I found this stove? in my grandpas cabin and was wondering if someone on here could help me figure out what it is? I would like to get it working if possible. Thanks, James
Welcome to CCS. I have never seen one of those but I'm sure someone will chime in soon. They're a great bunch here, you'll learn so much from them.
It looks like it might be an antique plumber's lead smelter. If it's a smelter it'd be useful to melt lead for cast bullets—a lot of bullets. Is there writing on it anywhere? Dunlap was a manufacturer.
It is a Coleman Handy Gas Plant, or another manufacturers equivalent. The were used a lot on farms for boiling water to sterilize milking equipment and the like. If there aren't any experts here, there certainly will be over at the Coleman Collectors Forum.
Yes, looks very much like a Coleman Handy Gas Plant... However, there are differences from the ones in the gallery.... https://classiccampstoves.com/threads/22690 https://classiccampstoves.com/threads/13819 https://classiccampstoves.com/threads/15248 The cleaning needle lever and font shape do look very Coleman. any stampings/markings on the font? J
I smell AGM ( american gas machine) not Coleman, but I'm no expert. You need an external pump (kinda like a bike tire pump) to put pressure in font (tank). I don't think it is a lead smelter, it looks like it was made for cooking!! Can't wait to see it lit. Head for the Coleman collectors forum, they know a lot about these things, even if it isn't Coleman. Keith
OOOOhh, I bet you're right.... AGM stuff was very pseudo-Coleman. Look at this Jiffykook, with a similar (but very different) burner, and a similar font shape. J
Keith: I agree. The tank / font appears to be on the scale of a 220 or Quicklite. It may be an early example of a single burner from one of the other American makers: AGM, P-W or ? Paul
This is a Handy Camp Stove made by National Stamping & Electric Works of Chicago sometime around 1920. Ray
Very cool!! Thanks for all the help, anyone know where I could find directions on how to light it? I understand the whole pressure thing but how much?
According to Laitch's link to the Terrence Marsh Lantern Gallery it states you need an external pump. You may have to go back to the cabin and look around if you don't have it. Also you'll need new seals and washers so it'll hold pressure. Ray
There will be a one way valve in the fuel filler cap. It may also turn to open and close. The pump looks rather like a bicycle pump and you apply it directly to the hole in the fuel filler. If the filler cap seal is rubber, it will be rock hard and will need to be replaced with viton or nitrile rubber. However it may be made of lead, which will probably still be fine unless the filler cap has been overtightened and mushed out all the lead. Check the fuel tank very carefully for stress cracks especially around the base seam and the neck. If there are any signs of cracking, the fuel tank cannot be used and cannot be fixed either. Do not entertain any ideas about POR-15 sealant or such like, it isnt safe under pressure. Checking for pressure tightness and leaks is of great importance since it runs on white gasoline as fuel.
So far I haven't found any leaks. I tried pumping it up to 20psi and it won't light, it just piddles liquid out. I went through every line in this thing and cleaned them out with my compressor but no change at all.
You might try a bit more than 20psi and might want to preheat the generator (the bar/pipe that runs across the burner). Just use a torch and warm it a bit. Give the cleaning lever a couple good twists as well. Keith
There are two possible ways this stove could work. It may rely on preheating, where a small amount of liquid fuel is run out and pools in a cup. This is lit and allowed to burn for a minute or so. When the fuel valve is opened again, the fuel comes out as a vapor now that the burner and generator (fuel vaporizing pipe) are good and hot. The jet of fuel vapor mixes with air and enters the burner head where it comes out of the slots and is ignited. The other option is that it may have a form of 'instant light' action. With this, you can set a control to take not just fuel from the tank, but a mix of liquid fuel and bubbles of pressurized air. This bubbly mixture splutters out of the jet and blows a very rich mixture of fuel droplets and air into the burner where it can be ignited. The heat from this flame brings the generator up to temperature and soon the spluttering turns to a hissing as fuel is vaporized. The flame turns blue as the mixture leans out. You then change a control to end the delivery of air from the tank and only liquid fuel goes to the vaporizer. Typically this changeover is done by the fuel valve. Opening it a little way (one quarter of a turn for Colemans) delivers the starting mix of fuel and air, opening it all the way delivers fuel only. Test your device by opening the fuel valve a little until you hear something coming out. If it splutters, this is an instant light feature and it can be lit at the burner straight away. If only fuel comes out then I would expect it to pool in something like a drip tray where it can be ignited for preheating. National Stamping & Electric Works of Chicago sold lanterns and stoves under the name of Nulite. Your stove is illustrated on page 13 here: http://light.papo-art.com/tech-n-info/Coleman_technical/OldDirtyColemanPaper/NuliteFile.pdf [EDIT] Some more digging has turned up excellent diagram of a Nulite instant light valve. These were invented in the 1920's so yours may be from before this. http://coleman.pressure-lanterns-il.com/OldDirtyColemanPaper/NuliteInstantValve.pdf
Well, unfortunately the tank is leaking. There's two pin hair cracks. Maybe I can find a new tank somewhere...
Not unless you have a time machine. Clean it up, drain it, and make a shelf queen out of it. It is still a wonderful old stove!
Thats a shame. If you are still feeling keen, get your hands on a Coleman 500, it is very similar and there are plenty around and plenty of spares.
