Re oil changes which probably should be a separate thread in a whole different part of the forum. Ive always stuck to the manufacturers recommendation and see it as cheap insurance. The diesel Isuzu gets new oil every 5000km and filter every second change and the 1990 toyota gets new oil and filter every 10000km. I do my own changes so its only 40 bucks nz for the toyota and 35 or 50 in the isuzu. Both have topped 200000km on the clock and like most Japanese used imports both have evidence of speedo tampering so who knows the true mileage. I know that these specs were set for lower quality oil than we can even buy nowdays but like I said its not a great cost so cheap insurance. I was talking to an x mechanic a while ago who told me that Honda changed to a 60000km change period but changed back to 20000 2 years later because the service departments complained of lack of work
I have heard of people modifying their Coleman generators to absorb more heat for use with kerosene. I don't know how they work long term but they reported excellent results by brazing a brass plate or sleeve onto it, increasing its surface area. I think it was AGM that had a Huge generator on some of their models. Advertised as a long-life, any gas generator. The bottom line for me on auto gasoline is, on top of everything else, I HATE the smell, and will only use it in an emergency. The actual octane rating for Coleman Fuel is 50-55. It a knock-a-thon waiting to happen in an automobile. Of course the lower the compression of the engine, the less likely it is to knock. Chemists, would a lower octane rating mean a faster burn and hence, make a better stove fuel? Geeves, excellent point. Which industrial complex to believe? The ones selling more cars, or the ones selling more oil? Catch 22. Mike
The octane is more about how it reacts under pressure. All petrol will compression ignite in the same way diesel does and depending on engine design will do so at a lower pressure. The problem is all petrol burns very quickly so you want to control the burn by having it start at on spot and radiate out from there> If you let it self ignite it all does at once and its all over before any works done. With diesel it burns so slowly that the even if it does all light at once the burn still takes a long time (a tenth of a second is a long time in the life of an engine revolution but this is how long it takes in a 4 cylinder diesel doing 4200rpm)so all the power gets converted to torque.
About straight run Naphta, if you live close enough to a refinery get in contact with someone there in the marketing department and see if you can buy straight run naptha. You will need your own metal container or pay a heafty deposit on thiers and likely it will need to be larger than a one gallon can. It's highly likely they will sell it to you very cheap. I don't know how cheap but i'm thinking somewhere in the 2 to 3 dollar a gallon price range. If you don't live near a refinery contact your local service station manager (there are some out there who still provide service) and see if you can buy some through their distributor, you may get lucky this way. I'll not get into the arguement of longer life with more frequent oil changes vs more miliage per change except to say my 1995 Freightliner had it's oil changed every 12,000 miles or about once a month. In the first 5 years that worked out to 60 changes at about $120.00, USD per change. When the engine needed to be torn down to replace a fractured head they did an inframe rebuild. When the main bearings were replaced they installed new original size bearings back in the engine. The mechanic stated to me that he would have put the original bearings back on but felt it would not be proper to do so since he didn't want to do another inframe rebuild in another 700,000 miles. He stated an inframe was not needed at that time but since we were already 90 percent (%) into the rebuild let's go ahead and do it. I did agree. The old bearings showed no great amount of wear. Every oil analysis i had done indicated i didn't need to change the oil but that meant to me i was doing it at the proper times. BTW, for the first 500,000 miles my oil never got so "dirty" it showed colour but it got changed anyway. That engine now has over 1.5 million miles and still runs clean. The oil shows colour but nothing like some engines i've seen. lance
All this conversation about fuel inspired me to get a couple of gallons of Coleman at Walmart (still $8.88 per gallon). I remember when it went from about $6.69 in the speculation driven run up in prices (2007, 08?). Of course when crude oil prices dropped by 2/3rds the price of Coleman fuel didn't drop...of course...moving the Waltons up on the billionaires list... Of note is that Walmart carries 1 quart bottles of both Coleman and Kerosene (Coleman brand) for $5.99 each. The shocker was a stop at EMS (Eastern Mountain Sports, a big regional outfitter). They wanted $12.99 for a quart of the MSR branded Coleman fuel....$51.96 per gallon... Paul
Speaking of Coleman 252 military lanterns. I have a couple I got off the bay. One seems to burn just fine, though not as bright as I would expect, and with a greenish-blue tint (wonder if that's because of the thick glass or the dye in the coleman fuel?), and the other acts like the generator is clogged. Can the 252 generators be cleaned or do I just need to buy new ones? I only run Coleman fuel in my Coleman fuel lanterns and stoves. Except for my 533. I've run about 1/2 tank of unleaded in it but will not anymore. Don't like the smell. Guess I'll run some CF and carb cleaner(perhaps Berryman B12 Chemtool) through it.
