I would agree totally with Sam & Lance. That is the bluest flame I've ever seen from a 502. I have never had one do that. Always it had a tinge of yellow at the flame tips at best and I've been dabbling with 502s for many years. Whatever you did, can you pass that on here? And flivver had an excellent remark. True, Coleman stoves may not be the sexiest things but for reliablility and functionality, Coleman is very difficult at best to beat. I'm hard pressed to think of another marque that can do virtually everything reliably and well as good as Coleman. Granted, there will always be pros and cons to anything and everything. If one looks at it in the abstract and with an open mind, the above arguments are hard to beat. I am well aware of the ruggedness and reliability of the European stoves(Primus, Optimus, etc) and their reputation is well known, documented, legends in their own right and well respected. Just the main fact that their design has been copied around the world speaks volumes. And yes, esthetically pleasing to boot. I truly admire and respect kero stoves from around the world and those who are into them. I just find it pleasing to myself that there are those on this forum who can and do enjoy and play with American makes now and then plus seeing those few who do post showing their appreciation of them and wishing to learn more about them. Joe
Hi Joe, I did nothing special when I disassembled the stove except to clean the generator (removing the coil and cleaning rod, the manifold was just removed of rust that fell from the top plate burner. Reassembled it with a good seal on all threads. An of course fresh Coleman fuel . Noticeably faster cooking times so am using this as a regular for heating up water for a cuppa coffee. I love what you termed as the sound of at turbine jet it makes. I guess I just got lucky with this stove Ron
Joe: I am a big Coleman 500 fan!! I don't backpack anymore so the size is not so important. Aside from dependability the fact that they are designed without having any bits to lose is an important factor in their longevity and durability. I "ditto" you re the traditional brass font stoves. The only negative thing I can say about the 502 is the reflecting bowl tends to rust out to soon. It would sure be nice to have that part made from stainless. I wonder if it could be nickle plated for added effectiveness, longevity and protection? Gordon
Heya Gordon Maybe you, or Joe, or flivver knows about this. I've been under the impression that these "Centennial" Coleman single burners were stainless and brass. Still available on eBay. Anyone know for sure? Cheers, Gary
Gordon, I suppose you can nickel plate it, sandblast the metal before plating it. Or just apply a good coat of heat resistant paint from time to time. The 502 was really a good fettle, took me under 2 hours..pickling and cleaning the jet. I used one of my #89 drill bit to clean the jet and made sure no gunk was stuck inside as the aperture and the inner side was quite sooted. Ron
Ron: So nothing special about your fettle to get it to get such a blue flame? Amazing. Either you are right in stating that you were just lucky with this stove or you have a special touch when cleaning the generator and its parts! Gordon: There are many(not necessarily of this forum) who dearly love the 500s. I used to have (3) of them in my collection once upon a time but truth be told, they never held that much interest for me. I know they put out some serious heat for such a small stove and they lent themselves to cooking much better than the 502. And for such a plain jane stove, are nice looking too. And yes, those damned bowls on the 502 had a serious rusting problem. Don't know if it was because of the plating used from the factory or what. But I've never seen or heard of one completely rusting through. One could have it re-chromed or nickeled, I guess, but as you know, it will just turn blue from the heat and no guarantees that the plating will not burn/peel off like the factory job. As Ron states, probably for a user, it would be better to use a high temp silver paint. At least one could give it a quick re-application when needed and save a cherry plated bowl for display. Stainless steel would be nice. I'm sure a tad pricey too. Still, a thought. Gary: The Centennial sportster stove is really a 508/533 Coleman stove in sheep's clothing. The only thing brass are the fuel delivery parts. The fount is steel as are the upper plated parts. Nothing stainless steel on it. It is not a true 502. Those were only made from late '62 to '83. The 502A, that version that was painted red, was just like the Centennial stove. Nothing more. Again, not a true 502. The Centennial was designed for the Japanese market being as the Japanese love almost anything Coleman, especially if it was "commemorative" or "special edition". They pay big bucks for it over there and that's why Coleman always makes them for them, never for the domestic market. We Americans tend to be tight with a buck for something like that. Many of the Centennial stoves shipped over there were sent back. Many of them had such a poor job of plating on the fount that it was incredible. I had one that looked like someone had bead blasted it at the factory, left it with a rough finish then plated it. No shine or smoothness to it at all. There were others that they did have a shine to them but not with the same intensity as the old Colemans with nickel finish. All Coleman was really doing was giving them a dressed up 533 and charging more for it. If you look more closely at the picture you posted, note the finish on the fount. Dull. The fuel cap has a much better shine to it. Also, very few of those Centennials had that "brass" looking label on the fount as shown on the box. Just a Coleman label and perhaps an instruction label on the back side in Japanese. Given time, they might be a good collectible that just might be worth some money but that's just a guess. Joe
Gordon: I too am a hard core 500 fan. I believe it to be Coleman's best single burner non backing stove. The 502 is no slouch a great stove, but I like the wider stance and bigger grate as well as the extra weight of the 500. It makes a very stable platform for those big iron skillets. It's also pleasant to look at for a Coleman, nickel fount and I love the spiderweb/scalloped grate. Mike...
Mike: The scalloped "grate" is also a favorite feature of mine. Do you know if the change in grate from the scalloped to the round grate is the only change from the 500 to the 500a? The 500 is a real workhorse!! Once when the pressure regulator went on the fritz while camping in our pop-up trailer the two 500's I always carried came to the rescue. No problem in boiling 2 Gal. of water at a time for doing the dishes or making the coffee. Cooking pots and pans were also serviced without a problem. For morning breakfast two 500's under a griddle allowed me to churn out pancakes, cook eggs to order and fry up the bacon like a pro. Gordon
Gordon: The "A" had a larger fuel neck and cap as well as no hole through the manifold and other changes. The round grate is also found on the 500. Coleman did a lot of mixing / using up of old parts. Mike...
