Wednesday, October 28, 2009

And then there were 6

I'd been thinking of getting another lantern for awhile now and Sunday when Angie and I took Buster for a walk I decided it was time. Around the corner from our house theres an antique/junk store called "The Barn" where I'd seen a couple Coleman 200As hanging out. We stopped in and they were still there just as I remembered. One had a safe on the bottom with a wrench and a pair of new mantles. Unfortunately that one had a brown fuel cap (probably from a Coleman 275, AKA "the turd") and a wing nut for a vent nut. The other had a proper 3 piece fuel cap and nut and as Angie noticed an old school sandblasted globe like my 202 has. They were marked at $15 each so I took the one with the sandblasted globe inside and asked if he'd take $12. He said yes pretty quickly which makes me think I should have asked for $10 but whatever, its a niceish lantern.

I got it home and drained out nearly a quart of disgusting smelling, but surprisingly clear whitegas. The vent is dirty but doesn't appear to have any scratches or dings. The fount is dent free with decent paint thats only scratched off in a few places. The fuel cap needs a gasket of course but surprisingly the pump works perfectly...
The generator had a 1/16" of carbon right at the nozzle, which probably explains why it wouldn't light with more than a dim glow (of course I tried it).
I've disassembled the whole thing and the found is sitting with BBs and vinegar. It was basically clean except for the filler hole which had some fairly serious rust buildup.

I tried the fuel & air tube from this lantern on my Grandfather's 200A which FINALLY got that lantern working correctly. So my theory that the FA tube was the problem there turns out to be correct. I'll need to order another FA tube. While I'm at it I should order a new generator ($20, gasp) for my 249. I'm trolling eBay for a new fount for that one. The old one is bent, I dunno if I did it when I took it apart or if it came that way but, who cares, its bent...

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