Primus Omnilite Titanium vs Omnifuel multifuel stove review

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Imagedude

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Feb 24, 2011
2,004
46
Gwynedd
Any chance of a view from above of both stoves next to each other when running? It looks like they've improved the airflow through the ti but the reduced size will limit maximum output.
 

Teepee

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Jan 15, 2010
4,115
5
Northamptonshire
Thank you for an excellent review: detailed and objective! And just when I thought I didn't need another stove...

Thanks Tiley. Thats exactly what I thought about needing another, Titanium helped me justify it very quickly!

Absolutely fantastic review, thanks for taking the time and effort to do it.

Quick question please.
What is the stove like for simmering?

Also does the different fuels affect it's simmering capabilities?


I do agree with ged that finding a stove that boils water quickly seems to be fairly easy, it's more of a challenge to find one that can simmer with smaller pots.


Can i also ask, what pots do you use please?

Thanks CBR :)
IME, the Omnifuel was great for simmering, it will cook pasta and soup without burning. The Omnilite seems even better turner down low, the flame is tiny but still blue. How reliably it'll simmer with wind though will be found out. I'm more of a cooker than a boil in the bag man, and simmering is important to me too.
I've found that Aspen, coleman and gas simmer very well in the Omnifuel, unleaded less so because of the slow dirtying of the jets after a while. I can see no reason why the Omnilite won't be as good.

I use UL Trangia aluminium pots, normal ally to boil water and non stick for simmering and frying.


Thats a old omnifuel stove you got there, the newer one looks like this.
P1010205.jpg

and came with the same red pump,

Thanks for that Phil. It looks like the bag is different(and pump), but I can't see any other differences.

Any chance of a view from above of both stoves next to each other when running? It looks like they've improved the airflow through the ti but the reduced size will limit maximum output.

Yes mate, I'll get them up soon as :)
 

cbr6fs

Native
Mar 30, 2011
1,620
0
Athens, Greece
Thanks CBR :)
IME, the Omnifuel was great for simmering, it will cook pasta and soup without burning. The Omnilite seems even better turner down low, the flame is tiny but still blue. How reliably it'll simmer with wind though will be found out. I'm more of a cooker than a boil in the bag man, and simmering is important to me too.
I've found that Aspen, coleman and gas simmer very well in the Omnifuel, unleaded less so because of the slow dirtying of the jets after a while. I can see no reason why the Omnilite won't be as good.

I use UL Trangia aluminium pots, normal ally to boil water and non stick for simmering and frying.

Fantastic thanks.

I'm sorely tempted but i'm not sure i'll use anything but gas in it, so it seems like a bit of waste.
I'm hovering over the BIN button though :lmao:
 

Teepee

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Jan 15, 2010
4,115
5
Northamptonshire
Fantastic thanks.

I'm sorely tempted but i'm not sure i'll use anything but gas in it, so it seems like a bit of waste.
I'm hovering over the BIN button though :lmao:

Thats the quandary with these exp stoves. Looking at the stats on Primus's webpage though, it appears its not too inefficient running on gas.
We'll see.


Thanks Johnboy, I'll hunt some pics down of the Himalaya.
 

Teepee

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Jan 15, 2010
4,115
5
Northamptonshire
Thanks JB!

The Omnifuel wasn't so new at the time either then, the outer cup, burner chamber and tripod look almost identical :)

The fuel pipe looks to be hard work to avoid kinking it.
 

Teepee

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Jan 15, 2010
4,115
5
Northamptonshire
Time for an annual update on this following your trips, methinks Teepee:)

Good idea Andy :)

Update;
Both stoves are still with me. The Omnilite works identically to the Omnifuel I've found, but with less power.

I have found the Omnilite a little under gunned at times for melting snow compared to the original, especially at very low temps. For boiling liquid water though with containers up to 4l, it's almost equivalent. Using the heat exchanger pots would certainly be a good idea to get the Omnilite to equal the Omnifuel. I chose not too as the Primus heat exchanger pots won't like being hung over a fire.

