I purchased a 220K from eBay a couple of weeks ago and while it does work, you could get more light from a child's bedroom night-light! Here is the beast... And here it is running flat out! I gave it the required 30 pumps, opened the valve a quarter turn and tried to light it but it took maybe 20 - 30 seconds for any fuel to make it through to the mantles so it seems as though there is a blockage somewhere. When it was fully alight I gave it a few more pumps to see if that made a difference but it didn't. Also, when it's working it pulses quite a lot. The pricker mechanism works as it should and I fitted two Butterfly 41s in the first instance as I wasn't going to waste genuine Coleman mantles until I was happy it was working properly, but I've use these on all my other Colemans so far and they work very well indeed. I lit it again this morning to see if it had 'settled down' - amazing how often that can happen - but it was still the same. I had the generator off and checked that but it's fine: no gunk build up, no blockage in the jet and the needle, spring and paper(?) tube are all clean. So, am I looking at a possible blockage in the fuel pickup tube in the fount (and how would one go about fixing that?) or is there another likely cause I can investigate? I read about the 220K and it doesn't have a particularly good reputation. The date stamp under the fount says 11 81. What do I try next?
Colemans (Colemen?) work best under pressure - give it some welly i.e. pump it up until your thumb hurts. If that doesn't work then there's something else wrong - ask a Coleman expert (which I'm not!)...
Now I know the correct term for a collection of Coleman lanterns - Colemen!!! Thanks for making me smile, David!
It is probably muck in the fount and in the fuel-air tube. A good rinse of the fount and a soak in hot citric acid may well cure f/a tube problems. If it does not, you may need to unscrew the fuel valve from the fount and clean the f/a properly. If your fount has the brown anti-rust coating inside, it may have flaked off if the p.o. used unleaded petrol. Then a very thorough BB-dance may be in order.
Before you start 'tripping the light fantastic', Colin, I'd still get my thumb working on that pump! The instructions say to use 35-40 pump-strokes (which you may well have done) but that assumes you've put 2 U.S. pints of fuel in the tank (did you?) and your pump is working properly (is it?). Pumping is easier than dismantling - or, given it's an American lantern, should I say 'tearing down'...
Ah, Ok, I'lI pump the bejezus out of it first but when should I stop? 50, 60, 70 pumps? I don't want to damage the fount!
Colin, You got some good info over at CCF. Twenty-thirty seconds is normal for fuel to get from fount to mantles in a dry lantern. You can speed that up a bit by opening the valve further until you hear fuel coming into the manifold, then back it down to the 1/4 turn position. This may cause a bit of flash on lighting, however, until you get the hang of it. Coleman instant light lanterns are very different from the kero burners you're used to. This thread on CCF is a good explanation of the fuel/air (FA) circuit. Valve & F/A Tube Diagrams for Lantern and Stove Your weak burn is either because the air tubes are restricted or the FA tube is clogged. It is easier to check the first condition. Remove vent, globe, generator and burner assembly from the fount. Remove the burner caps from the end of the burner tubes (might be easier with burner still attached to fount). Take a piece of stranded wire and splay out the end or use a bottle brush and scrub the insides of the burner tubes and the air tube. Spiders love to lay eggs in these tubes and blowing air through the tubes will not dislodge them. You must use a mechanical removal system. If you find an obstruction then you can reassemble and test. If no obstruction then your problem is the FA tube. Remove the valve knob and collar from the fount. Look at the joint where the valve enters the fount. You may see some reddish brown thread sealer there. Sometime there is a little, sometimes a lot. If there is a lot you may need to heat the valve before removal. I use a propane torch and heat the valve just above the bung in the fount until the sealant darkens and starts to bubble. Obviously the fount must be rinsed of any fuel before this step. Clamp the valve in a padded vise ( I use a piece of scrap leather around the valve) and grasping the fount at the bottom, unscrew the fount from the valve. If you see little or no sealant you can try removing the valve without heating. Be careful to apply force at right angles to the valve, it's easy to flex the top of the fount while doing this. If you have heated the valve remember the top of the fount will be right warmish. When the valve is out you can unscrew the FA tube from the bottom of the valve. Pay attention to the placement of the spring on the inner rod. Clean the rod with some fine steel wool or other suitable abrasive until it is smooth. Use a wooden toothpick or other soft probe to clean the orifice at the bottom of the FA tube. Before reinstalling the valve in the fount check for proper FA tube function. With the valve closed to 1/4 open the rod should protrude from the bottom of the FA tube slightly or at a minimum be flush with the bottom of the tube. As the valve is opened the rod should retract until it is clear of the orifice. I use Permatex 2A non-hardening thread sealer on the valve threads when reassembling. I don't know the UK equivalent product. 30-35 pumps is the proper amount for any of the 220 series. I usually recommend removing the vent and globe during light up until you become familiar with your specific lantern. Some 220s are well behaved and can be match lit through the base of the frame without drama. Others like to fireball no matter what (rare but it happens) and will soot up the globe and vent terribly. Best of luck.
