Powermax canister adapter
Have Exponent 2 burner, either I find an adapter or do some plumbing.
Thanks

butthead

I've been looking for one for months also. I have a couple empties laying around and I'm considering this option. p-type adaptor


Edit: I really really liked my 2 burner xpedition stove when I used it. You can really get some cooking done on one.

I have a few knockoff Chinese canister stoves, bit of fuel line, and I'll have a cheap solution. Just checking before I take it apart.

butthead

quote butthead: "I have a few knockoff Chinese canister stoves, bit of fuel line, and I'll have a cheap solution. Just checking before I take it apart.

butthead"

I picked up a used xpedition 2 burner off ebay for relatively cheap a while back and I am currently in the process of doing exactly as you describe. Over the weekend I brazed a 1/8 nipple onto the end so I can attach a fuel line hose with lindal valve. I'm just waiting on some two eared clamps to arrive to finish it up. Hopefully it will work, I don't see why it wouldn't. I want to try using it with butane and white gas.

I'm using parts from this stove for my franken build:

TK800 stove parts

I ordered the hose, tank and pump from their online site (http://www.plus2city.com/) which seems to be down at the moment but it was a bit cheaper.

These are the hose clamps I am using, 5-7mm for the two coleman lines and 7-9 for the TK800: 2 ear clamps

The brass nipple I found locally in the plumbing section of my local harware store.

I will post some pictures soon.

Also, as I side note, I noticed Coleman is clearancing out thier stove maintenece kits for the Expedition.

Stove Maintenance Kit

It might be worth getting some parts before they become unavailable.

Thanks for the info arnesr, if I mod the stove I'll post results in the gear forum.

butthead

I really missed the boat by not buying into this system when I first noticed it on this site some years ago. Really think that our group would enjoy this relatively lightweight 2-burner solution.

Here is a picture of the bare valve. I broke the coupling off when heated it up with a propane torch and tried to remove it. It exposes a 1/4 inch circular recessed area. I tried soldering the brass coupling in the lower part of the photo, but the joint was not strong enough.







Here is the same valve with a 1/8 nipple brazed onto it. I actually used a short piece of 1/4 copper line sandwiched between the valve and the nipple part. I also sawed off some of the thread on the nipple part as they were not needed.






Here is a prelimiary test I did this morning, and it seemed to work well. I'm still waiting for the 7-9mm ear clamps to perminantly attach the main fuel line and I still have to shrink the heat shrink tubing. I have not tested white gas with it yet, maybe this weekend.

Love it, arnesr. So, for those of us still pining to use a Coleman 2-burner Xpedition, I wonder if you would ever consider setting others up with your solution? Fully tested, sure. :)

Nice mod, have disassembled mine, plan on a similar course. You should put that up in the gear section!

butthead

I'm sure Ken will document his DIY project and post in-depth photos and video for guys like me who need help in such matters.

I'm glad I clicked on the link to this topic. I recently learned that I have a Coleman Expedition stove. Back between 1996 - 1999 I purchased this stove at REI. For years I couldn't remember where I put it or if perhaps I loaned it to someone. Low and behold recently I was going through some camping things and I pulled out a new Coleman Expedition stove that had been lost for 15 or so years.

I am not sure if I fully understand the thread however. Do they no longer sell the fuel canister for this stove, or are some of you trying to convert it to another type of fuel or different type of canister or source? Since I have never used this stove I am not even sure what type of fuel or canister it uses. Oddly enough I found this stove when I was looking for my Dragonfly that was still unopened in the original package also.

Is this perhaps an indication that I have to much junk?

Coleman Powermax fuel has been discontinued, want to use standard canisters.

butthead

The Powermax caniters make great 'penny stoves!' (make sure they are empty) Dahhhhh....

quote Northwoodsman: "Is this perhaps an indication that I have to much junk?"

Northwoodsman - If your located treasure is the Xpedition 2-burner like in arnesr's photo, I could be interested in it, should you decide to de-clutter and if coming up with one of these mods looks feasible.

Hey, wait... This mod still requires using a standard threaded butane/propane mix canister, right?

And... how is it that the Powermax canister AND the Coleman Powermax Fuel Adapter have BOTH been discontinued and are now next to impossible to find? Was there a possible safety issue??

I will post some more pictures and info after I do some testing/playing this weekend with the stove.

With this mod you can use:
Standard Butane canister (Pictured)
Generic Butane with an adapter

Gerneric Butane Butane Adapter
White Gas/Coleman Fuel (not tested yet) See the TK800 link above.

