Easy, rewarding stove and lantern maintanance

[Mike]

This is for folks who use liquid gas fueled stoves - most especially Coleman stoves and lanters.

At least once per year, empty out your stove and lanter fuel tanks - don't save the fuel unless you filter it and put it in your lawn mower (which may give you lawn mower headaches later).

Pour in 1/4 of a tank or so of "HEET" (brand) or other alcohol based automotive fuel line cleaner. DO NOT use drug store alcohol because it contains water. Swirl the HEET around inside your stove/lantern and let it sit for 20 minutes, they empty the alcohol from your stove/lantern. You may be surprised at the solids bits and pieces that come out of your stove/lantern fuel tank.

Add some more HEET, pump up the tank, and then open the valves so that the alcohol runs through the unit and out thee portals in liquid form. Do not light it.

Pour out the remaining alcohol and add a mixture of liquid carburator cleaner and Coleman stove fuel. I use a blend of 20% carburator cleaner to 80% Coleman Fuel enought to fill the tank about 1/4 full. BTW, the carburator cleaner does include methyl alchohol.

Run this fuel mix in your stove/lantern, and burn it as you would normally if you were using the unit and run it until there is no fuel.

Then fill your lantern/stove with good, clean fuel and plan for your next camping trip.

It is common for stoves and lanterns to accumulate moisture inside the fuel tanks. When we pump morning air into the tanks or use them when it is very humid or raining, we pump moisture into the fuel tanks. Naturally, the pressure forces this moisture into water droplets that form in your fuel tank, and then drop to the bottom of your fuel tank.

In addition to the operational problems the water causes, it also sits in the bottom of your steel fuel tank causing it to rust. I have seen old stoves and lanterns with the bottoms rusted out FROM THE INSIDE. Now you know how that happens.

After awhile, you notice that your stove/lantern is hard to get going, spitting and getting ornery. If you follow the above advise, you can fix a lot of that problem and add a few decades to the life of your stove/lantern

[West Texan]

Re: Easy, rewarding stove and lantern maintanance

Good advice Mike. Never thought about pumping in humidity.

[tplife]

Re: Easy, rewarding stove and lantern maintanance

If you read Coleman's recommendations regarding stove and lantern maintenance, you'll notice they instruct you to empty the fuel tank after your trip is over. There's no reason to discard the old fuel - it has a 2 year shelf life after opening. Just empty the tank back into the coleman fuel can after your trip is over using the filter with the screen in it (that's what it's designed for). The Coleman Fuel can doesn't have a coating inside, and as Coleman Fuel contains no additives or detergents, and has a lower volatility,it has a long shelf life and won't clog your generator. If your Coleman Fuel cans rust up easily because of your climate, buy a can of Automotive Undercoating at your local supply joint and spray the outside of the can with it, then label the can so there's no confusion while you're lookin' for your jug of moonshine. While water has a higher specific gravity than Coleman Fuel, and would sit on the bottom if you had a lot of it, you won't add enough to clog your lantern or slow the proper operation of your lantern by the miniscule amount that's in the air when you pump it up.

From Coleman:

With a liquid fuel lantern, transfer as much fuel as possible out of the fuel tank and back into the fuel can to prevent a lacquer buildup on the tank's fuel tube. Keep in mind that storing a liquid fuel appliance with fuel in the tank can eventually cause a buildup on the fuel tube, which restricts fuel flow to the generator and burner.

With a liquid fuel stove, transfer as much fuel as possible out of the fuel tank and back into the fuel can to prevent a lacquer buildup on the tank's fuel tube. Keep in mind that storing a liquid fuel appliance with fuel in the tank can eventually cause a buildup on the fuel tube, which restricts fuel flow to the generator and burner.

[Mike]

Re: Easy, rewarding stove and lantern maintanance

Thanks for the post TP. Very informative. I suppose you could/should empty the fuel from the tanks, but realistically I don't do it. Funny thing... I thought one of the reasons for using Coleman fuel was to avoid the gasoline additives that turn to varnish

One of the concerns I have about fuel from a pressure tank is that it would probably have some moisture in it. I do filter my fuel through a paper towel in hopes that it might absorb water from the fuel, but it probably does not

[tplife]

Re: Easy, rewarding stove and lantern maintanance

You're right Mike, in that using unleaded gasoline introduces issues into the lanterns and stoves - after about a month the fuel begins to seperate into its detergents, oxygenators, and octane boosters and this can create havoc on generator tubes and is why Coleman recommends only using white gas when absolutely necessary...and this for their Dual-Fuel products! I find it a lot cheaper to empty my lanterns out after use rather than buying generators due to fuel-in-storage issues. I like to keep two 33-oz MSR fuel bottles full of Coleman Fuel for refilling in camp. They also have no coating inside and are great for camping.

[soapboxpreacher]

Re: Easy, rewarding stove and lantern maintanance

Wont heet dry the rings and so on up?

[Mike]

Re: Easy, rewarding stove and lantern maintanance

Wont heet dry the rings and so on up?

Hmm.. maybe, but I have not had any trouble. I am not suggesting running Methanol (HEET) in your stove all the time; put it in the tank, give it a swirl, pour it out, fill your tank 1/4 with enough gas and carburetor cleaner mix to run your stove for a few minutes to clean out the generator, etc.

You only have to do this every couple of years or so.

My stove was sputtering and had flare-ups to the point that I was about to retire my old faithful Coleman single burner 508 stove. So the effects of long-term use of HEET and Carb Cleaners to remove water and carbon build up was the least of the worries. The process breathed new life into the stove, that is for sure.

Now, it runs as good as new; maybe even better than new.

[amckenna]

Re: Easy, rewarding stove and lantern maintanance

Reviving this old but useful thread. I've now seen the above tips about using HEET to clean out the fuel lines. Sounds like a plan and I hope to do this, as I have been using unleaded in my dual fuel 414 for a few years now, and the generator seems to need servicing as the flame is yellow. I also plan to change back to Coleman fuel and want to give this thing the proper clean it deserves.

As I'm sure many have figured out, the newer tanks are challenging to empty all the way--they have a tube that protects from overfilling but this also means it's hard to empty properly, especially if one follows the instructions to fill with HEET, empty once, fill again, etc. I assume this could be easily accomplished with a siphon perhaps? I have tried to pull off the valve assy entirely, but it's in there really tight and I've had no luck even after using some PB Blaster (and I don't have a access to a vice grip...).

Any thoughts/suggestions would be appreciated!