I went through and replaced the old gasket sealing the fount cap. Then I removed the check valve and freed up the check ball itself; tank now holds pressure. Cleaned out the internals where the air should flow. Finally discovered that the generator was so badly fouled with black gunk, I could not remove the spring. Got a new generator and now my lamp runs like a top, with Peerless Thorium mantles and a friendly hiss. One question: is this generator fouling something I can expect from using unleaded gasoline? Is it possible to get gasoline that doesn't have a lot of additives at a local station? Edit: WOW! I had no idea that plain ol' unleaded had so many additives.... makes me wonder how it's even possible to run a stove on the stuff, never mind a lantern. I've read they use generators with thicker walls on the Dual-Fuel stoves. Is that the same thing they do for the D-F lanterns? Steve
The black fouling is what you can expect from modern unleaded gasoline. I only ever use the Australian Coleman fuel equivalent which is a pure naphtha. As you are located in the USA I won't speculate on fuel availability in your country. Cheers Tony
Crown White Gas is $7 a gallon at Walmart , that's the cheapest and most available naphtha in the U.S.. Name Brand Coleman fuel is $13 a gallon. Americans find themselves at Walmart all the time so if a person is lantern hobbyist, they'll pickup a gallon or two of Crown every time they go.
Yes, you can expect the fouling. The 'plain old unleaded' that's currently available(almost anywhere) is very different from what we're getting decades ago. If there are no additives, they wouldn't work satisfactorily in today's automobiles. I'd say the plain straight-run gasoline or white gas is pretty much, a thing of the past. If they are available from your regular pump stations, there really would not be a need for Coleman Fuel or Crown camping fuels. All the modern gasolines have relatively high octane numbers. What you'd want in a lantern or stove is something that has an octane rating of 50 or lower.
Unfortunately, I put paid to the old unit by ruining the spring and discarding the brass. Still have the center piece with the pin, and the threaded nozzle. Live and learn.
I read up on unleaded and now understand that a lot of the gunk that won't burn, or rather, refuses to volatize in the generator, is the toluene and other stuff added to mimic the anti-knock effect of tetra ethyl lead. The detergents don't help either. It makes sense that a no-lead gasoline with no additives would have a much lower octane rating. That said, I just located a Walmart Supercenter that says it carries gallon cans of the Crown White Gas. Will get some very soon - tired of paying $17 a gallon for Coleman fuel. Steve
Well at least most you guys still have options available in your respective locations. I have to live with the fouling with modern gasolines. Coleman Fuel, Crown campfuel or any such equivalent is totally unavailable in my location. No Shellites, no Holts Brake cleaners in 5-gallon containers or similar, no light naphtha-based panel wipes or cleaners,...virtually nothing at all. The only available naphtha is a medium-heavy paint solvent which is not the suitable equivalent. I don't think Zippo lighter fluid that comes in tiny cans and high price/litre is practical for this. The only local source of light naphtha (raw, without additives) would be a direct purchase from the local petroleum company. Its used as base-stock for further processes to produce gasoline and other industrial chemicals. It is not available to the public or other non-industrial users. Even if it is, the minimum order quantity would be some truck-tanker loads. That'd probably be enough to cater for the entire CPL, CCS and even CCF communities around the World for a while.
