Hi Y'all, I broke out my Coleman Peak 1 Model 400a after almost 20 years of storage and tried to light it, with fresh fuel, as we are going camping next week. I think I overfilled it. When I pumped it up, fuel was squirting out the center hole on the pump! This I've never seen before and think something is wrong. Any ideas why this would happen?
Sounds like the non return valve at the bottom of the pump has stuck / jammed open. The Coleman design uses a simple ball bearing that the pressure inside the tank pushes onto a conical seat to prevent the fuel doing exactly what you have experienced. Dust, spiders web, dried out fuel or rust could all be responsible. BUT the primary seal at the bottom of the pump is made when you screw the pump shaft jack down at the end of pumping. Was the fuel flowing out of that hole after you screwed the pump rod back down? Regards John
Hi, It is a possibility that the Coleman NRV has gone bad and will have to be replaced. These NRVs don't go bad very often and some have found if they soak the NRV the ball bearing will loosen up making the NRV usable again. You can also check the Coleman collectors forum about stuck NRVs they have some pretty good suggestions. http://www.colemancollectorsforum.com/ You can check with Mike @ old Coleman parts because he does have the replacement NRV for your stove. www.oldcolemanparts.com I hope this helps. Cheers, Norman
@PurpleFlash I forgot to say welcome to CCS. I was looking for a cut away picture of the non return valve that I know is on this forum somewhere but so far no joy. I did find this post which shows the components of a coleman pump in pictures 7 & 8. Hope you find it useful. Regards John
Thanks Jeopardy and techguy58. I will have to try it again. I think when I screwed it down, the gas squirting stopped. but as you said, it shouldn't have been squirting in the first place, so I think something is wrong then with the non Return Valve. I assume I will either have to get it unjammed or replaced? Are they easy to replace?
Remove the fuel from the tank. Remove the pump and the pump stem rod. Spray carb cleaner into the pump tube and allow to soak a few hours. Drain the tank of the carb leaner and flush the tank with a 1/4 cup of Coleman fuel. Drain that out, reinstall the pump stem and the pump and add 1 cup of fuel to the tank and see if it will work. Sometimes fuel can leave a hard residue inside the NRV that prevents the steel ball from operating correctly. Repeat as needed.
Found it. Thanks to Knight84 we have a clear view of how these valves work here. @HercL4D2 's suggestion of squirting some carb cleaner down the pump tube is probably the best way to attack this problem. Regards John
the air pump on a Coleman has a tube that goes very close to the top of the tank / fount . so unless you have damage to parts , a faulty check valve should not let fuel out unless very over full of fuel . kerry
Hiya Purple Flash, I fixed a friend's stove that had this problem. Obviously, I did not try lighting it up. I have the good fortune to own a Coleman NRV removal tool. This works very well to easily remove the NRV for inspection and cleaning. Unlike Optimus and Primus NRV's, there is no rubber pip to fail. As described above there is a small steel ball, which can get stuck, and needs to be released. If you can borrow a Coleman NRV tool, that would be good. I think you can buy them from Old Coleman Parts, and you can buy replacement NRV's too. There must be Coleman stove collectors in your state who can perhaps lend you the tool? Good luck Simon Foxxx New Zealand
As others have already said, this will happen if the check-valve is stuck open. I removed the pump and manual valve stem. Filled the tube with lacquer thinner and let it soak overnight. That is all it took to get it working. Try not to spill, it can mess up the paint job a little. You don't need to add fuel to test check valve. Just pump it up good, and before you lock the manual valve keep your thumb or finger on the hole and if the pump stays down you might be good. As Kerry mentioned, no fuel should ever be coming out the pump tube unless the stove is over-filled or well tilted.
Hi all, Thanks for all your help! Everyone's comments were helpful. I did soak the check valve without removing it in Carb Cleaner and It worked! After rinsing it with Coleman Fuel ( some small bits black crap came out with the rinse), I was able to light the stove just fine! The simmer adjustment works fine! The blue flame pulsates a bit, so I'm assuming maybe the generator needs work, but the stove does work well enough for us to use on our camping trip! One more question, while running the stove the tank gets heated up some. I can't remember if this is normal. Just want to make sure it is safe to use?
The fuel tank/fount will heat up a bit and this is normal so unless you notice anything else there shouldn't any worries.
Run it longer than a few minutes, before your trip, to ensure it is really better. The pipes should get cleaner after running, too.
Thanks Techguy and all. Got it packed and ready to go. Tomorrow I won't need it, but once we get to the campsite, I'll fire it up and let it run for a good while. We also are bringing my Optimus Backpacker clone as a second burner and my Peak 1 Lantern, both of which still work fine. I can't wait to play with my toys again!
Just like the Svea 123s, these stoves have their own unique "chugging" sound when their heated up and running. Music to my ears!