I'm not aware of any safety issues with the Powermax stoves, but one should always inspect hoses, especially the connections before each use. I think Coleman simply cut way back on the number of models they made and went back to what they are best know for, white gas stoves. Powermax fuel was a superior fuel source, but it caught on slowly and even when it was produced it could be hard to find in some areas.

quote schweady: "And... how is it that the Powermax canister AND the Coleman Powermax Fuel Adapter have BOTH been discontinued and are now next to impossible to find? Was there a possible safety issue??
"

Very safe stove. It was a fuel issue. It was designed to burn only powermax fuel and never really took off. The adapters were for sale for a few years and finally they to were discontinued also. I still may go with the p-type canister refiller if I can find a couple more empty powermax canisters.

Moderators, thanks for moving this to the gear forum, It has turned to a gear mod thread and is much more appropriate here!

butthead

arnesr, you might want to fit the valve housing cover back on. The fuel fitting nipples are quite fragile and need extra support. Found that out the hard way.

butthead

quote schweady: "And... how is it that the Powermax canister AND the Coleman Powermax Fuel Adapter have BOTH been discontinued and are now next to impossible to find? Was there a possible safety issue??
"

The adapter usually developed a leak after awhile. That might be the reason for discontinuing. Coleman really screwed people with discontinuing the powermax fuel then charging 30.00 for adapter then discontinuing adapter. I have quit using mine. It never developed the dreaded leak but I have moved on. I am from Wichita Ks the hometown of Coleman Corp. The company is NOT what it once was. Poor customer service,cheap poorly made products,and little to nothing cutting edge.They use to be a great company. What would a used coleman exponent expedition 2 burner with still working adapter in excellent condition (used for 6 trips in the bwca)be worth?

I have been following this thread with great interest. I also have the 2 burner power max stove and I purchased the adapter before they quit making them. My adapter leaked and it caught fire at the leaking connection. Now we have a stove that we loved and like everyone else, looking for a way to use it. I will continue to follow this thread in hope that someone comes up with a good solution. The adapter is not it.

I too have been following this thread since two of my tripping friends have Exponent 2B stoves. Last fall we took one of the Exponents with the adapter. The adapter keep leaking and was problematic. Good thing we had my white gas stove as a backup.

If someone could make an adapter that works, I know two guys who'd buy them.

Ditto on following this thread. I own the 2 burner Expedition and am looking to modify it to accept a different style fuel canister.

Arnesr and butthead's mods may be my only hope of ever using this stove again.

I bought the two burner expedition back in about 1994. Awesome stove really loved it. When they were discontinuing the fuel, I bought up as much as I could find. Finally ran out and then found out about the adapter which I bought. It leaked right out of the box. So disappointed. If you google this, you will see that this is a common occurrence.


Moonman

quote Moonman: " I bought the two burner expedition back in about 1994. Awesome stove really loved it. When they were discontinuing the fuel, I bought up as much as I could find. Finally ran out and then found out about the adapter which I bought. It leaked right out of the box. So disappointed. If you google this, you will see that this is a common occurrence.



Moonman"

Good to know, I better check the adapter that I picked up last year, I did a quick test, everything seemed to be fine, too bad, I haven't used the 2 burner much, good stove, hate to see what was once a good company run into the ground.

Anyone with the Coleman adapter want to sleuth out the source of the leak and come up with a mod? Some of us have been anxious to try one of these lightweight 2-burners, but the prospects of that happening seem to brighten and dim each planning season.

quote schweady: "Anyone with the Coleman adapter want to sleuth out the source of the leak and come up with a mod? Some of us have been anxious to try one of these lightweight 2-burners, but the prospects of that happening seem to brighten and dim each planning season.
"

I took a pretty good look at it last summer, the the aim of customizing it to get it to work. in the end, I didn't have the time to really try. The problem is how the adapter seals into the existing hose that is connected to the stove. They simply do not mesh up and seal or lock in tight enough. If you by passed the connection points from the new adapter and the stove hose, you would lose the nice adjustable temp dial, one of the things that makes this stove so great. I will try and dig it out to take some pics over the next few days, which will demonstrate the issue a bit more clearly.

