I have just acquired one of the above from a military fair here in France. Does anyone know where I could find a burner bowl for it as the one that came with it is not complete? regards
try Mike at Old Coleman Parts, if you don't see it listed just call him, a good friend and super to deal with Jan
I also just purchased an m1942 myself 3 weeks at a flea market for $15.00. Does anyone have reconditioning instructions? I've seen some very nice photos, but there doesn't seem to be any YouTube rebuilds, at least none that I can find. Seems like a really cool stove!
Thanks HercL4D2 and Giri. I had seen most of these videos previously and they seem to be demonstrations of units that were working, but not how they got them working. The link to skicolorado is a big help and I will study it in detail. I ordered replacement leather for the pump, and the graphite for the NRV with packing material, but didn't know exactly how to replace the packing material until skicolorado's link. Prior to seeing this, the pump wouldn't pressurize, and when I replaced the graphite in the NRV I started getting fuel up in the pump. Seems the NRV is very sensitive. The brass spring in the NRV seems like it needs replacing and I found a spring at home depot, but when I replaced it it was apparently too strong and wouldn't allow any air into the tank and only built pressure in the pump. Also, I took the vaporizer out and cleaned it, after putting it back together I can't see the needle moving out of the vaporizer when I move the lever up and down. The instructions indicate that after pumping and moving the cleaner needle up and down, (actually down and up), I should be able to open the valve and some fuel would flow into the pan to light for pre-heating. But no fuel comes out into the pan. The videos I see on Youtube show people just squirting some fuel into the bowl externally and lighting it, but when I do that it lights briefly after the bowl burns out but doesn't stay lit. I don't know enough about stoves yet to know what is causing it so I guess I need to break it all the way down and start over. Does anyone know where to get the brass screens? Or can they simply be pulled out and cleaned? Also, skicolorado's parts were exceptionally clean. I used brake cleaner on mine but they didn't get nearly as clean as his. Does anyone have a good recommendation for cleaning these parts? I really appreciate the feedback. Thanks!
I suspect that sklcolorado used an ultrasonic cleaner tank to get those parts so clean. The brass screen is available at Old Coleman Parts - item 530-2591 It is a part for the 530, but works with the m1942 / m1950 and 520 and 530. You can try a spring from a ball point pen and see if that works better with the NRV. Do you have a new NRV pip and pump gasket? Those are available at the Fettlebox. Most people pre-heat the stove with alcohol - less soot that way. I also found the pump on my M1942 to be a pain - so I ended up selling it. @RoyJB Sorry, I meant the M1950 burner bowl will work with the M1942.
I think I have a spare burner bowl for M1942. I'll have a look tomorrow. Just about to have supper now.
Joediver - I used Blue Magic Metal Polish Cream exclusively, up until recently. It works well, especially, if you're not removing the valve assembly from the stove. I typically use this polish with a toothbrush to clean all of the stainless steel and brass parts. I also have an ultra sonic cleaner which I only began using a couple of months ago. I use this method when I've got everything completely disassembled. The NRV can be sensitive, and the original spring seems to work best for the reasons you've already noted. However, people sell NRV gaskets of various materials and that seems to make a bigger difference. If you look at other posts at my blog (look on the right at Stoves and Lanterns) you'll find one where I test NRV materials. I just added one this week about vaporizers. The brass screens I use were purchased from Canon Joe (Canon City, CO) who has these on ebay from time-to-time. RoyJB - Note that a NOS M1950 burner bowl will work as suggested, the only difference I've found is that it has round holes instead of the square ones used on the M1942. In a quick test, the arms seem to fold in okay with the round holes. Also note that a 520 burner bowl doesn't typically have the drain holes near the vaporizer fitting. If you want to use fuel from the stove to fill the spirit cup you'll need to drill some. I always use CF from the vaporizer to preheat the stove. Soot hasn't been an issue and I've been using the stove a lot. Be sure to extend the arms before opening the valve to fill the spirit cup. If you don't, you'll likely get fuel dripping down the arms and if you light it, you'll be disappointed when flames are all over the place. Once you get it up and running I think you'll find that you'll like it a lot. I gave one to my 25 year-old son and he's been taking it backpacking in the Rockies this year as his only stove. I've been using in on canoe trips, backpacking and making coffee in my backyard. Works great every time.
