No kidding! Haha week ago I was in a t shirt building fence sunny and 72....yesterday pushing 10" of snow in the plow truck at work for 4 hours and 5* this morning.

 

LMAO ya even in North Texas ..... https://www.wfaa.com/article/weather...9-3d53a67cd400

I love my old Petromax lanterns as the scare the crap outta folks >> https://www.colemancollectorsforum.c...-users-7225778

some of you folks probably already know the Coleman Forums

 

Got one gussied up for sale.

 

Very nice!
What do they go for restored like that?

BTW, don't tell my wife people other than me buy them......LOL

 

Too much. Gotten crazy these days, maybe folks are using their gov’t checks on Epay.

My garage sale , flea mkt searches have taken a hit since COVID.

 

I posted about my little lantern a long time ago. I can't remember what I asked about it back then, but I do know I


need to get the correct mantle for it.
The one that I had used for it was not the correct one, but it worked, now it is all in pieces, just from sitting here, it's only been lit 2 times.
Here's a couple pics I owed you. I didn't think I could post pics, since I'm not a paid member, But I found out recently that I can post them

 

Looks good, that'll work fine when the power goes out.

 

That is one of the 2 times it's been lit. The power went out for a couple hours, so I lit it and just stared at it, since there was nothing else to do.
It actually was lit a third time, so I could take a picture of it.

 

I guess today sort of turned out to be Coleman maintenance.

I completely disassembled and cleaned the 425D 2 burner. I'd done it before, but not to this level. Removed the whole assembly from the tank and cleaned out the dip tube, and shot some Liquid Wrench in the check valve and pumped that through. Somewhere I read that they should be stored with about 5 or 10 pumps of pressure. Well it would never hold pressure indefinitely. The 200A always holds pressure over time, months at least.

Used some permatex on all the thread fittings, cleaned the jet, and ran a small brass bore brush through the generator tube. Got 'er all back together and it works WAY better, lights instantly, and stays lit and settles down in just a minute and the rest of it, it's amazing how well they throttle down. I think it's working as advertised now. Not bad for a 55 year old stove. Seems to hold pressure now between uses.

So, I did the same routine with the 200A, except I could not get the assembly removed from the tank. That sucker is on there. I didn't want to tweak the tank. There's a YT video where a gentleman has modified a socket to fit and uses an impact wrench. I'll save that for another day. I liked the idea of using muffler cement to seal the elbow at the top, and used that there, and permatex high temp thread sealer again on the pipe threads.

It's ready to fire up! Now Coleman says to follow the mantle maker instructions about lighting. I have 21A mantles, and there aren't any instructions on the mantle package.

It does say to have a flat side facing the generator, and let it burn for about a half hour to strengthen the mantle in the lantern instructions.

Is it better to light the mantle first and burn or, just turn the fuel on and go? I've heard people say they've had better luck with the latter. What say the lantern enthusiasts?


Edit: I noticed in the OP, fuel was $10.99 a gallon. That's about what I paid at the hardware store the last time I bought some. It's gone up a lot since then. I bought mulch the other day, I was down to 1 pint in a Sigg + a full Svea, and decided now was a good time to get more, didn't check the price as it wasn't marked. Got home and looked at the receipt. Seventeen yankee dollahs a gallon! Jeeze Louise. Glad I bought two. I think.

 

To get the valve out of the tank (font), turn it upside down in a vice and grab the font with both hands. It will eventually give in to persistence.

I'm too lazy to burn in a mantle and the wait. I burn it in and go (light) all in one step. Not sure if that’s good or bad....

Crown fuel here is 8.67/ gal. at Wally World or $12 for Coleman brand.




My current project, alas the bung on the side is spinning.

 

I tried that, a few times. Maybe I need to eat my Wheaties. The tank and everything started to become distorted, it's easily bent. I've seen this movie before. Didn't want to hork anything. So I think I'll try the modified socket and impact wrench approach.

It does seem to me with these older gas appliances, really getting in there deep on the disassembly and cleaning out the dip tube and making sure those air bleeds are clean and clear is important, just like a carburetor I suppose. I didn't have a lot of experience using the 2 burner Colemans so I didn't have a good handle on exactly how they should operate. And just like a carburetor, if an air bleed is restricted it will run way too rich.

Before this good cleanout the stove was always a little tough to light or, at least keep it lit, the controls just wouldn't respond the way they should, and it wouldn't throttle down in the low ranges, yellow flames at medium. It ran too rich when it needed to lean out, and too lean when it needed more fuel.

I think there was something going on with the "Light" stage. The stove uses internal pressure instead of outside air, and this would get depleted very quickly, this isn't normal. As soon as I fired it up, I could tell it was a lot happier, it burns nice and blue at all settings. There's several holes in the burner ring, I thought they were drain holes for water. Maybe they are, but they also are part of the air fuel mixture. There is a very distinctive flame pattern when throttled down that I don't recall seeing before. These things work as good as a home range!

Yeah, I didn't get an answer within 10 or 15 minutes here. Sheesh. You guys are slippin'. So I went ahead and fired it up. Seemed to run real well. A lot less stinky with the muffler cement trick on the elbow assembly, that's a good tip in that YT video on the 200A. Maybe I'll have to rethink these lanterns. We'll see how it goes in the field.

 

I’ve bent a few fonts while doing the upside down method, but could alway bend it back to original. Spinning the bung is the real worry. They use a type of thread locking sealer from the factory- dark reddish in color.

Are you doing the BB dance? Seems to clean the inside quite well.

I've never tried that mod-Socket method, worth a try for sure.




today’s progress.

 

Anyone interested in adding to your collection a Coleman lantern travel clock with alarm/snooze, LED back light with glow in the dark hands and fold down carry bale. They are brand new, and never used, with the instruction sheet the the back compartment door. Runs on AA batteries (no messy/stinky white gas to mess with)

$10.00 plus what ever shipping is. I have a couple I could part with.

 

I need to find the **** that regulates the fuel output. Or a more suitable replacement than this pair of vice grips. Something must have fell while I was driving. But this stove has been great I bought it used 20 years ago and have been using it every day for a year. The little rubber seal in the pump those usually last a few months if I'm careful above keeping it oiled. I also run it on straight gasoline instead of camp fuel.

 

IF ya can't find the **** you can probably get one here when the re-open https://www.oldcolemanparts.com/shop_closed.html

should be able to find one on FleaBay too ... I have files for 3D printing new ***** so that is also an option (better to have Real Coleman Part)