Folks, As an American I'm going to have to guess that this is the right forum for this post. . . . In mid-1980's my folks gave me a Coleman 400A Camp Stove. Very nice. I'd picked it out of a Campmor catalog. It went motorcycling across the USA and back, got pulled out every so often after that. At some point, probably after living in a damp garage (the feet picked up some surface corrosion) I noticed the stove now had one setting--FULL BLAST! The black adjustment lever did nothing. For example, on recent camping trip, a full tank went out in 40-50 minutes. That made cooking bacon quite an adventure, and good aerobic exercise to boot. The stove has never leaked. I am guilty of leaving fuel in it all the time. It never seemed to do anything to the stove, and the fuel always burned like...white gas...on demand. I burn only white gas. I tried tightening the nut on the Flame Adjustment. No change. I undid the nut and pulled the lever and the little brass nut the lever sticks through. There was a little crud at the tip of the lever as it pokes through the brass fitting. I wiped it off with my finger and reassembled the fitting. No change. So it seems to work fine, except the feature I like the most--the ability to simmer real low--has vanished. The interweb offers many opportunities to replace the trusty stove, but I'd like to fix it. I searched for Flame Adjustment issues here and Googlewhere, but all I seem to find is quite the opposite problem--blocked generators that need to be cleaned or replaced. So, Fettlers, any thoughts? Will a new generator do the trick here, even though the thing burns like a jet engine? Yours in stoving, Cinematic
Just had a look at my 505b which is a similar stove. The generator connects to the control box with the black lever and a small wire goes to the jet. This is the part that will of worn. I think you may have trouble finding parts
First of all welcome to the forum. OK, the difference between the 400A and the 400B is only the flame control lever (black). The 400B is still fully adjustable with the main valve(red). Full left off, full right HI, and down LOW. The cavet here is to give the flame time to stablize between adjustments, because the valve is up- stream of the generator.
I have a 400 and a 400A. The only differance between the 2 seems to be the paint color. I've had the same problem. It's like Geeves said the cleaning tip is worn and no longer able to control the flame size. Replacing the generator will fix the problem. I purchased a new generator from the Coleman website only about5 months ago. I'm sure they still have these in stock. They have a good parts department and stock parts for stoves and lanterns much older then the 400 series stoves. Ray
I checked my records and the generator I purchased was part number 508-5891. It was a little expensive at $18 plus s&h but I feel it was worth it because these are great running stoves. The Coleman 400 and 508 series started as 2 valve stoves with good control from full blast to nice blue flame simmer and ended as a one valve system which in my opinion don't perform as well on low flame. If you order from the Coleman website you may want to pick up an extra fuel cap. You can always replace the fuel cap washer yourself if the old one hardens up but you have to buy the washer and then burn the old one out with a torch which usually burns the paint off too and you end up in both cases the same way with a brass colored cap with new washer. Good luck, Ray
So the consensus seems to be: replace the generator, and all will be well. I've not yet seen this online, but I presume it includes the little black lever? If not I'll have to find out how exactly that is seated in the brass fitting--there seems to be some variability there. Thanks, Stovers! --Cinematic
Yes. The part number 508-5891 is called generator and regulator assembly and includes the black lever valve. It's all one piece and easy to put on. Ray
Generator on order. I look forward to getting the 400A back in full working order. tx all once again, Cinematic
Generator arrived. Work of 15 minutes to remove old generator, replace with new generator, try it out, gape with dismay at the "extra" flames around the gas adjustment (red lever), tighten that another half turn, and voila a fully adjustable 400A once again. Thanks all! PS any reason to retain the old generator?
Hit the tube(generator ) part with a propane torch, and blow some compressed air thru. Do this outside!!!
The problem wasn't a blocked generator--it simply didn't adjust, was always full on. Not sure what heat and air will do to restore adjustment ability. . .
Problem may have started when you "wiped" the crud off the end of the jet(orifice). This is the tip of part #15(generator) that sticks into part #13 below the burner. There is a thin wire that pricks out any fouling inside the jet when the lever is moved to the "clean" position. The jet can be unscrewed from the end of the generator. If the cleaning pricker got bent during the attempt to clean the tip it may have changed its alignment and not been able to thread itself through the hole again once actuated. I suspect that if you remove the jet and look inside that you will find the wire either crumpled up or broken off. I have a 508 with similar controls. It got crudded up on the tip like yours did. It held the stove to a low simmer. If this happens again remove the tip(jet)carefully scrape the crud off. Recommend using light force to avoid gouging the surface of the jet. Solvents like Carb spray, brake clean and rifle bore solvent may dissolve the crud without requiring manual force. AR
The stuff that came off the end of the wire (same thing that connects to that black knob) was just black fluff, nothing else to it. If a fine wire was attached to the end of that, it had long since corroded and gone bye-bye. What was left looked clean--the end of the "knob wire" cut at an angle. I only ever had the thing off once, and that was long after the stove stopped adjusting correctly. If I ever have to take that part off again, I will be careful of the fine wire. Tx for the extra info, Cinematic
OK for anyone who still wonders what was up with my old generator, the wire with the angled "end" turns out to have been broken--the part sticking out should have been longer. Someone with more mechanical acumen than I took a brief look at the old generator and observed it was busted. Mystery of the non-adjustment solved: the black handled dingus wasn't actually adjusting a damn thing. Lucky, I guess, that it was stuck ON. FYI all and thanks again....
It's good to hear it's running good again. I think because the tip of the cleaning needle is inline with the path of the hot gas it erodes slowly with time and even more so if you simmer alot. It slowly shortens until it doesn't block the jet any longer and the stove then only operates on full flame. Still, the 400 and 400A are my favorite Coleman single burners followed closely by the 502. Flame control on these stoves is excellent and Coleman still has the parts to keep them running. Ray
