Optimus or Primus (no transformers content!)??
- Thread starter skybandit
- Start date
OK guys this is not SPAM i thought that a video show a little more than the odd picture http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGomIOsNO-s
Now i find using Unleaded Petrol not only cheap but easy to find on any UK road so when im out i pull in to fill up with diesel and pop a gallon can of the Unleaded petrol on the boot for the cooker now i use an old 1 ltr sigg fuel bottle for my stove so it seems to last for ages and with a gallon / 4.54 ltrs i get 9 time the fuel for £5:00 unlike coleman white fuel at £7:00 per 500ml thats like around £63:00 per gallon............ i would rather put up with a bit of servicing and cleaning my mess tin than pay that sort of money for fuel when in area you cant build a fire and yes Diesel does work too so if you can get RED DIESEL either from a farmer the local boat yard or even building site its only 63p/ltr just DONT put it in the car or HM customs will not be happy bunnysbut its ok for the Boat,Generator or your combine if your a farmer.
Stop burning petrol, its bad for you. You can get five litres of panel wipe from you local motor spares store for about £10, its clean naptha. Aspen 4T fuel is available, thats just really pure petrol.
Car fuel is dirty, spill some and see how long the smell stays, it takes ages to clear up, panel wipe and 4T leave NO smell.
Love my modern stoves, but also love my old ones
W
woodlanduk
Guest
Stop burning petrol, its bad for you. You can get five litres of panel wipe from you local motor spares store for about £10, its clean naptha. Aspen 4T fuel is available, thats just really pure petrol.
Car fuel is dirty, spill some and see how long the smell stays, it takes ages to clear up, panel wipe and 4T leave NO smell.
Love my modern stoves, but also love my old ones
this is a valid point but if i have a gallon already in the car it makes no difference to me and its easily replaced when i pull in to any petrol station not so with the panel wipe and its half the price,as for smell and it being bad for me well it seems lately everything on the planet will kill you in one way or another i have had members of my own family killed working in the motor trade and to be honest cancer is rife no matter what you do ,that reminds me ive got to change the fuel filter on the car and the brake fluid too
live life and enjoy it while it lastsSpeaking as another "stovie" its like this.... you buy one then see another shinier one covet it , buy it,
then you remember the one you couldnt afford to buy when you were younger and look it up on ebay - and buy it...
By the way my russian R8 came with a little packet of spares- and the filler thread is different to the optimus ones.
Now optimus have new models old stock 111cs are around occasionally at a reasonable price
likewise 111Ts .For petrol only the ex army mk 2s are about £20 surplus the new multifuel 12s are going for around £100 on evilbay
111C Cobra's are fetching £100+ new old stock, but the T's go cheap enough as you said and are easy to fettle; love my 12's they are a great cooker
No12 next to a No7
There is a Norwegian gentleman who has a large stock of ex-Norwegian army 111s of all types, and some brand new in box, including the sought-after 111T (the best 111 multifuel). If you are interested I could dig out his contact details and PM them, although he may have run out of stock as my last purchase from him was 2 years ago
Oh and Rik is right about burning petrol unless you're outdoors with a good wind blowing - not good for you nor those around you
NS
Oh and Rik is right about burning petrol unless you're outdoors with a good wind blowing - not good for you nor those around you
NS
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Why is the 111T better than the 111C? The "C" is an upgrade to the "T" that allows the use of diesel as well as paraffin, alcohol and white gas. On paper at least, the "C" is more versatile. The C and T both use the silent Cobra burner, so what makes the T the better stove?
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The C used a new burner, the Cobra which had manufacturing faults and was prone to cracking and underburn and production was short lived, its the most unpopular version amongst stove collectors.
The 'T' like the 111C will burn Naptha, paraffin and meths, not really designed for diesel. Remember, diesel is very 'close' to paraffin so you can get it to work in most paraffin stoves but its not recommended. These days Primus and Optimus refer to diesel as an 'emergency' fuel only.
111 Kerosene/paraffin
111B White gas/Coleman/panel wipe
111T Paraffin/Coleman type/meths
111 Cobra Paraffin/Coleman type/meths
They have a little baby brother called a 199 but thats another story.
I have a 111C, I havent used it a great deal but it seems fine, I've burned diesel, Coleman and paraffin in it, the Coleman fuel gives best results, followed by paraffin and then diesel as you would expect I suppose. Where do they crack, I'll keep an eye out for it ...and what's underburn?
Didn't they make a 111 with a nova burner in it?
[edit]ahhh, the Hiker+ is the latest (smaller?) incarnation of the 111 I think with the nova burner. clicky. [/edit]
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Not sure where they crack Martyn to be honest, I got one new for £30, hated it for no logical reason and sold it for £70. General burner cracks I believe, its not a respected stove in the 'stovie kingdom'. Are you using panel wipe instead of petrol or Coleman? Have you tried Aspen 4T?
http://www.aaoil.co.uk/environment-Aspen-4T-alkylate-petrol
Very popular in Norway, Alkylate petrol is very pure, no smell from spillage, not bunged up jets etc.
No new 111, just a Nova in a tin, nothing wrong in that, I put a Nova in a Trangia.
The 111C burner was an attempt by Optimus to make production of the silent burner cheaper by using a cast body rather than brazed tubes. My Explorer uses a 111C burner and it's generally fine but it is prone to under burn as most silent burners are.
