Seized aluminium threads Tilley Lamp Pump

Sorry for the late reply Bo'sun yes it seems to work fine. Pump leather had dried out and the previous owner had left it in a leaky shed hence the pump threads were seized.

How old is your tilley? Perhaps you have a small fracture in the tank allowing pressure to escape? I bought a load of extra refined paraffin or odourless kerosene which works well. It still has a bit of a smell indoors.

I also had a problem with another lamp that pulsed a lot and changing the pricker seemed to work. Its very easy to overturn the closeoff knob and bend the thin rod inside.

Jon

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.

How to clean out a coked up vapouriser (from an old Model Engineer) : take it off the blow lamp, heart it red hot, blow oxygen down the inside. Must admit I've never tried it, but the theory is sound. Immersing it in liquid oxygen might work as well.

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