The brand of mantle shouldn't make a difference.

Are you using fresh Coleman fuel?
The mantles should burn with a bright white light. A yellow, weaker light might indicate bad, wrong type, or old fuel.
Are you getting a sputtering or popping sound sound as it burns? That would indicate moisture in the fuel.

Empty the tank and leave the cap off to allow the tank to dry completely, this might take a few days.
Check for rust inside the tank.
Use fresh Coleman or and other brand of camp fuel.

Another possibility is that the air intake tube is clogged with spider webs. This is the large tube that runs from the base of the globe to the top of the lantern, the gas generator tube insets into the air tube. You will need to disassemble the upper lantern to clean the air tube.

This is a good site for more information which includes drawings and disassembly instructions
http://light.papo-art.com/


(This message has been edited by Eagle732)

Probably a plugged orifice that meters out the fuel and forms a jet of gas to burn. The orifice is located under where the mantle is tied. You may be able to clean it, or new ones can be purchased.

Cheap mantles will cause a lantern to not burn properly.

I'd clean everything and start over with fresh fuel and good mantels.

Question -- would you use carb cleaner on a lantern? Does Coleman fuel build up gunk the way real gasoline does?

My guess is orifice as well, it might be plugged, but I'm guessing it's worn out.

20 years of micro particles (dirt) running through it has widened the hole in the orifice.

Try to clean it, but if that doesn't clear it up, then replace it.

Twocub,
Yes you can use carb cleaner and yes they do build up gunk over the years.

I've never used anything but Coleman mantels so maybe that might make a difference.
Odd that the problem started after replacing the mantles.

I collect Coleman lanters and have about 30 dating back to 1920, they all work. I've had to fix many of them.

I'd start with the easies/cheapest thing first. Dump the fuel, air out the tank and replace the mantles using Coleman fuel and mantles. That might fix it.

There's not much else that can cause this problem except a clogged air intake or a generator.

The Coleman website also says that overfilling the tank can cause yellow glow. I did just refill it after putting on the new mantle. I'll take some fuel out and see what happens. FYI: the fuel is from a can just bought.

As mentioned by Eagle732, I'll bet it's the generator...if the lantern is 20 years old and has the original generator, it's due for replacement.

I love those old Coleman lanterns! Please keep us updated, I'm interested to see how it goes for you.

Results: pores some fuel out... Did not help...

Cleaned the air intake with pope brush... And now it works again drone, and no more yellow flame...

Blockage in the air intake. Sometimes spiders make webs in there, happens a lot on gas grills too.
Glad it's fixed and thanks for the update.