Coleman 228c

Hello all, this Coleman 228c just arrived and I’m excited. It’s the first lantern that I’ve actually bought. It’s stamped 5/10. Tell me all about it.

 

Dated October 1945. One of the first of the "C" models. These are nice examples and usually hold up well.
Nice find!

 

@george sweet. I have some questions. The fount appears to have some rust inside. How can I fix this. What is This pump made out of and how do I take it off? .

And where can I get more felt for the no. 0 filter funnel

 

That pump is screw in type and for the felt is available at OCP.

 

Correct, Pancholoco. As for cleaning the font there are a number of different way:
Media blast very gently.
Fill font with small bolts and simply shake them around till most of the rust in the font is loose and then remove the small bolts and wash out tank with clean gasoline.
This usually works for me.
Have fun!

 

Hmmmm. I’m realizing the tank is brass so it can’t be rust.

 

Use a magnet to check the bottom of the tank...it is usually steel and prone to rust.

 

So the sides are brass and the bottom is steel. A magnet didn’t stick to the side when I tested it yesterday.

 

Also, why is there a yellow sticker on this one?

 

All C’s have stickers on the side

 

Yes, but why only the c’s?

 

Not only C’s, 220 BX had to hem too. I don’t remember if were the same instructions or different. Maybe @george can answer you that.

 

The 220bx lanterns had 2 stickers I think and therefore probably has different instructions. Also, the 220bx was a military lantern so it makes since to have a sticker so that soldiers who didn’t know how to use it and didn’t have paper instructions could just use the stickers. But, just think, the 228c isn’t a military lantern (I think). So, it’s made for civilian use. Civilians won’t just be handing away their lanterns to everyone all over the neighborhood, so they can memorize the paper instructions themselves. One more thing, why is it green while the 228b and 228d are nickel. Surely it’s not the war effort because these were barley made during the war as far as I know.

 

Coleman used what was on hand. You can find C’s with US stamped on the bottom and D’s in green painted.

 

Well what does the U.S. on the bottom mean.

 

@Levi Tomey one tale I have heard is that the Yellow stickers were attached to the 220/228C's so that returning GIs' would purchase them due to their resemblance to the war time lanterns.

 

Man, if that’s true, the guys at Coleman are BRILLIANT

 

I think you can find some of your answers here. I’m still a novice in Lanternology and I barely started third quarter last year.
228C Lanterns – Variations – Larry the Lantern Guy!

 

If it has US stamped on the base then it was produced for the US Army. You will see this mark on everything from vehicles to stoves to lanterns if the item was produced for military service.

As an aside - Many countries use a similar marking system for military equipment. The UK uses a broad arrow nicknamed the "Crows Foot":

 

Very cool

 

There are these splotchy spots on the collar Is there any way to fix these

 

You could clean the collar with a VERY fine grade wire wool (OOOO grade in the UK, used for polishing antique furniture) and Auto Sol chrome polish (Mothers Mag in the US I believe). A bit of elbow will have it looking nice again.

 

I have these cotton ball things that have polish soaked into them.

 

Also, these spots really look like something has come off. Is it plated with anything? There are also spots that looks like something has worn away to brass.

 

All good advice. The US on the font bottom usually meant it was for the military. If memory serves me, brass was replaced by steel fonts around 1943. This was a war material. Having done that Coleman started painting the fonts. There was no need to plate them. Plus, nickel was another wartime material.
After the war nickel plated brass tanks began to show up again on the "C" models. This continued into the early"D" model. Eventually the brass fonts were done away with completely and painted steel became the metal of choice.

 

@Levi Tomey Re your wire wool with polish. Is it very soft to the touch? OOOO grade wool is very soft thus doesn't damage the surface you are cleaning.

Re the collar, it is steel. So the markings on it are surface blemishes/rust.

Here is a picture of the soft wire wool and the metal polish I am using:



Here is my 1946 220C Collar, after cleaning with the wool and polish. Hopefully you will see that it still has blemishes on it. The rust, if it is stubborn, can be removed with a de-rusting solution (I use evapo rust) and then polished:

 

A massive storm just rolled in so I just threw all of the parts that had rust into a bucket of vinegar and salt. That usually seems to work out. Also, this cotton ball stuff is basically exactly like that. I use it on my Optimus 1200 a while back and it shines brighter than a diamond in a goa...... it’s pretty shiny and has minimal scratches.

 

Evaporust should take care of the collar but is expensive.

 

With the cost of time, vinegar is a great 2 dollar a gallon substitute.

 

Yup, I understand