Author Topic: Coleman / Tilley Lamp  (Read 678 times)

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Offline Tom

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Coleman / Tilley Lamp
« on: June 23, 2018, 09:58:43 am »
Picked up one of these yesterday, cheap on gumtree!

lamp1 by Tom Griffiths, on Flickr


Having never lit one, I was surprised at this scenario; I'm no expert but was quite sure the flame should be the other side of the glass:
lamp2 by Tom Griffiths, on Flickr


So naturally I had to take it apart.... lol...

Some tinkering, O-rings and mouthfuls of petrol later,
lamp3 by Tom Griffiths, on Flickr


Great success!

I'm surprised at how bright it is, even after damaging one of the mantles whilst reassembling it!

 Celbrt

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Offline RMS

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Re: Coleman / Tilley Lamp
« Reply #1 on: June 23, 2018, 10:39:30 pm »

I'm surprised at how bright it is, even after damaging one of the mantles whilst reassembling it!


Well done   lkebtn

Be careful running it with a damaged mantle though - the hot jet from the hole in the mantle can cause the glass to crack, usually when it's cooling down after switching off.

I've seen that more than once now, on one of mine and a couple of others.

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Offline mickandpaula101

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Re: Coleman / Tilley Lamp
« Reply #2 on: June 24, 2018, 07:23:37 am »
these mantles still available?was given a lamp same as this a few years ago with a damaged mantle but never got around to fixing it.
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Offline Tom

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Re: Coleman / Tilley Lamp
« Reply #3 on: June 24, 2018, 09:27:45 am »
Ah thanks Robin I didn't know that, I think I was lucky as the hole is facing inwards. phew!


Yeah Mick you can get them from Go Outdoors (£8 for three!  fp1) or there are lots on ebay... A guy in work said the cheap ones are just as good so despite my doubts i'm trying ten for £2.63 lol

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10pcs-Mesh-Camping-Lantern-Mantles-Lamp-Mantle-Paraffin-Lamp-Gas-Lamp-Cover-YT/232703328677?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649


Offline Monkay

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Re: Coleman / Tilley Lamp
« Reply #4 on: August 27, 2018, 10:03:58 pm »
Looks like a 285 Coleman? These require a ‘sock’ style mantle rather than the more traditional round type mantle as the round mantles would interfere with the vapouriser / generator, I do use the round mantles for testing as they are generally far cheaper than the Coleman originals. The correct mantle would be a Coleman #21 string tie mantle, cheaper ones may be available but if they were genuine Coleman mantles I’d expect them to be around £2 each.

Top tip is run it on panel wipe, can’t remember which one but I’ll look into it for you. It is more expensive than petrol however it is chepaer than Coleman fuel, it burns brighter, whiter, doesn’t have the yellowish hue of petrol and as it is cleaner it doesn’t gunk up the generator, I had a ‘Mil-Spec Coleman’ at the pit and it burned as white as a paraffin lantern.

Another tip is don’t store fuel in it when not in use, the recommended is over a week as the tanks are steel on these and are prone to rusting on the inside if left with fuel over a long period, I normally empty them out and leave the fuel cap off the valve fully open when not in use for a while.

These shouldn’t really be called Tilley lanterns as Tilley is a seperate brand of lantern all together, however here in Blighty we seem to call all camping Lanterns ‘Tilleys’, which is a mahoosive PITA when people are buying spares from you and they have no clue of what they have - it’s a bit like all vacuum cleaners seem to be now known as hoovers.

these mantles still available?was given a lamp same as this a few years ago with a damaged mantle but never got around to fixing it.

Let me know which lamp you have, put some pictures up or soemthong like that and I’ll try and help you out.
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Offline mistericeman

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Re: Coleman / Tilley Lamp
« Reply #5 on: August 27, 2018, 10:44:03 pm »
Tilley lamps are sooooo yesterday compared to petrol Colemans...

Colemans are less pfaff to light and take far far less looking after than parrafin Tilley types.

Our northstar even has push button ignition and no need for meths (well worth removing the ignitor pack and storing somewhere dry if not using it for a while)
Panel wipe is good though unleaded is fine as long as you keep them (cookers as well as lanterns) running hot for long enough.
In fairness I strip and service ours once a season to keep them on top form.

They crop up for peanuts on gumtree/schpock/ebay for peanuts if you keep your eyes open.

Any spares you buy... Mantles/pumps/vaporiser assemblies etc... Make sure they are gen Coleman as copies are frankly dog ****.

Offline Monkay

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Re: Coleman / Tilley Lamp
« Reply #6 on: August 27, 2018, 11:45:08 pm »
I like the Northstar, it’s a nice lantern but can be a bit pricey and they are a doddle to light however if buying second hand make sure that the ignitor is present and working otherwise it is around £20 to replace.

