coleman stove

[drdale]

I have an old Coleman stove. It looks like a model 413C or 4136. It is pretty rusty.

I replaced the copper mechanism that goes in the fuel tank, but not the metal pipe that goes to the back distribution piping.

I follow the instructions of putting the lever down to light and after a minute lever up and turning on.

It takes a long time for the flame to go from a tall yellow flame down to a short blue flame. Does not turn all blue for a long time and even then puts a lot of soot on the pans.

Any advice?

Dale

[a65hoosier]

Re: coleman stove

Dale

I have a Coleman 413d model that I regularly use when car camping. It was manufactured from 1950-1953. I completely restored it and now looks and runs like a champ. The nice thing about these old stoves are they can be taken apart and parts are still readily available. I have also brought quite a few old Coleman fuel lanterns back to life. Your model was produced in the late 40's and has cast iron burners. None of this is difficult to fix, but there are several steps/safeguards one must follow. Here is a pic of mine getting ready for action this past summer:







I can give you some basic information and tips to your question here, but for more detailed information on fixing your stove (and access to PARTS), I would suggest you sign up to "The Coleman Collectors Forum"...http://www.colemancollectorsforum.com/. They have many articles and threads that will give you specific instructions on troubleshooting and repairing your stove. Utilize it. That site also provides a link for ordering parts for your stove. Good group of folks on that forum and the vendor providing parts is good also.

My first suggestions involves the fuel tank and general safety precautions. That is an old stove and the seals become brittle and stuck from varnish/debris over time.

1. Ensure that the fuel cap seals tightly. You may need to replace the fuel cap seal.

2. Make sure that the check valve works properly (this is inside the tank). When pumping up the tank, does the pump knob stay down after taking your thumb off the hole? Check valves, and the little ball inside the valve can be cleaned to get it unstuck, but removing a check valve requires some tools/skills.

3. Have you cleaned/flushed the fuel tank completely to get rid of any gunk inside? I use denatured alcohol along with some bb's clean the inside of a gunky tank. Pour alcohol into fuel tank, shake it well, wait, shake some more, wait, and dump it out (count your bb's first to make sure you get them all out). Repeat until the fluid comes out as clean colored as you put in.

4. Once the fuel tank is clean, the fuel cap seals, and the check valve is working properly, then move to the "back distribution piping". Take a small brush or other object (this is easier if you remove the "back distribution piping" from the stove) and make sure no debris is in this piping. Spiders love to live back in these cavities and their webs will clog up the system. Lack of air will cause the stove to burn with a yellow flame.

5. After you've cleaned this area, remove the fuel tank and the generator (the long rod "the metal pipe" attached to the fuel tank that goes across the burner and into the back distribution piping) from the stove. Put some clean Coleman fuel in the tank and pump up the tank to pressurize it. Find a place outside in the yard and away from anything flammable. Point the generator rod away from you. Turn the lever down to the "light" position and turn on the black knob on the tank (the main knob) on. You SHOULD, after a moment, see and hear fuel "spitting" out of the end of the generator. Turn the lever UP and the generator should stop "spitting" fuel and the fuel should come out as a fine mist. (Lever down to light, lever up for run).

IF no fuel comes spitting out of the generator or IF it does not mist finely, then the generator needs to be replaced. You can easily purchase another generator for this stove model at the link I provided above. They are fairly inexpensive - if everything has been cleaned...then my gut guess would be that you need a new generator.

Good luck. If you need some additional help, I can try to help here or the folks at the The Coleman Collectors Forum will certainly help. They'll go crazy over a model 413c due to it's vintage status. Let us know how it goes.

[bluestar99]

Re: coleman stove

All the above, is excellent advise. I have a small collection of Coleman stoves. Usually they can be cleaned up and at most replace the fuel cap gasket and the pump gasket can be re softened with Needsfoot oil. I rarely find a generator that does not work after a minor cleaning. After I get a tank to where I think it is ready to use, I pump it to full pressure. Take it outside and point it down wind. Open the fuel knob and you should have a 6 ft stream of fuel shooting out. If not you either have a clog or the tank or the tank is not holding pressure.
If this fails, buy another stove. Unless the stove is in excellent condition or it was a family heirloom it costs less to buy a new(old) stove then the new parts to fix the old one. Basic used stoves can be had for less then 10 bucks all day long.

[Mike]

Re: coleman stove

Sounds like you have fuel going through the stove which is good. The comments above are all good including cleaning the entire fuel line and making sure that the gasket on the fuel cap and the fuel pump are holding pressure.

The next thing you can do is simple - and a pretty common part of using a Coleman stove especially in cold weather. Consider priming the stove. With a COLD stove that is not lighted: sprinkle about a cap full of Coleman fuel on the COLD burners. Light the fuel. Let it burn down to just about gone, then open up the stove fuel Knob so that fuel goes into the stove as you would normally run it.

Usually, you will have a blue flame and excellent flame control at this point. You will need to go through all the other steps like burning the stove with the leaver up for 60 seconds and pumping the fuel tank. Then point the fuel lever down, etc.

[a65hoosier]

Re: coleman stove

The next thing you can do is simple - and a pretty common part of using a Coleman stove especially in cold weather. Consider priming the stove. With a COLD stove that is not lighted: sprinkle about a cap full of Coleman fuel on the COLD burners. Light the fuel. Let it burn down to just about gone, then open up the stove fuel Knob so that fuel goes into the stove as you would normally run it.

Good idea Mike! The cold mass of those heavy cast iron burners on that particular stove take a while to heat up, slowing the proper vaporization of fuel.

I usually run the flame of a grill lighter for a time along the generator of my stove to heat it up some prior to lighting, but I like your priming idea better. Not sure why I haven't done that before as it would also heat the generator at the same time. That...and I won't go through as many grill lighters in a season. :he: Thanks for the tip!