Liquid fuel camping stoves are available in small, single burner backpacking configurations and large two and three burner tabletop models that are suitable for family camping. Coleman is currently the only manufacturer of liquid fuel, multi-burner, camping stoves for family camping. The advent of disposable propane canister stoves has greatly reduced the interest in these liquid fuel versions, but Coleman continues to support four models.
The venerable Coleman Model 425 stove dates from the late 1940s and remains largely unchanged, today. Its simplicity and durability are proven by the fact that many twenty, and even thirty, year old Model 425s are still in use. They may not be as easy to start as their propane-fueled counterparts are, and they require periodic cleaning and maintenance, but white gas stoves burn hot and are not affected by altitude, like propane camping stoves.
Coleman updated their original design to support unleaded gasoline, as well as traditional white gas, creating the Model 424 stove. Unleaded gasoline does not burn nearly as clean as white gas, and is only recommended for world travelers that find themselves in locations where white gas is not available. Diesel fuel cannot be used in these stoves and Coleman does not recommend unleaded gasoline that contains more than 10% ethanol. The instruction manual for the Coleman dual fuel stoves also clearly states that, unleaded fuels may vary in quality and can affect generator life.
The generator that the instructions are referring to is the gas tube that connects the fuel tank to the main burner assembly.
At 32-inches wide, the three-burner Model 428 adds a second auxiliary burner and the larger, 3.5-pint, fuel tank from the Powerhouse Model 424. The other models use a 2.5-pint fuel tank. Because of the larger fuel tank, the total operating times of all the Coleman stoves is a similar two hours, with all of the burners on their highest settings.
How durable and reliable are these Coleman camping stoves? I recently purchased a 1964 model 425 stove for another project on CampingBlogger. Have a look, while I attempt to fire up the stove for the first time…
See also…
- Propane Camping Stoves for Family Camping
- 10 Outside-the-Box Camping Stoves
- Now You’re Cooking With(out) Gas
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My coleman stove is 40 years old. The cooler is about 20 years old. Really wish they still made the same cooler.
Coleman has been an amazing brand for may years. They continue to produce excellent equipment.
sanmccarron – I’m visiting my parents next month and hope to find their old Coleman 425. I have not looked at the “new” metal coolers to see if they are like the old ones. They look the same, but that isn’t always the best indicator.
Justin – It is a great brand, everybody knows Coleman!
I still have a couple of 40+ year old single burner stoves from them. They work great. I have a double burner one too and it works great but isn’t nearly that old. I also got my Dad one of the new metal coolers because his old original metal one finally died. He really likes the new metal one. He tried plastic coolers for awhile but wasn’t happy with them.
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I was wondering how good the new metal ones are – I grew up with one of the old green ones.
Have an old colman double burner model #425F does anyone have a direction booklet I can copy?
Robert – you can print a copy of the manual here:
***oldtownyucca.com/coleman/scans/426d_1.htm11/8/2009 Update – this link is now being reported as a security risk, so I’ve crossed it out. The following link is for current Coleman product manuals:
http://www.coleman.com/coleman/manuals/manuals_resp.asp?category_id=1100
We recently purchased a colemen liquid white fuel Model 425 campstove. The only thing this stove did was leak fuel and cause a rather sizeable fire in our back yard. The stove was brand new. We would be open to any suggestions to getting this stove to work. Thanks
Hey, I have taken trips to Greenland and they use the old liquid fuel camping stoves there too. I always thought they ran on diesel, because that is what they heat their homes with, heating oil. Are there any cook stoves that run off of heating oil? Thanks for this great blog.
Try the DragonFly from MSR they can run on Multi-Fuel: Burns white gas, kerosene, unleaded auto fuel, diesel, and jet fuel.
I have an older 3 burner Coleman liquid fuel stove. I can’t seem to keep it lit. Fuel seems to be collecting where the fuel line connects to the stove. Any suggestions? There is no model number on it. Can I assume the model number would be the same as the current one they make now? It has to be at least 40 years old. Thanks.
Jim and Kathy – check this page out on how to look for leaks and rebuild your stove:
***.lns.cornell.edu/~seb/philmont-coleman.html11/29/09 Update: This page has been taken down, so I’m posting a link to an archive of it: http://web.archive.org/web/20080803055916/http://www.lns.cornell.edu/~seb/philmont-coleman.html
arctikbound – you bet, all the major backpack stove makers, like Optimus and MSR, have multi-fuel models that support diesel.
I have a old coleman insta gas stove and oven that i pick up at a yard sale and was trying to find somethings about it maybe where i could get parts and such
I was just given a Coleman 425 c that belonged to my great-grandfather. According to my mother, this stove is at least 50 yrs old, possibly older. It still works great and i know how to operate it, but i was wondering if there was an online resource for an instruction manual as well as replacement parts for that particular model. Thanks.
Stayce – I’ll bet the current Coleman 424 manual will work just fine, as these stoves have not changed a great deal:
http://www.coleman.com/coleman/manuals/manuals_resp.asp?category_id=1100
cant find a date on a coleman 426 ? – just bought it at a yard sale for 10 bucks …………looks used but in good shape ? going to wallmart to find some fuel – great web site
Thanks, Bob. I’m not sure where (or if) the date is stamped on the 426, somewhere – did you look under the fuel tank mounting tab?. It looks like the 426A was produced from 1951 to 1953, the 426B from 1954 to 1960 and then in 1962, 426C in 1961 and then in 1963 and 1964 and the 426D in 1965.
I just bought this at a yard sale and for the life of me couldn’t get it to work, then I watched your video and to my surprise, it started on the first try! thanks for the info, your a life saver!!
Glad you got it going, Eddie!
Cool website & video!
I just tried my 424 with some unleaded gas at home before going on the road–worked great! Regarding Coleman’s warning, now, have you heard of many failures ascribed to unleaded fuels? What branded gas stations should we avoid, and which should we seek?
Jeff – the problem with unleaded gas is that it will tend to gum-up the generator tube, because it does not burn as cleanly as the Coleman fuel (or similar fuels at the big discount stores). This is also true of the Coleman fuel, if you leave it sitting in the tank for a long time. Oh, and the dirty little secret of the gasoline companies is that their gas all comes from the same refinery, so any brand will work just fine
Thanks. I’ll reserve the auto fuel for emergency use and keep using the Coleman. And will try to keep my stoves drained when not in use.
I have a 425 that I bought fifteen years ago after having grown up with them on many a camping outing. It still has the original generator. It sometimes flames out at low (has done that since new). One trick that has seemed to help is to run fuel injector or carb cleaner through it. About 50/50 for a tank when it starts to act up. Am now burning regular unleaded as Colmen fuel is becoming harder to find as is parts. So far it seems to work. Wish I had bought a dual fuel generator years ago when they were around. The fuel cells for the new Colemen products to me seem to be wastefull (non refileabull as well as well as nongreen ) as far as petroleum appliances are concerned. Happy meals…………
Thanks, Arlo – that is a great tip on the carb cleaner. I know I got a lot of black gunk out of the generator on mine, after I fired it up for the first time (it is an old one).
Found a 426c, and 413f while cleaning the garage. After a little coaxing the 413f started up (lord knows how old the liquid fuel was). The 426c refuses to start, inside the 426c was a propaine tank which I assumed was it’s fuel source, but it never started. It occured to me that just because the part was in the stove it doesn’t nessaryly mean it belonged to it. Does anyone know if the 426c liquid gass, or propaine?
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