Help, Smelting Coleman stove back to camping?

[solman]

Earlier this year I grabbed my Coleman gas stove for a smelting trial. It worked well enough but I now feel foolish as I would like to get this back to camping use. These stoves have become expensive and mine being over 30 years old has a certain classic value as well.
Is there a way to clean this up properly for camp cooking? Note that there is no visible lead on the stove and I only used it once to smelt some lead.
Thanks
Solman

[JSnover]

I'd scrub the grill with brillo or scotchgard, shake out any drippings from the chassis.

[bangerjim]

Tripple clean the surfaces. Steel wool and strong soap.Sounds like you have no Pb spatters or stuff. And you might NOT want to cook food directly on the grill and eat it. My camp stove has never had food directly cooked on the grills as does my BBQ grill in the backyard. And I have NEVER melted Pb over a flame! I like to have total control over the casting melt temps with electric pots.

My re-melt pot is a plumber’s furnace and does NOT cook food!

Banger

[lightman]

I doubt that having melted lead on it will hurt anything. Your food should not be in contact with any of the stove. I would just wipe it down with any of the commercial cleaners that you likely use in your kitchen. Maybe hit the grates with a scouring pad or steel wool. Throw them away after you use them. The pot that you melted lead in should not be put back in service to prepare food in but you already know that.

[Jim_P]

Oven Cleaner. The Caustic Lye in the oven cleaner will react with any remaining lead and allow it to wash away.

[IA Smoke]

I had the same question. My intent was to make sure there was not a speck of lead anywhere near the burner. Other than that I can't see why it would be an issue to cook in skillets or pans. Not on the grate of course.

[EDG]

I have 3 or 4 that came from goodwill. A couple appeared unused and they are only about $5.00 each.
If you just have to use it use a pressure washer or take it to a car wash.
Remove the fuel tank assy first.

[rsrocket1]

I'm glad I never did that with my Coleman stove. In fact I just used it again last month on a camping trip. I have the white gas version. I don't even know if white gas is sold anymore but the stuff I have still lasts forever. I put some in the tank, use it and when I put it back into the can, it seems like I put in almost as much as I poured out.

[rwadley]

White gas is still sold

[solman]

OK then, a good scrubbing and I should be fine. I don't cook on the grate of this stove and of course I have a dedicated pot for smelting. I think I will have to find or rig a dedicated burner for smelting rather than use the coleman stove any longer. It works but is not the fastest way and will not hold enough weight for a serious smelting session anyway.

[Rick Hodges]

I would scrub it, use oven cleaner, wash it up and go with it. I cook in pots and pans anyway and see no problem at all.

[DocSavage]

Melting lead on a Coleman stove always made me uneasy but clean the grates thoroughly and you should be gtg. Always had a picture of the grate giving way and molten lead spreading everywhere.

[Tripplebeards]

IMO I wouldn’t use it for cooking after smelting. Mine looks like I shotgun blasted it with lead splatters. I just would be paranoid after the hundreds of of hours of smelting that took place on mine. Life’s too short. I bought mine new from Wally World about 10 years ago and used it twice and then nothing but smelting after. I’d tell you to buy or find another one.

[solman]

Yes I was going to replace it but seeing prices over $100 made me hesitant. They used to be fairly cheap but the gas ones got pricey. The propane ones can still be had for a low price but I prefer the gas ones, much cheaper to run.

[samari46]

Just bought a new Coleman two burner stove as a backup during hurricane season. Got the propane model. Cost me about $70 but my house is all electric so when the lights go out so does everything. My old white gas Coleman is about 20 years old. Last hurricane I found out that what fuel I had stored in a shed outside had leaked out due to the cans rusting. So ended up using a few cans of sterno in the old one. Last hurricane we had 8 people staying with us and since we had stocked up on hamburger patties, Italian sausage, and bread we did fairly well. 2-3 days with no juice so ran our generator 8 hours a day and have a 3' industrial fan to get the house cooled off and to keep the fridge and freezer cold. Frank

[Bazoo]

I had both a gas and a propane stove before my house burnt. I used the propane one for casting and smelting some, it worked good. I did use it for food after the fact, I dont remember exactly what we did though, but I think I just scraped the splatters out with a putty knife. I mighta scrubbed it out with a brillo pad and dawn, but I caint remember. Long as you dont use your melting pot for cooking your supper, I dont see how it would cause any problems.

