Nice gift courtesy of the kids (ie my wife!), who picked up this No. 71 for a very reasonable price, including original instructions. Code on the underside of the tank is AV - mid 50s perhaps? Although I have a plentiful stock of paraffin for the No. 7 and my Tilley lamp, I need to get some Coleman fuel or similar to see if this will run, but all looks to be in reasonably good condition.
Lovely stove. Given the volatility of the fuel, a safer approach than seeing if it will run would be to replace the filler cap and safety valve seals (consumable service items with a limited life) with quality Viton replacements from a reputable supplier, then perform a dunk test to check for leaks before lighting up. You'll then have a reliable stove. If you can find Aspen 4T fuel (alkylate petrol sold for garden machinery) locally it will likely be cheaper than Coleman fuel. The cheapest option to fuel these stoves in the UK that I'm aware of is Holts brake cleaner, £14.39 for 5L here and free postage if you buy two. It's naptha and won't deteriorate in storage.
Funny you should say that. I’ve just replaced the cap seal with one from a spares pack I already had (needed to cut it down slightly) and then popped some brake cleaner in it for a test fire. Got a nice ‘roar’ under way immediately and boiled a kettle of water in no time! Very happy.
Better than socks, certainly. How about say, a dozen Spauldings, English Leather, and Soap on a Rope? Hm?
