Hi there

I have had a Coleman Gas Lantern (220H) since 1974. I have replaced plenty of parts on it, most recently the check valve. Anyway, It runs on white gas. I just purchased a gallon and am now $16 further from dying a rich man. White gas seems to be harder to find and definitely more expensive.

I am thinking about making a switch to a dual fuel Coleman lantern, so I can run off unleaded. I would like to hear from people who have made that transition from the old white gas Coleman lanterns to the newer dual fuel Colemans.

I would appreciate hearing from people who have made the switch. I am curious about carbon buildup, and reliability.

Thanks

Run the white gas, it runs cleaner and gives less problems.

The dual fuel will run on unleaded, but its hard on the pump and seals. White gas is far preferable. You can also use naptha, like they sell in paint stores. Unleaded pretty much ruined my dual-fuel over time.

I see what you did there.

We have used unleaded high test gasoline in our regular Coleman lanterns and stove a few times when we ran out of naphtha on long hunting trips.

Just stole some from the outboard motor tank with no problems at all.

Ted

Go propane and refillable bottles.

Propane lantern

Refillable

Refill kit

I got my bottles from my local propane dealer full.
Kind of expensive to start but fuel will be cheap in the long run

NorthStar.

Currently unavailable.
We don't know when or if this item will be back in stock.

Cheaper in the long run.

You can get a refill adapter from Harbor Freight or Walmart much cheaper. Tractor Supply probably has them as well. I THINK they are about $10.00. You don't need a hose and tank stand to do this. Just screw the adapter onto your 5 gallon propane tank, turn your tank upside down and set it on the edge of a table or other flat stable surface, screw your 1 lb. empty bottle onto it, and open the valve. It works best if you get the 1 lb. bottle colder than the tank. You can put it in the freezer to do this if you are in a warm climate. When you unscrew the bottle, make sure the stem valve on it properly closes. Put a little water on it and check for bubbles. Beware of refilling rusted bottles. These disposable bottles are not as strong as "refillable" tanks.

I have several Coleman lanterns, both fuel type and propane, and at one time had a hobby of rebuilding them. Both type work fine to produce light. Propane admittedly is easier to work with, but I like the nostalgia of fuel lanterns. I do not recommend using unleaded gasoline in them unless you have to as opposed to Coleman or equivalent brand fuel, such as Crown. Naptha or mineral spirits works fine also. Unleaded gasoline is very hard on the lantern's generator.

I used white gas in my dual fuel lanterns at camp. I used it pretty much two nights week from November to April for better than 15 years. I never had to replace a part on any of the three except for mantles. White gas was alot cheaper then and so were those dual fuel lanterns.
All that said if I had to pay $16 for it I would think about using unleaded gas. If you only buy a gallon a year no big deal but if your buying a gallon
every couple weeks then maybe keeping a few parts around or just living with shorter life span of your lanterns might be cheaper in the long run.
At saving $13 or more a gallon it wouldn't take too many seasons to pay for new lanterns.

If i had to start from scratch I would likely look for an alternative to the lanterns for my camp lighting. Im not one of those guys that appreciated the hissing. I was buying gas for ATVs , white gas, ,propane charcoal and charging batteries for the inverter systems we had for cabin lights. I always said we had a hodgpodge of fuels to run the camp.

Isn't #1 Kerosene the same deal as white gas? I run #1 in my torpedo heaters.

LED lights have changed the game-

#1-I'd go LED battery lantern. Rechargeable batteries if you're concerned about the environment.

#2-propane lantern, can refill 1# bottles with adapter off a 20# tank

#3-keep buying white gas

We used to have a deer camp with no electricity we tried unleaded and the lanterns quit working pretty quick and have to be repaired.the white gas works better and is brighter.

No on is kero the other is a gasoline product.

I haven't used a gas lantern in 20+years, before they started using ethanol thing may
be different now.

But, we always used Amoco premium unleaded.
Nothing else.
It was as clear as water, no tint, much cleaner burning than anything else.
Never had much trouble with the lanterns, and our fuel was $1/gal not $8.

And it wasn't a brand thing, The Amoco owners were not nice people and they never
had a low price. We went where we didn't want to go, to get the product.

