Frank from the Old Town Coleman Center demonstrates a nearly 100 year old trick to getting all the fuel out of a camp stove tank. This also works getting the sludge out of a lamp or lantern fount.
I hate to admit that I just recently dumped my fuel out of the stove tank like you illustrate so well. After seeing this, and when you started to pump the tank, all I could think of was, "why didn't I think of this?" Great video!!!
AWESOME! And so simple. Love it. After drilling out the cork I had to wrap it with a piece of duct tape to reinforce the walls so it wouldn't split when working the hose thru. I also used a small clamp to hold the hose in the container (pumping to container) so it wouldn't slip out and spray gas everywhere while pumping. Worked really well. Thanks!
Neat tip! Never peed on an electric fence but saw my cousin do it. Never knew anyone could dance like that. Ended our hunting day as we helped him back to camp!
Brilliant, Frank as usual with your vids! Thanks. Just a head's up.....as if products from Asia could get any worse....I've bought standard clear tubing from the box stores like HD and it's inferior; isn't consistent in OD & ID, poor quality, etc. In this application, you're probably OK but amazing to me that they can screw up even simple tubing.
Thanks for sharing! its funny how Coleman doesnt sell anything like that nor do they instruct you about this anymore...its because they are hoping that you will never do it and then wind up buying replacement parts or all new products when your original product fails.
I personally like to just let them run out of fuel. Gives me a good excuse to actually use my stoves. Now if the fuel is stale or there's some other reason why the stove may be unsafe to light this could really come in handy.
I bought a Coleman 425D in a junk store last week and found your site and channel a few days later. I really appreciate everything you do to teach us about these old stoves and lanterns, especially the safety information! Once I have a new gasket in I'll be ready to use it this summer.
Here's my method. First of all, I use 12 oz liquor or soda bottles to store fuel inside the stove. To empty the tank, I just put the fuel tube inside the bottle and turn it on. The fuel collects in the bottle with no drama. Just pump up the pressure if needed. And the 12 oz bottle holds nearly a full tank. You're welcome.
Thank you. I'm not a vintage tool collector, per se, but I know it is a nice one, based on RU-vid comments. When I bought the Coleman collection in 1999, the seller threw that in because he only used it when he worked on Colemans.
This is great, thanks, I will be making one of these devices over the next few days. Question: is the 1/4" tubing an outside diameter measure or an inside diameter measure? (Guessing outer, but maybe it is inner diameter and then the goal is just to really snugly push 3/8" of the outer diameter through the cork so it is super pressure-tight?)
That’s a great idea! I’ve been trying to figure out the best way to remove fuel and not making a mess! I final came up with a plan. I took and old filler cap and used a step drill and drilled a hole in the center. I bought a Funnel King Flexible Spout Funnel and trimmed the end off until it fit into the cap and I just screw the cap on and pour away! It works great!
@@TheReal1953 I have so many spare caps and this one was totally rusted! I didn’t ruin it, I repurposed it! Something that was trash now is a functional tool! It’s all how you look at it!
@@Dominic.Minischetti I get it. But by implication, you're recommending drilling out a cap. Frank's way makes more sense because nothing stock is ruined. You could just as easily probably restore the rusty cap?
@@TheReal1953 Actually I didn’t recommend anyone doing anything. That’s just what I did. I have a lot of spare parts. One rusty, pitted filler cap is nothing. What would you do if your check valve is stuck and you can’t free it with carburetor cleaner and you want to empty the fount or tank but the pump is useless? You can’t use Frank’s method now could you?
@@Dominic.Minischetti Well, if you're serious about collecting these, then you make a tool to remove the check valve or spend the $40-something to buy one. I have one, do you?
I've got a ? My 2 burner manual says to fill with 13oz of fuel. But it holds more. I've been using pint liquor bottles. And I use a 750 ml bottle for storage/ transport of fuel. My tank took an entire 750 ml. Now, I know about the void, and never overflow since using my system. Just how much fuel is correct? I get about an hour out of 375 ml, but just curious.
I use a Coleman that has the fuel cap in the middle of the tank. Will this method completely empty the tank, or will still have to flip it and try to empty it while fighting the exit and shaking to get the last bit out?
@@OldTownColeman I actually got the burner out, but it took some minor jerry rigging. It is a near mint 1965 220f that I think was made on a Monday. The burner was much too tight and I am currently working to get the tip cleaner body off so I can get the frame off. I didn't have much luck with the screwdriver and wrench technique either. I do have a parts lantern so I'm not too worried if I broke something else. I'll be sure to email you, thanks.
Make more videos!!!! Got a lot of old coleman equipment need videos to fix them manly indoor double mantle lamp oh and mine doesn't have the glass shade need to know where to get it
Great idea! But I bought a Harbor Freight oil extractor, like a big tire pump. To change oil in my many small engines, tractors and trucks. It sucks the fuel out nice. Luckily I burn 4000 gallons of used motor oil, bad gasoline and diesel fuel in my 2 sawmill furnaces.
If you're leaving the lantern sit idle, yes, remove the fuel and allow the fount to dry inside. There is no issue with 5 year old fuel as long as it is still clean.
Thank you for the video Frank. I've never had a liquid gas stove, & I'd like to know if it cost less to cook with regular unleaded 10% eth gas than Propane. I refill my 1Lb tanks for about 90¢, and car gas costs about $3.50/ gal around me today. Is there any advantage to using car gas. tnx ben/ michigan
It burns hotter and longer than propane. 1 gallon of liquid fuel is equal to about 6 pounds of propane as far as usage time goes. For most people it boils down to cconvenience. A lot of people don't like the fussy nature of the liquid fuel stoves and lanterns. Personally it does not bother me. If using the appliance in cold weather, liquid fuel is a must because the pressure goes too low in the propane bottles to be useful.
Ben, I concur with the comment earlier. Especially because in you're in Michigan, you should have a gasoline stove. It will work perfectly fine all winter long whereas your propane stove won't. I've hesitated to do a compare video because there are so many. Yeah, cold weather is one very good reason.
I have an older coleman double mantle. We were using it during a power outage recently and after a couple hours of use it suddenly spit fire out of the adjustment knob. I immediately shut it off and snuffed it out. The flame burned for a minute or two longer. What could be the issue? Too much pressure from pumping? Bad seal?
Tighen up the packing nut. That *should* solve the problem. If not, you need a new packing or a new valve. Tightening the packing nut up a bit almost always fixes this problem, however.
I think the fuel tank was engineered to be more difficult to overfill, which made it more resistant to user error during use. The side effect is it impacts how one can drain it.
I use a hand crank fuel pump intended for RC cars/boats. Many come with a weight on the end of the tube and I drop this into the filler hole and tip the tank up and pump my stoves and lanterns out after a trip right back into the fuel can. Amazon has some but better searching Google to see more of the product pictures to make sure it comes with the tubing and weight. Make sure it works for glow/gas fuel.
