New guy here, with a Coleman stove question.

[HBar]

Hi. I found this place a few days ago and have been reading through a lot of it. My wife and I are relatively new to camping. We're retirement age, but not retired. Any traveling we've done in the past has always been, by her requirements, at a Marriott, Hilton, or some such. When she told me she wanted to go camping with our son and his family a couple of years ago, I nearly fell over. So, we are tent campers these days.

Now, to my problem. We have a Coleman 3 burner stove. The control knobs for the two regular burners will not stay set at a low, as in minimum, flow level. When I set it low and let it go, the gas flow kicks up more than for a simmer type flame. It's a long way from full blast, but simply won't stay at low, on either burner. I'm considering taking a strip of duct tape to hold the knobs in place. If only one burner did that, I would expect it's a defect. However, with both doing the same thing, it would seem that's how it's made. Is that typical?

[Happy Joe]

Re: New guy here, with a Coleman stove question.

Howdy! and Welcome!

I see a lot of dissatisfaction with cook stoves on simmer in the ratings these days so I expect that it is just a common engineering/manufacturing/design defect.

I have a quite old Coleman 2 burner (trusty rusty) that simmers fine but in searching for a replacement I see a lot of complaints about poor simmer control on many (most?) brands including Coleman.

Enjoy!

[NYCgrrl]

Re: New guy here, with a Coleman stove question.

Im still using a 1970's era white gas 2 burner Coleman. Sought it out specifically because I d heard of construction changes in newer models.

Now that being as it is is yr stove a propane or white gas model?

Welcome to the forum: )

[bluestar99]

Re: New guy here, with a Coleman stove question.

Welcome, I have several Coleman fuel stoves. I do rotate them some depending on my needs. I find the 3 burner stoves more difficult to operate then a 2 burner. It seems that when you want the side burners to work you need to up the fuel to the center burner as some of this gets siphoned off for the other burners. With that said, I find that it is usually more difficult to get enough heat on the side burner on my 2 burner stoves. Try a piece of tape on the side control and see if it solves your problem. If it does, then try squeezing down the end of the burner knob that rides on the threads. If that screws in and out very easily right now, I could see it drifting under use.

[MacGyver]

Re: New guy here, with a Coleman stove question.

I'm pretty sure it's not a matter of knob drift. Coleman stoves are designed for simplicity and durability so they'll work under all kinds of conditions. The adjustment of the needle valve assembly isn't going to be as precise as one in a stationary stove, in a stable climate like a kitchen. Your home stove doesn't have to deal with being banged around and fighting off gusting winds. I've seen any number of tutorials online about how to restore stoves, both video and step-by-step with pictures. Some of the ones I saw seemed to indicate that keeping the generator and valve assemblies free of contaminates that build up over time go a long way to maintaining a steady output. Lastly, I can second bluestar's comment about three burner stoves. I had one years ago that had the same issues with the side burners. Finicky at best.

[HBar]

Re: New guy here, with a Coleman stove question.

Thanks for the replies, guys. I guess I should have said it is a propane stove. It makes sense, I guess, due to wind issues, it won't stay at a low simmer. It could easily blow out and not be noticed. I will probably try the tape to see if it works. Thanks again.

[Fred]

Re: New guy here, with a Coleman stove question.

If you're of the propane persuasion, and are open to upgrading to a better stove, the Cadillac of camping stoves are made by Partner Steel Co. They are popular with river rafting outfitters and overlanders. They come in 2, 3, 4 and 6 burner models, don't have the daisy chained burner issues that Coleman stoves have, and simmer just fine. I got the smallest 2 burner one last summer, and can say that, hands down, its the best camping stove I've ever seen. Better than a lot of home stoves.

[JoeN]

Re: New guy here, with a Coleman stove question.

Those Partner Steel stoves are pricey.

[Fred]

Re: New guy here, with a Coleman stove question.

Those Partner Steel stoves are pricey.

For sure they are pricey. They are bomb proof, high quality products made by a small company in Idaho. In the reviews, there are no complaints or gripes, and people expect them to last a lifetime.

An alternative approach to simmering better with a stove that doesn't have a stable low flame might be to use a heat diffuser from a cooking store.

[JoeN]

Re: New guy here, with a Coleman stove question.

They definitely look like a quality product and if I were in the market for a new stove I would consider one. However, I don't camp that often and my 30+ year old Coleman stove still works well enough to suit my needs.