Coleman Stove Maintenance for Prep

[Jmurman]

I was thinking the other day about all of the ill's that seem to be coming our way. My thoughts turned to SHTF cooking and my Coleman stoves.

I have two stoves. One is the two burner dual fuel and the other is a small single burner and both use gas/white gas. Years ago I chose gas over propane due to the availability of fuel.

So, it's been a while since I had my stoves out and I thought I'd check them out.

When I pulled them out of their dusty resting places, I was shocked to say the least.



I don't remember putting the stoves aside being so cruddy. But I am glad I found out now instead of later.

I decided to send them to Coleman for a once over, then I thought that maybe I could do it myself and save some money. When I started the project it occured to me that maybe some of you are in the same boat, so I shot some photos and did a step by step basic instruction on prepping your Coleman stoves. I hope this is helpful for you.

The basics; Make sure you have a sealed unit. The two things that usually go bad with a Coleman stove are the Air Pump and the Filler cap. You will need to check both. The tools youl need are; needle nosed pliers; small patch of fime sandpaper; some light oil, like 3 in 1 oil, small bladed knife. The parts needed are; Coleman Replacement Filler Cap and the Coleman Pump Repair Kit. Both of these are found at Walmart in the camping section and are less than $10.00 for the set.

This is the result of a Filler Cap that has deteriorated over time. This stove will not work if needed. The corrosion will prevent the air pressure from building inside the unit. Take some oil and lightly coat the top of the filler tube, then lightly sand to remove the corrosion.



Check your Filler Cap and replace if needed.



Remove the clip with your needle nosed pliers.



Gently slide the Air Pump out of the cylinder

 

[Jmurman]

Do you see the diference between the new and old pump? The old is straight along the sides, this won't give you air pressure when you pump. The new one on the left is more cone shaped and will seal itself along the cylinder wall.



Take some of the oil and lightly coat the rubber end piece. Now you will need some patience when you slide the Air Pump back into the cylinder. Take the back edge of the small knife and gently insert the rubber into the slide all around. Once the rubber part of the pump is in the cylinder, then gently slide the the pump all the way down.

Put the clip back on and put a few drops of oil into the oiling hole. Work the pump gently in and out to make sure you have lubricated it. Now, test for air pressure without fuel in the stove. If you have good air pressure, add fuel and hopefully you'll have this...

 

[gillmanNSF]

I've never seen the one burner, but I have a couple of the two burner stoves. Aside from cleanliness, you should also make sure you have the doo-hickey that connects the stove with your fuel source. Jmurman, do you know if a 20 lb. canister of fuel needs a pressure regulator or can it just be connected to the stove? I got a couple of these large canisters and the hose that fits the doo-hickey which connects to the stove.

Maintenance and having spare parts on hand is not a bad idea. Thanks. That looks like new! Ever thought of hand modeling?

 

[tangent]

Somewhere arround her I've got an outward bound logistics manual that talks about doing maintainence on optimus(pretty sure that's right) stoves, and also another book - peoples guide to mexico - IIRC, about how to clean colman stoves if you use regular gasoline in them rather than stove fuel...

will look arround and maybe type that stuff in...

good tutorial, btw - thanks!

-t

 

[Jmurman]

I've never seen the one burner, but I have a couple of the two burner stoves. Aside from cleanliness, you should also make sure you have the doo-hickey that connects the stove with your fuel source. Jmurman, do you know if a 20 lb. canister of fuel needs a pressure regulator or can it just be connected to the stove? I got a couple of these large canisters and the hose that fits the doo-hickey which connects to the stove.

Maintenance and having spare parts on hand is not a bad idea. Thanks. That looks like new! Ever thought of hand modeling?

If you use propane then what you are talking about is this

 

[gillmanNSF]

I've seen those "trees" but, no, I just meant a hose directly from the tank to the stove, nothing intermittent, no regulator. I have the hose that fits the new propane tanks and fits my stove's connector.

More like this but with the new canister connector. Male threads fits the stove connector's female threads. I was just wondering if the big tank would make a big difference vs. the small disposable canisters.

5-ft (1.52-m) High-Pressure Propane Hose & Adapter

Click image for larger view
Model No. 5470A7931T

• Connects appliance to refillable 20 lb. propane cylinder (not included)

 

[tangent]

OK - the outward bound material is 7 pages - too much to type in... sorry...

the colman info on using regular gas and cleaning the unit is in: Carl Franz's the People's Guide to Camping in Mexico, not a peoples guide to mexico - (same author) unfortunatly, I'm not finding it it's a para or two. I'm pretty sure I posted it on Frugals, and or Medtech a few years ago - if anyone wants to dig...

sorry about the teaser... (but if you do find it - please post it here!)