Thanks for the great input Giri, and I will try the suggestions you mentioned. I didn't realize that the screen for the other model would work and I will definitely try it, and I'll see about getting my hands on an ultrasonic cleaner. I'm not sure what you mean by the NRV PIP. The kit that I bought from someone in Japan included the pump gasket, the little black tip (looks like rubber) that is for the NRV, and a small gasket that is about the size of the NRV tip but has a hole through the center. Based on a diagram I found it seems like it is a packing bushing or something, but I need to analyze skiColorado's photographs more closely to be certain. Yeah, like you it seems that the stove is very finicky with a lot of parts that can go bad as opposed to the very basic SVEA stove. Seems like Coleman would have designed something more fail proof, but oh well. I would sell mine also except I enjoy these old stoves if nothing more than for nostalgia. I also found a 1967 2 burner Coleman stove called the Military Burner Vehicular Model No. 523. It wasn't working when I first got it, but I found some replacement parts and now it's a real blow torch. Any way, thanks for all the help!
Thanks so much SKLColorado for the detailed info and the excellent photos. Seems like there are a few of us that are smitten by this hobby which is new to me (rebuilding these antique stoves to use on my other hobby; camping). I will definitely check out your other posts to get more education before I tackle the complete breakdown of the stove. If I run into an issue I will post a question as I'm sure you will have run across the problem. Oh, one more thing, have you used ink pen springs on the NRV? The brass spring just seems like it has too much memory and retains its compression too easily and I think that is why I'm getting fuel in the pump. I've tried stretching it a little but it seems to compress right back. Again, thanks. Joediver
Hi & thanks for all the advice re the M1942. I have been in touch with OCP for some bits for a Coleman 237 lamp which Mike has just sent but he tells me that he doesn't have any M1942 or Coleman 520 burner bowls, sadly. I did think of using a M1950 bowl but read on a forum site (can't remember which one) that the thread is not the same as on the vaporiser for the M1942? If it is OK they are much easier to source.
PS I meant to ask Ian (West Riding Yorkshire) in the last post, if he did have a spare M1942 bowl. cheers
Joediver - I read somewhere that if you have more than three working stoves you're considered a "stovie". I went beyond three a long time ago! I have messed around a little with various springs, but haven't made one I thought worked better than the originals. That said, lanternking said that he's done it successfully, and I think one of my M1942 stoves does have one I made from a pen or some other spring I had in my bin of springs (I like to take stuff apart, so I have junk parts around my garage), but I'd need to remove each one and have a look to make certain. There's nothing terribly magic about the spring, just that it needs to fit correctly, which has proven more difficult than I would have originally thought. In my opinion, it's the only weak spot on the whole stove. If you look at the newer Coleman Denali, for example, they also use a spring and a rubber ball for the check valve. Everything old is new again.
Joediver - That kit you bought from Japan, which is also available at OldColemanParts probably has the pump tube/cap gasket, leather pump cup, NRV gasket and the small o-ring. The first three parts are common between the M1942 stove and the M1950 stove so they sell these for either stove including the o-ring. The reason for the o-ring is because it fits the M1950 stove valve. To replace this part on the M1950 you need to remove the whole valve assembly and then remove the F/A tube to get to the internal part which is actually the fuel shut off gasket. Since the M1942 doesn't have the internal gasket and only has a fuel pickup tube (no Fuel/Air tube) you really don't need to ever remove the valve assembly unless it is clogged with gunk for some reason. I discovered this on the first M1942 I bought. Someone disassembled it already so I needed to get it back into position correctly (clocking). The other valve assemblies shown in the photos are like that because I bought two other stoves together (one Coleman and one PW) and they swapped the parts around and destroyed one of the tip cleaner packings (it was gone so I needed to make one.). So, since it was apart, I figured I'd take pictures. If you want to get brass parts clean and shiny and don't have a sonic cleaner, soak the parts in household vinegar first, scrub with a brass brush from an auto parts store, rinse with baking soda and water, and then use the polish (most times you won't need the polish). Not sure if vinegar affects the graphite packings, so I don't typically submerge parts with packings.
RoyJB - Check out my my post here: sklcolorado.wordpress.com I did some vaporizer/burner bowl testing based on some questions I received, and the M1950 burner bowls, at least the ones I have, fit the M1942 vaporizer threads. I think there may be some variation between manufacturers from 1941 through 1987, due to different tooling, etc. but, what I had worked when I swapped parts. As I noted in my blog you may be able to find a 1951 Coleman M1950 stove with the M1942-style burner bowl. I think that Coleman retained the M1942 burner bowl tooling after WWII and used it for the M1950 stove. If you find that an M1950 burner bowl doesn't work, I'd like to hear about and/or see the problem. Thanks.
