What has Tengu found Today?
- Thread starter Tengu
- Start date
It's a primus stove - looks like everything's there..
It runs on parafin, but needs to be primed with meths..
I'll try and find a pic of an assembled one.... or i'll take some piccies of mine
back in a bit...
It runs on parafin, but needs to be primed with meths..
I'll try and find a pic of an assembled one.... or i'll take some piccies of mine
back in a bit...
Ta-dah!!! linky
It runs by building up pressure in the tank - there should be a pump on the side of the tank, so the seals need to be in good condition to prevent flamable fuel leaking from the joins under pressure!!
The little screw on the filler cap is to release pressure - the 'plug' with the big screwdriver slot in it is fitted to the tank where the burner screws in for transit so you can carry it with fuel in it.
I think the flat metal bit is a folding windscreen to go around the priming dish to help with lighting in windy conditions.
It runs by building up pressure in the tank - there should be a pump on the side of the tank, so the seals need to be in good condition to prevent flamable fuel leaking from the joins under pressure!!
The little screw on the filler cap is to release pressure - the 'plug' with the big screwdriver slot in it is fitted to the tank where the burner screws in for transit so you can carry it with fuel in it.
I think the flat metal bit is a folding windscreen to go around the priming dish to help with lighting in windy conditions.
bikething beat me to it!
If you go to the main forum page of his link - this one:
http://www.spiritburner.com/forum/
then do a search - I'm sure you'll find out all you want (and more!) about your stove. These guys know stoves!
Failing that, rik_uk3 on BCUK, I know, is a bit of a stovie - and he'll probably be able to tell you the birthday of the guy who made it! - or at least direct you to someone who can!
Nice find.
If you go to the main forum page of his link - this one:
http://www.spiritburner.com/forum/
then do a search - I'm sure you'll find out all you want (and more!) about your stove. These guys know stoves!
Failing that, rik_uk3 on BCUK, I know, is a bit of a stovie - and he'll probably be able to tell you the birthday of the guy who made it! - or at least direct you to someone who can!
Nice find.
I used a similar stove from a different maker as my camping stove for a few years - It was given to me by an old boy who was a member of the group i used to walk with when i was about 16.
I still use it now and again, just for the memories i associate with it.
In terms of selling it i'm sure someone will buy it - there are collectors out there (I'm accumulating a few myself ) - I'll have to defer to Rik_uk3's knowledge of the stovie market place. I guess the price will depend on whether it's in a working condition or needs a 'service' - is the pump leather in good condition? does it hold pressure etc.
Personally I'd have a go at getting it to work and lighting it at least once - there's something rather quaint about all that priming and pumping pallaver that i quite enjoy
I still use it now and again, just for the memories i associate with it.
In terms of selling it i'm sure someone will buy it - there are collectors out there (I'm accumulating a few myself
) - I'll have to defer to Rik_uk3's knowledge of the stovie market place. I guess the price will depend on whether it's in a working condition or needs a 'service' - is the pump leather in good condition? does it hold pressure etc.Personally I'd have a go at getting it to work and lighting it at least once - there's something rather quaint about all that priming and pumping pallaver that i quite enjoy
Its a great thing to have a primus but I will admit Ive never used one.
only ever a gas stove or solid fuel.
I love good kit as much as the next kit junky, but I cant afford it, and even if I could, I (with a few exceptions) would be disinclined to buy the fancy stuff.
I get a lot of nice things at car boot, so if something nifty comes my way I grab it, often to trade or sell on, but some things I keep
like my Vango Force ten, which I could not afford new (or secondhand for that matter) nor a modern equivalent.
But I now have a top notch expiditionary tent `just in case`
That case of mine set me back a fair bit but I have seen them go for twice that on Ebay.
Ill keep it because Ill make good use of it.
This stove cost me all of £1.50, and I am going to try it, at least once!
only ever a gas stove or solid fuel.
I love good kit as much as the next kit junky, but I cant afford it, and even if I could, I (with a few exceptions) would be disinclined to buy the fancy stuff.
I get a lot of nice things at car boot, so if something nifty comes my way I grab it, often to trade or sell on, but some things I keep
like my Vango Force ten, which I could not afford new (or secondhand for that matter) nor a modern equivalent.
But I now have a top notch expiditionary tent `just in case`
That case of mine set me back a fair bit but I have seen them go for twice that on Ebay.
Ill keep it because Ill make good use of it.