Hey Gordon, I have both the 500 and a 500a. At least on _my_ 500a, the filler cap is the regular size as opposed to the smaller filler cap on the 500. I guess those are the only differences other than maybe paint, depending on which one you have. There might be other physical differences, but seem to have the same manifold, etc. I really like my 500s. They are very nice and powerful and very reliable. Always a beautiful blue flame! And they always go with me on my car campouts! sam
Hello everyone! They moved the pump on the 500A as well. I must say if I had a choice between the 500 or 502 I would pick the 500. Not for heat output but like Mike and Gordon said wider stance and stable fact. On another note. Did they reuse the 501 tank for the 502. Most of the 501's I have seen, the pump is in a different place than the 502. Due to the control knob on the 502. I will have a look at my 501A and 501 and 502. My 502 has a label over the 501 label. Leading me to believe they reused the tank. But what about the pump placement? Cheers, Jeff
Jeff: Strange how I never noticed the position of the air pump and it's so obvious! Anyway, to answer your question to the best of my ability, yes, Coleman did re-use some 501 tanks when converting to the 502 set-up. That would explain why the pump is oriented towards the user as on Ron's and your 502 conversion. I can only speculate that when Coleman went full bore on the 502 production, the engineers redesigned the air pump to face the other way early on for whatever reason that they did. To answer those regarding the differences between the 500 & 500A, yes, scalloped grates on the 500, small fuel cap and the air pump opposite on the other side. The 500A used round grates, larger fuel cap like the 220 lanterns and placement of the air pump virtually next to the fuel fill. Now that was for the Wichita made 500 & 500A stoves. The Canadian 500A also had the round grate but the fuel fill and air pump on opposite sides like the 500, fuel fill also the large one. And yes, the 500 & 500A has a huge advantage over the 502 with its wider stance & heavier weight for cooking/boiling purposes, not to mention higher heat output and a good size fount. And super reliable as well. Just the gens are generally no longer available through normal sources but can still be found. Just expect to pay at least double for those of a 502, provided the old one can't be saved but then, those are very robust generators. More so than the 502 ones. For those who like to burn kero in these, just be prepared to clean the gens more often than those used strictly with white gas. A kero blend would be more ideal. But then most, if not all of you, already know that! Joe
Hey Joe you mentioned a blend of kero and white gas so in your opinion, what would be the best ratio for both mixtures? Ron
Sorry Ron. Forgot to say you did a great job on your 502. That graphite lube might be one of the tricks. Great fettle! I have a 502 with a 501 tank, but the pump is in a different place. I wonder if they only turned 501A tanks into 502's The 501A has the same label and pump position. So would be made into 502's easily. I am not 100% sure about that though. From what I heard about the 501 it sounds like they just smashed the stove after they removed the pump and check valve. Like you said Coleman wasted nothing. Coleman was busy during 1961 and 1962 that we know. Cheers, Jeff
Hi Ron: I have never personally done it so I couldn't tell you. All I know that there are some lantern collectors on the Coleman BBS that do that. Some of them are big on Kero, both Coleman made and the European makes and they have been dabbling with their white gas lanterns to make them run on kero in various proportions. And those same people have reported some success. Mainly that their lanterns burn brighter. What problems, if any, regarding the generators, I don't know. I also do know that they experimented with various gas tips to get a cleaner burning appliance. Click on this link: http://oldtownyucca.websitetoolbox.com/ Then look under "technical assistance" and you can find the topic(s) regarding kero conversions on lanterns. I don't know if they have ever tried it with stoves. Please remember that Coleman doesn't recommend anything other than the fuel recommended for their appliances and/or what their appliances were designed for. And you will be putting yourself at risk. Sorry if it sounds like I'm an old f**t but when it comes to playing with various fuels, one can never be too cautious. Good luck. Joe
Joe, I will check on the link when I get home. I did stumble on a site showing the.different aperture size of the jets on Coleman stoves and lanterns and apparently the size for kero and colemangas is the same .009 thou of an inch. For now my 502 runs happily on CG so I have no reason to go on kero but when I take this back to my country of birth, kero might be a more economical choice and knowing it will run on kero is a plus for the 502
Hey Jeff thanks! I never really took notice of the differences between 01's and 02's. As you have seen the flame is greatly improved and cook time is now up to par I should say and its no longer a simmer stove. I have been using it almost nightly to heat up some soup in no time at all. Clearing the jet was a breeze using the micro drill bits and may have helped improve the flame. Ron
Ron as i remember a ratio of 15-20 percent Coleman fuel to Kero is the optomin ratio. Why or how that sticks in my mind, Ehhhh, haven't a clue. When adding white spirits (non-aromatic paint thinner) to your kero, that is what a friend at BBL says is the best. Seeems to me i've done a mistake of adding kero to Coleman Fuel, and when i got over 80% kero had troubles lighting the stove. Worked fine until i hit that magic number. lance
Hi All, I'm just starting to fettle my first 502. Is the coil supposed to come out of the generator tube for cleaning? How do you do it? It has a decent deposit of gunk, but still fires up (with a low blue flame). Thanks, Yonadav
Hi Yonadav, yes the coil should come out free. But if it is gunked up, you can fashion a wire with a bent end like an L to pull it out gently. Ron