The pot stand on the Omnilite struggles with big pots, it's a little too flimsy for them. For big pots and melting snow, the extra weight of the Omnifuel is worth it IMO. My stand actually buckled under the weight of 6l of water.

Since getting the Omnilite, its burnt 8l of white gas and 3l of gas and the jets haven't needed poking clean yet. No servicing has been needed at all.

Fuel usage is good-I'm getting around 5 hours run time on 890ml of white gas at high power.
 

Andy BB

Full Member
Apr 19, 2010
3,290
1
Hampshire
Cheers Pete. Good to hear that it has been behaving itself! From what I'd read about this stove, You've basically confirmed what I was thinking on the Ti - it appears to have been optimised for the Eta pot system with the heat exchangers. Having said that, it also sounds like a perfect unit for a Trangia KAP-clone conversion, where the Omnifuel's power would be overkill!

ps - looks like you've brought the weather back to Blighty with you:)
 

Teepee

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Jan 15, 2010
4,115
5
Northamptonshire
Cheers Pete. Good to hear that it has been behaving itself! From what I'd read about this stove, You've basically confirmed what I was thinking on the Ti - it appears to have been optimised for the Eta pot system with the heat exchangers. Having said that, it also sounds like a perfect unit for a Trangia KAP-clone conversion, where the Omnifuel's power would be overkill!

ps - looks like you've brought the weather back to Blighty with you:)

I agree, no point having the Omnifuels oomph-it barely needs half power most of the time in the Trangia set. :)

No only did I bring it back home, I'm taking it back next week :lmao:
 
Sep 27, 2013
1
0
New Zealand
I would like to know if the jets are interchangeable with the omnilite and the omnifuel, as I would like to use the 32 jet in the omnifuel to reduce the power output a bit when coleman fuel, as I wish to fit it to my trangia 27 and feel backing of the power would suit my needs better

Richard
 

ianreeves

Member
Nov 20, 2012
17
1
glasgow
Does anyone know if the omnilite 0.32 Jet fits the trangia x2 burner? Failing that, does the omnifuel jet fit?

Trangia UK say they don't do spares, and mine may have a small crack..

Ian
 

Teepee

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Jan 15, 2010
4,115
5
Northamptonshire
That's interesting Ian. Good to know the jets are interchangable, I've never tried. Does the smaller jet make the burner run a little lean? Is the simmer still as good?
 
Jul 30, 2012
3,570
224
westmidlands
Be careful changing jets as each jet is set up for the MAXIMUM of each fuel that the stoves can theoretically take when mixed with air. That means that you can run butane through the diesil jet but not deisel through the butane jet, for guaranteed clean combustion. That is of course theoretical.
 

ianreeves

Member
Nov 20, 2012
17
1
glasgow
[video=youtube_share;5oDMYOf_oWs]http://youtu.be/5oDMYOf_oWs[/video]

I changed the jet (reluctantly) to a 0.37mm after a new 0.32mm didn't get the trangia x2 working well.



This shows the trangiax2 with canister gas, and not working well, so i'd be grateful if anyone knows why this may not be working. My local outdoor stores were stumped, and suggested this forum!

This was true for white gas/canister gas, all of which worked fine when swapped to the omnifuel i have.

It was a 'last chance saloon' for my trangiax2, which I was about to bin!

I agree using a larger jet isn't ideal, but i couldn't see an alternative in the circumstances..
 
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Teepee

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Jan 15, 2010
4,115
5
Northamptonshire
@Petro. The theory doesn't macth the outcome unfortunately. Run gas on a small jet and blows itself out, run diesel on the big jet and it chokes. It was a hard lesson that night when I left the spares kit in the vehicle. :lmao:

Ian, I don't know the X2 but I'm struggling to understand why a .32 is fitted for burning gas when the Omni takes a .45. :confused: It looks like an identical burner cup to the Omni and airflow will be no different. My Omni runs fine as an X2 setup in a Trangia

The .32 burn is just wrong, looks a very lean burn. The .37 looks much better, still not simmering like an Omni but then it only has the one control valve.
 

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