50+- Year Old Coleman Camp Stove/Lamp

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  • pre64hunter

    Active Member
    Mar 19, 2010
    642
    Harford County
    Amoco Gas

    White gas was clear and unleaded hi-test in the old days while other gas had an amber color to it. Amoco advertised it back in the 70's, maybe earlier, as crystal clear clean gas and had a clear glass on the pump so you could see it as you pumped.
    Coleman sells their "lantern fuel" gas in the outdoor stores.
    We were poor boys back in the 70's and 80's, we fished several nights a week using our Coleman lantern. We only used the Amoco gas because the Coleman was too expensive and the Amoco was about 49 cents a gallon. We found out we had less or more like no trouble with the Amoco. The Coleman fuel gave us problems.
    I still have the lantern and haven't used it in 35 years. I checked it out one day and it still had fuel in it and it looked good after 20 years. I pumped it up and it light right away and burned just fine, kind of crazy, contradicts common beliefs about fuel.
     

    traveller

    The one with two L
    Nov 26, 2010
    18,256
    variable
    I pumped it up and it light right away and burned just fine, kind of crazy, contradicts common beliefs about fuel.

    That's because you had 100% gasoline, probably still with 3-5% benzene and a good helping of MBTE in it. None of this corn-gas shit. Gasoline goes 'bad' because the alcohol in it attracts water and if you leave it open, the more volatile components off-gas. A jug of 100% white gas or lantern fuel that hasn't been opened in decades is going to be just fine.
     

    Pinecone

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 4, 2013
    28,175
    Coleman lantern fuel is not gasoline. It is naptha. Same stuff as cigarette lighter fluid (Zippo type).

    Back when Amoco was the only unleaded, there was no MBTE in auto fuel.

    Other gas had color because leaded gas needed to have dye added to indicate it was leaded.

    Gasoline went bad in the days before alcohol was added.
     

    babalou

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Aug 12, 2013
    16,016
    Glenelg
    Swear to God this site never ceases to amaze me. I mean we have people on here that are well versed in just about anything. Nice!!!
     

    lazarus

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 23, 2015
    13,673
    We camped out a lot in the 60's when I was a kid. I remember dad going to Amoco to get white gas for the Coleman stove and lanterns.

    I've been fooling around repairing old stoves and lanterns lately. An article I read stated gasoline with ethanol left a lot of deposits in the generator and would soon gum up the works but gasoline without the alcohol was ok to use.

    It doesn't leave deposits. The issue is that ethanol is corrosive to certain materials that gasoline is not. So if your fuel system is not designed with that in mind, seals and what not are likely to slowly dissolve over time. That is what leaves deposits. Its the seals and possibly hoses breaking down.

    That is generally why old engines you are told not to use gas with ethanol or methanol contents over 5%. At or below that level are generally not considered corrosive at all. Just about any engine made in the last 20 years, probably as much as 30 odd, has been designed for up to 10% ethanol contents which is very slightly corrosive.

    Of course engines with E80 designs need much different designs for the fuel system parts. Though there it is also as much about needing different fuel maps and a wide band O2 sensor so it can properly adjust the fuel/air ratios to account for the large amount of fuel needed for the intake air to burn properly (as alcohol has oxygen bound in the molecule already).

    But in general, carburetors of all sorts should generally not be left wet unless being used. ESPECIALLY diaphragm carbs, which is what many generators and most small engines use. Basically shut the fuel off, not turn the engine off, and let the fuel system run dry as the engine runs out of gas in the carb and lines.

    But this is as much about gasoline leaving varnish deposits as it is ethanol corroding seals and the diaphragm.

    And of course you also have the issue that a lot of small engines, including standby generators use either drilled aluminum heads (the worst) or drilled iron heads. Not cylinder heads with steel sleeve(s) for the cylinder(s). Works fine for awhile, but not the kind of thing you can run for thousands or tens of thousands of hours. You'll wear the cylinder bores out. Unlike steel sleeved cylinders that (in theory) could last tens of thousands of hours.

    That said, how long does the average home owner run a standby generator? Maybe a couple of hundred hours in their life probably. Maybe if you live in an area with unreliable power it might be more. Or Hurricane country you might put several hundreds hours.

    It isn't generally like the engine will just blow apart. But as the cylinder walls wear, it'll allow increasing amounts of blow by in to the crank case oil. Both making it dirty faster as well as consuming more oil. Of course it'll reduce power and make cold starts particular hard, especially if a recoil starter. Eventually it'll get so bad you won't generate sufficient cylinder compression to run the engine, but you'd probably notice the engine is guzzling oil and running horribly before that happens (or you won't notice it is guzzling oil and it'll seize up).
     

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