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I have an older coleman two burner camp stove, and I am having problems keeping it burning. It will generally light right up, but the flame seems low and it won't stay burning beyound a couple minutes. If I shake the bottle while the burner is going, it burns pretty well, but once the bottle gets about half empty even that starts to fail.

I noticed that I had two different styles of coleman propane tanks, one came with a white thread protector, and had an all metal construction, the other had a black thread protector with a black plastic base. The can with the white thread protector seemed to work slightly better, but I can't find anything indicating that there is any difference between the two styles of cans.

The burners all seem to be relatively clean and free of any obstructions. The regulator is obviously getting gas through it, because it does burn. I'm not sure what else I should be looking at. I would like to try and keep this stove functional rather then replacing it, as I got it from my dad, and its the same stove we took camping through all my childhood camping trips.

I don't see a model number on the stove anywhere.
As far as I know I am using the regulator/hose that came with the stove. No after market adapter or hose. The stove has its fair share or scratches, but all surface/finish imperfections, nothing that I would expect to affect the function of the stove.

External:
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Inside of lid:
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Burners with stove assembled: enter image description here

Burners close up:
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Regulator:
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I don't have both tanks handy, but these pictures from the web show the two different tanks:

Black top tank:
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White top tank:
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I took the regulator apart. All of the seals look good, nothing looked clogged or broken. The one spring in the assembly looked fine, still provided tension and returned. There were a couple of brass valves that were spring loaded, but didn't appear to come apart anymore.

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  • Google images to the rescue. You may have a Coleman Propane Two Burner Camping Stove 5410A708 805334. Maybe this helps you to find replacement parts at the Coleman site.... – user15958 Oct 9 '18 at 14:53
  • As you can see clicking those search results, Coleman has made many similar types, and I know from other stove types that they often use the same parts for a long time. – user15958 Oct 9 '18 at 14:55
  • Can you get your hands on another regulator to try? This seems a likely point of failure especially as shaking the bottle helps. – Chris H Oct 10 '18 at 10:05
  • I just ordered a new regulator from Amazon, hopefully that will be the solution. Once that comes in I will try everything out again and see how it goes – Patrick Oct 10 '18 at 16:16
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I am guessing the OP either found the problem or bought a new stove, as this question is a couple months old.

The most common (in my experience) cause is the collection of dust and/or bugs in the gas tubes and burners. When the propane bottle is full it has slightly more pressure and can overcome developing issues. As the supply of fuel gets lower, the pressure drops slightly, and the flow of gas decrease. The pressure is very low in both cases.

Occasionally (depending on construction) you can disassemble the gas pipes and use a can of air (as you would for cleaning a computer keyboard) to blow out the debris. If not your you best option is replacement.

The same thing happens occasionally to the gas log fireplace device in my home over the summer.

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  • 1
    No, I never figured out the problem. I updated the question a few days ago. I broke the stove down as far as possible, but I couldn't find any place where there was an obstruction. The stove had a few lengths of pipe, but they all had copper/brass fittings, with openings to small see into permanently attached. I guess I might be sol on this stove – Patrick Oct 9 '18 at 13:53
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    @Patrick my younger self might try, putting the pipes in a hot oven (350F) for about an hour and see if that bakes out any debri. My current older and more cautious self would buy a new stove. – James Jenkins Oct 9 '18 at 14:03
  • James thats an interesting idea. I'd really like to get this stove working again, it was the stove my dad always brought when we went camping. It would be nice to have it working again. I had also thought of soaking all the metal pieces in a cleaner/solvent but I'm not sure how it would affect the pipe dope that attaches some of the pieces. – Patrick Oct 9 '18 at 14:07
  • @Patrick similar concerns about the heat. Use good judgement and be safe. – James Jenkins Oct 9 '18 at 14:58

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