So, first of all, thank you everyone for providing me with so much valuable infoirmation. Armed with this, I started a much more thorough investigation and started by removing the genny and giving it a few pumps. Fuel immediately started gushing out so there can't be a blockage in the fuel pick up. That being the case, it has to be the generator that's blocked! I find that odd because it seemed so clean, but to paraphrase Sherlock if you've eliminated the other causes, whatever you're left with must be the problem. Next question is, are there any other generators that will fit/work with the 220K. I have genny's for a 201, a 214 and a 285. The 201 genny looks closest but I can't judge the jet size obviously. Maybe I'll have a bash at cleaning it myself.
None of the other generators are suitable, Colin. You need a 220 gennie. Fortunately they are cheap and widely available. You could refurbish the one you have, of course.
Hello I believe the 220K was the last "workhorse" lantern Coleman made in the 220 series. I may be incorrect as I don't pay too much to dates. I say this though because it was the last 220 that didn't have plastic parts! We have roughly 10-12 of these in our hunting camp. Here you can get them anywhere from $5-10 USD. In the shape I see here. Not a collector, but a "user". Dirt in the tank is usually the culprit. I would rinse the tank out with fuel and pour it through a white cloth to see what comes out. Do this until it is coming out clean. Put fresh fuel in it, then pump it up 50 strokes. Turn the pump clockwise all the way when done. Now place the lantern in a pail of water up over the pump, making sure the pump is all the way down. If you have bubbles coming steadily from the pump tube, you have a leaking check valve and you can pump until the cows come home and it will not burn properly. Okay, if you pass this test, you know it will hold pressure. Now remove the generator. Then open the valve 1/2 turn and operate the cleanout lever. Fuel should readily flow. If it does, you now know you have fuel going into the generator.
It must be the generator, even though it looks fine to me! I haven't had time to work on it yet but I will soon.
My complete reply isn't there!! The next step is to remove the burner frame and re-install the generator. Remove the tip from the generator. Open the valve and rotate the lever. Fuel should bubble up freely from the generator. If it does not, remove the generator and pull out the cardboard filter. Clean the generator out completely with a brass brush. Re-install the generator. Now close the valve and check that the pricker is not bent on the cleanout rod, and the fuel flows freely. Also make sure the hole in the tip is completely open. If it is and the needle is straight, install the tip onto the generator. Now open the valve and rotate the lever. Fuel should shoot about a meter in the air!! This should find your lack of fuel and pressure problem if there were one.
*UPDATE* I spend most of Sunday afternoon in the workshop swearing and scratching my head at the annoying green pile of junk that is my Coleman 220K! Sorry, it's not a pile of junk, but I needed to vent! Things I tried: Removing the generator and heat/quenching it to remove any carbon blockage. There was none anyway but there definitely isn't now. Removing the cardboard tube, then the spring, then the pricker wire. After each attempt I tried pressurising the tank to see if I could get a good jet of fuel to shoot in the air. I did not. Replacing the jet with a NOS I just happened to have. This did not work - no jet of fuel when pressurised. Removed the jet completely, pressurised the tank and opened the control valve. A pitiful bubble of fuel rose and dribbled out of the open generator tube and then disappeared again. Checked the action of the pricker mechanism and it functioned as you would expect. Checked the needle in case it was bent. It was not. Removed the generator, completely pressurised the talk and opened the control valve. Everything got covered in fuel including me. I got very confused. The pricker mechanism shuts the fuel off at this point when in the up position. Tried a generator for a 214 just in case (no, it's not right but the dimensions are very close) but got the same results. Removed the control spindle, checked the graphite packing which was perfect, and peered down the hole. Everything was very clean and the brass was shiny. Pumped the tank a fraction and fuel began pouring out of the control valve. Tried to remove the entire assembly from the tank but it refused to move, even when the assembly was held firmly in a vice and I tried turning the tank. Nothing moved in the slightest so I reassembled everything, tested it a couple more times in case I had 'jiggered something' with my efforts but it refused to produce a jet of fuel. To be specific, the most I got from it was a weak jet of fuel mixed with air that petered out after a few moments and was only enough to cover everything in a very fine mist of fuel. So...... if anyone has any ideas, please let me know because at the moment I'm stumped. I only have one possible theory that might explain the symptoms and that is that the fuel pick up tube is indeed blocked. Even though I got covered in fuel at several points during the evening, I think it's quite possible that a small about of fuel is getting past the blockage and that's what covered me, BUT, this might just be a build up in the pipes and not an actual flow. NB. After several people mentioned it, I tried lots of pressure as Coleman's are said to like good pressure. It made little or no difference.