Moonman.

arnesr's mod and the one I'm taking my time with will keep the Expedition valves (fine flame adjustment) and add a fuel line and canister valve/mounting. Completely eliminating an adapter. I've tested mine and it works great, just re-doing it a bit for a cleaner, sturdier mod.

butthead

quote butthead: "arnesr's mod and the one I'm taking my time with will keep the Expedition valves (fine flame adjustment) and add a fuel line and canister valve/mounting. Completely eliminating an adapter. I've tested mine and it works great, just re-doing it a bit for a cleaner, sturdier mod.


butthead"

Bring it to wing night

quote butthead: "arnesr's mod and the one I'm taking my time with will keep the Expedition valves (fine flame adjustment) and add a fuel line and canister valve/mounting. Completely eliminating an adapter. I've tested mine and it works great, just re-doing it a bit for a cleaner, sturdier mod.


butthead"

Sounds sweet. Looking forward to seeing it.

Moonman.

Just a quick update. I tested the stove with white gas over the weekend with the TK800 pump linked to previously. I lit the furthest burner and the flames shot way up, which I expected initially, but they didn't really settle down like I had hoped, so I turned the stove off. It doesn't look like we will be able to burn white gas with this stove without some further modifications to the burner itself. Butane worked fine however, which it should since p-max fuel was a butane/propane mix.

Also of note, when I initially heated the valve housing up trying to solder to it, I had it locked in a vise grip. When I went to install the internal valve screw I found on one side the opening was slighly squished/oblong. I heated the valve housing up again and gave it a gentle squeeze to straiten it out again. The valve screw now fits and seals ok, but it is not as smooth as it was initially. I just thought I would mention that so that others who try this keep that in mind when heating up, to not put much force on the piece.

I received the ear clamps I was waiting for, so hopefully I can get this finished up soon. I do plan on putting the valve housing back on after I drill out the opening to fit. Also, I picked up another 2 burner xpedition on evil bay, so I'm going to give this another shot, and hopefully have a spare. I'm looking forward to seeing what Butthead came up with and if his mod differs in any way.

MSR accomplishes the liquid gas/canister gas change by changing jets and air feed properties. Check out the technicals of the Whisperlite Universal Stove.

butthead

You guys are geniuses!

I love the stove and own two. I do own one adapter which has not leaked to my knowledge, but I've only been using it for two summers.

Why doesn't anyone else try making a lightweight 2-burner? It's SOOOOOooo practical if you have a larger group.

Thanks to this thread, I will keep my old p=max bottles too, in case I have an option to refill some day.

Finished my plumbing, donor was an inexpensive Korean canister stove from E-Bay $10, for fuel line and canister valve.
Removed most of the PowerMax fitting leaving the tube that went into the canister, removed the threaded section of a 1/4 barbed fitting, checking the fit I broke off an outlet, tried a different approach, just drilled out the stub and fit a 1/4 in brass tube, soldered up the valve assembly, test run. lines clamped, shrink tubes, and all assembled.

Works very well! If I do another I'll use the 1/4 in. tubing, easier and neater to do.

butthead

Nice! Good idea from Arnesr and good follow up by Butthead. I'm impressed.

One of the coolest threads ever. And FYI there's 2 of these stoves new-in-box on ebay for 80 bucks each.

Nice job Butthead, those solder joints look nice and solid. I tried to solder mine too, but since I busted the nozzle off at the base I didn't have much surface area to work with. I was able to pull it apart without much effort, so I resorted to a copper phosphorus braze instead.

I'm still debating on how I want to mod my second xpedition stove.

Maxxbhp,
I have been watching those new stoves on ebay for a while too. I have no idea how many that seller has, but he seems to list them 2-3 at a time and they seem to be sold by "best offer" quite frequently.

The tubing is much better than modding a barbed fitting. Trim as needed, drill out the stub of the fuel infeed/outlet just enough to insert the tube. Clean up the parts, solder together. Add fuel lies clamps and shrink tube the product to finish.

butthead

Nice job Ken!

Wow. You make it look so easy.

Now, when are you hanging out your shingle and accepting orders? :)

quote butthead: "The tubing is much better than modding a barbed fitting. Trim as needed, drill out the stub of the fuel infeed/outlet just enough to insert the tube. Clean up the parts, solder together. Add fuel lies clamps and shrink tube the product to finish.


butthead"

What size tubing did you use? You mentioned 1/4", but that seems too big. I'm thinking you perhaps meant 1/8". How is the fit without a barbed fitting, I'm assuming no leaks, but will the hose come off easily? What type of clamps did you use?

