Marketed by Sears Roebuck, probable manufacturer Poloron. The fuel tank, made of steel on this example (another version had an aluminium tank) is of the full width of the stove (half-a-metre, twenty inches). Nicely welded seam. Mounted in slots in the stove frame, secured by a knob screwing into the tank at one end and by a flanged boss on the pump cap at the other. I featured servicing of the pump in a post in the Fettling Forum HERE. Not the usual type of non-return valve. I serviced the control valve and generator. Air valve and inlet (draws on air space at the top of the fuel tank). Assembled, graphite seals on fuel and air controls replaced. Fuelled up the tank to the fill level with Aspen white gasoline. Followed the lighting instructions ... ... and it fired up easily. Secondary burner tried out. A very hot maximum (grate glowing red ... ... and effective simmer. Raising and lowering the hinged lid/windscreen requires depressing thumb-buttons on either side of the stove. Front legs double as a carrying handle. Back panel. Base. Same spatter-finish paint on the lid as on the fuel tank. Kettle on ... ... soon boiling. Unusual design and a distinctive paint finish. Very functional though and an O-ring instead of a pump cup leather washer works exceptionally well on this model with no ‘missed’ pump strokes. The NRV design contributes to the easy pump action and is (as it must be!) fuel tight.
Reading references here on CCS and on the Coleman Collectors Forum. I gather the ‘Ted’ stove didn’t beat any sales records and though not a rare survivor in the States by any means isn’t commonly found (especially the 3-burner version). In the UK its a rarity. My example was installed in a camper van imported into the UK. Unsurprisingly, the new owner replaced the Ted stove with a propane one.
I passed it along, but I used to have the earlier J. C. Higgins version in baby blue with the extruded aluminum tank. I thought the bowls around the burners made it very easy to clean. Arguably the worst thing about the coleman pattern suitcase stoves is all the nooks and crannies which invariably fill with bacon grease. This design is superior for cleaning.
@dwarfnebula Good point. Those burner surround bowls and the grates are in stainless steel too. Chromed steel just doesn’t have that durability in a hot spot with spilled liquids to boot.
Very tidy stove, and functional range. Although alumin(i)um may not have been the best material to choose for the pump, especially if left undisturbed in a steel tank.
Interesting artistic paint job of the era, too. Perhaps designed to make mom happier about those campsite cooking tasks.....
Yes indeed Ed! Eye-catching and evocative (of the ‘60’s) as you say. Fab! I cleaned up the burner ‘bowls’ the one under the main burner on the left predictably having plenty of cooking spill burned-on stains. Also, I removed the burners/manifold assembly for a ‘look see’. With this design, the Coleman practice of varying the flat and corrugated washer stack numbers to maintain an appropriate main/secondary burner output ratio is not possible. A ‘choke’ washer under the main burner serves, absent under the secondary burner. Mountings and attachment points in the stove case.
Interesting disassembly photos. The manifold is very Coleman-like, and the burners are more like Preway. The generator also looks Coleman, but that pump/NRV unit seems is a new one on me. Thanks for sharing. ....Arch
A very attractive and innovative stove design, @presscall ! The fuel valve, generator and pump design is the same as the Thermos 8427
I just finished working on one of these stoves that was given to me by a fellow collector. According to the info on Terry Marsh's site, this model was first offered by Sears in 1961. It appears that Poloron borrowed the burner/manifold design from Coleman, the pump design from Thermos, and the valve/generator design from AGM and/or Prentiss Wabers. What intrigues me the most is the aluminum fuel tank. When Coleman attempted to make a lightweight suitcase stove in the early 60's (the 442 and 443 models), why didn't they use an aluminum fuel tank? I had assumed that aluminum pressure vessels just weren't in use in the early 1960's, but here we have Poloron using them in 1961. Not too many years later, aluminum pressure tanks would become standard for backpacking stoves. As is not uncommon for the Thermos-style pumps from this era, the pump was leaking through the dreaded "4th O-ring." I removed the poppet from the pump, as well as the 4th O-ring. I threaded the base of the pump and threaded a Swedish style stove NRV into it. I then reassembled the base to the pump tube with some JB Weld to seal everything. The pump work fine now, with no leaking.
I could never understand the "fill " embossing on the tank. How was this used when you cannot see the fuel level in the tank? I have a similar stove (J.C.Higgins brand) with the same embossing probably same manufacturer.
Fuel level’s not as visible as through the filler neck of an MSR fuel bottle I grant, but it is visible enough to get a reasonable idea of when the fuel tank’s up to capacity.