All I never really go for the Tilley branded lanterns, generally my go to lanterns are (in the following order)
Petromax 829, gives loads of light and with the rapid pre-heater means not faffing with a meths pre heater - if buying one go for a pre 1990 one as they are known to be a lot better quality - currently looking for a Bundeswehr model to add to the collection.
Milspec Coleman, it’s Walty and nice. The funnel and cap are chained to the lamp so no loosing them and there is a spares compartment on the lantern too so no searching for mantles or other stuff.
Coleman 201, nice little lamp and one of the few Colemans that runs on Paraffin (or Kerosene as it’s an American lamp)
Vapalux 320 - British military issue paraffin lamp, don’t really need to say anymore!

Only thing I would say about Colemans is that sometime the spares can be pricey as you may not be able to get them in the UK, should be OK with the Northstar and other recent models (like that above) though I do have a few older models that are out of service due to lack of spares in the UK and I’m currently putting an order together with Old Coleman Spares -  I suppose you could say that about a lot of obsolete stuff
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Offline Tom

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Re: Coleman / Tilley Lamp
« Reply #7 on: August 28, 2018, 09:57:58 am »
Thanks for all the info!

Yes, I have since found 4 mantles for £6.45, https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4x-Coleman-Instaclip-mantles-for-Coleman-282-285-and-295-Powerhouse-lamps/263684422286?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

I tried cheap copies but found the originals to be far better - the current pair i've got fitted have lasted for quite a while now  :Dancing-Chilli1group:


I find that mine doesn't like running on paraffin and petrol at the same time, lol. I may try panel wipe but seems nice and bright on unleaded as Ian says!

Has anyone tried ethanol or IPA (isopropyl alchohol, not beer)? I can get unlimited supplies of those.... but i'd imagine they are far too thin and would just turn into a massive flare

cheers


Offline hippydave

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Re: Coleman / Tilley Lamp
« Reply #8 on: August 28, 2018, 12:41:11 pm »
Be careful what you run it on as differing fluids have different burn temps and can cause damage to the vapouriser and go bang.
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Offline Monkay

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Re: Coleman / Tilley Lamp
« Reply #9 on: August 29, 2018, 01:58:26 pm »
Be careful what you run it on as differing fluids have different burn temps and can cause damage to the vapouriser and go bang.

Yes you're right and these ones should only be run on Petrol or Coleman fuel, I find it annoying that Coleman call these dual fuel lanterns and what they actually mean is it can be ran on Coleman Fuel or Unleaded, I suppose that is marketing for you.  As far as I am aware Coleman fuel is Naptha, which is what the panel wipe I am using is.

Yes, I have since found 4 mantles for £6.45, https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4x-Coleman-Instaclip-mantles-for-Coleman-282-285-and-295-Powerhouse-lamps/263684422286?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

That's a good price and clip on too

I find that mine doesn't like running on paraffin and petrol at the same time, lol. I may try panel wipe but seems nice and bright on unleaded as Ian says!

I'm pretty sure these are not meant to run on paraffin,  but I may be wrong....  If you're happy with unleaded, go with that. It's easier to get, half the price of panel wipe and about the fifth of the price of Coleman fuel,  a replacement generator for these is roughly around £20 so the worst case scenario if it did block it up, I would have thought it would be a long time in getting there.  The other alternative would be run it on something else every now and again just to clean out all the impurity build up from unleaded. However that all said,  I understand what Ian is saying earlier and they just might not be running them long enough, I generally run mine for at least 3 - 4 hours at time.

Has anyone tried ethanol or IPA (isopropyl alchohol, not beer)? I can get unlimited supplies of those.... but i'd imagine they are far too thin and would just turn into a massive flare
Not heard of that,  just had a google and come up with this thread http://www.colemancollectorsforum.com/post/burning-alcohol-in-coleman-lanterns-5999494 happy reading!
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Offline strang

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Re: Coleman / Tilley Lamp
« Reply #10 on: September 03, 2018, 05:23:53 pm »
I've got four Vapalux lamps - on military and thee civi versions. They are great but you do have to mess about and pre-heat them with meths, but its all part of the fun. The best bit is they were all made in Halifax - that is until the whole factory was sadly sold to Korea, where they are still made to the same pattern.

http://vapalux.com/index.html
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Offline Lurch

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Re: Coleman / Tilley Lamp
« Reply #11 on: September 06, 2018, 03:00:44 pm »
I've a torch, it doesn't burn my tent down and works with the click of a button.
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Offline strang

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Re: Coleman / Tilley Lamp
« Reply #12 on: September 06, 2018, 06:19:21 pm »
I've a torch, it doesn't burn my tent down and works with the click of a button.

Ah, but it doesn't make a satisfying hissing noise at the same time as providing illumination!
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Offline Tom

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Re: Coleman / Tilley Lamp
« Reply #13 on: September 06, 2018, 08:02:06 pm »
And, you can't dry your socks or warm a pie on a boring leccy torch.

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Offline Nuggs

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Re: Coleman / Tilley Lamp
« Reply #14 on: September 23, 2018, 01:40:22 pm »
I got one of these off of ebay sometime ago; it had a broken globe which was easily replaced;

the only real problem I have with them is they don't like to travel in a landy ; the mantles are too fragile once pre burnt .

Coupled to the fact I keep going to places where it doesn't get dark and the fact I bought the LED version It now stays at home only venturing outside for a bbq 
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