...arrived today. I'm guessing it's alcohol fuelled - kero would need a pump, wouldn't it? Can't be petrol/gasoline because the filler cap is vented. There are two spirit cups for priming. How does the fuel get to the burners? - the tank cannot pressurise. Wicks? Do we have any French stovies in our midst...?
YEP. Fill tank (meths) - open valves till some juice comes through (not too much, they prime easily) - close valves - ignite priming cups - when nearly burned out, open valves.
Hi David, You have a lovely stove, I am envious as I am a great fan of the rightly Famous M. Pigeon, inventor of the "Lampe Pigeon" Guaranteed Non-explosive with Mineral Oil! I must be a bit sad, in modern parlance, as I have even visited his amazing marble tomb in the Cemetary of Montparnasse in Paris. To try to answer your questions: I believe this is an Alcohol stove. Generally the alcohol flows by Gravity from the tank, through needle-valves and a pre-heater tube incorporated into the burners. You prime with alcohol and once the burner is hot you gently open the feed valve. I am rather surpised that your stove does not appear to have a tank elevated above the burners to give a suitable "head" Regards, Kerophile.
It doesn't really need a head of fuel to operate. There may or may not (probably not) be wicks in the small lines from the tank to the base of the burners, but the large dia. central tubes of the burners will be totally filled with wicking up which wicks the fuel - alcohol. If you look closely at the burner ring you will see that, in addition to the ring of holes in the top of it, there are also a number of holes (3 or 4 at a guess) which direct flame horizontally onto the top of the central tube wherein the alcohol vapourises. The vapour then passes along the horizontal tube towards the control and after passing thru the valve it picks up air in a small venturi and the air vapour mix goes back to the burner thru a lower tube. Does this read like your stove looks. If not, it won't be very much different.
So it's got a venturi between the flow control valve and burner head then? Does the burner tube release its gas at the bottom of the burner cap or the top angled downwards. And are they sealed with only the holes in the top?? Like to see one fired up. The ones I've seen on ebay look a little low in the pressure area with yellow tips. This the norm for these type. Saw that one on ebay. looking for a single burner for my studies. No I'm not collecting stoves at all. Just seeing how different ones work thats all!!
I had a look at a similar bnr. I have and this may not be the case in David's stove. The top ring of flames is probably what causes vapourisation to continue. Here's a few pictures of my burner close up, it looks very similar:
Thanks, Ian - my burners are very similar. The bottom of each one should screw off but there's no way I can shift 'em. I just wanted to check if the wicking was present. Anyway, this is definitely one to light outside the first time but it's been too windy here all day. I'll try tomorrow...
Lit it should look something like this Tito Landi which has a similar type of burner: If you fill the tank and let it stand a while you will be able to tell if there's any leaks or not. Prime it with a little spirit in the shallow though abetween the bnr ring and the central tube. They are very susceptible to any air movement. If there's no obvious leaks you should be ok indoors but keepa damp towel handy (as a matter of course).
