On the subject of old things....

[saxonaxe]

No, not me....stoves...

A long time ago I helped a Lady with some rigging work on a small wooden sailing cruiser that she was trying to make seaworthy. On clearing out the cockpit lockers she found this old stove, which she kindly gave to me.
A Primus 96 as stamped. I know little about Primus stoves but this one, which has obviously been repaired in the past, seems to be complete in it's rusty tin container. One day I shall set about it with steel wool and Brasso....

 

[Mesquite]

Very nice stove.

When you get around to servicing it Base Camp in a good source of spares

 

[EffyGent]

Beautiful! Have you fired it up?

Sent from my HUAWEI VNS-L31 using Tapatalk

 

[Janne]

If you plan to use it, after cleaning, pressure test it.
That repair is a little bit worrying, imo.
Unusual place for a holing.

If it was mine, I would remove the solder and see what the damage was.

Nothing is worse than a flame out of warm Kerosene in a tent!

Great cookers, Primus. I am looking for a large one.

You might need to make a tool to clean the nozzle. Easily made.
The tiny holes clog up very easily.

 

[saxonaxe]

Thanks for that Mesquite, that certainly looks like the place I'll find any spares needed.

I haven't tried to light it yet EffyGent. Until Wayland posted about his little copper stove I'd almost forgotten I had the Primus stowed away.

If I've read the listing properly Janne, this stove was made in 1926, it has the letter P stamped on the bottom of the tank.
The solder repair looks amateur but fairly robust but you are right, I'll put new washers in it and pump it up hard before I even go near it with a match.

 

[John Fenna]

Nice catch!

 

[Diamond Dave]

Excellent

 

[Mesquite]

Thanks for that Mesquite, that certainly looks like the place I'll find any spares needed.
....
The solder repair looks amateur but fairly robust but you are right, I'll put new washers in it and pump it up hard before I even go near it with a match.

They're excellent and very friendly to deal with.

To properly pressure test it pump it up with the lid on, remove the pump then plunge it into a bucket of water.

If you get bubbles coming from the pump cylinder you'll need to replace the non return valve seal which unfortunately needs a special tool that you can get off of ebay.

Even if you don't get leaks from the other seals I'd replace them regardless as they're likely to be old and brittle give away when you least want them to.

 

[saxonaxe]

Thank you, that's good advice re the non return valve. I'll make it a winter project I think, and not rush into setting fire to myself.

 

[birchwood]

Nice stove.
Don't use wire wool or Brasso- bad for the metal apparently.
A soft cloth and Autosol will work and is recommended .

 

[saxonaxe]

Thanks for that, let's hope those two items are up to shifting 93 years of neglect...

 

[Janne]

I use polish designed for Aluminium on brass and bronze.
First a good wash to remove oils/fat, then the softer non scratching kitchen scrubber, then polish.

Brass polish seems to leave more black gunk behind then Al polish, which I interpret as taking more metal off.

On YouTube many restoring vid makers use a liquid that removes the oxide layer, but I have not been able to get it.

When you remove the burner tower, you will see that the brass makes a threaded tube down into the body. I wonder what kind of damage needed such extensive soldering.
If it was mine, I would remove it and have a look. I suspect there is just a small hole, maybe created by excessive hard polishing ( steel wool?)

If the remaining brass feels thin around the hole, I would make a collar of brass and solder it.

Yeah, I am a bit anal. Yesterday I made three flat washers from marine brass, and today one large thick brass washer with a threaded center.
Off to polish and use the Everbrite Protectaclear now..

 

[johnbaz]

I had a couple of these, Gave them away to a lad that ended up conning me in a trade!!


John