To the best of my knowledge these stoves were never officially sold in South Africa. About a year ago I bought a very broken old Speedmaster 500 stove dated 1941 from a friend who had found it in a small farming town the Western Cape. The fount was stove in so badly around the pump tube that it had cracked open above it and I judged it not safely repairable. Then about 2 months ago I unexpectedly found a 1947 seafoam fount at a scrap metal dealer in my home town. It had few minor dents but no rust. Last week I received a new generator and set of screws in the mail from dday on CCF in the US. This weekend I managed to complete the project: Cleaning in preparation for painting. I filled up the dents with lead solder. First test after completion. Baptism of fire! The top is painted with Simoniz 800C VHT Silver. As can be seen, it survives red hot heat extremely well. I used Rustoleum Gloss Grass Green for the fount. It is a very good match for the original paint that is still on the bottom of the fount, which I coated with clear laquer. I am very impressed with the adjustment range the stove has; from a low simmer smoothly all the way to inferno level. -Phil
@phaedrus42 Great work Phil. Dan (dday) helped me out with my own Speedmaster project too. Top bloke. John
Yes, That's Dan for you! He added a very thoughtful selection of lantern parts to the package too. Much appreciated.
Thanks guys! The stove is burning an 80/20 mixture of hexane and paraffin, which is the closest I can get to CF in this neck of the woods. Hexane is sold here as Preclean or Panel Wipe. It costs the equivalent of about US$9.60 per US gallon and burns absolutely clean. Have to add the paraffin to bring it up to the correct calorific value, though. This is not so critical in a stove but makes a big difference in a lantern.
Very nice restoration/refit. I really like it. Can't believe how many of you get brass so shiny, I have not discovered that trick yet. I repainted the "top" to mine a few weeks ago, much better than the ratty look. Runs very well. Duane
Very nice work Phil. Interesting that you add paraffin. I had heard that here in the States, the Amish will use a 80/20 or 75/25 mix of Coleman fuel & kerosene in their Coleman stoves regularly. In that case I suspect it is done to save a little money since they use a lot more liquid fuel than most of us. I gave it a try and it seems to work very well but there is not much reason for me to do it with current prices.
I think the Amish add some CF to their kerosene lanterns to lean out the fuel/air mixture when the gas tip is worn/enlarged. Pure hexane burns too lean in a CF appliance so adding kero brings the fuel/air mixture up to the level of CF. Good clear pump kero costs about US$2.10/US gal here and just about all GPAs that were sold here are kero burners. Finding a white gasoline appliance is a rarity, hence my excitement over the Speedmaster!
price here in my part of Canada are crazy. Kero is around $12.00 a 4 ltr container, Coleman Fuel around $22.00 for a 4 ltr container Jan
Crazy different prices for kerosene. At 2.10/gal, I'd quite using anything else. Canadian prices for Camp (Coleman) fuel have been about double that of US prices for as long as I can remember. 'Course, part of that was due to the difference between the US and Imperial gallon (back then). I found some hexane a while back and tested it in a couple stoves. It worked well, but it is crazy volatile -- mixting with kero is a good idea that I did not consider. By itself it might be great for very cold weather but I think it is more of a heath hazard than heptane and longer chain hydrocarbons.
Hexane is a major constituent of gasoline and Coleman Fuel. You would take the same precautions when using it as for ULP or CF. The aromatics like benzene (ring shaped molecules, not straight chains) are reputed to be carcinogenic when it comes into contact with your skin.
