Customer Reviews

Coleman 2-Burner Dual Fuel Powerhouse Liquid Fuel Stove

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

This stove works very well, with good wind protection. Most importantly, if you live in any area where a natural disaster could occur, such as earthquakes or hurricanes, this stove can really be a lifesaver! My sister used one after Hurricane Andrew and we have ours primarily because it is a valuable addition to our earthquake survival kit. The liquid fuel stores easily for years in a contained area, and it is very easy to use and control.

This stove is big, but well worth our money. It accommodates two full sized skillets at once. It boils water in a jiffy, lights easily and burns clean. We cooked under a canopy with ample overhead ventilation with no problems. No odor or discoloring our pans. I loved that the stove's bottom didn't get more than warm when cooking. We used it with a plastic table cover under it with no problem. It stayed lit in very windy conditions. As advertised, the auxiliary burner is less powerful than the main, but was still plenty hot enough to cook on its own. Downsides? Size if you're not car camping. It's the size and weight of a large briefcase, and even larger when in the box. Another issue: in broad daylight, it was difficult to tell if the burner was still lit -- quickly passing a hand over the burner was sufficient to answer that question. To light the auxiliary burner you must briefly turn the main burner up to medium or higher -- tricky if you're already cooking something on low over the main. Finally, it is difficult to empty the fuel tank of extra fuel when packing up, though it can be stored with fuel. We consider these minor detractions. Bottom line: the stove performs great and we love it and recommend it.

I have two of these stoves (one is over 20 years old and one is the model covered in this review and it's about 4 years old); they have seen a lot of use. Very easy to use and rugged, I take both of them along when car camping because my family loves to camp and this allows the ultimate in outdoor cooking flexibility for use with our drip coffee maker and griddle. The folded up stove encloses the fuel tank, cooking grate and windscreens and is about the size of a briefcase.

Liquid fuel is the most reliable and hottest way to do camp cookery because it's easy to start and keep running while requiring very little maintenance. The dual fuel model gives you the option of using unleaded gasoline which is cheaper and more universally available than the most common fuels: a. Coleman Fuel (naphtha) or b. propane.

You can depend on this appliance during the harshest conditions including those times when power goes out at the house; down through the years I haven't had to think twice about using it to melt snow, boil water or make coffee at home during a power outage.

Buy Coleman quality stoves with confidence and enjoy more of the great outdoors.

Once a renown brand with good products, now lacking any sense of quality.

We bought that oven for 2 reasons

1. It's a dual fuel (unleaded Gas & Coleman fuel)
2. To use it together with the Coleman foldable oven

Pro:
YES, it heats up what you put onto it

Cons:
1. The gas tank does not hold in its slots (front side of the stove) and slips away - meaning we have to put something in front or underneath the tank to keep it in it's designated position.

2. At the first use, one of the gaskets (underneath one of the burners) blew off. The authorized Coleman service in Bowling Green, Kentucky asked us to get in touch with Coleman directly because

a) we have not bought the product in his shop and
b) this gasket fails so seldom that he does not have any stock

....not to mention, that this gasket is not even listed in the original Coleman manual.

3. It's wet out there - Using an outdoor stove means that there is a certain chance, that it gets wet. But it DOES NOT mean, that the oven has to start rusting immediately.

4. The jet on the tip of the fuel injection pipe got loose after the first use and produced a yellow flame. As the pipe is made of steel and the jet of brass or bronze, it goes without saying that this did not happen only once but several times (according to the user manual one should contact the Coleman service and not to operate the stove any further as a yellow flame is an indicator for a leakage)

Compared to our 25 year old Coleman stove (from a yard sales) this one looks pretty much like a more than cheap copy on which someone tried to gain the profit margins to the limit ..... and we talk here about a stove with a MRSP of $ 129,99 !!!!