I have run the stove on Shell premium, it seems to work fine.
Even with ethanol in it. Not a lot though, just a few hours a year, then dump
the fuel if I remember. I really should stock up on generators for the stoves, or get
the propane adapters.

Early 80's when I first started working hunting camps we used strictly liquid fuel. There was a bit more maintenance on the lanterns back then as they went through some abuse packing in to some of the more remote camps. Packing fuel that far was also a bit risky when one did not get the pack string they wished for. Several years later we switched to propane . Our spike camps got by with one propane tank from Aug to November usually! Much less hassle all the way around. Ran long hoses to the main lantern and cook stove.....

White gas?

Are you another one of those 90 year old dudes??


Get battery one, even a rechargeable one like my toddlers had before your shaky old hands pour gas all over your dungarees and risk setting yourself on fire.

I picked up some off brand camp fuel from Walmart that was about 2/3rds the cost of Coleman..I use mostly propane now. I tried the dual fuel ,but it seems to foul up the generators a lot quicker. Can' t beat the gas lanterns for heat though , propane just gives off more moisture . We have an adapter that fits on a 20 pound propane tank. and the lantern fits on that.We fit it up when we get up to feed the stock and have good light to saddle up with. When we are ready to leave, we turn it off and that few extra minutes of burning gives us time to mount up and get the pack string moving

I have my adapter and used it very recently.

I used it as a throw weight to thread a pull rope into a limbing job on a tree 2 weeks ago.

Battery lanterns are a lot easier.

If you get a dual fuel lamp, you will have to get on of those $100.00 trout fishing hats. I would love one of those lamps.

https://www.coleman.com/all-lighting/gas-lanterns/kerosene-lantern/col_3000004258_pr/COL_3000004258

I used regular unleaded in different camp stoves for 40 years. Used it in lanterns also. Recently switched to propane for both the stove and lantern but the cylinders are expensive. The adaptors to run your stove or fill the bottles from a 20# tank are the only way to go. Going to switch to a dual fuel generator also. Love the propane.

Base camp use is 20# propane with service tree and hoses.
Runs big lantern and stove. Easy.
White gas? Never again.

KEROSENE. If you want a cheaper liquid fuel look at kerosene Coleman lanterns. You can still buy them new, work almost the same as white gas lanterns except for a pre-heat step, give as much light, and fuel is cheap. We used to use them at our hunting camp years ago before running gas lines and putting in propane light fixtures running off 100lb tanks. The kerosene lanterns gave better light than the propane - basically needed 4 or 5 propane fixtures to replace 2 kerosene lanterns. Just be real careful to fill and light them outside! Might need to let them air out a little before bringing them inside if you get sloppy and spill some kerosene when refilling.

Electric lanterns are much better these days with LED tech. But you gotta have a way to recharge or buy batteries. I use them when I don't want heat with the light, or just need a light for a few minutes, but I don't have any that will put out as much light as a gas lantern.

To me, white gas lanterns are still the standard, but not the most convenient. Have a couple but don't use them much anymore.

Propane lanterns are easy to use, but the disposable gas bottles are a pain. Refilling from a bulk tank is the way to go if you use them a lot. Have a couple of those too, including a setup to connect directly to a 16 or 20 lb gas bottle. Think its called a distribution tree, several sources make them including Coleman, Stansport, Texsport, others. If I needed to use a gas lantern a lot, I think a 20 lb tank with a distribution tee and propane lantern screwed on the top would be the way to go - if its a situation where you can bring in the tanks and the lantern doesn't have to be hung up high.

I have 7 Coleman lanterns from the 50s up to the Dual Fuel.

White gas, Coleman fuel, generic lantern fuel works best.
Premium gasoline can be used, in a pinch, but will gum, varnish, soot up your lantern.

DO NOT use gasohol. The seals are not made for alcohol.

I have 7 Coleman lanterns from the 50s up to the Dual Fuel.

White gas, Coleman fuel, generic lantern fuel works best.
Premium gasoline can be used, in a pinch, but will gum, varnish, soot up your lantern.

DO NOT use gasohol. The seals are not made for alcohol.

The propane are clean and convenient.

The one I now use is LED. Much safer, cleaner and easier to light.