Jaymo: I've had some limited experience with the Coleman designed 252 military type lanterns and some success. I've had five of the 252 military lanterns. I was trying to restore an early WWII Akron military lantern with the Aladdin (goose neck type) conversion generator. At first the lantern was remarkably feeble. I went on the Pelem lantern site to gleen information on the 252 (I also corresponded with David S., a regular on the Pelem site). Two suggestion that worked for me: 1. You will have to disessemble the upper part of the lantern and inspect the lower arms of the "U" shaped air tubes. You may find that one of them is blocked with a metal plug. This was apparently done because of the use of motor gas / lower quality fuel. I punched a hole in the plug, as per advice on the Pelem site. 2. Use a large, 400 - 500 cp mantle. I used a Petromax 500 cp mantle. The smaller type 21 mantles are just not big enough. The large mantles can be found at the Bryte Lite and Coleman.com (type 1111 mantles)sites. The two changes / upgrades dramatically improved the output of the lantern. It now burns with a bright, white light, as does my 1971 252. Good luch with your project. There may be other folks along with additional advice. Paul
I'm not familiar with the Pelem site. Can you enlighten me? I'd really like to get these 2 252s running right and bright.
Aspen 4T in Maple Ridge, near Vancouver BC is running around $23 per gallon. Not economically feasible. Stan
I was lucky enough to be in Gettysburg PA in Aug and at a campground i found Coleman fuel for .....$3.99 a gallon!!! but seeing how we were so far from home, i only picked up 1 gallon I went to Walmart in the same town and they were selling it for over $9.00 a gallon....?? I am sick over the price of Coleman fuel, but they do seem to have us over a barrel....I guess i should be grateful i dont use alot...yet...
Wow, $3.99 a gallon is a wonderful price, and so conveniently located right there in the campground. The only time I've gotten Coleman Fuel cheaper is the time I saw a can of Coleman Fuel sitting by a trash can. It looked practically new. I picked it up. It was still 90% full. Apparently, someone felt uncomfortable throwing away a can of fuel and thoughtfully left it for the next guy. I happily picked it up and used every bit of it. Other than a serendipitous find like mine, I think you've found about the cheapest Coleman Fuel in the entire USA. HJ
There seems to be some resentment about Coleman fuel prices here. In the US, where we can get Coleman fuel or the equivalent for $9 a gallon or so, I can't see any reason to feel ripped off. Coleman fuel is much more refined than gasoline, lower in all kinds of toxic and carcinogenic ingredients (think benzene), is distributed in costly containers through a retail network ... and it costs less than mineral spirits! I'd love to pay less but I'm happy to get such a good product at $8.88 a gallon from Walmart. I buy a gallon or two every time I'm there. Now, 12.99 a quart - that's a great way to rip off urban metrosexual wannabee backpackers ...
