Converted Xpedition Stove

[Somecallmetimm]

A while back i picked up a Coleman Xpedition dual burner stove. It's a very unique stove in that it folds to a very small size, but will easily cook up a full meal with 2 nice burners, and a sturdy stand. The biggest downfall of this beast is that it will only run on a proprietary fuel bottle that coleman hasn't made for years. Challenge accepted...

Folded
Coleman Xpedition Stove by Tim, on Flickr

Open.
Coleman Xpedition Stove by Tim, on Flickr

The defunct fuel
Defunct by Tim, on Flickr

Near the end of the run for these stoves (and the whole Powermax line) Coleman offered an adapter to run on the small butane bottles similarly used by jetboil stoves. The results were reported as a bit dismal. So looking into other options, I ran in to nothing but dead ends. I somehow glommed onto the idea of converting the stove to run on propane. No adapters available. I had to make my own. Again, research lent no solutions.

So I put it down for a while, and shortly after walking away, the ideas came... Finally I was able to devise a plan and put it into action. I took a low dollar propane torch head and soldered it into the stove header. I was able to successfully test it in the wind last night, although I'll be getting a shield for cooking on the trial.

The test.
Coleman Xpedition by Tim, on Flickr

The whole project cost me an unused Coleman lantern which I traded for the stove, a propane torch and a little bit of time.

Now... to cook something.

 

[94-RUNNER]

Keep us posted on your progress ?

 

[tall]

Nice, I remember selling those stoves waaaaaay back in the day. If I run across one, I'll be sure to give it another look!

 

[DirtWhiskey]

Love those things! Well done on the conversion this far. Did you swap the jets?

 

[billiebob]

very cool

 

[Somecallmetimm]

Love those things! Well done on the conversion this far. Did you swap the jets?

Thanks. I didn't swap out the jets. Other than the fuel source, everything else is original.
I'm really looking forward to some practical testing with this thing. I'll keep you all posted on it's performance!

 

[Alloy]

That's a great stove and fix.

I was wondering if the solder is 60/40 lead which isn't very strong. When I'm looking for a high strength solder connection I'll use silver solder.

 

[Somecallmetimm]

I used 60/40 acid core solder. You're right, it's not the strongest. However, the joint isn't structural, and is protected by the aluminum cover that comes with the stove. I still need to clean up the cover, modify it slightly to clear the connection and reinstall it. I'll be watching the joint very closely for wear or leakage. But so far it seems to be good enough for this application.

 

[Somecallmetimm]

Update on this. I got an adapter hose to run on 5# and 20# bottle, had to do a little tweaking on it to make it work and now it's a beast!
Went from 0 to coffee in 4 minutes with the capability of running both burners on high! (aka bacon and coffee!) I can't wait to use thing thing in the field. Now I just need to come up with a 5# bottle because I'm not lugging around a big 20#er & I really don't like the 1# disposables.

converted Xpedition stove by Tim, on Flickr

Converted Xpedition by Tim, on Flickr

 

[shays4me]

That thing is super compact and it looks like it can handle a good sized skillet! I've been looking at getting into a propane stove lately to simplify my fuel needs and there's not a lot of compact stoves to choose from, not like this anyway. Until I can find something I suppose I'll keep using my Coleman sub $20 butane stove.

 

[shays4me]

Do you happen to know the dimensions of this stove folded up and how wide the burner rests are for the pans? This setup might be in my future.

 

[Somecallmetimm]

I'll get dimensions this evening after work.

I imagine you can find one of these for pretty cheap because the fuel cans are proprietary and haven't been in production since 2010ish.(???) As it sits now, I've got less than $25 invested in the whole project, that includes the adapter hose. Although I'm about to head out for lunch and pick up a 5# propane bottle and have it filled... that will triple the investment pretty quick.

 

[Somecallmetimm]

Picked up the 5# tank and got it filled for less than $70.
Now, i just need to go camping.

 

[Somecallmetimm]

Folded dimensions are 12"x3" for the main portion with a 8" long tail for the hoses and control valves. My modifications added another 4" to the tail.

The burner rests are 6". I can fit my 9" cast iron and small sauce pan on the 2 burners comfortably.

 

[Somecallmetimm]

Test fit of typical cooking situation...
test fit on the xpedition stove by Tim, on Flickr

Yes, I'm well aware my cast iron needs attention & my garage is a mess.