After work today went into my usual antique and collectors shop in Hoddedson, and saw this Coleman 533 for sale and i had to have it. Here are a few pics of the stove had a short inspection of the stove once i got home, the burner is quite sootied up, and there is no resistance in the pump rod so the stove cant be pressurised, and even though the inside of the tank/font has no fuel and is dry, judging by the smell it has been run motor fuel Petrol/gasoline, so i will in the near future carry out a full fettle on the stove. The is date stamped on the usual underside of the tank and on the burner frame in 1997. As mentioned i will be a clean and fettle and just treat the suffice rust on the underside of the tank just to prevent any further rust to protect the tank i will keep the original paint on the stove
Greetings, I found one of these and an unused propane lantern a few years ago at my local thrift shop for 5$ each in the original box un-fired. Haven't fired it and probably wont they are known to be great units although heavy by today's standards. Love to see a photo when yours is fired up. Hope you enjoy it. I love fooling with these things. Mike
Nifty as these are, car fuel (gasoline/petrol) will fill the generator with soot. The Coleman solution is to replace the generator when this happens. Search on here and you will find amazing strategies for cleaning developed by some of the brightest and best, making good use of their advanced tools and skills. So clean up, but you may need additional input to get decent flame. One more caution- the cleaning/control wire hooks onto the control tap. When taking the generator off make sure this is dealt with carefully. Breaking or removing the cleaning wire can be expected to be terminal. The pump bucket can be revived with a soak in alcohol and a gentle stretch like you would with leather. Or gentler!
@mr optimus , Brian, The Coleman 533 is an excellent stove, if a tad heavy. I was gifted one of these, around 2005-2006, but a friend in our Living History group. He had been using it, at events, inside his wedge tent, and finally decided to get period correct, and do his cooking on a brazier, or over wood fire coals. He knew that I loved and collected stoves, so after he decided not to use it any longer, he brought it over to our tent, and said, "I know you won't use this here, but I've used it for years, and I call it the 'Whispering Dragon', 'cause I've never been busted using it"! I am luck in that he used Coleman Fuel, and even though the stove had a tad of rust on the burner top, it fired right up when I tested it, at home! The CF that was in it when he gave the stove to me, is still in it to this very day, and it fires up just like new! Powerful, and simmers ok, and hey, it's well worth owning, and using! Hearty congratulations on scoring yours, and have fun with your own "Whispering Dragon"! Thanks, for sharing, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc
Good evening Brian. Congratulations on your purchase of a nice Coleman! I wish you good luck with the overhaul and success with the launch. Greetings Stanisław.
@Doc Mark Hi Mark, i have about six Colemans and two 533's both i have scored from the same shop. They really are a great well built reliable and robust stove, a great feature i like about them and their design to me is they have all the charm and fun to use as any classic liquid fuel stove yet with all most the ease as a butane or propane stove, as they are up and running with in no time, so you have the best of both worlds with a Coleman.which is great if you need a stove up and running as quick as possible or when we dont feel like waiting for the preheating/primming stage of a traditional stove. But my all time favourite is the 502 which as you know was gifted to me by Sam who sadly no longer with us. @Knee Hi Stanislaw, i will give the stove a good clean through out not for cosmetic appearances to make it look new, to remove all the deposits from the motor fuel and i will replace the generator and pump cup hopefully the valve a pick up tube will be ok
I'm using mine (533) with automotive gasoline only because Coleman fuel is not available in my country. Anyway, I would like to mention that automotive gasoline does not make soot like yours if you use it in "high/light" position. When I simmer or use it in low, in burns blue for a while but from time to time a yellow flame appears then the flame turns blue again after a short period of time. No such behavior when running in high position and tank pressure is also high. This stove likes burning with full power. I'm using fuelsave unleaded gasoline. By using a paper coffee filter, I always filter out the gasoline when pouring it into a smaller container from 5lt gas can. I don't preheat it. I pump until I feel resistance, then fire it up and continue pumping. That's it. Simmering can cause soot and blackening of your pots. My 425F stove does the same thing. My early BRS12A too. Their common point is that they have fuel control valve before the generator. Only MSR Whisperlite can simmer since it has a valve just under the burner. It can collect enough heat when simmering since it is a roarer and has thick brass like flame nozzle.
As a summary: - I'm using unleaded gasoline - Pump it until feeling a quite strong resistance (number of strokes depends on the fuel level in the tank. The emptier the tank the more strokes are needed) - Open the valve fully while holding a match or a lighter on the burner - When it starts burning, I continue pumping until the blue flames start "flying" - Close the pump and use the stove keeping it in high position. When I need less heat I simply hold the pan a bit higher than the stove. By doing so yo eliminate the risk of having your food burned. - When done, I immediately close the valve. Let it cool down. - Depressurize the tank by opening the cap a bit. Leaving it pressurised causes a small dark reddish leak from the jet after, that may clog the orifice.
I clean my 533 generator when it's running poorly by emptying the fount, then running it to burn off the residual gas. Then, I pressurize the fount until I can't push any more pressure into it. I blast the generator with a torch, and open the valve, allowing air through. Then, I continue pumping as fast as possible, pushing air through a generator that is glowing a dull red. This burns out any crud that accumulates in the generator. This is similar to BernieDawg's method of cleaning old burners.
When you use your stove with the valve in the "light" position, you are mixing air from the tank with the fuel. I guess that's fine if you don't mind pumping a lot, but if it will only run this way, that suggests the fuel is not vaporizing properly. This suggests either a partial blockage, or a defective fuel/air valve, or a problem with the fuel. ....Arch
My 533 works great and also simmers well. From what I've heard not all 533's run well at a low simmer. Most of us lantern collectors in the US replace the neoprene pump cup on later Coleman stoves and lanterns with a leather pump cup. The neoprene cups don't work that well in cold temperatures.
My 533 won't run in the lowest position, flaring a significant amount. However, after turning it up a very small amount, it runs like a charm.
When I check the patents for this stove, I've seen that the (High/Light) position that is on newer stover allows only fuel to enter the generator. When designng this stove, they probably have thougt that it could be started easier when gasoline is mixed with air. In the patents, the actual Low position was Light position. That makes the confusion. In new 533's, when you start your stove with High/Light position, you start with gasoline only. When the pressure in the tank is high enough, although liquid gasoline reach the jet, it is atomized and burns quite clean an heats up the generator within seconds. In my stove I don't use Low position since it decreases the tank pressure. and causes yellow flames from time to time. Also if you have a brand new stove, run it always in High position, by doing so your burner will not turn opaque, it will stay shiny as new for ever. One time cooking in low is enough to turn your burner matte color.
I don't believe any of the Colemans vent air when the valve is in the low position. They're just using air pressure in the tank to push liquid fuel into the hot generator, where it vaporizes. They all vent air in the "Light" position, to mix air with the liquid fuel in the cold generator and produce a cloud of droplets. This simulates a vapor and allows the stove to be lit without excessive flaring. ....Arch
