I have a 500 that the air/fuel knob that you turn to light and burn, is very difficult to turn from one to the other. Other than that it runs great. Has anyone else had this problem, does anyone have fix? Thanks!
It not only happens to the 500 but the 502's. Seems that Coleman plumbing relies much on the brass which with continued tightening squeezes the spindle that it sometimes becomes hard to turn. I noticed on my 502 that I could not find any packing to seal those spindles. Its just my observation. Ron
Hey John, Mine are all like that. I would loosen it but that would mean a tear down of the stove to get to the packing nut to do that. So, I just live with it since I don't fire mine up all the time, only occasionally. Good luck, sam
Hey Ron & Sam, thank you, do you think the packing nut is too tight? I dont mind tearing her down. I just didnt know what the cure would be. Good to hear its a relatively common problem.
The packing nut is too tight but most likely too tight because it will leak if not. The packing should be replaced it this case. Most old Colemans I bet are running with their factory packings. Something new stove makers should look at. Jeff
The teardown to get to this is one jamb nut and 2 screws. Super simple. I highly advise against attempting to replace this packing unless it's a last resort. The small diameter and age can make this operation extremely risky. I destroyed two similar assemblies on old 520s. If you break it, you would most likely have to make a new one as these are pretty rare parts. I have never had to replace one on a 500 and they may not be as bad since they are isolated from the heat that the similar assembly on a 520 endures. I recommend loosening the packing nut, and adding a small bit of graphite packing to the top of what's already there. If someone has a better way, PLEASE, let me know, I have a couple 520,530,523s that need this packing reworked and they've been sitting since I destroyed the last one, awaiting a miracle solution. I recommend defueling it completely, but if not, remember to leave the fuel cap loose if there is fuel in it. If not, it'll start squirting out of the fuel tube as soon as you release the jamb nut. Don't reseal the cap until the fuel line is tightened onto the valve body. I'm very interested to hear how this goes, so keep us posted. Mike
I have a way but it is not simple. I have spares so I dare do this. The problem with most is the graphite packing holds the whole lever in like glue. The 200 uses the same part for the 520... The 500 is not as common. Jeff
The only success I've had on really stuck ones, is to use a dental pick to slowly scrape out the old stuff while not damaging the brass. Pretty time consuming. And that was after the risky maneuver of straightening the spindle enough to get the nut off. Used an old graphite exhaust donut seal and crushed it for the fibered graphite in it. Repacked the loose stuff around the spindle as tightly as I could, reinstalled the nut and tightened until I felt some resistance while rotating the spindle. It worked very well, but took about 3 hours. Works like new though. Looking for a better answer. Mike
I loosened the nut about 3/4 of a turn and that really worked well. I bet graphite paste would do a pretty good job if you needed it Toonsgt...
Before you pick out the old graphite back off the nut drop some 3 in 1 oil on the graphite tighten to where its just touching the graphite and hit with a blowtorch rotate your knob tighten the nut hit with the blowtorch again then repeat a couple of times. I do it all the time on Coleman lanterns. Ohh drain the fuel first, and take off the plastic knob so it does not melt. The heat and oil help to soften the graphite so you can repack it (hopefully not as tight this time).
