What happened to Coleman stoves?

[Vagabound]

I'm trying to determine if I simply romanticized the high quality of earlier Coleman stoves (say twenty years ago) or whether the most recent Coleman stoves have really gone downhill.  It seems to me to be the latter case.

The first Coleman stove that I bought recently was a two-burner with push-button ignition. The little push button piezo lighter broke and stopped functioning within one day of simple testing use. I took that one back for a refund. Later I purchased another Coleman two-burner stove without the push button lighter (fewer parts to break), but this one has problems with the gas knob control. Specifically, no matter which knob I use or how much I turn it, as soon as I let go of the knob the fire height / intensity changes on its own as if the stove is possessed. For example, if I keep trying to turn the stove down, as soon as I let go of the knob, it may go back up. It seems to me that the problem is cheap crap valves probably made in China.

Questions:

1. Were the valves on Coleman stoves always this bad or do I possibly have a second lemon?

2.  If they are all like this, is there a reasonable fix for it?

3.  For reasons of my own, the standard regulator that comes with the Coleman stove doesn't suit my needs. It is designed for one pound canisters and it sticks out too far. Has anyone seen different types of regulators that would work with a Coleman stove? I would like to find something without that long silver tube on it that maybe sticks closer to the side of the stove.

Thanks for any information.

Tom

 

[SternWake]

NO doubt the quality is not the same as it was. I do not recall having issues with the flame height changing after adjustment on my old 2 burner stove. But it eventually wore out and was leaking gas unless I removed the tank each time, and then the threads wore out.

I've gone to a single burner stove that rests on the 1Lb green bottle, and they last a few years at best. My Peizo lighter is now no longer functional, and it has 4 legs to hold the pot, instead of 3, so the pot can and does rock, and I've drilled out old rivets and installed new ones as the legs to hold the pot loosened up, and have done so again.

P.O.S. Century brand, but it can and does simmer very well with a low flame unlike the coleman single burner stove i had previous.

I think they sell flexible lines which can screw into the dual burner stove with regulator. Not really sure what is required.

 

[speedhighway46]

The answer to your questions in one word . . .

China.

Just my opinion . . .

 

[Wabbit]

Yeah, China makes most of Coleman's stuff now. However, its not their "fault". Everyone knows and has known about some of Chinas factory quality control issues...(nice way of putting it) for some time. It was Coleman who decided where stuff got made. Coleman's is not what it used to be, not even close.

 

[DuneElliot]

I'm sure it's changed. I have the same issues with flame height on both of my two burner propane stoves. I just deal with it. The single burners don't seem to have the same problem, and neither does the butane stove.

 

[John61CT]

The fundamental cause is uninformed consumer demand driven only by price.

Quality as a parameter to factor in requires a large enough educated segment willing to spend - sometimes a lot - more.

Look at European-branded camping gear, even if made in China, the branding company has complete control over Quality Control.

 

[wagoneer]

Another great reason to shop secondary markets.

 

[FastEddie313]

I have a good old one that uses gasoline or likely any other flammable liquid you can put in it.. Works goood..

Best IMO for SHTF but then do you really need a burner stove over some sticks on the ground?

Maybe not the best to be used inside a little van though..

 

[LeeRevell]

China CAN make good quality items, IF the US company keeps them on a short leash and forces them to meet QC standards. Otherwise, they will cut corners.

 

[ArtW]

Generally they cut corners because the US company told them to, sad to say, but true

 

[jimindenver]

This is true. You can have it built at any level of quality depending on what you and you customers will pay. The problem is the customers no longer know the difference or are willing to pay for quality.

 

[Vagabound]

The problem isn't China's inability to build a quality product but Coleman's quest for the cheapest product that the customer will still buy. China is fully capable of most any high level project, witness their high speed trains (none in the US) and their space program (US has no ability to get an astronaut into orbit).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-speed_rail_in_China
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_space_program

Guy

After years of living in such a culture, I can tell you that your description doesn't even come close to telling the true story, but I'll let it ride in the interest of forum tranquility ;-).

