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Sorry for the U-turn ;) , but...

So that's 3 502s?

:cheers:

There might be another, even uglier one in the USPS system :grinpimp:


My uglier 502 showed up today. I might need to build that electolysis tank sooner rather than later!

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I had oil dripping from the pump - so I knew that was good! It pumped up, held air, and let it out when I opened the valve. All good signs. Opening the cap ruinrt the gasket, so I borrowed one for a test drive.

It took some whispering and tickling, but it's trying. It wants to work.

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A little more whispering and tickling, aaaand...

we have some money! Not a lot, but I'll take it!

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Plans include a little cholesterol medicine to clean out the arteries, custom paint on the fount, and a spit-shine on all the metal parts except the bowl. That'll need to be painted.
 
Here's some tech:

This one is another 501-502 hybrid.

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The 501 had a short run due to a faulty design that turned it into a potential bomb: http://www.colemancollectorsforum.com/post/inherent-dangers-of-the-coleman-501-stove-3635071

I've read that Coleman didn't put any parts to waste so they used up all the 501 founts on the first 502s. Which explains all the hybrids I've seen.

They also moved to pump on the 502. Here's a few pics for a visual.

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Here's two 501-502s. It looks like the Coleman sticker got put on randomly.

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More tech:

When they put the new instruction sticker on, they just put it on over the old. I looked and this looked to have more than one sticker.
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I scratched at it and sure enough, there's and old sticker with a 501 generator part number.

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It actually looked like a few layers of stickers. So I carefully excavated some more with a razor knife. There is a THIRD sticker.

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This fount was likely originally a 501, then a 501A, and finally a 502.
 
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You even have the transition valve on the new one. That's very cool. They sliced and diced the brass. Pretty awesome!
 
I need to make room for a new incoming lantern(s), so I have to downsize my stash. I went down the line and looked each one in the mantle as each made its case to stay.

My beater 200 lost. That's the sad part. The happy part is that the old girl (1/59) spent the day at the salon where she was fully disassembled, each of her parts inspected, cleaned and polished, her skin got exfoliated and waxed and then she got have one last long drink of Coleman fuel.

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The Coleman Collectors Forum has a travelling lantern and I'm the current host. I don't know where it will go from Sacramento, but I'll take it to Utah in 4 weeks and then pass it on. I picked it up in Fresno last weekend on the way back home from LA.

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Having a bit of a light up for the Travelling 228.

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If you're interested in Coleman lanterns, many cool ones are here on the table, so to speak.

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There's the 228F Travelling lantern. A 228E, a 236(awesome lantern), some 200As, some Canadian 335s, some Sears (made by Coleman but better), and many 242s which I think are the best. The 228F is sitting on a 500 Stove, which is really cool if you like stoves.
 
Utah in four weeks - you attending Moab this year?
 
Common Yard sale season, Daddy needs some new stoves. I need to find a single burner, I'd settle for a dual fuel Sportster.
 
So I don't have the skills/tools to rebuild these older pieces, and for that matter I never seen any liquid fuel stoves for sale closer than a couple hundred miles away. So my question is what's the quality of the current new Coleman dual-fuel liquid fuel lanterns and dual burner stoves?
 
Current production is OK. The 295 Powerhouse or 639 Kerosene are the ones to get.

Stoves--I'd wait and find a 413G. There are huge numbers around and are often free or under $20. They come up a lot on Craig's list. Rebuilding them is trivially easy. If you own a Land Cruiser, servicing a lantern or stove is about as hard as changing the oil.

I'm not sure what new gasoline stoves are available. The 424 is out there, and will likely work well, but the older ones are made better and will last for as long as you live-really. The 414 is the modern equivalent of the 413, but I'm not sure they still make it. I have a 414 from 1993 that I bought new and it still works fine.
 
It looks from the coleman website like they make a 425 "classic" 2 burner, then two "dual fuel" one "powerhouse" and one not. I cant make out the model number on the pics on the website. I like the dual fuel idea, since I'll be on a long 6 week trip, and the less different stuff I have to carry, the better.
 
The powerhouse is a 414. It would work just fine.
 
I'd hold out for a yard sale or thrift store find. Try older neighborhoods with empty nesters, they are more likely to be selling off old camping gear.
Like Andy said you don't need a lot of skill or tools, push come to shove a screwdriver and crescent wrench are about all you need n the way of tools.
I don't do full resto's on my stuff just get it working then use/abuse it. The Coleman stuff is a lot like Land Cruisers, they don't have to look pretty to do the job.
 
Even shopping on eBay can yield good equipment at considerable savings from new.

Most of the used stuff needs, at most, oiled/new pump leather and a fuel cap gasket to have them working like new.
 
Found a good source of fuel for my new addiction - Academy Sports has Crown Camp Fuel for only $7.99 :bounce::bounce:

It's $13/gallon at the grocery store if you can find it, and I try to avoid the Walmarts if possible.

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You would be surprised at how many gallons of Coleman fuel I pass up at garage sales. One guy gave one unopened gallon and another half gallon just to get it out of his garage.
 

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