Coleman Quick-Lite 427 Xmas fettle...soon arriving from the US

Brilliant, thanks Henry. Great to hear that it can be replaced. Once the size is known, I’ll go on the hunt...

And I’ll leave the fuel valve submerged in carb cleaner for a few days, before trying hot lye.

This was supposed to be a Christmas (2020) fettle. At this rate, if successful, it will be ready for testing in time for Christmas this year!

 

Congratulations Alex.
If the steel ball is missing, I'd replace that with a stainless steel ball. They're available and rust resistant. I don't know the exact size. Someone else might help here.
If you're going to use lye on the fuel valve, make sure the bakelite wheel is not submerged in it. Lye will degrade or destroy the bakelite. It'll destroy rubbers and leather too. Just a reminder. You know better on this since you're a chemist anyway.
Only use lye for steel, brass, copper or any metals that wouldn't be harmed by it. The graphite packing is resistant to lye. Never on aluminium or zinc parts.

 

I don't think you need anything but the check ball. I would not go to a lot of bother cleaning the pump. Once you find the check ball replacement you will be surprised how it will all come together and work! If you can get air thru the pump you're okay!

 

Brilliant, thanks guys for all the encouragement. I’ll just have to look up the diameter of that elusive little ball now! And let’s hope that it ‘seats well’ once in situ. If anyone can direct me to a diagram Or knows the size, please fire away.

Myn, no worries. I know the perils of caustic soda on skin, organics and aluminium. I’ll dunk only the brass valve in it. It worked wonders on the pump, I must admit.

 

Check the diameter of the hole.

Unless you've found the correct size for certain, I'd go for 1/8". If you think that will be too big, try 3/322 but I wouldn't go any smaller.

 

If memory serves me, I think it's just slightly smaller than a B-B shot.

 

Evening/morning,
Depending on when you read this...

so I don’t have a vernier calliper but I’ve asked the question to the Coleman’s collectors forum tonight. Mike at Coleman’s old parts didn’t know either.

so I need to invest in a calliper and wait for replies. If any. I also had a look in the shed, and found a couple of ball bearings, but way too big. Won’t even fit in the opening.

we’ll get there!

 

US -B-B shot is nominally 0.180" dia (Imperial is 0.161" but I assume George is talking US size)
11/64" - 0.172" (4.3mm) dia
5/32" - 0.156"(3.97mm) dia
If that helps?

 

You can use a 1/8" or 3mm drill bit to measure the hole.

I'm sure the correct size is 1/8". This packet of 10 won't break the bank
Search Results: 1/8 ball - Simply Bearings Ltd

Type 1/8" steel ball bearings in the search bar of your browser for other examples.

 

Just eyeballing it. Yes, it was a good old US Daisy B-B shot.

 

It'll be ideal to know the exact size. From the following illustration, I'd say that you get a ball that is small enough to get though the hole with the hex plug removed but must be large enough as not get lodged in the 'snorkel' tube:

 

I'd believe you've got your answer at CCF @Alex74 .
So, the steel ball's supposed to 1/8"(0.125").
I'd get the stainless steel version to avoid corrosion later on but that's not entirely necessary. You'd have sufficient oil on the ball (excess oil from the leather and pump tube) by the time you get it to work.

 

Bingo! Fantastic guys. Thank you all for all the advice. Henry was right all along. I’ll order them tonight (just got back from work). Hopefully they’ll be here early next week.

So 1/8 inch or ~3 mm. That’s larger than I thought, as I was expecting it to fit into the small orifice you see down the pump tube. Doh.

And now Santa has kindly offered to send his callipers and drill bits! I have no words. Of course I politely declined the offer, but it just goes to show what amazing people we have on this forum. I’m humbled and very grateful to you all.

 

Good to hear. The vernier caliper is always handy to have. I have a couple of them around.
The same goes for drill bits, taps, dies and thread gauges(metric, Whitworth and Unified). Well at least when I need to make some of the missìng parts on my finds.

 

Hi all,

There’s progress on all fronts. The ball bearings arrived on Tuesday and the pump now works a treat! I changed the seal of the fuel cap too and there’s tons of pressure in the tank with no loss after an hour. The fuel valve is now unblocked thanks to another hot caustic bath followed by a dunking in meths overnight.

 

But there’s more.... as I run my lamps ‘in pairs’, just before Christmas I bought another old 427 and a 327 from the US and they arrived last week (one was with a neighbour since the week before). The 327 provided period correct parts and a replacement vent for the older 427, which now, I believe looks like it did when out of the factory in 1925? Below are shots of the second 427 (stamped 5 11?..) which pumped up straight out of the box, and the pair together, after repairing another mica globe that came with the 327....

 

The 327 came with a modern glass globe so I’ll sell it as spares and parts on eBay soon. Hopefully saving someone in the UK shipping and import fees. It has a really good tank but requires an external pump.

 

Bought these too (are they ok?) so tomorrow hopefully the money shot. Tonight I’ll try and light them without mantles to view Size and shape of the blue flames...

 

What a saga Alex, my fingers are crossed for your first light-up.

 

It looks like you are getting everything working. Must be pretty exciting.

 

Thanks guys,

so I decided to test them last night, after watching a couple of YouTube vids on how to light an old 427 safely. They just lit up without problems and stayed on effortlessly for 3 hours without needing to pump them up regularly. They give out a lovely warm light too, probably a combination of using Coleman mantles and the old mica globes. They also produce a very mellow, almost muffled hissing sound. I was pretty chuffed to say the least. Having two in the garden is definitely the way to go for summer bbqs I think. But what a ride to get a working pair!

 

Victory and victory ale! Thanks again to all of you who have helped me restore the older one of the pair. I learnt a lot and couldn’t have done it without your advise, and the help from ‘Santa’!

So, after a recalcitrant Primus 981 and a battered Coleman 427, the next one in the fettling queue of nightmares is ....? Veritas Superb rust bucket! I’ll give myself a month off fettling weekends then watch this space...

 

Congratulations @Alex74

It's been interesting to follow your progress on this lantern.

 

Thanks Rob,

can’t wait to do the next one!

 

By the way, Holts brake cleaner, as suggested by Henry, works really well as fuel, and no smells either.

 

Great post and nice to see success at the end.
I bet your victory ale tasted as good as the pair of 427's looked.

 

Just throwing this in there, I have multiple Quick Lites (lanterns and lamps) since the pickup tube is straight with no FA(fuel/air) tube the R55 generator will also run Kerosene (paraffin) with a preheat or the generator first. I just put a Coleman 201 preheat cup on the generator, fill it with denatured alcohol (meths) and just before it burns out, crack the valve and you're off to the races. Hope this helps