I acquired it cheaply as ‘not working’, suspecting that it has been fuelled on pump gasoline and that the gum from the fuel’s additives was the cause. Indeed it was, the fuel/air pickup was caked in the stuff, the fine jet at the tip blocked. Soaked in acetone, the component cleaned up well, a higher ‘E’ guitar string (0.23mm diameter) clearing out the final traces of softened gum residue. The check valve (non-return valve) was gummed up closed and that too responded well to a solvent soak. Here’s one of the final acetone flushes of the tank. Initially, the solvent was an opaque brown. The generator had escaped the worst of it, possibly a replacement in an attempt to revive the lantern when the fuel pickup was starting to fail. This useful view of the valve/pickup components posted by William Klock on the Coleman Collectors’ Forum enabled me to select replacement O-rings. On assembly, pressurising the empty tank and going back to it after a day finding it still pressurised established that O-ring ‘005’ was providing a reliable shut-off. Pressurising the tank with fuel in it and setting the control to the raised jet pricker position directed pressurised fuel to O-ring ‘009’ and that was fuel tight. 2/3 full of fuel and a 3-hours burn time was the final assurance that the lantern was restored. John
@Rangie The original 222 has the traditional fuel/air pickup with the metering rod within it operated by the control valve eccentric. Consequence is better performance than the later models, requiring less frequent re-pressurising over the three hour firing duration.
Sorry to hear that Alec. Wonder what’s off tune with it? Can’t fault my 222 for ease of lighting and reliability in operation, getting through a full tank of Aspen 4 with minimal re-pressurising and jet pricking. John