[Tripplebeards]

Yeah, what's the deal with the price hike on them anyways. I had a little remorse after I started smelting on my almost brand new stove that I bought about a decade ago for not much over 45 bucks at Wally World.

[IA Smoke]

Yeah, what's the deal with the price hike on them anyways. I had a little remorse after I started smelting on my almost brand new stove that I bought about a decade ago for not much over 45 bucks at Wally World.

Large Corp profits I suspect. Coleman has been acquired a time or two through the years. Newell Brands owns them now. Trusted brand in the outdoor world so they can get by with it.

[Elkins45]

Yeah, what's the deal with the price hike on them anyways. I had a little remorse after I started smelting on my almost brand new stove that I bought about a decade ago for not much over 45 bucks at Wally World.


Are they still making them in America? That might explain it.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Yes I was going to replace it but seeing prices over $100 made me hesitant. They used to be fairly cheap but the gas ones got pricey. The propane ones can still be had for a low price but I prefer the gas ones, much cheaper to run.

WOW, I'm not sure what State you are in (I don't need to know), But I use the Coleman WHITE gas stoves for many uses, including Lead smelting. I have collected several old units at garage sales or thrift stoves (for $5 to $10 in Minnesota), many are in working order, but if not, I buy 'em for parts.
Last Month, I found a nice one, NIB (still sealed by original tape) for $12.

I use automotive gasoline (no Ethanol), but in doing so, you need to clean the regular periodically, due to the additives carbonizing on the spring...aLSO, the constant running of them at near full heat (for smelting), the stove doesn't last forever...But my first one smelted about 3000 lbs of various alloys over that last 8 years (before I scrapped it this spring). The second unit has smelted about 700 lbs so far this year. I smelt in about 40 lb batches in a 4 qt stainless steel soup pot, it takes about 20 minutes from room temp to melted lead for a batch. That's about 100 lbs an hour. A 5 to 6 hour day of smelting will yield 500 lbs of alloy. I will have to refill the tank once or twice in that 5 to 6 hours, so that's less than a gallon of gas to process 500 lbs of alloy, that's pretty efficient, pricewise.

223675

[GregLaROCHE]

If you don’t have lead splatter, just scrub it well with your favorite detergent, rinse well and then run a tank of Colman through it. Preferably with a couple of cast iron skillets on it and any bad will have to be gone. Lead is not good for health, but we have keep the amount in mind too. After a scrub and a burn, the traces left won’t be of concern. On the other hand, I would never use a skillet I melted lead in again for food.

[charlie b]

There is a big move in retro stoves. Alcohol and white gas models of many brands are becoming collectors items. There are several folks out there buying trashed stoves, refurbishing and selling for much more than new prices.

I wish I still had the commercial version of the Coleman tanker stove. I loved that thing but got rid of it when I started camping on the motorcycle. Now days I just use a regular propane model. Don't have to worry about pumping or spilling the white gas.

I also went the alcohol route when backpacking. It was very light but kind of a PITA since in fire season it was not legal to use (no fuel shutoff).

And, yes, white gas is easy to find. It comes in plastic containers now, quart sizes too.

As to lead and cooking. I would not. When I smelted lead I went to a yard sale and got a cheap propane burner. It was never used to cook food. Yeah, I know that is overkill, just what made me feel comfortable.

[223Lorenzo]

Get a fish frier for smelting from basspro 30 bucks in sale.works great.

[Drm50]

I've got a Plumbers Salamander, a burner that screws into a propane tank. It has a cast iron pot
that fits between lugs cast on the burner. When I get roof flashing and other scrap that has things
like tar or paint on them, I melt it over a wood fire. I lay up a couple row of concrete block, dry.
Have a old cast grate I lay on top and use 3lb coffee cans for pots. When lead melts I tip the can
with channel locks and pour the lead out from under the dross. Can will make two pours then throw away. Saves getting crud on your good pot.

[BeemerMark]

Note that there is no visible lead on the stove and I only used it once to smelt some lead.
Thanks
Solman

What's left to clean? I assume your going to be cooking in a pan or pot so even if there was lead splatter down on the bottom of the stove how would it get in your food? People worry too much. Don't feed you're babies lead paint and everyone will be fine.

[3006guns]

No one mentioned that oven cleaner, which contains lye, will quickly remove any paint on the stove. Take the grill OFF first and clean it separately.