News:

"The phone is a remarkably complex, simple device,
and very rarely ever needs repairs, once you fix them." - Dan/Panther

Main Menu

My last liquid fuel burning device, a Coleman 502-700 Camp Stove

Started by TelePlay, January 30, 2018, 04:26:30 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

TelePlay

After seeing dsk's hiking photos

     http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=8726.msg200469#msg200469

it got me to thinking about completing my collection of things that burn fuel to add a Coleman camp stove similar to my dual mantel lantern.

I never realized how many choices one has in camp stoves and then, the number of choices when looking at circa 1980 Coleman camp stoves. Seems like they had a few versions and changed the design every year or two.

Ended up settling on this 1979 Coleman 502-700 Sportster that came with its original (albeit a bit beat up) box and instruction book. Always a good sign that the item was taken care of when all the parts are there. Went for this version because it is just like my lantern, green tank, black plastic fuel valve and red tipped cleaning arm. Something about turning a round knob to turn on the fuel flow that appeals to me over the other Coleman designs. My lantern is an '81, my stove a '79. Close enough.

Paid $63 total which was well under the $155-165 they are getting for NOS identical stoves. Lot to chose from right now and if not trashed or for parts, sell starting at $60 and upward.

Came a few weeks ago and just got to it. Nothing to clean off of the outside. Still had about 1/2" of fuel in the tank so decided to pressurize the tank. Bummer, pump not working. Removed the pump to find the pump leather was dry and shrunk. Let it soak for 4 days in Neatsfoot oil, the recommended oil for the leather in these pumps, after a day or two, put a washer inside the leather cup to expand it outward and let it continue soaking to wet the leather and expand the cup.

Dried it off, stuck it back into the pump tube and it worked. 45 strokes later, it was lit with the old fuel that came in the tanks, quite a surprise to me. No yellow flame or dirt sparks even when banging about the tank. That was a quick restoration.

First images are the lantern now working on low and then high, then it's eBay listing picture, then the eBay listing and just for grins, the NOS lantern that sold for $160 or so.

AL_as_needed

A lot to be said for something that has sat for the balance of thirty years with fuel in it that fires and runs like it were put away yesterday.  Excellent companion piece to the Coleman lanterns. Also really shows how these and the lanterns work and pre-heat their fuel in the burner, well thought out little pieces of equipment. Wounder if there is a Dietz equivalent? (other than the modern production millennium lanterns)

We will all have to see how long this remains the "last" of the collection  ;)
TWinbrook7

dsk

Nice stove, a little bit heavy for backpacking, but a great emergency/car/boat -stove.

Stoves are my other hobby, OK, I have some lamps, but stoves are the important part of this. When I was about 10 my cousin and I visited an in-official waist dump, and I found a rusty box with some strange components, and brought it home. It was a Norwegian "Høvik Verk # 41" kerosene stove in working order.   My father told me; My mother used such one in the summer cooking outdoors when it was to hot to use the wood fired range in the kitchen.   We fired it up, it was working with no trouble and I was "sold".

It has been a few stoves since that, when I met my wife, she did not like to have stoves all around on display, so I kept a few in the man-cave.   I still have the first one, but my last project is seen in another excellent forum for stovies, you may see on thread here:
https://goo.gl/QDmXWE ( dead link 12-26-21 )

dsk