Optimus Nova Plus
- Thread starter Ogden
- Start date
I've not tested them personally but I have seen and touched one in person. It was an experience I'll never forget.
Okay, now that my sarcasm has been put aside I'll give a mini review:
1) I usually stay away from all things petrol and I've been a trangia man for a good few years. As much I love cooking on meths, I really think it's a waste of time in the winter. The amount of fuel a person needs to run a Trangia when you're doing a winter hike is a joke. The Nova puts out a massive amount of BTU's which means it'll melt snow unlike anything you've ever seen. I don't know what Hamburg winters are like, but if they're anything cold a Nova should suit you quite well.
2) Flame Output. The problem with MSR stoves is that the flame adjustor valve is right at the bottle, not at the stove. That means that when you want to turn down your stove to simmer your soup, it takes a very long time to do so. I've burnt more than one dinner on an MSR Whisperlite that could've been avoided.
The Nova's flame adjustor is directly attached to the stove. When you want to simmer your food, it happens instantaneously.
3) And finally......Nova's have a great little built in cleaning needle. MSR's have a shakerjet needle which you just shake and the Nova's work by twisting the fuel valve I believe. I can't say which one is better, but they're both much better than manually pricking all the jets in the burner.
I hope this helps.
Cheers,
Adam
Okay, now that my sarcasm has been put aside I'll give a mini review:
1) I usually stay away from all things petrol and I've been a trangia man for a good few years. As much I love cooking on meths, I really think it's a waste of time in the winter. The amount of fuel a person needs to run a Trangia when you're doing a winter hike is a joke. The Nova puts out a massive amount of BTU's which means it'll melt snow unlike anything you've ever seen. I don't know what Hamburg winters are like, but if they're anything cold a Nova should suit you quite well.
2) Flame Output. The problem with MSR stoves is that the flame adjustor valve is right at the bottle, not at the stove. That means that when you want to turn down your stove to simmer your soup, it takes a very long time to do so. I've burnt more than one dinner on an MSR Whisperlite that could've been avoided.
The Nova's flame adjustor is directly attached to the stove. When you want to simmer your food, it happens instantaneously.
3) And finally......Nova's have a great little built in cleaning needle. MSR's have a shakerjet needle which you just shake and the Nova's work by twisting the fuel valve I believe. I can't say which one is better, but they're both much better than manually pricking all the jets in the burner.
I hope this helps.
Cheers,
Adam
Yes Phil, I have. But you gotta remember, MSR stoves have only two settings: HOT...and OFF. 
And that's because the fuel valve is at the bottle. MSR makes a Dragonfly which isn't actually a bad stove, except that it sounds like a jet engine and you almost need to shout to be heard over it. And then there's their newest toy the Simmerlite which doesn't at all live up to it's name.
Just my two cents!
Adam
And that's because the fuel valve is at the bottle. MSR makes a Dragonfly which isn't actually a bad stove, except that it sounds like a jet engine and you almost need to shout to be heard over it. And then there's their newest toy the Simmerlite which doesn't at all live up to it's name.
Just my two cents!
Adam
The Nova is a fantastic stove, as others have said, it simmers very well indeed. When you first light the stove, you get a really good vertical burn, but the Optimus engineers have done their homework well, put a pan on the stove and the height between the pot supports and burner is perfect, leading to a very good flame spread which heats evenly. Burn times are better than the Primus Varifuel, a little better than the Omnifuel (but not worth worrying about, the Ommi is also a cracking stove).
The build quality on the Nova seems to be tougher than the Primus, I would guess they will take more of a hammering in the long run. Fuel consumption I have not measured yet (being a sad stovie guy I will at some point), but at a guess, because you can simmer so well, I would think the Nova to be good.
All stoves have good and bad points, one yardstick I use, is to see how big the maintenance kit is per stove model, the Optimus and Primus kits are small, the MSR are big, does this tell you something?
The build quality on the Nova seems to be tougher than the Primus, I would guess they will take more of a hammering in the long run. Fuel consumption I have not measured yet (being a sad stovie guy I will at some point), but at a guess, because you can simmer so well, I would think the Nova to be good.
All stoves have good and bad points, one yardstick I use, is to see how big the maintenance kit is per stove model, the Optimus and Primus kits are small, the MSR are big, does this tell you something?
Thanks a lot. I was willing to buy the Nova. Then the Nova Plus came out, and it looks even better.
I have a Primus OmniFuel, but you can´t use it for diesel. And diesel is many
times the only fuel I can get during the trip.
One last question: Which diameter of the pot do you recommend?
I have a very small titanium(Snowpeak Solo), which is too small for the Primus,
because the flame is bigger than the pot.
(By the way: I have to get rid of the titanium stuff.It takes ages to get hot.)
Winter in Hamburg is not that cold. Every ten years the ice on the Alster is
thick enough to carry some ten thousand Hamburger. Nice atmosphere then,
worth a weekend trip. But probably this will not happen again. The last years
it´s getting warmer. Mediterranean insects take control, and make the nights
sound like a jungel...
I
I have a Primus OmniFuel, but you can´t use it for diesel. And diesel is many
times the only fuel I can get during the trip.
One last question: Which diameter of the pot do you recommend?
I have a very small titanium(Snowpeak Solo), which is too small for the Primus,
because the flame is bigger than the pot.
(By the way: I have to get rid of the titanium stuff.It takes ages to get hot.)
