Hello, I bought a model 501 stove last summer w/box and no instructions. It is alot older than I thought it was. I seems to be in really great shape, only used a few times. I have not tried to fire it yet, but am working up to it. I read somewhere that Coleman had recalled all these stoves. Does any one know why? I also assume that it burns colman fuel. Is this correct? The date on the bottom is 8/62. I'm hoping to use it next month ice fishing. Any help or info would be great. Thanks in advance. 30 Below
Hello, The 501 does indeed burn coleman fuel. The 501's where recalled because of the generater design. If you look you will see it is circular. The 502's have a generator that runs straight across the burner and burner bowl. I have a 501 but, have not gotten it to work. I need to take my time and clean the generator again. You need to be careful with the generator because they are hard to find and expensive. There was another member who has one and he used to just prime it with a teaspoon of coleman fuel, let it burn to heat up the generator then pump it up to pressure. When you go to light it make sure you are outside away from anything that can catch fire. Have a fire extinguisher or hose handy. If it flares up and out of control just give it a quick douse. You will get more reponses over the next day or so. Check back and see what others have to add. Chuck
These were produced in the first half of 1962. Coleman made the 501 and 501a. I have the 501a but have never fired it up. They were discontinued by reason to a safety design flaw. I would error on the side of caution and keep the 501 as a collectable only. They are not cheap on eBay and it would be a great addition to any collection. I am not sure exactly what the design flaw was but it must have been serious for Coleman to discontinue production after only a half year. The 502 is a great little stove (same size as the 501) and very dependable. I believe I have seen some 502's that have used the 501 font. I think Coleman salvaged the font of the 501 until they used them up in makeing the first of the 502's. Take care. Gordon
Gorden and others What about a picture of the 501. For us poor sods down under that has never seen one. Plenty 502 s here.
Well posting a picture is not to hard. If I can figure it out,anyone can! Anyway enjoy the picture. I do have other views that I can post later. I did't want to push my luck to far the first time around. Thanks for the info I've recieved so far, 30 Below
Was the big issue in some cases the gen would fail to vaporize fuel after running and the stove would flare on the user. Coleman offered to buy back or replace the 501 with a 502. They are very collectable because Coleman did such a good job of reclaiming them. I still don't have one in my collection. Dan
Hello Dan, Is that how they would fail? Do you by chance know if a cleanout runs through the generator? I wanted to slide a small wire through it to clean it out but, I don't want to damge it. Chuck
I found a 501 at a flea market, nearly unused. I found why almost immediately. I never could get it to run for more than a few minutes without flaring unpredictably. The 502, on the other hand is a reliable, rugged, docile little workhorse. Ebay abounds with 502's, many in new or nearly unused condition. The 502's generators are also abundant and inexpensive even on ebay. The 501 is only one of two stoves I would not try to use. Too unpredictable. The other is the Stesco. Too useless. Gerry
Has anyone ever tried to find out what causes this flair up? Is the generator getting too cold or some thing else causuing the problem.
Albert I believe the theory was the up draft caused by the flame ended up cooling the generator back down . So you would would get it lit ,go to place a pot on it and By-By arm hairs!! Dan
I couldn't say ,you got me on that one Knowing what a carefull guy you are I would say try it. You will know if you are making things worse. Dan
Coleman recalled as many 501's as they could, the problem was a design flaw. The circular generator simply can't get hot enough to work consistently. The only cure is not to use a 501 for anything other than display or as an anchor for a rowboat that leaks. Gerry
Hi friednd, Thanks in advance to a friend who will post pictures of 501 in order for us to compare generator design changes. Best regards, Sefa...
Hey, Sefa, Look a little further back up this same thread. 30below has posted a very good photo of the stove, which shows the round generator. Take care, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc Mark
I came across a 501 on Friday. The older gentleman that sold it to me told me that he could never get it stay lit. Well, I happily took it home to check out his rare stove. By the way, the original price tag on the box from 1962 said $7.98 I read all the posts before lighting the stove and got email advice from Monte Dodge on how he primed his to get it going. At first, I could only hear air hissing then the lovely sound of fuel spurting began. It lit up fine After about 3 minutes of it burning the stove became very hot to touch Then I noticed that the inside of the plastic fuel valve knob began to smoke. Obviously the packing nut and valve became too hot for the knob. I quickly shut the stove down, let it cool, emptied out the fuel, cleaned it up nicely and put it on my shelf. I won't light this rare gem again and I now know why they were recalled after a few months. I am happy to know that it does work well when primed, so this satisfied my curiousity The original instructions do state,"the packing nut and valve will become hot to touch", but I guess Coleman didn't realize at first that the fuel knob would be affected by the heat as well. Mike
I came across a 501 on Friday. The older gentleman that sold it to me told me that he could never get it stay lit. Well, I happily took it home to check out his rare stove. By the way, the original price tag on the box from 1962 said $7.98 I read all the posts before lighting the stove and got email advice from Monte Dodge on how he primed his to get it going. At first, I could only hear air hissing then the lovely sound of fuel spurting began. It lit up fine After about 3 minutes of it burning the stove became very hot to touch Then I noticed that the inside of the plastic fuel valve knob began to smoke. Obviously the packing nut and valve became too hot for the knob. I quickly shut the stove down, let it cool, emptied out the fuel, cleaned it up nicely and put it on my shelf. I won't light this rare gem again and I now know why they were recalled after a few months. I am happy to know that it does work well when primed, so this satisfied my curiousity The original instructions do state,"the packing nut and valve will become hot to touch", but I guess Coleman didn't realize at first that the fuel knob would be affected by the heat as well. Mike
If you like the stove for it's size a 502 is a much betteroperating stove. the 502 was everything the 501 was not, relable, easy to operate and safe. Another advantage to the 502 was that they were probably the longest continuous production run of single burner stoves that Coleman made spanning the early 1960's (my 502 was made in October 1963) up into the late 70's the Coleman 502 is to stoves what the Model 200A lantern is to petrol lamps. (though Coleman's various revisions of the 220 lantern are likely more numerous, there are differences and interchangability issues between them) Coleman even sorta ressurected the Model 502 for their Centennial, however there are some small, but significant differences (and other than the fuel cap, pump-assy and top grate (and it's screws) I doubt there are any interchangable pieces with the original 502) between the original and the "Centennial" model. I was actually suprised to find 20-odd new production 502 generators at my Local Cabela's store last sunday, and these only fit the original 502, as the "Centennial" model uses a bow shaped generator like the 508 or 533 stoves. AllanD
Yeah, the 502's are great stoves. I have 2 of them. I just wanted the 501 because it was made for only about 6 months before they were recalled and they are quite hard to come by. Mike