OOps, yes 1/8th. I took the fuel feed line and bought a piece of tube to fit snugly. Drilled the stub just enough to get a mechanical fit into the valve body, not so deep to affect the threaded valve itself.
For clamps I improvised with mechanics wire, twisted to tighten just a bit, trimmed and shrink tubed. Only concern I have is the strength of the fuel inlet fitting into the valve assembly (where the canister used to fit). Feels good and sturdy but is the most likely point of snapping a fuel fitting cast or tube. Outlet side has lots of support by the valve housing.

butthead

Me tooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love this stove and I want to use it again. It is great. Let me know if anyone has an adapter they make and it works. I would buy it right away. Thank you in advance da moosehopper

Mr. Barley, did you ever try the 'P-type adapter' for refilling? I guess the refill would be straight butane??? I have a few tall boy p-max and saving cans to maybe refill. They are so light. I wonder how many refills they will safely take? I would like to rig one to a liquid pump bottle, but pretty ignorant about the whole fuel mix/burner thing. I wonder if coleman fuel would burn on those nozzles/burners?

quote overthehill: " Mr. Barley, did you ever try the 'P-type adapter' for refilling? I guess the refill would be straight butane??? I have a few tall boy p-max and saving cans to maybe refill. They are so light. I wonder how many refills they will safely take? I would like to rig one to a liquid pump bottle, but pretty ignorant about the whole fuel mix/burner thing. I wonder if coleman fuel would burn on those nozzles/burners? "

I did not. I looked at butthead's mod on his at wing night a couple weeks ago and I think I'll probably go that route.

Update on this project.
Rebuilt the valve by trimming off barbed fittings, drilling into valve body to fit brass tube stubs, soldered and finished up.
Worked so well I tried another,
even easier! Just find a canister valve (E-Bay), remove the old, install the new!

butthead

Cool. I'm gonna try this sometime. Did you use regular solder? silver solder? Could one leave the the outlets side of the valve body (the lines out to the burners) intact? and just cut/fit solder the inlet/supply connection? With a needle tip acetylene torch? Is that 1/4" OD copper tubing like refrigerator/ice maker supply? 1/8" pipe size brass nipple?
I'm going to try this next year. I guess the hose-to-metal tube is just tightly fitted,clamped, and the heat shrink? Cool.

I replaced stove supply side because of my mishandling. If intact no need. Tube size to fit hose used (hobby 5/32 inch OD in my case), trimmed and drilled valve body to fit tubing stub. Soldered with acid core wire solder and a MAP needle flame torch. Clean up, install shrink tubing, clamped supply side, cast housing clamps stove feed side.
Really easy modification with great results!

butthead

PS: Donating stove and fuel line. I have a few of these bought at ridiculous price <$10 with shipping. bh

Thanks BH. That is one 'class act mod.'

Doing another, some more photos of the valve mods.
trimmed valve body being drilled for tube soldered tube trimmed, cleaned, flared the tube end

mr.barley; still thinking about it? Easy and simple to do.
Latest donnor stove for the canister valve and fuel hose.

butthead

Greetings, I have a two burner Coleman with the desire to use it again but not the mental capacity to modify it myself. Would you be willing to do the mod if I cover costs and your time?

Did you ever find a solution? I need an adaptor as well!

Sometimes Ken travels for weeks at a times!

Not gonna step on Ken's toes, he is The Man, but this is all about point A to point B. This one was done with JB Weld, if you can visualize it, you can do it.

Hey ‘Butthead’ - I’m curious if you are still in the business of selling these valve mods? If so, I would totally be interested in procuring one.

Nope, never was "in the business", just favors for friends. Posted lots about the mods, it is simple. Do your own.

butthead

I still have an old single burner coleman and a fe wpowermax canosters left. If i could adapt it and use the stove it sure would be nice.
Is anyone still mesing with these stoves?

quote john 800: "I still have an old single burner coleman and a fe wpowermax canosters left. If i could adapt it and use the stove it sure would be nice.
Is anyone still mesing with these stoves?"

Single burners are not worth modifying, newer stoves work just as well and have stronger legs. I posted about a $20 remote canister that would make a great replacement. If ya gotta do the mod, here is a fuel line and valve

butthead

Just purchased fuel line from supplied link, will let you know how it goes...

I recently did a second mod on one of these stove. For this stove I wanted to mod the stove to use inexpensive butane cartridges.






To accomplish this I planned to use a Chinese lindal to butane adapter. Here is a quick mock up of what I wished to accomplish with the adapter siting in front of the stove connection. Notice how I have the black lug facing down. I did this on purpose and made sure my butane canister would be orientated this way as it would provide liquid butane to the stove, just as the original powermax canister did.







