I have a Coleman 220F that I use from time to time. Where I live, everyone uses these older lanterns for ice fishing, and they always seem to have a bit of flickering in the light. I don't know if this is a characteristic of the lanterns of what, but from what I have read on the forum it can be a sign that the generator is dirty. This lantern is from the early 70s, and prior to me buying it and using it, a older man had it in his garage unused for about 20 years. I've cleaned what I can, and I did disassemble the generator and it looks to be okay, but this is like pearls before swine as I'm certainly a low grade novice. I see some black coating on the paper tube and a bit of the metal. When I say flicker, it's more of a slight pulsating. Nothing too major, but enough to notice. I pumped it up like mad and this seems to make not a bit of difference. I use Coleman fuel, but I can't say what the previous owner did. Now, to the point -- a new generator for this will cost me more than what I paid for the lantern. It's not mission critical it be flawless, so what I'm curious about is what options I have to clean the existing generator to mitigate some flickering.
all lanterns do hunt/flicker and in some the frequency is unnoticeable and in some you do see it. if it lights easily and pumping does not help and you cleaned all the air tubes it might be a generator. you might try to clean it a bit more by heat and quench, but if the tip is worn there is nothing to do but replace. others may have more ideas
I have had numerous lanterns that flicker 220's 242's, 236, 237 and AGM's. Once you are sure everything is clean (gas and air ways) you can try to add brass mesh screening to the generator. Wrap it tightly around the cleaning needle and reinsert into genny tube. I have also had great success stuffing in a zippo wick into the genny tube. Good luck Dave
