I have gas and small orifices (camping appliance repair)
Posted: Sun Jan 18, 2015 8:22 pm
Subsequent to a decision to rescue the basement from years of neglect and people's dumping things they didn't know what to do with, I unearthed a pile of gas camping appliances that didn't work.
I'd bought over the years, some Coleman stoves and lanterns at garage sales figuring on one day repairing them. Additionally, I had a small butane lantern (runs on the little fuel cans of isobutane) that had stopped working and an old single burner stove that had failed spectacularly (gouts of yellow flame) during a Scout camp out years ago.
Beginning with two fundamental principles, I began the journey of discovery and repair. The two principles?
- If they got it together, I can get it apart.
- It doesn't work now, so I can't make it work much less.
I started with the gas lanterns, since I'd discovered that my good propane lantern had gone missing (note to self: label your stuff before you camp with others, and count your gear when packing to leave).
So. Disassemble, clean, clean, clean, reassemble and test.
One stove and one lantern wouldn't pump up. Buy a pump repair kit and a new pump cup.
One lantern wouldn't let any gas through. Disassemble the generator. Some previous owner had reassembled it badly and bent the cleaning pin over. Buy a new generator.
Some parts and some cleaning, and the stoves and lanterns work. One stove could use a new generator, I think, but they're $25, so I'll hold off a bit.
One lantern has some light level issues. Probably from the old fuel that was in there when I bought it. I need to figure out what to do with the old fuel and replace it.
For about $100 in initial purchase price and parts, I now have two gas lanterns and two gas stoves that work. One of each works well, and the other two acceptably.
Bitten by the gas appliance bug, I approached the old propane bottle top single burner stove. The nut above the valve wouldn't let gas through. I could see where the orifice was, but it was so small, I couldn't find anything small enough to push through it. I beat on it from the top and bottom with a nylon hammer to try to dislodge whatever was in it. Then I polished the top with some 0000 steel wool. I applied a vacuum to the back of the valve (I suck) and I was getting some air through. Clean, clean, clean the rest of it. Reassemble. Lit it up, and it works. Yay!
On to the butane lantern. This is a small backpacking lantern that mounts on the same short fuel canisters that the MSR Pocket Rocket goes on. It's very small and gives lots of light. When it works. It had stopped some time ago - no gas flow. I got lucky on this one. There was a pin that kept the valve from unscrewing out all the way. I drifted that out and took the valve screw out. Then (inside, of course), I plugged a canister into it to blow it out a bit. Screwed the valve back in, and it lit up. Drifted the pin back in, and my lantern works again. Yay!
Lessons for me:
- Head mounted, lighted magnifiers are a great help when you have small orifices
- Take it apart. What could go wrong?
- Think where the gas goes and where the air comes from.
- I like labeling stuff with white duct tape and sharpies.
I'd bought over the years, some Coleman stoves and lanterns at garage sales figuring on one day repairing them. Additionally, I had a small butane lantern (runs on the little fuel cans of isobutane) that had stopped working and an old single burner stove that had failed spectacularly (gouts of yellow flame) during a Scout camp out years ago.
Beginning with two fundamental principles, I began the journey of discovery and repair. The two principles?
- If they got it together, I can get it apart.
- It doesn't work now, so I can't make it work much less.
I started with the gas lanterns, since I'd discovered that my good propane lantern had gone missing (note to self: label your stuff before you camp with others, and count your gear when packing to leave).
So. Disassemble, clean, clean, clean, reassemble and test.
One stove and one lantern wouldn't pump up. Buy a pump repair kit and a new pump cup.
One lantern wouldn't let any gas through. Disassemble the generator. Some previous owner had reassembled it badly and bent the cleaning pin over. Buy a new generator.
Some parts and some cleaning, and the stoves and lanterns work. One stove could use a new generator, I think, but they're $25, so I'll hold off a bit.
One lantern has some light level issues. Probably from the old fuel that was in there when I bought it. I need to figure out what to do with the old fuel and replace it.
For about $100 in initial purchase price and parts, I now have two gas lanterns and two gas stoves that work. One of each works well, and the other two acceptably.
Bitten by the gas appliance bug, I approached the old propane bottle top single burner stove. The nut above the valve wouldn't let gas through. I could see where the orifice was, but it was so small, I couldn't find anything small enough to push through it. I beat on it from the top and bottom with a nylon hammer to try to dislodge whatever was in it. Then I polished the top with some 0000 steel wool. I applied a vacuum to the back of the valve (I suck) and I was getting some air through. Clean, clean, clean the rest of it. Reassemble. Lit it up, and it works. Yay!
On to the butane lantern. This is a small backpacking lantern that mounts on the same short fuel canisters that the MSR Pocket Rocket goes on. It's very small and gives lots of light. When it works. It had stopped some time ago - no gas flow. I got lucky on this one. There was a pin that kept the valve from unscrewing out all the way. I drifted that out and took the valve screw out. Then (inside, of course), I plugged a canister into it to blow it out a bit. Screwed the valve back in, and it lit up. Drifted the pin back in, and my lantern works again. Yay!
Lessons for me:
- Head mounted, lighted magnifiers are a great help when you have small orifices
- Take it apart. What could go wrong?
- Think where the gas goes and where the air comes from.
- I like labeling stuff with white duct tape and sharpies.