This is an excellent choice for other than those people needing or wanting to travel light. The somewhat large size is not a problem for those who drive to deer camp or similar scenario. It is not a burden to carry for a person of small stature. The dual fuel option offers great flexibility and economy of choice. I can not determine any particular special adantage to either fuel other than cost and ease of availability of unleaded gas. The wind screens are somewhat flimsy but adequate to the task. It lights reliably and burns cleanly. Fit and finish seem good. Gas supply to both burners seems very good and heat is pretty well evenly distributed. Returning unused fuel to a suitable storage container is a minor frustration that a funnel of proper size, and a few shakes and gentle turns of the fuel tank as it nears empty, seem to resolve pretty easily. A single full tank of fuel seems to be enough for a week-end or little longer trip unless virtual banquets are being prepared. Most of my use requires only a single burner at a time but it's nice to have that first pot of coffee (quickly) perking while breakfast sizzles alongside. Lots of good memories can be cooked up using this stove.

Coleman stoves have always been easy to dent, scratch, get burned on and are not for the weak of spirit. On the other hand, properly assembled and pumped up they heat far better than propane for much less in total fuel cost. The white gas can be stored for years before using. Over pumping the stove creates massive amounts of heat for extra big pots. I have used big ones like this and the little portable ones. It is easy to forget that metal parts do an excellent job of transferring heat so look out! I have also used MSR stoves which could be dangerous, tempermental fireballs if not treated with respect. By their nature camp stoves get stored a lot and used some. These are the good ones.

I couldn't have stated it better than Mr. Moses' review. I did the exact same thing...opened it up, and immediately noticed the metal construction to be very poor quality. So much so, I am going to send a note to Coleman. My stove that arrived was bent in several places on the cover just from handling and shipping. I do not know what alternatives there are out there, but I am certainly not going to look at any of the NEW Coleman stoves. I will perhaps look to get an older used Coleman, or just find a different brand.

UPDATE: Jan 2006: I've used lots of Coleman stoves. I did not need to use this because once I opened it, I realized the quality was terrible. Also, keep in mind that some of the other reviewers may be/are referring to older models of the same stove. Coleman uses the same model number on some units for many years in a row. The older units are much better constructed, more durable and vastly different in quality from today's versions. I don't consider a stove's material construction to be of quality when you can make a dent in the stove cover with your thumb. But that's just me I guess. If I am going to be paying close to $100 for a camping stove, my expectation is durable quality.

Exactly the same experience as calamity Jane here.

First off, the stove is of a particularly poor construction.
The whole case is thin and buckled from the box, and the wind guards are laughable - they have the feel and flex of painted cardboard. It really must be the absolute thinnest gage metal they could possibly use while still leaving the guards able to support themselves without creasing like aluminium foil.

As Calamity Jane mentioned the model is dangerous.
The pump on our model was a joke.
It wouldn't pump properly and produced no hiss.
We tried 3 times to light the burners and at no time did they produce the hiss I'm told they should have done.
After the third try of pressuring and turning the tank valve on and attempting to light, the whole stove went up in flames.
Turns out the fuel had been spluttering out of the end of the tank/pump and had been pooling in the hollows at the bottom of the case that double as feet.

After extinguishing the fire we put the whole thing away and cooked on the camp fire.
I inspected the tank/pump and it's pretty obvious the problem lay there.
Coupled with cheap burner and case construction leave this an incredibly dangerous stove that reeks of poor quality.

You see people with the older Coleman stoves with almost no paint on them due to their age all over camp grounds.
They're just not the same thing as these modern clones.

I certainly won't be buying one again and I'd warn anyone who wants one to maybe think twice and at least check it over carefully.

In all fairness, the sheet metal in the latest model years might not be that of last decade. It is flimsier than my friend's '70s Coleman stove, but mine is so much lighter. Two sides to the same coin I guess.

The important parts, i.e. the burners and generator seem to be of the same quality as before, so I have no complaints!

RECOMMEND!

I just removed my new Coleman stove from the box and I cannot believe what I am seeing. This has to be one of the worst constructed products I have ever seen! I am having a hard time determining whether the case is actually made out of steel because I have never seen steel this flimsy. The stove arrived with several dents in the case and the latch is bent at a 45 degree angle. This stove may be very capable of kicking out some serious heat, but I will not own it long enough to experience it for myself. Coleman should A) use better materials and B) raise the price of the stove or C)Seriously consider discontinuing these stoves because the quality is absolutely horrible.