Long story short...I work on a long stretch of road that many times RV's are parked where homeless people tend to park there...and live for a few days and move on when the cops tell them to move. Many times these jerks dump stuff like clothes, trash, and etc. I see this when I go for a walk to a food truck and im usually quite disgusted. This one day I walked and saw new junk...no RV...and I saw a familiar color of green on a rather large green metal box. I grabbed it, looked inside quickly...and walked back to my car with it and decided...I will just look at it later. Its been 2 years, and I have finally looked at it. Says Coleman 425 on the front, no idea how old it is, but everything is there, and the tank holds air and the valves all seem to work. Going for fuel to test it, probably going for white gas, but since I dont know the age of this thing...can someone tell me how to tell how old it is, and what type of fuel I need. Please...I hope not kerosene haha.
Not a 425, it's a 426. Looks like a nice one. Made late 1940's, early 1950'S. Burns Coleman fuel. (Naptha, or white gasoline)
That looks like the original 426 with nice tank and it's even got it's legs (they go missing a lot). Enjoy. It will probably need to pump leather oiled, and all of these need a new cap gasket, or use an Oring from parts store
I was quite sure it said 425 until I rubbed the logo a little harder and turned the lights on. I stand corrected! haha. Ok...white gas...awesome. I hate the smell of kerosene
@Remus1956 , WOW!! That was a great find! The 426, and all later versions, are amongst our most favorite stoves!! Yours is in great condition, especially for FREE, and should offer you many, many years of faithful service!! Very well done, and hearty congratulations to you, Good Sir!! Thanks for sharing it, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc
Thank you! I am really happy with it and that it actually works too. I have made a youtube video of it burning. Coleman 426 stove I found on the side of the road...burning white gas - YouTube
@Remus1956 , some older stoves the instructions said to flip lever up for a a minute ( I don't do a minute, more like 20-30 seconds) before shutting down stove, this will make burner shut off w/o delay AND it helps to keep generator clean. And not sure how long you had run it in that video, after they have run for a few minutes, they shut off more promptly as well, everything is hot and all residual fuel has been burned off. I like it, Cook something! Thanks for the video.
Quick question...the rust on the burners... can that be halted somehow? I'm thinking of lightly oiling them and burning them until they stop smoking... like you would do with a cast iron pan...
A little spray of light oil for storage will probably not hurt anything. However, the oil will probably completely burn off and not offer rust protection after using. Whatever kind of steel Coleman uses in those burners seems to last forever, it is the case that seems to be prone to rust in my climate.
Thanks! I am gong to try to do some oil and see if I can get it to stop rusting....though in my climate it will probably rust again haha
An amazing find. 426 no letter. Yahooooo. You can remove the burners (Noting the assemby for reassembly) and use a wire brush to clean them. I tap them often after it gets hot. Same with the generator. When hot -- particles can be dislodged and will show as sparks in the flame.
@snwcmpr I just saw something like sparks...I am thinking of trying a rust remover and then try to oil and bake them like you would a cast iron pan
