How to Polish a Nickel-Plated Lantern Fount 

Rinse thoroughly with water first. Some guys add a little baking soda to neutralise the acid, but if you rinse it well with water the acid won't be a problem. The alcohol isn't use to rinse, but to dry. After rinsing, remove as much water as possible from the fount, then add a little alcohol, swish it around, and drain. The alcohol will bind with the water and carry most of it away. I recommend methyl hydrate or denatured alcohol, but isopropanol will work too. The problem with isopropanol is that it's often sold diluted with water, so you want to be sure to get the 99% variety.

@@king.coleman Thanks so much, very helpful.

I have zero experience doing that kind of work on firearms, so I'm probably not the best person to ask.

If I recall correctly, I just rinsed this and rubbed it with a kitchen sponge. It wasn't bad to start with. If the nickel is crusty and has a lot of "patina", I do rub it down with 0000 steel wool during the rinse.

@@king.coleman thank you and thanks for the great videos!

No, you don't need to remove the valve. It may be a good idea to do so to ensure the valve and other fuel system components are clean and in working order, but it's not necessary as part of cleaning/polishing the fount. As far as the vent goes, I'm not aware of any way to polish damaged porcelain. Anything hard enough to remove scratches is going to leave more scratches or a cloudy surface. Automotive polish or metal polish can be used to *clean* porcelain. They're good at removing baked on debris, but they won't polish the porcelain itself. The only option to restore porcelain is to send the vent to a service that works in porcelain coatings. They'll sandblast or chemically remove the old porcelain and recoat it for you.

Yes, any acid solution will work. I can't tell you how the strength of vinegar compares to my citric acid solution, but as long as you keep an eye on it, you should be fine. You only need a weak solution to cut the oxidation and grime. To strip vents I use the mildest method possible. Porcelain is pretty durable, but it can be scratched. The older vents are much more durable than the post-1970 vents. On the 200 in the video, I could scrape the paint off the vent with my fingernail. I let it sit in some methyl hydrate for twenty minutes to soften it and then scraped most of it off with a plastic scraper. A few tenacious spots came off with 0000 steel wool. Citrus stripper should be a safe option. I've never tried traditional chemical stripper and would be very cautious with it, perhaps apply some to the underside first to ensure it doesn't etch the porcelain.

@@king.coleman Thank you so much for the valuable information!

straight vinigar works great, but dont toss the nickle tank in there. 'aircraft stripper' wil remove the vent paint but leaves the orig enamal finish

How did I do it? Watch the video.

@@king.coleman you use acid? Does ketchup or vinegar work too? I can't submerge the flute in water

@@tarotangy Any mild acid solution will work. I know nothing about flutes nor do I know anything about the quality or durability of the nickel, so your results may vary.

@@king.coleman In the description of the flute the top material is nickel and the material type is alloy steel

@@tarotangy I know the quality of nickel used by Coleman on their products. I have no idea the quality of the nickel on your flute.

I'd use a Coleman 99 or Peerless 24A. The 202 is the same as a 200, both 300cp. For some reason Toronto always specified 99s for the 200 and 200A, but fairly early into production Wichita switched to specifying 21s for the 200A (and 202). 21s are okay, but I've noticed that these models light more easily with the larger 99 (or equivalent 24A) and run a bit brighter.

@@king.coleman o.k. thank you, I do appreciate all the professional advice . I want to be able to use these vintage lanterns obviously in the safest way possible. So, I will order the peerless 24 a mantles for this particular lantern . Thanks again !!

That doesn't sound original. To the best of my knowledge, they were using paper decals in 1954. If it's an American model maybe they were doing something different down there, but I've still never seen anything like that. Paper decals can usually be removed intact and pretty easily with a razor blade, then glued back on. If that's not an option I just skip the citric acid bath.

@@king.coleman It is paper, the letters are just elevated on the decal. It seems rare to find a 1954 nickel fount with an original sticker, but I see the same sticker albeit with more wear and tear on a 1954 500 nickle stove on ebay right now. Its so faded its hard to be sure if the letters and boarder are silver like mine, but the elevated letters are the same. My lantern came from a collapsed abandoned mining cabin in the moutains of northern bc so I don't think anyone would have replaced the sticker on it. 67 years is a long time though, anything could happen.

@@Bornintheseat I've got a number of lanterns from 1954 with decals and can't say that any of them have raised lettering or silver edges. They're red printing on white. But, yes, the paper decals often did not survive. They were not as durable as the later decals.

It's probably an R55. If it has an integrated cleaning needle and actuator, that's likely what it is. While they make lighting more difficult, the R55 was an "upgrade". The looped Q99 generators can be heated and lit with a match, but if the gas tip clogs, you have to shut it off, let it cool, remove it, poke the tip with a cleaning needle, then reinstall it. Not a big problem with today's fuel, but back in the day it would be quite frustrating if you had debris in your gas. The R55, with its integrated cleaning needle, resolved that hassle.

No.

I don't, but an automotive wax on the nickel founts might help. I think the biggest factor in preventing future "patina" is simply to keep them clean and dry.

Thank you for all your information! I have a couple old nickel fount lanterns I would like to restore.

If the flame isn't out within at most a couple of minutes, the valve either isn't completely shut or there's a leak. Make sure the knob is good and tight. If it's still not shutting off, there may be debris in the valve seat preventing full closure or the seat or stem may have a small pit or a groove allowing fuel to seep through.

