What makes the Coleman 533 have double the BTU of the Coleman 502?

Hi All,

I was thinking of getting a used stove, and am deliberating between the Coleman 502 and 533.
The trade-offs are below.

502: Can simmer / lower 5000 BTU
533: Possibly can't simmer / higher 10,000 BTU

My question is, how does the 533 have double the BTU of the 502? Is it because the 502 doesn't have as sealed of a system as the 533, so less fuel pressure means less power? Or the 502 has a small brass tube constricting the fuel?

I'm actually thinking of doing an experiment where i take the valves on the 502 and add them to a 533, to see if i can get both the ability to simmer and have tons of power for winter.

 

I can’t check now, but are the jets (ie the orifice in the nipple/tip) different diameters?


Tony

 

In the world of liquid hydrocarbon "stuff" more power is obtained by adding more fuel AND more air. Some devices force them both in the combustion process.
If you really want to find out and have both these stoves to "study" ,you can measure the generators with a precision digital caliper! But usually more power equals more fuel. Example: with burning 100 ml of fuel in one hour you should get 1 Kwh of power. Don't know (or care) about these btu's but from what I use almost daily (Shmel-2) with 200 ml burned in one hour at full throttle I get fast boiling times and long cooking times. Never measured "scientifically" but that flame is HOT even at a distance(using pump regular gasoline).
I'm a happy man using this stove for about 3 hours with a full tank of gasoline(600-700ml). Good luck in your experiments!

 

Nipple diameter is important but the generator diameter counts too(inside and outside). Relevant in simmering too,although both stoves can force more fuel by increasing pressure in the tank.
For winter very cold temperatures I wouldn't use stoves with generators. After some time they clogg up and flame power is reduced.
Never used consistently anything but Shmel-2 but from specs and design study, next stove will be Optimus Nova for me. Should the old CCCP russian thing decide to quit on me! So far works every day! Needs alcoohol for preheating.

 

533 is more BTU because it burns more fuel .

Coleman did a great job designing both, swapping parts not a good idea, though you are an adult, go for it if you wish, I suspect you will not get good results.

I would get BOTH and see which suits your style of cooking. I had, and have sold, the 533.

 

you might be surprised how little difference that makes in real life. Unless you are using very big pots most of the higher output disappears up around the outside of the pot. The 533 and its little brother the 422 can simmer but you might need to replace the generator to make them do so.

 

In my experience, the 533's flame on high overpowers the base of most pots suitable for use on that stove and was not a great simmerer. Which I why I got rid of mine. 508's on the other hand @8500 btu were more tolerable at least for me. I love the 502's for their quietness. 422's were around 7500 btu.

 

I'm not much of a simmerer. The 533 is a fine stove.

Most of the simmer discussions over time here have gone a bit over my head. In the back country, to me simmer means taking the boiling pot off and setting it aside while the steaks are frying. Then maybe put the pot of side dish back on for another quick boil.

The steaks are just right; the Knorr or other side dish is nicely done.
All else is just right.

 

@Ed Winskill pardon my curiosity but is that long grain rice AND cow meat? Excellent meal if you ask me. White bread is good but not nearly as good as graham bread! Add some quality red whine and you're done for the day!

 

Grossly unfair to interject that picture of delicious food in the middle of a seriuos technical discussion.

 

Thanks for all of the insightful replies all. After taking everything into consideration, I decided that stoves should be used to do what they are best at. So since i wanted simmer-ability, i went a bought another stove from the "bay"...a used 508.
The funny thing is that i already have a 400a which can already simmer.
Why did i need to go and buy a silmilar stove?
It appears after joining this forum and commencing stove discussions...basically as I logged-in, my free-will logged out and i caved in.

 

I own all 3- the 533, 508, and 400. The 533 simmers almost as well as the rest of the bunch. I suspect with a piece of fiberglass sleeving to hold in the heat, it will simmer just as well as the rest.

 

Do you mean the fiberglass that is stuffed underneath the burner, like in the 400?
Or a fiberglass tube placed around the generator?

 

A box of wine?

 

Like this

 

*uMm AcTuAlY, iT's A tEtRa PaCk*

 

We've hiked with those Bandit brand wine boxes for years. (There are many other brands.)

The reasons are simple: it's very satisfactory mid-priced wine; it's in a thin box, which is much lighter than a bottle; and it's a liter. (Most wines here sell in 750 ml bottles; not quite enough for two people; one liter is just right, as Goldilocks would say.)

 

ok Ill accept the tetra pack thing for hiking. I used to buy a south african wine in a tetra pac 1 litre but its no longer available here (luckily) If you like it drink it by the carton

 

I don't understand this hiking + alcoohol! Doesn't alcoohol makes you weak especially when you need physical strength the most? I drank about 9 years ago one 500ml beer while almost 25 km from home while cycling with a friend! We barely made it home... It made us that weak...
Total km made that day was 147 +/- 10 km. So it could have been the 120km cycled up to that point through a mountain area but on asphalt ...
Never drank alcoohol since then except if home and nothing to do(physically speaking).
But eating meat /food like there's no tommorow I can't do without...
And still weigh only 72-73kg nude...

 

@Fai re your bought "..a used 508.
The funny thing is that i already have a 400a which can already simmer."

if the car camping 508 suits you sell of the 400A. exact same burner / simmer / output.

OP why 533 doubles the 502
this thread evolved to the 508
re why 508 doubles the 502?
i offer i don't know exactly i will say:
502 me"1962 (late 62 - Feb 85 !!) No.502 is offered, with a rocky start, becomes possibly the best 1 burner ever made, KNOWN FOR the ease of the gradual flame control from simmer to high. US No.502 is smaller, hotter and lighter than US No. 500 (ended in 61)."

re the 508, it uses the 576 burner whjat follows re 576, the 508 can trace-back credit the 576
508 / 576 me "1976 Toronto [Coleman offers 576 with 2 lever] revolutionary burner, the hottest 1 burner stove with... Lo to Hi flame control as good as the 502 (kinda had to be) [and essentially double the output on high]
40 some years later we know this Toronto design [as 2 lever OR 1 lever] is the burner most used in subsequent models and outlasted all other designs. In my view credit is due to Toronto's designers & craftsman"