The reason we're feeling ripped off is that 2 years ago, it was under $4 a gallon. The price of oil has gone down since then. In reality I'm smart enough to realize that it's not that big of a deal. I go through a gallon a month or so. So no, I'm not going to the poor house, but when I don't see gallon cans at Wal-Mart anymore and I see quart containers of the same product for $6 it pisses me off. With the move away from white gas in the mainstream camp stove/lantern market, I don't see it getting any better either. Mike
Hey Mike, I agree with you there. I've been doing a balancing act with the types of stoves I acquire making sure that I'm able to find fuel for them. I've been tending towards kerosene since it is a lot cheaper and plentiful than CF and there exist plenty of old classics and new off-the-shelf stoves that can burn kero. Hate to say it, but the white-gas only Colemans are a dying or dead breed, thus dual fuel versions, which don't do that great either (Just another way for the stove to wear out and consumers have to buy another). Unleaded fuel is relatively cheap, but dang it's messy, so I am aiming for kero type stoves at the moment with the fuel problem in mind. I know kero is messy too, but I'd rather have kero-messy than unleaded messy, it works in more stoves, lanterns and heaters than CF types. I'll keep burning CF, but there may come a time where all that hardware I have in the garage will become obsolete without the correct software, if you know what I mean... Just my 2 cents again (I'm running out of copper pennies and will have to go to wooden nickels) sam
I feel a little embarassed every time an American complains. Look at the prices for Coleman Fuel outside of North America, and you'll realize that we're pretty darn fortunate here in the US. I do resent it when retailers switch from gallon containers to quart containers and charge nearly the same price. That's an obvious and blatant rip off, but at $9.00 or $10.00 a gallon for quality stove fuel -- a price far lower than the rest of the world pays -- I've got no cause for complaint. HJ
On the other hand, look at the bargains on classic camp stoves on auction in the UK that become ridiculously expensive when shipped here. Transportation is the thing that hurts dollarwise (or poundwise!) Bob
I stocked up a few years ago, when Wal-Mart had it on clearance for $3.00 a gallon. My buddy and I bought all they had, because we both use Coleman stoves/lanterns/tent heaters when hunting/camping. I've even used the tent heater to keep my service van warm between stops,in the winter. We have GPS trackers on our vans and aren't allowed to let them idle for more than 15 minutes.
Need some help here guys---- Maybe we should start another thread/topic on this but here are my thought so far: 1. Coleman has the world by the short hairs because they have the monopoly of the 'white gas' market. Period. Hence, they can command any price they want. If we believe that we can only use white gas in certain stoves then we will pay whatever price they demand. 2. We have the base fuels of automobile gas, kero, alcohol,white gas, butane, etc...to work with in our quest. 3. A future problem for us will be to obtain white gas at an affordable price. 4. The biggest problem seems to be that the burners & generators fill with soot and other contaminants to the point of making the stove useless if you don't use white gas in a 'white gas' stove. Soooo... I have mixed Sea Foam(an automobile gas additive)into white gas and burned it in a SVEA 123. Two interesting observations- A. The stove does not seem to burn as hot as before. B. The carbon soot in the burner burns off quicker than it did with straight white gas. There also seems to be a larger yellow tip on the flame which indicates more fuel is remaining unburned. I will only report my amateur observations since I am not a scientist nor have any instruments to measure heat etc... I'd appreciate reports of other people who would help in this matter and make sure I'm traveling a safe road here. One rule that I have is that I do my testing outside of any building. Mixtures I want to test are: 1 to 1 mixture of kerosene and white gas. 10 parts auto gas to 1 part alcohol. Has anyone tried these mixtures?
I haven't tried any of the mixtures, but with a little searching- http://www.tradekey.com/kp-pure-naphtha/ Looks like you can buy 55 gallon drums direct from the UAE... I did not "join" tradekey to find out how much it is per barrel. I have posted about this before, but here is an option to explore. In some cities, in some states, they have "Household Chemical Recycling" programs. I obtained a LOT of Coleman, alcohol, VM&P Naphtha, mineral spirits, Charcoal starter fluid, Tiki torch fuel, etc. FREE from one such program in Denver. (found propane sometimes also) These programs are also known as "Drop and Swap" programs. You might check the nearest "big" city. Other than that, it's 8.88 at Walmart and really, for clean fuel, is that so much? I am guessing it takes a scout troop to burn a whole gallon of Coleman fuel in a weekend, so it's not too awful. I burn a large tank and a half when I cook menudo and that's about 5 hours of straight burn time on a 413 type stove. That's a lot of cooking for a buck or two.