Just to get us all on the same page: Image from www.oldcolemanparts.com That should not be so. There must be some blockage in there if this is really the case. You can loosen and slide out the pricker control jamb nut and heat up the valve body at the pricker lever to take out the pricker lever and its graphite ferrule. Then you can pull out the eccentric block and flush the valve. I think you need to remove the valve from the fount and give the fuel-air tube a good clean too. The valve will come out easier if you heat it a bit with a flame. Mind you don't scorch the valve wheel or paint.
It's common knowledge here that I know bugger-all about fettling Coleman lanterns but this seems to me to be one of those where you turn the valve wheel a quarter of a turn to light it. This exposes a tiny hole near the top of the fuel-air tube which allows air under pressure from the top of the tank to mix with a small amount of fuel allowed up from the tank to provide the priming fuel. Once the lantern is burning properly, further turning the valve wheel fully opens the port at the bottom of the fuel-air tube and shuts the air-bleed hole. Have you checked that small hole in the side of the fuel-air tube is clear? If that's bollocks, please ignore it and accept my apologies - no doubt someone will put me right! I did say I know bugger-all about fettling Coleman lanterns...
Llareggub said Dylan Thomas.... I can't hold forth on Coleman Lanterns but their 533 stoves have a secret O ring - which is not drawn in the diagrams. It is at the top of the plastic fuel pick up. When it flattens and leaks you have misery with lighting up and bad burning ever after. Hopefully this lamp does not work like that...
David, you are quite correct apart from that last bit. When the fuel hole at the bottom of the fuel-air tube is not restricted by the pin (fuel valve fully open and pin lifted), the air inlet high on the side of the f/a becomes inactive as there is then no pressure differential and only liquid fuel goes up into the valve. Dirt/corrosion/gum/sludge inside and on the fuel-air tube really upsets its proper functioning.
Hi JonD, Can you give a sketch of what you mean wit the rubber o-ring at 533 stove, pls. I've got such a stove and difficult to start or regulate. Regards Willi
Um, I'd need to look at a fuel/air tube to figure out exactly what you mean, Phil, but I'll take your word for it! All I was going on was a Coleman 275 I had/have that ran poorly until I noticed the small hole and that it was clogged with crud. Clearing it out effected a cure in that lantern...
You have to take the fuel valve from the fount. The problem is that you are not getting fuel up to the valve and thru it. Upside down in a vise and give it all you got!! It will turn. If not get a fellow with larger/stronger hands. Have had many, many Colemans apart over many years. Start with the fuel pick up to the valve, then thru the valve, then thru the generator where it will shoot a stream. I am having knee replacement surgery tomorrow so will be of no help for awhile. You may need a new spring for your fuel pick up. I have new SS ones if need be I will be glad to mail a couple.
The pricker mechanism shuts the fuel off at this point when in the up position. This is correct. When the pricker is in the up position, it is in the hole blocking the fuel. That is why when it is burning and you rotate the lever, the mantle will go out until you turn it some more right away. It is shutting off the fuel and also cleaning the hole.
The fuel pick up is not working the rod and spring is stuck in the pick up tube. You need to get the valve ass out of fount to do this fix . Your main valve operates this rod . Bob .
Yes the fuel/air tube has to come out and that can be difficult. The valve threads have a thread sealer which can take a mighty grip. Heating the valve does help but even so it takes some brute force. Has to be applied evenly or there is a danger of distorting the tank. I did have a very tight one some years ago and I got it out by clamping two stilson pipe wrenches to the tank rim to increase the leverage. Need to pad the jaws of course and there is a risk of bending the rim but it was a last resort and it worked. ::Neil::
Colin states that he had the generator removed when the pricker shut off the fuel. This should not be. The pricker in up position will only block fuel flow when the generator is fitted as the needle then blocks the jet orifice.
Hello @bp4willi Yes pleased to send you this link. Sorry a bit off topic for this thread but we can discuss by PM if you like. Coleman sportster 11 dual fuel I think it was #16 down the thread. Good luck! Haha - I see that is nearly 6yrs ago.... It still works!
