i was given a 425B in need of repairs. the fuel tank cap leaks pressure, can i replace it with a newer one with out the screw in it? also, i cannot get the "spring/heatsink" out of the generator tube. and it smells like someone tried to run kerosene through the stove/ i have taken everything apart and cleaned and scrubbed and the stove works fine with the propane conversion adapter but the gas tank will not put out a consistent fuel flow. if i turn the valve in any direction once i can get the burner to have a nice blue flane, it goes haywire! it will go to high orange flames to blue flames, back to orange, and then it will just die all together. there are "dead spots" that you can see while opening the fuel valve while the fuel tank is not attached to the stove (i was checking for a nice spray of fuel ) it goes from a stream of fuel to a mist back to a stream depending where and how you turn the valve! what do you guys think is the problem? the only part of this stove i did not have apart was the spring out of the generator
That's the first thing to do. I've rebuilt several of these and have always had the BEST results with just replacing the generator with a new one. If you've cleaned everything else, the valve body, pick up tube, tank, etc., that should do it for you. The generators are easy to find on the Coleman website, Ebay or a couple other places. I recently had the same problem with an old 417B, a 70 year old stove. The spring is stuck inside the generator tube and the pricker rod will barely even turn inside it. The dead spots you experience may be from the pricker rod spinning inside and probably has lots of globs of heavy varnish on it...it's attached to the needle and spins with the knob. I just put a new generator for a 425 (it fit beautifully) on it, fired it up, let it blow the sparks and dust out of the manifold for 30 minutes and it's running like a dream! The standard replacement fuel cap is perfect if you need one. The brass in the "white" looks good too! Matt
thanks for the reply. the pricker rod had heavy build up on it so i had to take some super fine sandpaper to it so get it smooth again. (and yes, i stuck myself in the thumb with the needle end! ouch!!!!!) I will get a new generator and hopefully that will take care of the problems. I was going to take all the parts once disassembled and repaint them. but i just took some SOS pads and scrubbed them clean. they dont look new, but they look alot better than they did and somehow, making them look "new" with paint etc... would have been unfitting for such a nice old stove that if could talk would probably tell some great stories! 8)
I agree completely with your paint/re-paint philosophy. I have repainted a couple of items only as a last resort. The stoves I was able to clean up and use as they were are the stoves I feel best about! I've used 400 and 600 grit paper on the pricker rods and had "some" success, but nothing like a new generator. There is something special about those old round tanks...I just love them! That 417B I was telling you about even has a cast iron manifold and burners! Enjoy! Matt
i will be ordering a new generator shortly, now if i can find a nice old 413G, and a nice 3 burner....and ,,,, and etc...etc.... the list gets longer everyday