@@king.coleman Bill, good morning. I know your very busy but I myself like many other people do trust your suggestions and your advice. In regards to my 202 professional lantern , or any lantern I'm probably going to own . It's really humid and hot even in the early evening hours and early morning hours because of the temperatures 🌡 Florida experiences, what would your advice be on how long I should operate the lantern, also , when shutting down, I now prefer to first shut the main valve off , followed by immediately shutting the cleaning tip in the up position. It can take about three min. and after like a gulping or pumping noise everything shuts down.

@@wadeosceola6738 You can run the lantern as long as you like. Natural variations in ambient temperature are nothing compared to how hot the lantern will get when running. You shouldn't need to use the cleaning needle to shut it off, but yes, they may sometimes make a pulsing or even a popping sound when burning out. Colemans tend to be pretty quiet and tame. Others, like AGMs, can make some relatively loud pops when going out due a lack of burner screen.

I buy my citric acid powder at a beer- and wine-making supply shop. I eyeball my measurements, but about 1 tsp per litre of water. The time will depend on the piece you're boiling. If you're cleaning brass parts, twenty minutes is usually sufficient. Cleaning a nickel fount could be anything between 15 and 30 minutes depending on how bad it is. After fifteen minutes I check every 5-10 minutes to be sure it's not damaging the nickel. For rust removal on steel parts you may need a stronger solution and, depending on how bad the rust is, it could take a couple of hours. The key is to check on it regularly.

Some collectors spray them with high temperature silver paint. I don't care for the look, but it's pretty commonly done. High temperature clear coat is also an option. Rustoleum makes a cold galvanising "paint" in a spray can. It looks like flat grey primer if you leave it, but it polishes up very nicely and looks pretty close to the original finish on 220 burner frames with a little effort. I haven't tried it myself, but have been impressed by photos of what others have done with it.

I use a medium buffing wheel and jeweller's rouge.

I eyeball it, but about 1 tsp per litre of water. I buy mine at a local shop that sells wine-making supplies. They sell it in 1kg and 2kg packages. You can buy smaller packages at a grocery store. I hear a lot of people buy larger quantities online.

Are you asking about a substitute for citric acid? If so, I'd use white vinegar. If you're wanting to avoid cleaning with an acid solution, I'd start with a product like Simple Green or something similar.

@@king.coleman if I were to use white vinegar would I bring it up on a stove and let it simmer and put the parts inside or just let it sit overnight at room temperature do you recommend?

@@lessstuffmorefreedom-livin6886 You can use it hot or at room temperature. You're just wanting to soften or remove corrosion, which shouldn't take more than 15-30 minutes. Definitely don't leave it overnight or it'll eat right through the nickel plating. Up to 15 or 20 minutes in a vinegar bath should be just fine. After that--assuming it still needs some more time--check it every five minutes and don't exceed 30 minutes. If the nickel is thin, badly pitted, or badly oxidised the acid bath can damage it relatively quickly. If it's not bad to start with, I'd just put it in the sink and wrap it with vinegar-soaked paper towels for 15 minutes, then clean with degreaser and water before polishing.

@@king.coleman okay thank you very much for all the great information and expert advice. Any recommendations on what I should use to polish it

@@king.coleman also, what's your opinion on people who put little bb's in the fuel tank and shake it around to break up any corrosion that might be inside the tank

It's a cotton wheel with medium firmness. In between the hard "felt" wheels and the fluffy "soft" ones.

@@king.coleman does it have a brand Name, just trying to get exactly what you use. I have some of those spiral cotton ones but your wheel looks like a better deal

@@johndelladio3507 I just bought a new one and checked the packaging. The brand is ROK and it looks like they may have changed the description. The one I've been using is "medium", but the new one is identical and labelled "soft". From what I'm seeing online, it looks like ROK may have dropped the really fluffy wheel that was previously in their range. (I've got one and use it for applying wax.) Now it's just the soft sewn cotton wheel and the hard felt wheel.

There's always the option to polish by hand using a metal polish like Blue Magic or Mothers.

@@king.coleman Excellent thank you sir

I use about one teaspoon per litre of water.

Scrap the fount. This is a common one and it would be easy to find another fount. If it were a rare or valuable model, I would likely try Caswell's gas tank sealer. In the past I would not have trusted gas tank sealer on a pressurised fount, but the last few years, Caswell has actually been marketing their product specifically for gas pressure lanterns and stoves and say that it will safely seal founts and tanks with pinholes and stress cracks.

Appreciate it.

There's no magic number. I use roughly one teaspoon per litre of water. You can make the solution stronger if necessary, just remember that a stronger solution (or more time soaking in a weaker solution) increases the risk of damaging nickel plating.

I have not. It's a good rust-remover. I'm not sure how well it'll do at cleaning other crud and oxidation off the nickel.

it will eat thru the nickle plating to the brass.

The lantern in the before and after photos was a 1957 200. The fount used in the video, as I said at the beginning, was from a 236.

I had the chance to show it to him a few weeks later. He was impressed with how well it had cleaned up. No...he didn't want it back.

I don't know what you're getting at. This video is about polishing nickel-plated founts and has nothing to do with painting or with vents. That said, don't paint vents. They're coated with porcelain, which can handle heat. Paint will burn off.

@@king.coleman Sorry. It looked like the vent was painted based on your before photo.

As I explained in the video, the vent had some high-temp silver paint on it when I acquired it. It's helpful to watch the videos before commenting.

@@king.coleman yes you did say that. Sorry I missed it so I guess I deserve the snarky condisention. Good day sir.

@@williamharper9893 you definitely deserved more snark than you received