by doug hodder » Sun Jan 11, 2009 8:06 am
Dave, don't worry about the screw being loose....(man, a bunch of thoughts come to mind when you mentioned a screw loose) It's built like that. To replace that gasket, you are going to have to remove that portion from the cap anyway. I used some curved needle nosed pliers to hold the inner cap and backed the screw out. You can apply some heat to the old gasket to help remove it, like a propane torch or so I'm told, I didn't do it. I dug mine out with an awl. They get really hard and crumbly. I've replaced gaskets in all my lanterns. All are holding pressure after 6 weeks, 'cept one...only holds for 15 min...parts on the way, it's the really old one.
BG...I've had mixed results using the modified spade bit. Liquid Wrench will help. When it works, it works well, if the bit doesn't grip the check valve well and you bust off a wing on the valve, it's probably trashed. Then I used a #4 easy out. That requires a new check valve at that point. There is a tool available on E-Bay...but the guy wants like 50$ for it. New check valves take new stems, they are not the same interior diameter as the older originals. Sold as a package deal.
Doug