Just got a 550B Peak 1 from ebay. Ran Coleman gas through it - tested fine. Didn't have wrench or 2nd generator. How do I know if it has the gas or kero generator by looking at it? I only have citronella lamp oil to test. What is the preheat process? (no booklet) Why is the tank interior coated pink?
There is a groove in the kerosene generator nut. There is not groove for the gas generator nut. Do not use citronella lamp oil. See this Link Jeff
Chances are that the 1st owner never changed the generator from the factory installed GAS unit. Think that the KERO unit will have a smaller jet and perhaps give a weak flame if ran on gas?? The PINK stuff, as far as I suspect, is corrosion protection. No stove user wants rust . As for preheat. Not totally sure for this model, but I have used alcohol in the burner near the generator to preheat others. Hope this helps, AR
Hey, Ted, Jeff is right. If you install the kero generator, do NOT use anything but K-1 water-white kerosene in your Coleman multifuel. If you do so, it will run nicely for you, and will perform very well. If you decide to "experiment" with other "fuels", you WILL clog the generator, and will then be out buying another new one!! I GUARANTEE this will happen to you, if you don't use good, clean kerosene in this stove! How do I know?? Don't ask!! 8-[ 8-[ Yes, you do need to get a proper kerosene generator for you Coleman 550. Any good camping store should be able to help you, or you can order one directly from Coleman. I don't have the part numbers at hand, as I'm not home right now. But, if you need them, then give me a shout next week. My Brother is actually at our place, right now, house-sitting. But, he wouldn't know a stove from a garden hose, and therefore, cannot be trusted to look up the proper info for you! By the way, we ALWAYS prime our 550's with priming paste, and they always start with a nice blue flame, for our efforts. Do not try Mautz Firepaste, though, as it's crap, as far as we're concerned! Optimus alcohol paste is great, if you can find it, or other such Meths pastes work well, too. We used one of our 550's, with kerosene, for most of our 3-month, 850 mile PCT trip, and it was very reliable and worthy. Good luck, have fun, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc
Hi Ted, welcome to CCS! It looks like the kerosene generator is Coleman part #550-2901. I checked and there are currently none listed on ePay. It runs $12.46 + shipping direct from Coleman. Good luck.
I have been priming mine with a piece of cotton ball soaked in methonal (yellow bottle Heet). the instructions do say to use paste though.
These come new with the pink coating. It is an epoxy-type coating used in many of the new coleman multifuel and dual fuel tanks these days. It will be interesting to see if, long-term, it was a good idea or not. As already mentioned, it is hard to prime with just alcohol because there is no dedicated priming pan and the alcohol just runs all over the place.
Wonder if a piece of fiberglass wick/braid tucked neatly under the vaporizer would do the trick?? Perhaps act like a sponge as long as it didn't shield and insulate the tube from its intended purpose. Someone handy with metal could tap out a kidney shaped priming dish and slide it into the heat reflector below the vaporizer tube. AR
By nut you mean at the burner end of the tube or tank end? The hex nut at tank end has no vertical or horizontal groove. The square nut at the burner end has nothing however 3/16" behind the square nut (tip) is a a groove encircling the tube. It looks like a joint where the long brass tube is fitted with a 3/16" cylindrical part that the square end connects to. I enlarged pictures at Campmor.com but couldn't see the difference. At least the kero generator is the cheaper of the two. There is a Coleman Outlet store near a relative's house. I can wait, if need be, to get one there. I guess if it was the wrong one it would have been apparent while burning. I'll search this site for pic's.
Ted, I also have a multifuel Coleman exponent. The nut that attaches the generator to the knob or controller (tank end) has a notch on each corner (kerosene) while the coleman fuel generator does not have a notch on it. I do have one of those but do not have the time to take a picture right now. Perhaps later. Ron
The groove is on the jam nut, it would be very obvious if it were there -- so you must have the gas generator. Either generator will work with Coleman fuel and indeed this stove is probably at its best running on Coleman, and the small cost savings in running kerosene is offset by the outragous cost of priming paste. Just my 0.014 EU.
Thanks Ron, Itchy, It is obvious that this is not a kerosene generator. The Outlet store only stocks the gas one and coleman kerosene at Walmart is $6. If I wind up ordering something online, I might throw in a few more dollars for the generator since the shipping should be combined. Other than that I'll postpone experimenting.
Hi all: I fully understand why our wonderful mates across the pond use kero. Cost of Coleman fuel, availability and lots of diesel operated vehicles etc. The states have been traditionally powered by gas and Europe and for that matter most of the world by kerosene. It was a simple matter of availability and cost. What I can't get through my thick head is why folks on the west side of the pond wish to use kero in a stove the has proven it's self to operate flawlessly with out ever needing a flettling or priming or "any" other fuel related problem when Coleman fuel is used. The dual fuel stoves were developed for the military for obvious reasons namely the military is deployed all over the world and never knows what type of fuel will be available on short notice.. These stoves are now available for public consumption because of Coleman's growing popularity across the pond. It is an issue of ease of manufacture. Since the 30's Coleman made kero stoves but these were strictly for the overseas and Canadian market. That's right they were not marketed or sold here for many years. And gas products were not normally sold there. Now that Coleman products are more popular overseas is makes sense to market a stove that will serve both markets. If you live in the States and own a gas Coleman why would one wish to improve on perfection. A stove that will never need the touch of a wrench. All most all of the Coleman product problems I have run into over the years is related to using something other than Coleman fuel. They market it for a reason. One of the major pluses of a Coleman is that most Coleman's made after the early thirties are instant light "no" priming no paste no meths no fuss or muss just light following the instructions and start cooking. If one wants a kero stove - buy one. Sorry did not mean to rant. Mike.. P.S. Maybe I should have made this a separate topic - oops... Ted; Welcome aboard!!!
Hi all, Welcome Ted, I find it easy to pre-heat the 550 by tilting the stove in the direction of the generator slightly so when you pour a little meths to pre-heat it will puddle under the gen. and give a good pre-heat. Actually you can do this by rotating the leg adjustment ring - such a clever invention I must admit. I use a 2:1 blend of red-dye k-1 and white k-1 I've been using it on all my stoves , doesn't seem to hurt and they run fine. Red-dye is only $3.45 / gal out of the pump here in NC so fairly cheap vs. the white K-1 at the local hardware for $8.45/gal. I dispense the red-dye k-1 into 5 gal containers and then filter it through coffee filters into smaller containers at home and then blend it with the white k-1 at 2 parts red-dye k-1 to one part white k-1. Speaking of white gas , I was at the local Ace Hardware this am and found this on sale - they only had 5 gallons so I got all of them Tom
Flivver, There may be a time when lighting it indoors might be wanted. I understand kerosene is safer. As far as why monkey around unnecessarily? Well - I have a warm home in the winter/cool in the summer, hot/cold, safe, running water, groceries and restaurants down the road, a comfortable bed... but I still want to sleep outside and eat caught fish or rehydrated slop and stink from sweat every once in a while. Soylent Green gets old after awhile. [That and Logan's Run were freaky movies back in the day.] Thanks for the welcome aboard. Ted
I do agree kerosene is still safer indoor (with proper ventilation). Have used kero stoves growing up (gravity feed into a wick) and they are pretty much reliable. Fuel cost - still reasonable.
