So, I've been looking for a little while now for an Optimus 111T to go with my 111 and happy to report that I now have it. Here it is with my 111, both refurbed and side-by-side.
Hi Gavin, A pair of great Optimus No.111 stoves. You have done really nice restorations. Best Regards, Kerophile.
Gavin, i see you lined the bottom of the cases with beer can aluminum. i like the idea of the liner and installed one in my 111B. just curious what you think about using a liner?
Hi Monkeyboy, I got the idea from this forum (Kerophile I think) and I really like a) the way it looks and b) the way it keeps any spillage off the main box. There is also an argument for it being more efficient as it would reflect the heat back upwards but I have no real data to support that. The other thing I've done to both (and again the idea came from here) was to fit priming wicks to make priming more efficient. This, I really love as the improvement is so immediate and so obvious; longer burn for less fuel, no spilling, no sparking and you can, if you don't mind the soot, prime direct from the tank so don't need to carry an extra priming fuel (wouldn't do that with 111B though).
One other thing on the liner. I'm not sure if there is a 'proper' way to do it (or if I missed the instruction) but the 111, I scored from the underside (the painted side), and the 111T from the top side (the non-painted side). This means that the scored lines are raised for the 111, and recessed for the 111T. You can see it if you look closely enough at the pics. I'm sure it doesn't really matter but what happens is that any spillage on the 111T runs the length of the tram lines, while spillage with the 111 stays contained within one or two of the 'diamonds'. As such, with apologies in case this is old news on here, I'd recommend that the scoring be done from the underside.
Hi @Gavin Mulholland . Interesting observation about the orientation of the "quilted" beer can. It was Nick, AKA brassnipplekey, who designed the original 111 beer can liner: https://classiccampstoves.com/posts/112457 Best Regards, Kerophile.
ok, i will make them by scoring on the painted side from now on. i think the liner might have an effect on preheating by reflecting heat upwards.
On one of my Optimus 22s, I made a runway where the burners slide to save wear on my new paint job, using RTV caulk to hold in place.. That's been about 4 years ago I think now. Duane
A quilted can left the case of my 8R in a sad state. So this is what I use these days. The 8R's are wearing similar tray liners. 4.5" square (or a smidge smaller) for 8R's. Corner punched. My P41 needed one.
That very well may be what happened, Ken. But the difficulty of removal for cleaning played a part. Once installed it's a pain to pull it out for cleaning. With my new solution I can slip out the reflector/spill guard with ease leaving the pot supports in place, making cleanup a whole lot easier.
added a little packing to the spindle on my 111B and while i had the tank and burner out i laid in a piece of beer can aluminum with the cross hatch pattern. all good