Good morning gents, Sorry about all threads of mine with issues. Just want to have some very wise advise so I don’t light myself on fire by accident haha. My Northstar lantern was working well for about a week, now it has some strange issues. When lighting it, the mantle starts to glow, and then it goes out and the generator and other tube start on fire where they meet at an angle near the top of the mantle. Coleman vapor then starts to come out of the rectangular holes where the tank meets the top half. I can hear the Coleman vapor coming out from the top of the mantle, but it doesn’t stay lit. Any help would be appreciated. Kind regards, William
"Flames other than at mantle area indicate flooding or a leak". The most likely cause of your lantern trouble is that the hole in the gas tip has become enlarged and is allowing too much fuel through. Alternatively, if the gas tip is partially blocked, the fuel will not come through with enough force to draw in plenty of air and make it to the mantle, it will only dribble through and burn at the tip just inside the air tube. Have you tried using the cleaning needle ?
Hello, yes I have tried using the cleaning needle. I took everything apart except the control spindle would not budge. Everything is clean. Any other ideas?
I wrote some comments on the North Star a few years back, there was a problem with the lantern. Can’t remember now.
Hello guys, The larger copper spring, is it supposed to go in the air intake tube above the top of the generator. I think I might have it in the wrong place. thank you, William
Disregard the previous post. It’s supposed to go into the generator. Still getting fuel coming down the generator. No ideas. It’s probably just a lemon
If fuel is running down the generator there is a leak. Are you sure the gas tip is tight ? Try putting a little copper or nickel based grease on the threads to help seal it.
Problem seems to be fixed for now. On my 5th mantle, it ignited and stayed lit for a long time. Only difference now is that there is a different smell. Smells bad. Before I couldn’t smell anything as the Coleman fuel was burning clean. Maybe it’s the soot burning from the lantern top.
The Northstar lantern acts stranger than most other Coleman liquid fuel lantern, but the lighting and operation is nearly identical. My experience. 1. To light it, I make sure the fount is full of Coleman fuel, then I pump it up well. I am not sure thoroughly is a good term to use, but pumping it up thoroughly might work too. This will help atomize the fuel on opening the fuel valve. 2. While pressing the igniter, I crack open the fuel valve and let it light up. If it flares up, I turn off the fuel, wait for the flames to die down, and the crack open the valve enough to keep the flame lit. 3. The flame will warm up the burner and generator. When the flame turns to a glowing mantle and the lantern begins to hiss, you can begin to open the fuel valve to accelerate heating the burner and generator. Since you disassembled part of the lantern, you probably need to verify that the pricker in the generator is attached to the eccentric block. The combination of the pricker and Schrader valve control the fuel flow. Although unlikely, the air tube might have bugs or cobwebs within. I would expect that you checked for that when you disassembled it. I keep my Northstar in a soft case and never had any problems with bugs or spiders. Yet that is. Lighting Northstar lanterns to minimize flame-ups are a challenge, but practice will help you as each lantern seems to have their own personality. I hope this helps. John
@bluepen61 Thank you for the help John. Appreciate it. Any idea what the foul smell might be coming from? Could it be the soot that accumulated under the top cover from all my failed attempts?
If you applied a thread sealant to the generator tip threads, then that could cause the smell. It is probably just burning off the excess sealant. I also tend to run a lantern that has been sitting or hanging in storage for a while for a half an hour or more just to get the entire lantern warmed up. It seems that extended warmup returns it back to a normal condition. Maybe it flushes debris or varnish from the generator area. Maybe it clears the air tube or burner. I don't know, I just feel it does something better than if I just run it for a few minutes and then go to another lantern. Soot extends from under my vent to its edges. Nasty, but I think that is the life of a Northstar liquid fueled lantern. Oddly, when I put on a new mantle on either Northstar (Coleman fuel and propane), I burn the mantle with the lantern upside down. Then it might slouch to the top. Then when lighting the lantern, the mantle has a chance to tighten up and look nice instead of slouching down. Works sometimes. I hope this helps. It is a nice lantern. I like to throttle it down to dim when using it on the patio table. John
