Gun store Shooting Locations It is currently Thu Feb 06, 2025 1:31 am



Rules WGO Chat Room Gear Rent Me NRA SAF CCKRBA
Calendar




Reply to topic  [ 13 posts ] 
 Coleman Camping Stove 
Author Message
Site Supporter
User avatar
Site Supporter

Location: King County
Joined: Thu Oct 16, 2014
Posts: 4012
Last night I pulled out an old Coleman white-gas stove I got from my grandfather. I quick search shows it's from the mid 30's to early 50's. I haven't touched it ever, and I've had it for probably 10-15 years.

When trying to pressurize it, I discovered the seals are all fabric. I oiled them up heavily, wiped off the excess. Cleaned the crud off them a bit. Also cleaned the seal on the copper cap.

I had to twist the lever that goes up/down quite a few times to get it to rotate.

The tank still had some fuel in it, so I said fuckit. Took it outside with a fire-extinguisher and gave it a shot.

Damn I'm impressed.
Image


Mon Nov 05, 2018 5:47 pm
Profile
Site Supporter
User avatar
Site Supporter

Location: I-5 /512
Joined: Thu Dec 8, 2011
Posts: 15489
Real Name: chris
:thumbsup2:

my dad has one, i'd like to grab it someday

_________________
Image


Mon Nov 05, 2018 5:54 pm
Profile
Site Supporter
User avatar
Site Supporter

Location: 40 acres of 2A sanctuary
Joined: Sun Apr 7, 2013
Posts: 919
I had a 3 burner like that with a folding stand. I got a kit to convert it to propane. Worked great.


Mon Nov 05, 2018 5:58 pm
Profile
Site Supporter
User avatar
Site Supporter

Location: Shelton
Joined: Sun Nov 17, 2013
Posts: 5860
I have a couple of those but not quite that old.
They're the old stand by.


Mon Nov 05, 2018 5:59 pm
Profile
Site Supporter
User avatar
Site Supporter

Location: Maple Valley, WA
Joined: Thu Mar 17, 2011
Posts: 9428
Real Name: Young
Found one from likely the 1980’s in a pile of giveaway in an apartment building while visiting a “nameless” tenant that had probably way over the legal limit on things. That can blow up.

Anyways, took it home as a souvenir and tested it out. Was leaking fuel like a stuck pig but only needed a little tightening on the nut for the fuel system and worked like a charm.

Simple and built like a tank. Even had it in the original box. Used it for a few years and handed it down to a new camper.


Mon Nov 05, 2018 6:01 pm
Profile
Site Supporter
User avatar
Site Supporter

Location: Kentucky
Joined: Fri Jan 16, 2015
Posts: 11574
I left mine at Mom’s house when I moved out here. Dad bought it sometime in the 60s and it’s been used on scout trips ever since. Never fails to light up.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

_________________
You may be right, I may be crazy, but it just may be a lunatic you're looking for


Mon Nov 05, 2018 6:07 pm
Profile
Site Supporter
User avatar
Site Supporter

Location: Deckerville
Joined: Wed Jan 13, 2016
Posts: 2964
Real Name: Rob
Oil up the seals and good for another ten years likely.

Even the new ones are good and take abuse and keep on working.

White gas is really dangerous.

_________________
“The Democrats are playing you for a political chump and if you vote for them, not only are you a chump, you are a traitor to your race.”-Malcolm X


Mon Nov 05, 2018 6:23 pm
Profile
In Memoriam
User avatar
In Memoriam

Location: Mukilteoish
Joined: Sat Mar 26, 2011
Posts: 11589
I have a 20 year old one like that that uses propane, but used to have an older one from the 50's or 60's my Dad gave me that used 'Coleman Fuel' (unleaded gas)
Prefer the propane version.
The white gas model requires a lot of pumping and fucking around with.
But it's great for squirting flaming gasoline on ants.

_________________
NRA Endowment Member. How did they know my member was well endowed?


Mon Nov 05, 2018 6:44 pm
Profile
Site Supporter
User avatar
Site Supporter

Location: King County
Joined: Thu Oct 16, 2014
Posts: 4012
I have one of these 3 burner propane guys that is great. The problem is in freezing temperatures it loses pressure. That's where white-gas wins.
Image


Mon Nov 05, 2018 6:48 pm
Profile
User avatar

Location: Union Gap
Joined: Sun Mar 27, 2016
Posts: 1801
Real Name: Randall Knapp
I have six of those stoves. The stove in the photo is a mismatch. That old round tank would have come on a stove with cast iron burners. My guess is that the original rusted up and stuck so he picked up a newer model. Keep looking and you will probably find another tank so you can have two tanks ready when in hunting camp.


Tue Nov 06, 2018 12:13 am
Profile
Site Supporter
User avatar
Site Supporter

Location: The banana belt of MT
Joined: Wed Dec 30, 2015
Posts: 8703
Real Name: Brian
That's very cool! Never seen a stove that old! And your grandfathers to boot! That much more special!

