Anyone with a Coleman 502 knows that these things run hot and are therefore pretty much self-pressurizing. Lately I've been doing a lot of cooking outside with my stoves so the AC isn't fighting the extra heat during this heat wave we're experiencing. I cooked on a 502 earlier and then decided to boil up some citric acid with a rusted M-1942 case in the pan. Since the stove was running a loooong time, I decided to grab the laser thermometer and satisfy my curiosity. Although temps fluctuated with the gauge, it still said things were pretty hot. Outdoor temp was 94F/34C when measuring. Here's what I observed for anyone curious: Valve knob 200F/93C Valve nut 207F/97C Collar 238F/114C Upper fount 191F/88C Fuel cap 185F/85C Mid fount 166F/74C Fount base 153F/67C Back of bunsen 342F/172C Burner bowl 591F/310C
I wouldn't go as far to say a 502 was self pressurizing, IMO. Pumped up to 14-20 PSI (1-1.5 atu), the boiling point of the CF is so much higher that you would need to have the stove really hot to build up enough pressure to sustain operation! I've tilted my 502 for a fill well beyond the recommended amount, and even then, they needed to be pumped at regular intervals to keep running at the desired level of operation. Taking one apart, you see that Coleman did everything they could to keep thermal feedback to a minimum, having just learned a hard lesson form the 501!!! Murph
@Murph True, not self pressurizing like a Euro stove requiring a preheat, but I never have to pump up again after the initial pumping. The only exception to that for me is if I forget to open the valve all the way once it's running. It will certainly drain air quickly if not wide open. I only fill mine to between half and three-quarters full. If you're filling to the brim, then yeah, there's not a lot of air left in there to build up pressure.