-t

 

[Wise Owl]

Number 1 rule with coleman camp stoves is to NOT store them with fuel still in them.
We just called in to coleman for replacement parts for our dual fuel.....the ceramic O ring that is needed to keep the pressure constant had degraded and this was a new unit used maybe a couple times. They sent us the whole thing......grin.......free..plus extra O rings. Also the directions for replacing them. But we were warned very specifically that unless you are using the stove on a daily basis to drain the fuel out and let it dry out.......the fuel will corrode that ceramic ring pretty fast. You would think they could come up with something that would last a little longer wouldn't you? We use it for cooking a lot in the summer and winter when the power goes down. It is much faster than the woodstove and there is no way we want to fire up the woodstove in the summer when it is 80 degrees outside.......
we also have a smaller single burner stove but that is not a coleman.....it is a Dragon Fly by a company I can't remember this early in the morning. It is something that you can use to backpack with. Collapses into a small unit. It also will use any fuel........not as versatile as the coleman but will heat water, food or make coffee with a regular coffee pot/perculator. Those coffee pots are invaluble when there is no power. Walmart and camping stores have them pretty cheap.

 

[Mongo]

Jmurman - maybe you can help me out...

I have a two burner Coleman campstove that doesn't work correctly.

The red gas tank has a small brass pipe that projects into the stove all the way to the back where it goes into some kind of silver metal hookus.

When I pump it up and fire off the burner, flames come out of the connection point for the brass pipe and the silver metal hookus in the back.

Suggestions?

 

[Jmurman]

I have a two burner Coleman campstove that doesn't work correctly.

The red gas tank has a small brass pipe that projects into the stove all the way to the back where it goes into some kind of silver metal hookus.

When I pump it up and fire off the burner, flames come out of the connection point for the brass pipe and the silver metal hookus in the back.

Suggestions?

The brass rod that exrends from the fuel tank into the mainfold on the stove needs to be cleaned. Take a wrench or pliers and take the rod off and clean any residue or corrosion, then retry.

 

[Burt Gummer]

Jmurman, that was a first class prep post!!
Nice job.

 

[Charlie]

On the stoves.......the brass tube that goes over the burner is called the "generator". Heat from the flame turns the liquid gas to vapor and creates the nice clean blue flame. They gum up easily when using plain gas. They can be cleaned a few times, but will eventually fail. Best to buy a few ahead of time as well as white gas in the one gallon cans when you find them on sale.

I have a two burner unit that was purchased by my dad in the 1960's. I have refurbished it twice and still use it every year for camping trips. It works like new. Same with several single and dual mantle lights. These older units are being phased out, so best to get parts now before they become unavailable.

The newer units are nice, but I just can't part with these old units.

 

[Airborne Falcon]

This is an outstanding post and prep thread Jmurman . Wish there were more like this.

I have a couple of stoves - so this thread is a keeper - thanks again Jmurman.

Russ

 

[ofuzzy1]

Jmurman: Thanks for the posts.

Some other important safety tips aside from: "Don't cross the beams" Ghostbusters :elph:

NEVER pump when the unit is in use! Never pump the unit when you have a flame going!
Put your finger over the little hole on the top-middle-end button of the pump.

Be sure to vent the pressure in the unit before you start your first pump, then 10-20 pumps.
Someone told they didn't and they had about 40 pumps on the unit, it made an impressive volcano. :lkick2:

 

[The Freeholder]

AF beat me to it--Jmurman, you get a +1 for starting this thread. This is the kind of thing I was looking for when I showed up here.

 

[Claudia]

We have a Coleman two burner that we have had for several years, but have never used. Can anything go wrong with one of these from just sitting around in the box? Recently bought a one burner Coleman, too - didn't feel right with all the eggs in one basket. Are there any tools or equipment needed that aren't included with these things, other than fuel that is?

 

[Jmurman]

This is an outstanding post and prep thread Jmurman . Wish there were more like this.

I have a couple of stoves - so this thread is a keeper - thanks again Jmurman.

Russ

Thanks guys and gals...It was fun doing this.

I'm trying to decide on the topic for the next one.

Any thoughts?

 

[Lurking LRRP]

Excellent advice, I will get my duel fuel stove and lantern out tonight and check them. Hadn't thought about them since last time I used them.

Lurking LRRP

 

[Jmurman]

We have a Coleman two burner that we have had for several years, but have never used. Can anything go wrong with one of these from just sitting around in the box? Recently bought a one burner Coleman, too - didn't feel right with all the eggs in one basket. Are there any tools or equipment needed that aren't included with these things, other than fuel that is?

Claudia, I would take them out and half fill one and fire it up. Maybe make a pot of coffee on it...get used to using it. Then when you have the one figured out, take the fuel from it and transfer it to the other unit and do the same thing.

You do not want to have any surprises when shtf and you need it.

 

[ceeblue]

Thank you! There are a couple old two-burner gas stoves in the shed that don't work, on the old to-do list. It will be fun to play with them and then fire 'em up.