Here is a layout of various parts and several of the butane adapters I considered using. I disassembled the stove and removed the plastic canister locking parts and o rings. Then I removed two screws from the adapter and removed it's plastic part and gasket. I found that the center part of the adapter is splined inside a larger aluminum ring. I was able to gently tap this center section out by placing the adapter across an open vise and tapping with a hammer on the threaded side. This center piece also contained a valve assembly which I needed to eliminate. I simply drilled this out on the drill press.







I would be using epoxy to seal the connection and provide support for the union. However, I did not want to fill the entire protective shell with epoxy, so I used some clay to form a dam that would stop the epoxy from flowing past the upper section.






I inserted a wire in the fuel line opening to prevent the epoxy from plugging up.












Spooning in the epoxy in:


















Completed stove:

Good mod of a great double burner bringing it back to use.

After "fixing" about 1/2 a dozen of these I found it harder to locate decent donor stoves. Especially the valve to burner fuel lines. Ran into a bunch that were kinked, breaking the inner stiff plastic tubing and causing leaks. Such damage may not be readily visible because of the Stainless braid covering. Converting to canister or butane cans is worthwhile, redoing the pipes and fuel lines between valve and burner is not (at least to me).

butthead

So, just picked up one of these stoves for a steal of a deal. It included about 3 canisters worth of fuel in 4 different canisters. My question, before I start thinking about adapter, how long do the canisters last? Assuming average temp cooking. Some boiling some cooking. Just a ballpark guess.?

3-4 tall pmax cans last our group of 3- 4 a week. One time we used a fourth during a fire ban.

Thanks

Don't throw the cans away in case you get the urge to try refilling them someday. I found a system for butane refilling but I don't think it burns as well.... Butthead talks about stuff that breaks etc... Take your sweet time putting the bottles on and off. I wrap my stove and bottle attached in a towel and I don't bang around with it....but I imagine a bruin can destroy it in a minute. I just use mine for wilderness canoe trips that require portaging. Otherwise I bring the Coleman 2 burner that uses the 1# bottles where weight is not an issue.. Enjoy the stove anyway

dr bob

Found an adapter to butane canister on eBay. Bought what he had then email him for another. Will send you the guys eBay seller name if you're interested.

Thanks MoonRunner. I have kept my Coleman 2 burner in hopes that someday a fuel answer would be found. I would be interested in an easy solution on how to resurrect this stove.

Awesome news as I too have the dual burner Colman and looking for an adapter!

I would be interested.

I would like the info as well.

I would love that info as well.

Brought back from the posting graveyard, only thing I can say is to spend your money on a better stove. Even with a pristine Peak 1 double burner, and after making several adaptations, it's a better keepsake than a camp stove.
By 2 canister burners or if a double in one is just needed, Optimus Gemini Double Burner Stove is a better option.

butthead

Nice, butthead. You helped me explore the Xpedition rabbit hole and we did bring on one trip the one that you modified for me. But, like you say, more of a mantle piece.

On our August trip this year under the fire ban, we had a Coleman 553 Dual Fuel, a Windburner with 1.8L pot, a PocketRocket, and another Rocket knock-off. Actually used all 4 for our first night's ribeye, potatoes, vegetable, and gravy...

So, why do I continue to pursue 2-burner solutions? Perhaps for the stability when trying to fry on a longer griddle...? Bacon, pancakes, steaks, etc. Two identical stoves might do just as well, but I can see some challenges.

So, of course, I'm intrigued by this Optimus Gemini...

I have greatly enjoyed reading all the posts about the Coleman 2 burner exponent stove and efforts to adapt them to lindal valve canisters.

Back in the day when the powermax fuel was available, I used these stoves on some BWCA treks. Our outfitter provided them. Subsequently, I bought three of the stoves with the idea of changing our scout troop over to them, but the MSR white gas crowd did not want to make the switch.

Hi Moonrunner,
Please send me the ebay info for the coleman xtreme fuel adapter.

Thank you,

Hi Max,
Lil late to the party, but I just scored a Coleman Xtreme stove at the local-swap meet for $6.00 and I've been racking my mind on the mods on this trend! I'm going to keep it simple, point A to point B!! Any pics of how you connected the end of the hose to burner connection? Any input would be helpful.. Thank you

Why rack your brain when a simple search will work?

2 burner Expedition.

I stand with my earlier comment, the best use for a Peak One Exponent is in a collection or mantle display. If cost is such a factor, buy 2 inexpensive Oriental canister burners. You can make a 2 burner canister stove for under $50.

butthead