Winter in Hamburg is not that cold. Every ten years the ice on the Alster is
thick enough to carry some ten thousand Hamburger. Nice atmosphere then,
worth a weekend trip. But probably this will not happen again. The last years
it´s getting warmer. Mediterranean insects take control, and make the nights
sound like a jungel...
I
I have an Omni, and while I haven't tried it myself, according to the Primus website, you can use diesel as well as kerosene.
Ogden said:
Well, I can't say that I've tried it, but the largest jet on the Omnifuel is specifically for diesel and other larger fractions...?
Currently using panel wipe in mine
Pot size at a guess would be around 15cm, one a little larger and you could carry the stove in it (maybe in a ziplock bag), plus stuff like coffee, sugar, dried milk, make the pan a brew and cook kit
ESpy said:Well, I can't say that I've tried it, but the largest jet on the Omnifuel is specifically for diesel and other larger fractions...?
Currently using panel wipe in mine
Optimus Nova = one jet for all fuels. Run out of one type of fuel, no need to change the jets. You can even burn fuel cocktails mixed in the same bottle and burned through just the one jet.
You can even get a trangia adapter kit so the nova will strip down and fit inside. Giving you a 10,000 BTU trangia
The Nova is an awesome stove, and from the looks of it, the nova plus is awesome plus.
Yeeeehs! Hamburg can be a bit nippy!! I went up there earlier in the year to watch The Darkness, and it was bleeding gibbering!! It also took me twenty minutes to get my car out of the huge snow drift after the gig!!
I must admit I've never used my trangia in the winter over here. How bad is it fuel economy wise? How much would I need say for an average weekend trip with three meals warm a day and a handful of brews thrown in?
I must admit I've never used my trangia in the winter over here. How bad is it fuel economy wise? How much would I need say for an average weekend trip with three meals warm a day and a handful of brews thrown in?
You should be able to burn diesel fuel in the Omni, but it may take more priming with alcohol / meths, and poorer combustion may give sooty pans. A lot of kerosene/paraffin stoves will burn diesel with the right priming using the same jet.
If your in the UK and want to burn Coleman fuel but the price puts you off, go to your local automotive / car spares shop and buy a 5 litre tin of "panel wipe", used for cleaning car panels, its Naptha, same as Coleman fuel, but costs between £7 and £12 per 5 litres (depending on the supplier), much better than Coleman fuel at £10 - £11 for ONE litre (disclaimer: this works no problem for me and many other stove collectors, but use at your own risk).
If your in the UK and want to burn Coleman fuel but the price puts you off, go to your local automotive / car spares shop and buy a 5 litre tin of "panel wipe", used for cleaning car panels, its Naptha, same as Coleman fuel, but costs between £7 and £12 per 5 litres (depending on the supplier), much better than Coleman fuel at £10 - £11 for ONE litre (disclaimer: this works no problem for me and many other stove collectors, but use at your own risk).
rik_uk3 said:
Making sure it isn't the new, eco-friendly, aqueous stuff...
Martyn said:
Lalala, I can't hear you.... I have more than enough stoves as it is!!!
Who sells that one again?
Oh look, there's an Optimus Nova+ too...
The panel wipe I use is marked EC 265-151-9 NAPHTHA, burns like a good un
So do tell ESpy, what stoves do you have?
So do tell ESpy, what stoves do you have?
Melting snow on a Trangia just isn't worth it. Their website's FAQ's mention that the spirit burner works in virtually all temperatures (this is true) but with decreased output as the temperature lowers.
Back when I was a new member to BCUK I posted a thread on this forum asking if it was possible to melt snow with meths and I even decided to give it a shot. It was a total waste of time. The snow melted yes, but for the amount of fuel it took it just made me laugh. So, on a week long jaunt into the DB's (deep boonies) in the middle of winter with a methylated spirit stove would mean that a person would need to carry an ungodly amount of fuel.
Don't get me wrong, I love my Trangia I really do but I think a spirit burner is a three season setup.
Adam
Back when I was a new member to BCUK I posted a thread on this forum asking if it was possible to melt snow with meths and I even decided to give it a shot. It was a total waste of time. The snow melted yes, but for the amount of fuel it took it just made me laugh. So, on a week long jaunt into the DB's (deep boonies) in the middle of winter with a methylated spirit stove would mean that a person would need to carry an ungodly amount of fuel.
Don't get me wrong, I love my Trangia I really do but I think a spirit burner is a three season setup.
Adam
rik_uk3 said:
Er... Now you're asking! An eclectic assortment of gas, meths and solid fuel stoves - some commercial, a number of home-made; and the Omnifuel (which I *think* is the only liquid fuel one I have at the moment). Handy to have around in the event of the frequent powercuts we tend to get.
Can I count my forges too?
Nova on diesel! I wouldn't bother running a multifuel stove on panelwipe, paraffin is much cheaper.
I wouldn't bother running a multifuel stove on panelwipe, paraffin is much cheaper.
That's very... Yellow?
I happened to have an old tin of panel wipe on hand, no impending paint jobs to do and a wish to try and create a little more space on the shelves
Thinking about it, I've got about 20l of paraffin somewhere too...
I happened to have an old tin of panel wipe on hand, no impending paint jobs to do and a wish to try and create a little more space on the shelves
Thinking about it, I've got about 20l of paraffin somewhere too...
