I'd think it's the generator that's at fault - always the Achilles' heel of these otherwise very reliable and easy to handle Coleman stoves. Taking apart and cleaning inside the generators on 502's and other straight-generator types isn't too difficult, but those curved generators may be a different ball game. Heating them red hot with a propane torch or such might work, although I wonder where that leaves the inner debris? I've always used automotive fuel (Euro unleaded) extensively in Coleman stoves and lamps alike with no problems whatsoever. Can't imagine US unleaded would be that much different.
Just an update on my ongoing Stove saga. Following a few photos to Lance he's confirmed my suspicions as to its condition. The bottom line here is it needs more parts maybe a total rebuild to get it running again. The reality is the postage, parts and the labour would probably add up to more than the price I paid for the item. As I purchased it off a well known auction site and in my opinion its description in reality was significantly different than it actually was i've claimed under their purchase protection. I'm going to put this one down to experience and fingers crossed hopefully get some reimbursement towards getting a stove thats new or in better condition. Lesson learnt
The Final installment to my Coleman Sportster Saga. Having purchased the stove described as "Hardly Used" through a well known auction following payment through paypal site it arrived on my doorstep and cosmetically looked in a more than used condition. From the word go there was obviously something badly wrong with it as it wouldn't light. Thanks to some good advice on this forum it was established amongst its many problems it had dirty umleaded fuell lying in the tank resulting in a badly corroded font and a blocked generator. As clearly the item in the state it arrived wasn't fit for pupose I made a claim under the buyer protection policy. What a nightmare!!!! Having sent several Faxes & photographs later illustrating its poor but also dangerous condition together with an independent appraisal in short this exercise has been a complete waste of time. Paypal deciding i wasn't entitled to any compensation whatsoever. Approaches to Coleman UK ( Europe) established that they wanted ?20 up front to cover return postage to their head office excluding parts to service the item, added to this i'm led to believe one of the parts wasn't available in the uk. After enquiring about obtaining parts according to the address I was supplied with the nearest parts supplier was 4 hours drive away there wasn't a local dealer option for getting it repaired. I accept the seller of this item saw me coming, and i'm now apart from a few retrievable spares left with a scrap item . I've now bought a NEW Sportster which is excellent, I have to say from my personal experience i'm not impressed with paypal's buyer protection policy as in this case its failed me miserably and am less than encouraged by Coleman uk's local product support. Needless to say i'll be staying well clear of the particular seller thats still selling similar items on ebay, and will be avoiding paypal transactions in future. Put it down to experience eh????? :wink Once again thanks for everyones help ( in particular Lance):
Sorry to resurrect an old thread but I have just overhauled a Sportster II and a Northstar lantern (with great success) and this might just be useful. Yes, everything said about clogged generators applies and I agree that unleaded clogs them faster than Coleman fuel. Of course Coleman fuel is ridiculously expensive in the UK but Aspen 4T is very similar, much more pleasant than unleaded petrol and worth finding a dealer for a special trip for several gallons if you use a lot of petrol equipment. With stove problems (or lanterns for that matter) that have good pressure (so it isn't the pump) then it is either fuel or air supply problems. The most likely culprit is the generator and in any well used stove it would be sensible to replace this as routine when servicing. Air problems can be caused by debris under the burner or a blocked and rusty burner. It is worth taking the burner to pieces, cleaning out under the burner and cleaning the pieces of the burner so that they are free of rust and the fuel/air mixture can flow freely. Lack of simmer could be an improperly installed generator which hasn't had the hook and eye connected properly where the generator connects to the top of the control lever assembly. Finally, and most pertinent to this thread, the tank must be checked for corrosion. Unfortunately, Coleman tanks are steel, unlike the superior brass and they do corrode especially if fuel has been contaminated with water. If the corrosion is light it can be simply rinsed out with fresh fuel. if the corrosion is severe it may affect the structural integrity of the stove under pressure and it should be changed for a new one or a sound second hand one. If the stove has been run on contaminated, dirty fuel or there has been some corrosion the fuel filter may be blocked. This is a plastic part accessed by removing the control assembly from the tank. There is a small pin hole at the bottom of the filter that can be cleaned out with a pricker or a fine pin. The fuel filter can be carefully unscrewed from the control valve assembly by gripping the plastic fuel filter in an adjustable spanner and twisting. There is a little button at the top of the fuel filter which is easily lost and this should be checked as well as the o-ring. If the o-ring is faulty then air can be drawn in from the tank and the stove won't work properly. Hope this will be of use to someone. I think they are fantastic stoves and they really are pretty bombproof if given occasional maintenance. If not used for a long time it we be best to drain out the fuel and also a garage, shed etc is not the best place to store them as they do rust.