This stove cost me all of £1.50, and I am going to try it, at least once!
£1.50 ??!! - i spent more than that on a pump washer for mine !!! - Bargain!!
I've put a link up to the instructions on spiritburner.com above. The important bit is to make sure the seals are good or you'll a) lose pressure and it won't work, or b) have fuel squirting out.
I'll type up a bit of a checking procedure tonight at home and a run down of how i light mine.
I've put a link up to the instructions on spiritburner.com above. The important bit is to make sure the seals are good or you'll a) lose pressure and it won't work, or b) have fuel squirting out.
I'll type up a bit of a checking procedure tonight at home and a run down of how i light mine.
it says Pocket primus outh on the lid
do you think its complete, and how do I use it?
what fuel would it take?
Nice little Primus 96 there
It looks complete and there is not a lot to go wrong with them. if you look on the bottom of the tank, there should be a letter or two stamped, let me know what they are and I'll date the stove for you. As for value, its hard to say, on ebay you can sometimes pick them up for a tenner, other times they will go for thirty. I would be temped to get it working. The usual faults are the pump leather falling apart or drying out. If the leather is complete, soak it in cooking oil for a few hours which often brings them back to life. The seal on the tank will go over time, you can make one from a bit of leather, or look at different size seals in the plumbing section of your local DIY store. Failing that, you can buy all the spares you need athttp://base-camp.co.uk/ give the lads a ring, they are really helpfull. If you go to spiritburner.com DON'T ask for a valuation, it pee's off a lot of the people there (there is a big logo on the site say "We don't give valuations" yet new people still do ask, as I said, ebay prices vary so much.
I can send you a new pump leather if you PM me your address.
If you want to polish up the stove, remove the pump rod, and soak the tank and other brass bits in a bowl of vineger for about 30 minutes, then polish with brasso, this method works very well, but don't soak it until the brass turns pink in colour or it will take you ages to polish. Rinse out the tank with warm water, then put some meths in the tank and swill it out, the meths will absorb any water left behind.
OK, it took a little while to type up but hopefully it will be of some help ....
Part 1 : check your stove!
The pictures here show my Thermidor stove most of the operations will be similar.
Box closed with a frosts clipper for scale:
Box opened: as you can see I havent used it for a while
Contents:
Identify the equivalent parts of your stove. First, visually check the seals are in good condition. The key ones are on the tank as shown below:
In my case, the burner seal is a lead washer yours may be a fibre / leather / rubber washer. The pump unscrews from its housing by turning the knurled cap below the plunger and sliding the unit out The leather cup on the end should be intact with no splits / damage Dont worry if its a loose fit between the nuts that hold it on the shaft (mine is) I think its like that to allow the air to pass on the outward stroke, like a bicycle pump. If it is dry then an overnight soak in olive oil may be enough to revive it.
Having checked the seals, re-assemble the tank as shown below, putting the pump in, fitting the filler cap so it is hand tight with the bleed screw closed (finger tight). Put the blanking plug in the burner hole and tighten down firmly, but not hard or you will damage the seal.
Now, operate the pump several times you should feel a steady resistance all through the compression stroke. If the piston has a tendency to push back out when released then there may be a faulty one-way valve at the end of the pump. Having pumped up the tank, listen carefully for a hissing noise from any of the seals, meaning there is a leak Unscrew the bleed screw and you should hear the pressure escaping if not then its all leaked away somewhere.
You could repeat the above, but when the tank has been pumped up use a small paintbrush and wipe soapy water around the seals / filler cap / pump rod any bubbles appearing would indicate a leak. As an extreme measure you could pump up the tank and hold it in a bucket of water and look for bubbles, a bit like mending a puncture on a bike!
Part 2 : Lighting the stove !!!
Assuming that all is well up to now, we can try and light the stove this is best carried out outside for safety, until you get comfortable with using the stove As with any stove ALWAYS ALLOW ADEQUATE VENTILATION AT ALL TIMES!!
First assemble the stove mine looks as follows note the windshield around the priming pan: If the stove has been in storage, or looks sooty it is worth cleaning the jet hole using a pricker.
Remove the filler cap, fill with paraffin I tend not to fill higher than the vertical sides of the tank. Replace the filler cap but do not close the bleed screw yet.
