Coleman Liquid Fuel Camping Stoves

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.

chart1The 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-stovesColeman 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.

Coleman Gas Stove Generator Location

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…

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105 thoughts on “Coleman Liquid Fuel Camping Stoves

  1. Guys, I live outside the US, Central America to be exact. I have a 9/10 Coleman Camp stove Model 425 but I cannot find Coleman Camp Fuel here. What else can I use without having issues with this stove? Thank You.

  2. Is white gasoline for Coleman camping stoves still available? If so, what’s the likeliest source? I’m a considerable distance from Big Bass and Gander Mountain stores. Thanks for any info. I’m in Northern Ohio. My email is thomachuck@yahoo.com.

    • Coleman Fuel or Crown Camping Fuel is available at Wal*Mart, although pricey. The newest Murphy (near Wal*Mart) gas stations offer regular gas with no alcohol. Or – most hardware stores now offer 1-gallon cans of “4-cycle gas”. Meant for lawn mowers, lawn tractors, roto-tillers, leaf shredders, etc., this fuel is minus the alcohol and automotive additives, and is a bit cheaper than Coleman Fuel

      • Can this be used for a Coleman 425 camp stove and if so what are the downsides to this alternative?
        Thanks,

  3. My neighbor was throwing out a Coleman Compact Camp stove model 425F. Since I have a Coleman 2 burner Green 425E499, I very quickly picked it up for free. I checked out the 425F and ediden’t try to fire it up. Everything seems to be working okay. I plan on cleaning it up and giving it to my youngest son for emergency cooking if we lose power.

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