This is my Coleman 242c. My grandfather said that if I fixed his Coleman powerhouse he’d give me this, so I fixed his powerhouse and got to work on this. I took it all apart and out all of the parts in an ultrasonic cleaner and got a new generator. Then it was “running” but didn’t really do much. So I put in a different generator and now I have this. For some reason I have to flip it over to start the fuel flow and also the mantle is blotchy with these black spots. I don’t know if it is because of the mantles or something I did wrong but 4 mantles did the same thing. Anyway a nice poolside light up on this Tuesday morning.
Did you remove the valve in order to remove and clean the f/a tube? And did you clean out the air tubes? What size mantle are you using?
Yes, I cleaned absolutely everything. I’m using the recommended peerless mantle. Which I believe is 24-a
The 24A is a 500cp mantle which is better suited for 500cp lanterns such as the 237 or 639 kerosene lanterns etc. I would use a Coleman 21 or a Peerless 2CHG. it appears to be having difficulty driving that larger mantle assuming of course you're confident all is clean and the lantern holds pressure.
Also remember to spin the tip cleaning several lever several times while running if it appears to be dim.
As much as I hate to say it I think the F/A tube possibly needs another clean. Did you use an ultrasonic bath to clean the F/A tube? Did you use a new generator by chance or just clean the old one?
The fact it runs after you tip it upside down makes me think the F/A tube is clogged as George suggests, and fuel can enter via the hole for air at the top of the tube. Turning it also helps dislodge the gunk a bit to let it light, albeit weakly. You've worked on enough lanterns that spinning out the valve assembly for a cleaning is just another day at the office! Mike.
Alright. I’ll clean the assembly again. Also, I cleaned the original generator and that didn’t work but I had fuel flow to the pricker adjuster thing below the generator. So I bought a new generator and that didn’t work at all, so I bought another one and that is where I am now.
Its fortunate that you could still buy the generator, tip, etc. In my case for Coleman lanterns, I'd have to completely fabricate or turn out the replacement unit on a lathe. Check out the gas tip if its not slightly leaking and not having a worn orifice. I'm assuming that you don't have the flame 'halo' outside the mantle problem now. Do try out fixing a smaller mantle. Anyway, an oversized mantle would not usually give you the soot-up spots. It'll just be under-driven and be less bright that it should. Its more like its air-starved or over-fueled.
Well. I don’t understand why you wouldn’t be able to buy new generators. I just surfed the bay and found a guy that has a bunch of replacements. Also, could my issue possibly be too much pressure because I don’t really know too much about these single mantle. Also I never had a flame outside of the mantle (other than when it starts, it’s like a smoke machine in there because it doesn’t want to light). Also my solution in the ultrasonic may be a bit dirty so I’ll clean it out and make my own solution I’ve been wanting to try. Also the generator tip looks fine in my opinion. @MikeO I wouldn’t say I’ve really worked on many lanterns. I still make mistakes and think I ruin a lantern completely but I mostly figure how to fix it. And also, taking out the f/a assembly (let me know if it’s called something else) is my worst nightmare. The first time I ever did it was on a 220 that was totally destroyed, I mean my grandad must’ve left this sucker underwater for years. I was just gonna salvage what I could for parts and it was all fine and dandy until I hade to take the f/a assembly off of the fount. I grabbed a wrench and was trying to grip the fount so I could twist to no avail. So I grabbed a breaker bar, high impact sockets, and rubber boots so that I could grip the fount with my fee to and get some real leverage and well I still couldn’t get it too budge. So my last resort was... the vice. I put the part of the assembly where the wrench goes into the vice. Then I grabbed an adjustable oil filter wrench and cranked on that sucker until it almost broke my wrench but the fount broke free first. All of The other lantern so worked on, the ratchet method worked.
@Levi Tomey i always do the vise bench way. Grab the valve body with the vise jaws and I grab the fount with bare hands for more grip. If they don’t want to turn free I apply a little bit of heat in the valve close to the bung with my torch and that thing should brake lose.
Its just me, Levi. I don't get anything the 'online' way. If there's anything I couldn't buy off the shelf from some 'physical' shops by cash ĺocally, that's about it. OCP, Fettlebox, Basecamp, Fogas, Stuga-Cabana, China, Taiwan or just about any other likely places for these are beyond me. Pretty much limits my access to plenty of stuffs out there. Well, I'll still try to make out something somehow...definitely the very hard way. Anyway, have check out the air tubes and the cast burner if there could be some dead spiders or a cocoon or something partially blocking the air path? Or if the fuel stream from the jet orifice is sharp and strong once you opened the valve fully? Since you've got a new generator, that has already eliminated one of the possible causes for such problems. I hope its not the fuel pick up tube thing again this time.
@Pancholoco1911 when I did the vice method, I bent the fount and for kicks and giggles I tried to fix it and succeeded, but it took a long time.
@Levi Tomey i have never bent one and I stop turning by hand when I feel she doesn’t want to cooperate and then I proceed to step #2 AKA heat torch lol
After all of the suggestions, this is what I have. @Jean J everything else I free up the Merican’ way.
Glad to see it's a bright 242C again. Definitely the best method. If it's a stubborn one, I use a rubber strap wrench on the fount's base rim, but you need to keep things perfectly level to avoid tweaking the bung off-kilter. The Canadian brass founts are delicate to that. Mike.
