An early 238B from 1951, features a mixing chamber not too dissimilar from your usual petromaxes and I even have a petromax nozzle installed in this one (Likely to be partly compatible with lantern components in the foreign domestic market it was targeted for with high fragility or wear items, nozzle for example.) Don't worry, the original nozzle is still intact and I just don't wanna break it, It's pictured below. It was in remarkably good condition when picked up from an estate auction of sorts. I did have to replace the petrified filler gasket and foot-valve pip in the pickup and I polished what I could. I still need to pull that centerplate and let it soak in evapo-rust and give it a deeper cleaning. There was a lot of rotted waxy kerosene stains all over the cage so I soaked it in acetone and tackled it off with very fine 0000 wool. Fount was easy to clean and polish as well, inside showed some minor rust speckling but cycling through fresh fuel should mitigate it. The baseplate shows no signs of rusting from the underside. Generator is probably tired despite burning all the carbon off, as the fuel doesn't seem to shoot perfectly straight from the jet when cold which would explain some noticeable flickering during operation. Blow torch works probably a little too well as the nozzle does start to glow dull red during the preheat. As with all Coleman designs, pumping one up is magnitudes easier than a petromax and I don't have to worry about the NRV pip having the off-chance of not sealing properly and letting kerosene spill out from the pump tube when I draw out the plunger.
Another great restoration. Certainly a very desirable lantern to have. There must be a specific reason why they used aluminium on this particular Coleman.
It could be cheaper? Admittedly it feels really flimsy and Coleman could have benefitted from that aspect working with such soft metal that's also very heat resistant.
Really not sure of the real reason. If economizing was it, then why not being deployed in all their subsequent lanterns? There was neither any specific patent on the 238B nor were there any parts within the lantern where any Coleman patents apply. Therefore, any reference to the inventor's objectives couldn't be traceable from patents. There was one for the 238A though. It was rather different from the B.
Congratulations on this beautiful example of Coleman 238 B. Thanks for sharing this one with a nice pictures gallery. The Colman 238B has been on my wish list for several years. Take good care of it. Regards, Titoo.
The only valid reason that I could read from the ad is: "Highly polished, handsome aluminium ventilator".
