FlashPilot
Newly Enlightened
My Coleman NorthStar Dual Fuel InstaStart Lantern Flickers. It goes from 100% brightness down to about 80% (perceived) and back to 100%. Its very distracting. This has happened with two brand new lanterns that I bought several years apart. I returned the first one because of it and thought Id try again in case i got a defective copy the first time. Ive tried different pressure settings, different levels in the fuel tank, new Coleman fuel bought at two different locations, unleaded fuel, different ambient temperatures. Ive taken them apart and they are clean and free of obstructions. Well of course they are... they are brand new. I searched several times and couldnt come up with any answers, but noted that several others have reported the same problem. I called Coleman and they advised me to run it with half fuel in the tank. I told them this didnt help the situation and they didnt have an answer. I wonder if this is simply a design flaw. Maybe most people dont notice the flickering or it doesnt bother them, so they dont report it. Ive read hundreds of positive reviews and some negative because of the flickering beam. I have several other duel mantle coleman fuel lanterns and none of them do this.
I live at 3000 above sea level and wonder if the higher altitude causes it to run to rich. I could try running a different generator to make it run leaner but dont know if any others could be modded to fit or swap in directly. Am I one the right track here to curing flickering? I also thought about shielding a portion of the generator to see if that helps. Any advice or suggestions would be much appreciated. I really want to like this lantern because of the huge light output and convenience, but the unstable flame is so annoying and distracting.
I live at 3000 above sea level and wonder if the higher altitude causes it to run to rich. I could try running a different generator to make it run leaner but dont know if any others could be modded to fit or swap in directly. Am I one the right track here to curing flickering? I also thought about shielding a portion of the generator to see if that helps. Any advice or suggestions would be much appreciated. I really want to like this lantern because of the huge light output and convenience, but the unstable flame is so annoying and distracting.
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