Underburn is when the flamable mix of air and fuel vapour ingnited below or inside the ported burner cap not outside as intended.. The result is a noisy burn which rapidly heats the burner caps so they glow red and then heats the burner itself if left unchecked it destroys the burner in short order.
Rik is 150% correct Generally the 111T is considered to be 'better' than a 111C. Other things the 111C has against it it the decision by optimus to ditch the brass fuel tank and go over to a steel one and the pump rod assembly uses an O ring IIRC which is not as good as the Leather cup fund on most of the 111 family ( thought some 111T's also used the rubber Oring)
and I suppose the 111T is cheaper to buy secondhand which helps...
OK thanks fellas. The burner cap on mine certainly does glow red, does that mean it's underbiurning then? I usually use paraffin in it, though like I said, it's not used much.
BTW, what are the opinions of the 199 ranger? That is one cool looking little stove and it's also mutifuel, though the ones I've seen are hellishly expensive. Is it a variant of the same burner and subject to the same issues?
BTW, what are the opinions of the 199 ranger? That is one cool looking little stove and it's also mutifuel, though the ones I've seen are hellishly expensive. Is it a variant of the same burner and subject to the same issues?
Rik has one IIRC and he got it for a good price...so he's probably best to answer this.
I'ts collectable because they really didn't make it for that long.. Optimus had made pretty much the same old stuff for years 123, 8R,111, 00 etc then along come MSR with a range of stoves that were radically different, Model 9, GK, Firefly and optimus had to react to that... It's a bit like the introduction of the Jetboil a few years ago...
They came up with the 199 which is based on the aluminium optimus 99 ( which is a version of the 8R) and the Ranger which fitted into a modified 8R steel case both use a silent burner and run on the tank from a 8R.
As a design for practical mountain use I always think they are pretty poor but that does not diminish the collectable value as it is with knives and other kit so it is with stoves.
I think the issue with them is that the tank capacity is small for the size of burner and it always looks like a faff to get them pressurized with the mini pump.... They are hellishly expensive.
Be quick, ends soon
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110465670454&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT
Good stove, massive output for size but the tank is small so you get something like a boil then a simmer for around 40 mins.
One I made earlier
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GrLovTdS5Q
PS, you are underburning Martyn turn the stove OFF, then reset the inner and outer dome caps (or do that before you light it).
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Hmmm, so more of a collectors item than a practical stove? I thought it looked neat, but I guess if you need to carry extra fuel, you may as well go for a something like a nova or a trangia/nova hybrid.
There are lots of Optimus models from the late 70's till the mid / late 80's that were not in production that long and because of that fact could be seen as being collectable. I'd say if they were sucessful then they would have been in production still.
The small tank on the 199 and Ranger 10 hamper them as mountaineering stoves IMHO as 40 minutes is not a long time to run if you're melting snow etc... low level camping is ok but then do you need a super high output burner??
If you want a stove that is interesting and not that common but not super expensive then I'd suggest one of the following:
Radius 43
Primus 41
Early MSR Model 9 or Model G or Model GK (yellow pump)
The latter stove is as good as anything on the market currently.
You carry fuel, full stop, might not be in the stove tank but you will need XXXXX of energy for a trip so how you carry it is not vital.
Practical? Yes depending upon what you want; as a weekend solo cooker its fine, very good in fact and perfect for solo or duo snow melting or even heating up rat pack type meals.
Put a Nova or Omnifuel in a Trangia 25 or clone and you have a beast of a cooker on your hands which will easily cope with your cooking needs regardless of climate or conditions, Based on the KAP Arctic stove, this Trangia configuration/design excels in efficiency with these burners fitted.
I have no issue using them in a tent but
USE ANY STOVE, LIQUID FUEL, GAS OR WOOD FIRED AT YOUR OWN RISK
Thanks guys. I already have a nova with a trangia adapter and agree, it's a cracking bit of kit.
I thinkl the 199 thing was just a fanciful thing really. It'd just sit unused with the rest
I bought a Radius double burner about 6 months ago, that's a nice bit of kit, quite unusual too.
I certainly dont need another stove. Last time I went camping I took one of these...
...and a 9.5kg propane bottle.
The 199 is cute, but £250 is 1/3 of a tentipi.
I thinkl the 199 thing was just a fanciful thing really. It'd just sit unused with the rest
I bought a Radius double burner about 6 months ago, that's a nice bit of kit, quite unusual too.
I certainly dont need another stove. Last time I went camping I took one of these...
...and a 9.5kg propane bottle.
The 199 is cute, but £250 is 1/3 of a tentipi.
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Thanks guys. I already have a nova with a trangia adapter and agree, it's a cracking bit of kit.
I thinkl the 199 thing was just a fanciful thing really. It'd just sit unused with the rest
I bought a Radius double burner about 6 months ago, that's a nice bit of kit, quite unusual too.
I certainly dont need another stove. Last time I went camping I took one of these...
...and a 9.5kg propane bottle.
The 199 is cute, but £250 is 1/3 of a tentipi.
Tentipi, nice, but I won't be spending part of my pension lump sum on one
, no need in the UK really and no good for the Brecon Beacons I like your gas rings, fancy one of the big piella rings myself
