match the viscosity of the oil and operating pressure range. Important it's not blocked by dirt or gummed up both problems caused by dirty or unsuitable oil.)
• Mixing air with vaporised spray in the correct proportion. (Air input and chimney both clear. )
• Flame hot enough to activate the mantle (oil needed, I doubt meths is hot enough.)
• Mantle and base in good condition.
• Able to hold the pressure produced by the air pump, i.e. no air leaks in the container or seals.

Be interesting to know if the spray nozzle has a plain or tapered hole. It might matter if the design has changed over the years to improve burn efficiency by tweaking nozzle shape and delivery pressure. I doubt it. Not fired up a Tilley lamp since my son was a baby when four of them were lit on holiday. I don't remember lamp-lighting being a fiddly job – much easier than my dad's brass blowlamp.

Dave

Edited By SillyOldDuffer on 15/02/2022 16:40:26

Apologies if this teaching Granny, etc.. ..but there is a clip-on pre-heater that has to charged with Methylated Spirit and attached to the tube below the coil in order to provide the heat to first initiate vapourisation – after the lamp lights it should be self-sustaining.. ..at least with a blowlamp one just has to throw some meths in the trough..

I have many Tilley lamp lights & heaters collected over 35 years as an aside to my passion for collecting old domestic style parrafin lamps. I use bog standard Bartoline brand paraffin bought in most DIY shops or on garage forecourts. Use the preheater with meths to get them really hot before attempting to light them. Get the preheater positioned level with the globe for best results. Turn on the valve very slowly as the preheater flame is on its last legs and you should have no problems lighting them. I always filter the fuel even from a new can with a very fine brass mesh. I have Tiley lamps in my caravan for use outside that have been bumping about under the seats for many many years and the mantles are still in good order.

regards

Edited By Oldiron on 15/02/2022 18:24:01

With pulsating tillers it’s definitely as case of cleanliness is next to godliness and one of the best service items is is a new atomiser tube, you may think you can clean it but to be fair have not tried ultrasonics for this!. As for your seized threads ,drain fill with boiling water and use a hot air gun and plus gas. Best of luck, refined fuel sounds a good idea.

I also clean out my 2-stroke exhaust chambers the same way, you can see a ring of fire/heat moving down the chamber as it burns off 20-30 years of old oil and a smoke screen is deployed, definetely not a technique I'd recommend in an urban environment, but I think you'll get away with a Tilley! I tried caustic soda but it wasn't enough for 30 year old chambers lined with perforated steel for sound deadening, I think the perforations and the gap behind was just solid with unburnt oil/tar – messy and nasty stuff, at least with oxy/propane or acetylene you're in control of the oxygen and it done and dusted in as much time as it takes to safely setup. Caustic soda on brass isn't something I've tried, but I can guarantee it'll turn any aluminium in comes into contact with, in to dust!

That aside, mine starts pulsing after several hours when it needs a few pumps of pressure, thats all