So, anybody know anything about alternate regulators for a Coleman stove?  The actual regulator part (silver can) is OK.  Its the stiff aluminum pipe that I'm trying to get rid of.  Something with a flexible line would do the trick for me.  

Tom

 

[SternWake]

If the Obtuse angle is the only real factor in your dissatisfation, You could heat the steel pipe with a torch away from the regulator portion, and bend it slowly around a radius. pretty sure it is not aluminum, as aluminum is more expensive than steel.

 

[Vagabound]

If the Obtuse angle is the only real factor in your dissatisfation, You could heat the steel pipe with a torch away from the regulator portion, and bend it slowly around a radius.  pretty sure it is not aluminum, as aluminum is more expensive than steel.

Yeah, that might work.  Ideally, the best thing would be a flexible hose that would screw into the regulator (can) and the stove would allow me to move the regulator a bit. What I need to do is face the regulator-end of the stove toward the wall on the kitchen counter, to get the regulator out of the way and to have the stove knobs facing a useful direction, rather than pinned against a wall.  Currently, the stove doesn't fit in my preferred orientation.  So I have it turned around with the regulator hanging off the front of the counter, unsupported, and blocking the top two drawers on my under-counter cabinet, and the knobs very hard to reach.  Needs work.

Tom

 

[Vagabound]

I must be the victim of some fake news on those subjects, stupid me!! Think I'll have a beer and listen to some music to get over it. HA!! Anyone see my iPhone?

Guy

No, they have high speed trains and a space program. Nothing wrong in saying that. But as they say (and you know them), "the devil is in the details". 

How much was build-operate-transfer with significant reliance on foreign consultants? How well does it really work? Considering the cultural limitations of the current political system, how would we ever know the truth of what works and what doesn't?

Just based on my personal experience, which is admittedly limited and couldn't cover all situations, completely native Chinese engineering, manufacturing, and construction without significant foreign quality-control would be a scary proposition to me.

Tom

 

[bullfrog]

Every time I read about items made in China I remember walking into a TSC store and seeing a bright red tractor which looked like the old model A ford tractor and cast into the cast iron housing it read "tragtor made in China".

 

[frater secessus]

My older coleman gear (pre-1970s) seems to be more robust.

 

[DuneElliot]

I think it's more about cheaper parts and labor, and planned obsolescence than anything. They used to build things to last forever...that was what was expected when you paid for something. Now people want the newest stuff for cheap and don't care if things last because they already plan to replace it when the next best thing comes along

 

[steamjam1]

I gotta chime in here and admit that camp stoves built in the former Soviet Union that are LIKE Coleman stoves are built to last generations. Ain't no cheap steel in them. They are heavy, old world sturdy and only require some mop string and a couple of common hardware store O-rings to service. They are so good I stopped using Coleman stoves for anything. They run on regular unleaded gasoline. (CHEAP) and they don't give off any more fumes then a naphtha running Coleman stove. 
Others I know will disagree with me here... There is something to be said about old world technology that requires very little in maintenance. I know that should something go wonky with the stove, I have ALL the parts to repair it in a ALTOIDS can, including the tools sitting in my van.

Coleman, like many many other companies that traditionally built products in the USA moved production to save on money to appease their shareholders. 

On Chinese stoves. I've tried alot of them. 99% are garbage. The only one out of the two-dozen or so I've tried over the last several years that is worth ANYTHING is this:
[img=273x273]https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/HTB1ROhp...Gasoline-b-font-font-b-Stove-b-font.jpg[/img]

Ive used it on Coleman fuel and gasoline. Its not bad. Its smaller then the Coleman 533, puts out WAY MORE POWER on regular unleaded, is slightly more efficient in fuel consumption, and is cheaper. I have yet to try and service it yet, but like the Soviet stoves, only needs some mop string and O-rings...

 

[John61CT]

Cheaper sources than this?

http://m.ebay.com/itm/500ml-Outdoor...rs-Camping-Cooker-Equipment-APG-/131968985874