Primus Paraffin stove, might be a Primus 54.

[demographic]

Spotted one in the local junk shop, its got a pretty massive fuel tank and a silent burner on it.

Few questions, do any of you lot have one? and what are they like to use?
Spares easy to get hold of?
What usually goes wrong on them?
Value?

Obviously they are heavy but that doesn't matter, but performance does.
I've looked on Spiritburner.com but apart from a few pretty pictures there doesn't seem to be much info about actually using them.
I'd be half surprised if they wanted more than a fiver and shocked if he wanted a tenner for it as most other stuff there is quite competitively priced.

As a side note there's also quite a few paraffin blowtorches there, what's to look out for with those then? Might even be a few petrol ones but I wasn't really looking too hard at them.

Anyone?

 

[johnboy]

Hi,

The Primus 54 is a 1.75 pint stove. The Stove collectors call them a Discus style as the tank looks like a Discus..

They are fantastic user stoves powerful and with a good amount of fuel they burn for a good while.

It's not a solo backpacking stove but it would be good for a group use or a fixed camp.

If the stove does not have problems such as a cracked tank then it's very easy to restore and get working to full output.

A silent burner is ok best used with a decent windshield out of doors but quiet and pleasant in use compared to the current crop of roarer burner stoves from MSR and the likes.

It will have very good heat control with some practice better than say an MSR whisperlite so you can get the full range of heat for different cooking styles.

Here is a similar stove of mine at the beach cooking Green lippped mussels we'd gathered off of the rocks at low tide.

Interestingly both the British Antarctic Survey and NZ Antarctic Survey used this style of stove untill quite recently for use in the field and in tents. They are reliable, packable, and the fuel is not as volatile as petrol / white gas and is 'safer' to use in a tent.

Value? Well I've bought stuff for a $1.00 and sold it for $250.. It's very difficult to give values on. I'd probably say 10 GBP would be a fair price if the stove is in average condition. but you might find one at a boot sale in better nick for 20p. It's likely to need a complete overhaul so you'll need to factor in the cost of the parts.
New seals new jet a new pump washer and possibly a new Non return valve also.
Also make sure the burner has both it's inner and outer caps and is in visually good condition ie free fm knocks and dings with novisae cracks on the burner tubes.. A new Silent burner will set you back a lot of cash..

BTW there is a heap of info on stove usage on CCS.

HTH

John

 

[rik_uk3]

British Antarctic still use the Optimus 45 John, I contacted them and a guy overwintering there posted up a couple of pics on CCS.

Demograpic, as John says they are a nice stove, all spares are on eBay or basecamp.co.uk. I'd give him a tenner for it.

 

[demographic]

I'll see if its still there when I go back next weekend and if it is I'll give it a punt.

 

[rik_uk3]

I'll see if its still there when I go back next weekend and if it is I'll give it a punt.

If you don't want it I'll restore it

 

[demographic]

If you don't want it I'll restore it

I'll have a punt on it (if its still there) but expect loads of questions about it if I get it.
I usually take loads of photos with things I'm not sure about so I can identify them but didn't in this case or I would be more sure what stove it was.

Deffo a primus and its a brass tank and has a silent burner.

 

[demographic]

Well, I went back and armed with a little more info I realised its not a 54 at all, its a number 5.
I got it, plus a small clamp on vice and a really old and quite cool Facom toolbox for seven quid all in.

Now looking through the bumf it seems that its missing its top ring and its inner cap which I assume can be bought from Base Camp.
I understand that you can date them from a stamp on the underside of the tank and I'm pretty sure it says AC with the number 17 under those letters.
If I understand it right that makes it a 1938 stove (just assuming its not a badly stamped AO in which case it could be a 1950 one. I don't know what the number 17 refers to though, any ideas?

I'm not too bothered either way as it must only have been a couple of quid anyway but is there any significant differences between those year models and does that affect the parts I need for it?

Scott.

 

[rik_uk3]

The No5 is my favourite home/domestic cooker, a treat to cook on. Don't fret on age, makes no difference to the spares, Phone Mike at basecamp and he will sort you out.