Fill the priming dish with meths In my younger days I used to try and get away with only half filling the dish, but this would fail more often than it worked. (see below)
Always try and use the stove in a sheltered position use the windshield if necessary. (I have left it off here to make it easier to see whats going on)
Light the meths and allow it to burn until nearly out This heats the metalwork of the burner which in turn will vapourise the paraffin so that it burns in a similar way to gas.
When the meths is starting to burn down, close the bleed screw and carefully operate the pump a couple of times. If the priming has worked, then a small amount of vapourised paraffin will escape from the jet and ignite from the flame created by the meths keep a lighter / box of matches handy in case it doesnt.
Hopefully the flame will be blue, and the surface of the burner where the jet is will remain dry you can just see the blue flame starting in the picture below:
As it happens, it was cold in my garage when taking these pictures so the first priming didnt work, and so I had liquid paraffin squirting out of the jet, causing a yellow flame and making the jet visibly wet. As shown below.
If this happens OPEN the bleed screw to release the pressure, wait until all flames are out CAREFULLY add more meths to the priming dish and repeat the exercise. some of these flame-outs can be quite spectacular, which is why I recommend first trying this outdoors, and only using a couple of pumps at first, until the burner is up to working temperature.
Having primed the stove for a second time, and re-lit it, - this time with the windshield in place Follow the same procedure. This time the paraffin was vaporising well, and a good blue flame developed in the burner, as shown below.
While the meths is burning, this flame will be a bit melancholy, but will settle down to a smooth pattern once the meths burns out.
Having got the stove going, flame control is a matter of pumping more to get a bigger flame, or releasing SOME of the pressure using the bleed screw to get a smaller flame You soon get the hang of it.
When you have finished cooking, the stove can be turned off by opening the bleed screw and letting all the pressure out.
Once cooled, the burner can be removed from the tank the blanking plug fitted, the bleed screw closed down, and the whole lot can be packed into the tin without having to empty the fuel out of the tank, ready for next time
I'm sure this isn't the only method in use, If anyone wants to pitch in with comments and suggestions, feel free
....Part 1 : check your stove!
The pictures here show my Thermidor stove most of the operations will be similar.
Box closed with a frosts clipper for scale:
Box opened: as you can see I havent used it for a while
Contents:
Identify the equivalent parts of your stove. First, visually check the seals are in good condition. The key ones are on the tank as shown below:
In my case, the burner seal is a lead washer yours may be a fibre / leather / rubber washer. The pump unscrews from its housing by turning the knurled cap below the plunger and sliding the unit out The leather cup on the end should be intact with no splits / damage Dont worry if its a loose fit between the nuts that hold it on the shaft (mine is) I think its like that to allow the air to pass on the outward stroke, like a bicycle pump. If it is dry then an overnight soak in olive oil may be enough to revive it.
Having checked the seals, re-assemble the tank as shown below, putting the pump in, fitting the filler cap so it is hand tight with the bleed screw closed (finger tight). Put the blanking plug in the burner hole and tighten down firmly, but not hard or you will damage the seal.
Now, operate the pump several times you should feel a steady resistance all through the compression stroke. If the piston has a tendency to push back out when released then there may be a faulty one-way valve at the end of the pump. Having pumped up the tank, listen carefully for a hissing noise from any of the seals, meaning there is a leak Unscrew the bleed screw and you should hear the pressure escaping if not then its all leaked away somewhere.
You could repeat the above, but when the tank has been pumped up use a small paintbrush and wipe soapy water around the seals / filler cap / pump rod any bubbles appearing would indicate a leak. As an extreme measure you could pump up the tank and hold it in a bucket of water and look for bubbles, a bit like mending a puncture on a bike!
Part 2 : Lighting the stove !!!
Assuming that all is well up to now, we can try and light the stove this is best carried out outside for safety, until you get comfortable with using the stove As with any stove ALWAYS ALLOW ADEQUATE VENTILATION AT ALL TIMES!!
First assemble the stove mine looks as follows note the windshield around the priming pan: If the stove has been in storage, or looks sooty it is worth cleaning the jet hole using a pricker.
Remove the filler cap, fill with paraffin I tend not to fill higher than the vertical sides of the tank. Replace the filler cap but do not close the bleed screw yet.
Fill the priming dish with meths In my younger days I used to try and get away with only half filling the dish, but this would fail more often than it worked. (see below)
Always try and use the stove in a sheltered position use the windshield if necessary. (I have left it off here to make it easier to see whats going on)
Light the meths and allow it to burn until nearly out This heats the metalwork of the burner which in turn will vapourise the paraffin so that it burns in a similar way to gas.
