Hi All Preamble Sometime in the 1950s, Coleman released an English made Veritas Superb after rebadging it the Coleman 239E and calling it the “Ranger”. There was obviously an agreement between Coleman and the Falk, Stadelmann Co., the manufacturers of the Veritas lanterns, however I have not been able to find any references to the agreement. So this Coleman 239E remains an enigma to me and I suspect to others. There appears to be very scant written evidence of the Coleman 239E Ranger however the fact remains, it does exist. In March 2019 via eBay, I purchased the Veritas Coleman 239E from an Australian collector. The Fettle The 239E, as bought, was in very good condition. It needed very little work to get it to operate. The following is the description of the lantern’s fettle. The lantern was dissembled into its component parts. Other than the burner’s manifold, it being very clean and bead blasted, all the parts were given a clean in soapy warm water. The generator was dissembled and via the heat /quench method any coke was removed. I have to say, there was very little carbon build up evident. The pricker’s rod was cleaned from carbon residue. All the parts were subsequently given a clean in the ultrasonic cleaner. The bail was cleaned of surface corrosion and polished with Mother’s Mag cleaner. To provide protection to the fount from the bail’s impact, I fitted black heat shrink to the bail. I like to use the no glue type heat shrink because it heat forms to the bail’s curve without wrinkles, remains in place and can be readily removed with a sharp blade whilst providing very good protection to the fount. The original Veritas bulged globe was missing however a straight sided Primus globe was provided with the original sale. This Primus globe fits and works well. Note: The original Veritas Superb globes appear to be very hard to procure ......... perhaps one day one will surface. The lantern was reassembled into the Coleman 239E Ranger. The generator seal to the fuel manifold was hard and brittle. I replaced it with a Tilley generator’s seal that fitted perfectly. The Money Shot I used a Peerless model 111 mantle. This mantle is a larger/longer mantle selected to provide adequate heat to the generator. I put about a litre of kerosene into the fount and applied about 20 pumps of pressure. I then filled the preheat spirit cup with methylated spirits, and lit it. Just as the remnants of the methylated spirit burnt off I opened the fuel control valve. The lamp lit into life. After the mantle ignited I applied a 50 pumps worth of pressure to the fount and the following picture is the satisfying result. Summary The lantern is in very good condition. I found that this lantern lit very easily and with no fuss. It behaved like the lady she is. I’m aware that these Veritas lanterns have a reputation of being temperamental, however with this example, I found no evidence of this. It’s a rare lantern, it runs and behaves very well. It’s a keeper. Thank you for looking Cheers Pete
@ColinG and @Norman Well, with you both working on your Veritas Superbs I was motivated to get my Ranger up and running. Thanks for the motivation, I like this lantern very much. Cheers Pete
Nice work, Pete. That's a looker! When I first got my Superb (thanks Norman!) I was struck by how similar the setup was to Coleman lamps so I guess it made sense from that perspective but wouldn't they have had a similar lamp of that general type? Anyhow, they work well in my experience and both my Superbs start extremely easily (even the one with a stress crack) and the mantles start to glow without me having to do anything and I think @Norman has found the same thing. Good luck finding a genuine globe - they're as rare as hen's teeth and I haven't found a pot-bellied alternative tat fits. There is a frosted globe that kind of fits but it's a about 10mm short. It's a shame Coleman never made a rounded 220/285 globe as that would have fitted.
Well done Pete. Thank you for the detailed and well documented presentation. She looks great and runs as she should. I light my Superb on a regular basis and run it for several hours without any problems. I use an Amish mix with my Superb but I'm sure she would run just fine on straight kerosene. Just in case you are interested there is an original glass globe for the Superb on ebay UK, but it is quite expensive. Cheers, Norman
@Norman Thanks mate. I just bought that Veritas Superb globe from England on eBay ........ I couldn’t resist it and who knows when another will surface. Thanks for pointing me to it. Cheers Pete
I'm glad it went to a genuine collector who will value it and as you say, who knows when another will turn up?
Hi Pete, You're welcome. It is good this glass is going to someone that will take very good care of it. These Veritas glass globes do show up on ebay UK once in a while. Cheers, Norman
Nice work, Pete! These lanterns are not easy to find. The only one I can remember seeing was on Terry Marsh's site.
@george I just had a look at the Terry Marsh site ...... and my lantern is the actual one displayed. I’m now the new owner, awesome. Cheers Pete
Great, Pete! I have numerous pictures of some of my lanterns on Terry's site. I thought that lantern was possibly yours; going by the decal/transfer on the fount.
Thanks @george, I was surprised to see on Terry’s site and @Lant-ern thanks you, I’m honoured to be the current custodian. Cheers Pete
@ColinG and @Norman Look what arrived today from good old Blighty ....... The genuine Veritas Superb globe. It certainly makes her look great. Thanks again Norman for giving me the heads up on this globe. I’m as happy as a dog with 2 ........ male appendages Cheers Pete
Hi Pete, You are welcome and might I add she looks great with the proper glass. Pete I'm curious is a dog with two male appendages anything like a three peckered goat? Cheers, Norman
That really finishes it off perfectly! It's a real shame Coleman never made a barrel shaped globe that size... actually, what globe did Coleman use on the re-badged Superb/Ranger?
@Norman yes I do think that these animal variants are closely affiliated, and by all dubious accounts, quite uniquely happy with their afflictions. @ColinG The original Coleman rebadged Ranger, I believe, used the Veritas Superb globe. However, I’m wondering if the Veritas logo etched on the globe remained on the Coleman rebadged lamp globes There is no documentation to verify one way or the other. Cheers Pete