We have a dual fuel lantern.

Had it a few years.

Premium no lead is all we burn. I just add fuel to it. Never had any trouble. Never empty it.


I also let it warm up a little first.

Where in the world do you come up with that "hard on the pump and seals"?

I've been burning unleaded in a dual fuel lantern since the first one they sold. Burn it ice fishing most of the winter for both heat and light. Burn it all year for the same during electrical outages. Burn it for tracking during deer season. Burn it just for fun a lot of evenings to feed the fish under my bridge.

Only disadvantage to unleaded gasoline is it doesn't produce as much light as the same lantern with Coleman fuel or white gas. Can drive to town and buy any one of the three I want with in a block of each other.

Been burning regular unleaded in both my Coleman dual fuel lanterns for years and years. Mantle replacement is the only thing I've ever had to do.

In my hunting camp I used white gas. But with family camping with a tent trailer then a travel trailer I used propane. I had bottles on the front anyway. I have rebuilt a couple of white gas lanterns, it's much more difficult task than the stoves. Generators can't just be cleaned like the stove generators, they more less have to be replaced. In Canada dual fuel stoves and lanterns are rare, so I have never used one.. The white gas stoves and lanterns are much more portable than propane. White gas stoves burn hotter than newer propane ones, too. The original Colman propane stoves used a high 15psi and as such weren't any different than the white gas ones. What I object to is the high cost of Colman Camping Fuel. It seems to double in price every year.

I think the future is LEDs.

Light is light, but LEDs have no soul. Just my .02.

rblum:

Don't waste your money on another liquid fuel lantern.

I stopped using liquid fuel lanterns about 25 years ago, when I switched to propane. Then, about 5 years ago, I switched to LED lanterns.

Modern LED lanterns are much more convenient, give off just as much light, are cheaper to buy and cheaper to operate, have no maintenance and have no safety problems.

I still have several good liquid fuel lanterns and several good propane lanterns. Now they just gather dust in the shed.

Wanna sell some propane lanterns? Shoot me a PM.

I have 2 white gas lanterns. Only get them out every couple years for test runs then clean them and store again. Don't know why I keep them.

Only used Coleman or other lantern/stove fuel in them, never owned a dual fuel model.

I have 3 Streamlite Siege D cell LED lanterns. Just like everything else with a battery you have to watch out for leaking batteries, most of the time I keep the batteries in a zip bag with the lanterns. If I'm not home my wife has no trouble with the LED lights, I don't see her doing well with the gas lanterns.

I found that the LED lanterns work great for work light under the house and in the attic dark spots.

When I had a well and pump house I kept a kerosene lamp to keep the plumbing/pump from freezing during winter power outages.

Still have a homemade lantern hanger for surf fishing at night. Every time I see that rusted metal rod I get good memories surf fishing with my dad same with one of the old lanterns.

They don't heat a tent worth a schitt in cold weather either like a liquid or compressed gas fuel lantern can.

How well does the Coleman white fuel hold up over time?
I've had a gallon for 20+ years for my stove.
Actually thought about trying to fire the stove up Saturday just to see if everything was good.....or bad.

I got one container thats at least 15 years old, that's the one I used to test the old lanterns with last year, worked fine.

Thanks, going to pull stove out and see if it is still good.
Bought some new parts[regulator, check valve etc] just in case.

I've had dual fuel lanterns and stoves since Coleman introduced them. I only used unleaded gas once. Absolutely can't spill the unleaded on your hands or gear. It's pretty hard to hunt most anything that can scent you if you smell like a gas station. Naptha, Coleman, Blazo, white gas leaves little or no smell if a little is spilled. I've also used a few kerosene powered lamps too. Most folks preheat with alchohol, One Canadian camp cook used a dab of fire ribbon. Best deal I've seen as a preheater. It also works on stove generators in extreme cold weather. FWIW. JM

Did I miss something here? Out here in the west I never knew anyone who used Colman fuel more than once.

We all used regular gasoline. Same thing in the Army. For the 27 years I was in, we only used and had assess to regular Gasoline.

I do remember a couple PVT,s trying to fuel the lantern with was it going and the fuel tank under pressure. Burned the GPM down both times.