If the generator is blocked and the cleaning wire won't shift it, take it off, pull out the cleaning wire and unscrew the jet. Blast them both through with Wynn's carburettor cleaner (aerosol) or similar. You might want to wear gloves because the cleaner contains methanol and xylene, neither of which are good for a peachy complexion. The cleaning wire is reasonably easy to put back in, but you need good light. Don't force it or you might kink it. Really recalcitrant generators might need soaking in xylene overnight to loosen the coke deposits. The way to completely empty a Coleman tank is to remove the pump assembly, I believe. I've never had to do it though. Something that may be of use is a fuel drying agent (normally anhydrous ethanol). You would need to add this in a very small dose for a stove's fuel tank - 250ml is about right for a car with a 50 litre tank - but it will mop up any moisture and mix with the fuel so it can be burnt away. It's very useful for cars which have steel fuel tanks, to try and stave off the day when the thing rusts through.
Roger, Unfortunately you cant unscrew the jet on modern generators. They changed the design to a fixed jet. It would work on an older generator though......
That's a shame. The 550B generators I have (three of them) must be NOS, because they all have removable jets. I haven't had to remove my 533's generator yet. The carburettor cleaner will still work, just not quite as easily.
Yes it is shame and a con really to make it next to impossible to service so you have to buy a new generator. This is a financial irritation when the parts are still made but once something is obsolete and the parts dry up it makes things very difficult indeed. I really hate it when things are made that cannot be serviced at all All this does is encourage people to throw things away. Good business perhaps but immoral.
Out of interest, do generators ever die by burning/melting through, or do they just clog? Clogging seems to be fixable 99% of the time, since there are plenty of solvents for coke-like deposits that won't touch the brass. I have noticed that a hot generator tends to look more like bright copper; do they dezincify with age?
Thats an interesting thought Roger. I've often wondered how on earth the generator survives the intense heat. I was soldering the handle back on an old plant mister today and I got the rather thin brass too hot. It was very obvious that it had been de-zinced on the surface and it was left a rosy copper colour. It was only on the surface and some light abrasion restored the brass colour. A generator though undergoes hours and hours of torment! A generator I took off a Sportster that had been used for at least 10 years maybe once a month or so was still a nice brass colour under the surface discolouration. I believe other metals can be added in small quantities to brass to make it more resistant to dezincification. I'm sure someone else will tell us if generators do split and fail.
A more charitable view of non-removable jets might be that it eliminates the well-known problem of fuel escaping up the threads, causing a small yellow flame at the threads (and a sooty spot on the pan). Coleman has a FAQ item on this and recommends unscrewing and reattaching the jet to improve the seal. Not to be confused with the small blue flame often seen between the generator and burner head; this is just properly-mixed fuel and air blowing back out of the gap between the two, and is normal.
Svenedin About the generators and heat -- keep in mind that when the stove is running, the fuel flowing in the generator is evaporating and absorbing some of the heat. A dry generator would indeed get much hotter.
Yes Itchy very true. Latent heat of vaporisation will cool the generator to some extent when the stove is in use. It is after all how refrigerators work.
