Coleman Heater Expert Required

I bought a Coleman catalytic heater last year toward the end of the hard-water season and can’t get it to work. Maybe someone can help me. It’s a white-gas heater that looks like this:

I tore it apart finally last week and the wick was badly burned, so I trimmed it up and reassembled it, which was no easy chore in itself. I still cannot get it to heat. I tried lighting it using lighter fluid sprayed around the dome, then again this morning using a propane torch figuring that should get it hot enough to take off. No dice.

Can the dome element go bad? Mine is pretty black, could it be clogging it such that it can’t pass enough air/gas vapor? Is there any way to clean it or can I find a replacement?

Now that I’ve wasted a few evenings on this, It’s personal.

Guess I screwed up the picture link. Here it is:

Have you tried coleman.com? You can contact them with your question there and also order parts. They have photos of all their products with parts list. I had trouble with a latern and ordered a part from them last year. Hope this helps.

Is this the kind that you have to create pressure by hand just like a coleman stove?

Roger.

Mahumba’s Fishing Page

No pressure. I kind of wish it was a pressure system like the lanterns, since that would probably be easier to figure out than the wick system that this thing uses.

I looked at Coleman’t site and the only part available for heaters like this is the gas cap. I’m pretty sure the gas cap is not causing the problem. I sent them an email and am hoping for a reply on what I’m doing wrong.

I found one on Ebay and asked the guy how he ignites it. He was extremely generous with info and sent me the lighting instructions that he uses, which are different. I’ll give it a try when I get it back together and let y’all know how it worked.