When the meths is starting to burn down, close the bleed screw and carefully operate the pump a couple of times. If the priming has worked, then a small amount of vapourised paraffin will escape from the jet and ignite from the flame created by the meths keep a lighter / box of matches handy in case it doesnt.
Hopefully the flame will be blue, and the surface of the burner where the jet is will remain dry you can just see the blue flame starting in the picture below:
As it happens, it was cold in my garage when taking these pictures so the first priming didnt work, and so I had liquid paraffin squirting out of the jet, causing a yellow flame and making the jet visibly wet. As shown below.
If this happens OPEN the bleed screw to release the pressure, wait until all flames are out CAREFULLY add more meths to the priming dish and repeat the exercise. some of these flame-outs can be quite spectacular, which is why I recommend first trying this outdoors, and only using a couple of pumps at first, until the burner is up to working temperature.
Having primed the stove for a second time, and re-lit it, - this time with the windshield in place Follow the same procedure. This time the paraffin was vaporising well, and a good blue flame developed in the burner, as shown below.
While the meths is burning, this flame will be a bit melancholy, but will settle down to a smooth pattern once the meths burns out.
Having got the stove going, flame control is a matter of pumping more to get a bigger flame, or releasing SOME of the pressure using the bleed screw to get a smaller flame You soon get the hang of it.
When you have finished cooking, the stove can be turned off by opening the bleed screw and letting all the pressure out.
Once cooled, the burner can be removed from the tank the blanking plug fitted, the bleed screw closed down, and the whole lot can be packed into the tin without having to empty the fuel out of the tank, ready for next time
I'm sure this isn't the only method in use, If anyone wants to pitch in with comments and suggestions, feel free
Great write up!
My old man backpacked and hitch hiked round Europe some 50 years ago with one of them stoves,we still have the stove!
Love the simplicity things are made far too complicated these days which in turn seem a nightmare to service and maintain
Got a coleman duel fuel which I cant get the hang of!!! Anyone want to do an explanation of that!!!!!! D
My old man backpacked and hitch hiked round Europe some 50 years ago with one of them stoves,we still have the stove!
Love the simplicity things are made far too complicated these days which in turn seem a nightmare to service and maintain
Got a coleman duel fuel which I cant get the hang of!!! Anyone want to do an explanation of that!!!!!! D
light it and run ??!!
haven't tried a dual-fuel but i've got an early peak-1 (the brown one) that's not for the faint hearted
Old fuel in it doesn't help but following the instructions dont seem to work.
Got the stove off a mate who had similar probs! Got it with the view of using it when bike camping......thinking always got petrol! D
Got the stove off a mate who had similar probs! Got it with the view of using it when bike camping......thinking always got petrol! D
:yikes: :yikes: :yikes: NO PETROL in this type of stove please
Nice write up Bike, and a nice stove, I have a couple myself. I tend not to fill the tank more than two thirds, this may encourage a flare up, but, after you have lit the meths dish, leave it for a minute, then close the air control and this type of cooker will often 'self pressureise' and just light, a couple more pumps and your in business. If its cold, a double prime won't hurt. The best stove for frugal use of meths as a primer is the Optimus 111 kerosene stove, regardless of temp, it seems to light on next to no primer
What makes you think i write technical manuals as part of my job ?
Ahh the 8R 'hunter' ... i've got one of those as well
Ahh the 8R 'hunter' ... i've got one of those as well
What a quaint looking little stove! I really like the simplicity, I reckon that and the parrafin mantle lanterns are pretty much similar in their operation, and the lamp is a fantastic bit of kit. I keep my eyes open at car boot sales for one, they roar a little, but not too badly. Actually, it is more of a hiss. Loads of light though, and plenty of heat.
- I think he was talking about the coleman ... I hope:yikes: :yikes: :yikes: NO PETROL in this type of stove please
That's my usual method Rik, but thought the other way would be safer for someone who's not used to this type of stove - the flare-ups can be quite scary if you're not expecting them :yikes:
..got one of those tooThe best stove for frugal use of meths as a primer is the Optimus 111 kerosene stove, regardless of temp, it seems to light on next to no primer
I got a wicked flare up on my Nova Plus when I first got it. Damn near took my face off! You've gotta love it when it happens and you are aware of what is going on but others don't! Absolute panic!
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