A buddy gave this Donut design latern to me in 2014, I did the same, little bit of oil brought life and compression back to the seal.
Note the design, fuel sitting OVER the flame.. It's perfectly safe though. They did change the design later after 1950.
ImageImage
Image

_________________
"I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me."- Hunter S. Thompson


Tue Nov 06, 2018 4:24 am
Profile
Site Supporter
User avatar
Site Supporter

Location: Bonney Lake
Joined: Tue Dec 2, 2014
Posts: 689
Real Name: Jon
We had one of those for quite a while. Awesome stove. Finally bit the dust a few years ago. Called Coleman and they honored the warranty and sent me a new stove. Not sure if they still do but I was impressed.


Tue Nov 06, 2018 6:44 am
Profile
Site Supporter
User avatar
Site Supporter

Location: Nisqually Valley
Joined: Wed Oct 5, 2016
Posts: 4982
Interesting tidbit about the fuels used for these type of appliances.


Credit to "Steven W. Siler, Firefighter/Chef" for the info.
Quote:
These fuels are all related in that all of them are of similar boiling points and are distilled from petroleum from the same 'cut'. Gasoline is more broad in the 'cut' and has a wider range of materials in it. It also has additives that make it store less well. Coleman Fuel is a particular brand of the more generic product, white gas. White gas is gasoline without the additives in it yet, and may or maynot be a broad cut like regular gasoline.
They all have some very nice properties as a storage fuel. They also have some profound differences. Coleman fuel doesn't age and varnish up the way gasoline does. White gas is not as clean a cut as Coleman Fuel, but I've not done long duration storage tests on it. It might, or might not, store as well.
I've used several year old Coleman fuel with no problems at all. Gasoline more than 1 year old is marginal. Store it for a couple of years and it will smell of varnish and have odd deposits on the bottom of the can. All of these fuels are of a moderately high vapor pressure,so they can puff up cans in a hot trunk. Gasoline does this more, since it has more 'light' hydrocarbons. In some cold climates, these can even include Butane!
You will need a fuel bottle that can take some internal pressure if you intend to store gasoline or white gas fuels in a hot car trunk. I've done a multiyear test with Coleman Fuel in a Sigg fuel bottle in a Honda. It worked well. I've not tested Unleaded insimilar circumstances. If you do store gasoline, use summer gas. It has a higher boiling point and less light hydrocarbons. These fuels burn very cleanly. They are easy to light. They evaporate readily, so spills are to some extent self policing. The fuels are cheap, and readily available.
Unleaded gasoline is about the most commonly available fuel you could want. Stoves and lanterns to use them are available from many manufacturers just about everywhere. So why not just use gasolines or Coleman Fuel as your camping and preparedness fuel of choice? Why not, indeed. It would be a reasonable choice for most people. The stoves and lanterns do require pumping, which some folks find a bother. They must be refilled with a liquid, so you have a chance for leakage and spillage. Getting them lit when cold can takea while and does require a bit of a knack, especially for the lanterns. (You wait and wait and just about when fear has led you to believe that the lantern will blow up any minute, the gas finally reaches the mantle and lights, often with a startling POOF!)
For folks with no or little mechanical aptitude, Propane or Butane are better choices. If you have low availability of unleaded gasoline (such as someone living in a country where leaded gasoline still is the most common) or want a safer fuel in storage and don't mind the esthetics of use quite as much, then Kerosene is a good choice. For most folks, though, Unleaded or White Gas is the fuel of choice, and Coleman Fuel is just about the best brand. Once per year, about August, I cycle my stored gasoline. The old stuff gets dumped into the car (easy with a gas car, a bit trickier but still do able with a Diesel car). Then I buy a new fresh 5 gallons worth for the next year. The gas, being above the 2 gallon limit imposed by my home insurance for garage storage, goes into a detached shed away from the house. On a general use basis, I use Coleman Fuel. When fishing or camping, the clean burning of it, the lower smell, and the general convenience of a fuel that treats my appliances well is worth the added cost to me. In an emergency, I'd use my stored gasoline. There are an increasing number of stoves these days that can burn your choice of {unleaded, white gas, kerosene}, so the issue of which fuel to choose for storage is a bit less coupled to stove choice.
If you have a gasoline car, I'd opt for Unleaded Gasoline and a 'Dual Fuel' stove/lantern that uses unleaded and improve the storage system by putting the fuel in an insulated container like an ice chest (sans ice). The goal is to cut the peak temperature experienced by the stored fuel. The insulation of the ice chest would help do this. Coleman fuel is my emergency stove and lantern storage fuel of choice for all things other than my present car, where I use Kerosene, since I can run my Diesel on that in a pinch. For the average person driving a gasoline car, I'd use Unleaded gasoline in a Sigg or MSR type fuel bottle and appliances made for white gas/ColemanFuel/Unleaded.


Tue Nov 06, 2018 1:19 pm
Profile
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Reply to topic   [ 13 posts ] 

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: brad.davis3 and 62 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum



Rules WGO Chat Room Gear Rent Me NRA SAF CCKRBA
Calendar


Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group
Designed by ST Software for PTF.
[ Time : 0.099s | 14 Queries | GZIP : Off ]