This is what a $15 stove looks like

Here's a good example of a $15 stove. Old, dirty, but not rusted. Parts inexpensive and easily available.

It's a 413G which makes it a 1960s stove. The original manual for this kind of stove is online at Coleman (pdf) and has delightful graphics.

This kind of stove makes for great camping (NOT hiking, it's a called a "suitcase stove" for a reason). Also nifty for cooking stinky foods outside or canning. Or, for you all-electric folks, cooking anything at all if your power goes out. A camping stove means you can cook no matter whatever else happens.

Don't buy this three-burner

Seller has been trying to sell this 3-burner stove for about a month.

Two problems:

1. $45 is too much. A three burner goes for $25-30.
2. this particular one is in bad shape. It's been left out (rusted) and has been set on fire once or twice. It's common to see burning on the underside of the lid. Burnmarks on the top indicated the conflagration lasted a good while.

Don't buy it. If it were $20 you might get it, tear it down, and respray it.

good price on a dualfuel lantern

This one is NIB and about half-price.

It runs on coleman (for longest generator life) and unleaded. Good for emergencies.

fettling

Fettling = working on an old pressure lamp or lantern. In Europe this might mean Primus, Petromax, Optimus, Tilley, etc. In America this means Coleman.

I have a ratty old 1961 lantern (red one on the right) that burns great but has been difficult to light. Hey, it's older than I am and start a little slow in the mornings, too.

Should work like this:

1. fill with fuel
   
2. pressurize with the pump
   
3. crack open the fuel valve about 1/4 turn and listen. You will hear air hissing. Then after a few seconds you will hear fuel start to make a delicate gurgle sound. Close the valve.
   
4. get your match/lighter/torch in there
   
5. re-crack the valve 1/4 turn
   
6. gentle "foof" as the fuel ignites. The mantles start to glow.
   
7. when mantles glow gentle, increase the fuel delivery
   
8. the generator gets hot enough to vaporize fuel efficiently and you get a soothing hiss and brilliant light. All is well with the world. Or the back porch, at least.
   

But it has been working like this:

1. fill with fuel
   
2. pressurize with the pump
   
3. crack open the fuel valve about 1/4 turn and listen. Just air. No fuel.
   
4. wait. wait more. Still no fuel. %&^#*&^!
   
5. Get annoyed and open the fuel valve a couple of turns until fuel does begin to flow.
   
6. floods or semi-floods the lantern as fuel at the 1/4 turn position is metered differently on purpose.
   
7. get your match/lighter/torch in there
   
8. dramatic "BOOF" as the whole top half of the lantern ignites. The neighborhood start to glow.
   
9. if nothing (important) nearby is on fire, attempt to regulate fuel delivery until the generator warms up and things normalize.
   

The part that I needed to work on is hidden inside the fount (the metal base where the fuel is held/pressurized). This part, the fuel/air tube, serves partly as the fuel pickup mechanism and as a kind of crude carbureter. I cleaned the f/a tube and re-stretched a small spring that's part of the carbing process. Starts immediately now.

Here's a pretty good explanation of how it works.

coleman check valve

I dissassembled a Coleman "suitcase" stove last week to get to a problematic part. Most parts on a coleman are trivial to service. The exception is a small object buried in the fount called a "check valve".

There's not an easy way to get to it, it can take a special $50 tool, and can get very, very stuck. Many people go their whole camping lives without having to change one of these doodads. I got mine out and replaced it today and cranked it up. Runs and holds pressure like a champ.

Here's how it works. Consider what happens when you pump up a Coleman fuel gear:

* release the plunger by rotating it a turn or so CCW.
* pump until you reach desired pressure
* lock the plungber back in place by rotating it CW until you feel it seat.

When the plunger is screwed into place it prevents air from leaking out.[0] But what keeps the air from leaking out after the plunger has been opened? That's the check valve. It contains a ball little opening, blocking outward air movement. The screwed-in plunger and the check valve are the "belt and suspenders" system that keep the explosive fuel/air mix inside the gear where it belongs.[1]


Speaking of which, I just called Atmos to report a possible gas leak around our meter out back. I might be imagining things; it's either faint or not there at all. But they are apparently on the way. I don't think we are in great danger of blowing up. But if you hear sirens tonite and I don't post anymore...



[0] more correctly, the air stem it's connected to prevents air from leaking out, but you get the idea.
[1] there's a third safety, in a way. The check valve sits in fuel but has a snorkel like a Hummer, so in case it depressurizes only air comes shooting out the hole in the plunger, not fuel.