Coleman “X” (Powermax) Stove — Hose Question.

[Hikin’ Jim]

I recently bought a Coleman Xpedition two burner stove on eBay. Unfortunately, it has a bad kink in one of the hoses.

I can see that the valve housing is held together by a simple Phillips head screw. I know several people on this forum have done extensive mods on the Xtreme which is the sister stove of my stove.

QUESTION: Can I just unscrew the Phillips screw, pull out the old hose, and replace the hose with a part from a "parts only" stove I have? Is there some kind of "factory sealing" that has to occur?

Just asking those of you who have gone on before. I'd rather not open up the valve housing only to find that I've made things worse rather than better.

Any help appreciated,

HJ

[Bill Fornshell]

The braided line is only a protective cover for the gas line inside it.

The gas line may not be damaged.

The line is crimped to a fitting on the valve and is not a type that come apart. I should say it is not made to be used over if you take it off.

This picture shows what the gas line looks like. I took mine apart to cut a piece out of it to shorten it the line. I was able to make the crimp work a second time but it was not made to do that and was not easy.

[Hikin’ Jim]

Hi, Bill,

Thanks for your ultra-quick answer. So, no easy-on-and-off replacement. Rats.

I was thinking that if the steel sheath is kinked, then the underlying rubber hose would be too since the steel would be holding it bent in place, yes?

I can check for subtle leaks easily enough by dunking it in water, but even if no leaks now, it seems like it's only a matter of time until a leak develops. I'd be afraid it would start leaking while the stove is in use, an experience I'd just as soon miss. I wonder if that hose is a standard size that I could replace from an auto parts store or something.

Well, maybe I'll use my Xpedition as a parts stove for my Xtreme or something.

Thanks for your help,

HJ

[Roger Caffin]

I don't *like* the look of that crimp in the line, but I would not go so far as to say the hose is necessarily damaged. The SS braid is just for protection; what matters is the underlying hose. This will be either Teflon or PFA imho. Those materials are actually pretty tough, so there is hope.

My suggestion (only a suggestion!) would be to strip the unit down and extract the hose and valve. If you can pressurise this without any bubbles appearing, so far so good.

If no bubbles, I would straighten the hose out and apply a bit of tension to it – or straighten and pressurise it. Then I would put it in boiling water for a minute, take it out and cool it down (still straight). There is a good chance the bend in the hose will heal.

You will NOT damage the hose with boiling water. That stuff is rated to about 200 C.

Finally, if all is well, please post a photo!

Cheers
PS: all care, NO (zero) responsibility!

[Hikin’ Jim]

Boiling water, eh? Interesting.

Separating out the valve assembly from the stove looks like it should be no problem. I suppose I can use cork or plastic or something to plug the fuel line so that I can pressurize the line and check for obvious leaks.

If things look good, I'll give the boiling water a go. Maybe I can "un-crimp" the bent woven steel sheath with a pair of pliers so that the fuel line won't go right back to its bad habits.

As always, thank you, Roger,

HJ

[Roger Caffin]

Hi Jim

> Maybe I can "un-crimp" the bent woven steel sheath
Don't worry about it. The braid has little stiffness of its own. Fix the plastic tube and that will fix the braid.

Actually, my advice would be to leave the braid alone – big risk of breaking some of the wires. If you want to do anything about the appearance, put some heatshrink over it.

Cheers

[Elliott Wolin]

My advice is to call or email Coleman customer service.

A few weeks ago I had a sticky valve in a Powermax Xtreme and they promptly sent me a new valve and hose assembly for free…your problem is potentially much worse and possibly even dangerous. It might not leak now but it could crack during use and flare up.

[Hikin’ Jim]

Hi, Elliot,

Thanks for that tip. I may go ahead and give them a call. I took a look at the Coleman website when I first received the stove with the kinked hose, and I noticed that the Xpedition valve assembly is no longer in stock, so I didn't call. However, it's worth a call since the worst they can say is "can't help ya" in which case I'm no worse off than I am now.

I agree with you by the way, that the hose if left uncorrected is a (very serious) accident waiting to happen.

Thanks again,

HJ

[Elliott Wolin]

Dear Jim,

Yes, I saw the "out of stock" note, too. Fortunately I called anyway. Apparently the repairs department has parts that they don't list on their web site (no great surprise, of course…).

Good luck!

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