Punker 1 alcohol-fuelled single burner marine stove

Discussion in 'Punker' started by presscall, Mar 12, 2017.

  1. presscall

    presscall United Kingdom SotM Winner SotY Winner Subscriber

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    @snwcmpr did a thorough job HERE of dismantling one of these but I'll add my own observations. Mine's a well-used example and the sharp-eyed may notice a couple of small screwheads visible on the right leg to frame joint. The spot welds had failed and a previous owner had drilled them out to accommodate set screws.

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    The vapourising tube and burner ...

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    ... presented a problem in that the joint between the vapourising tube and the brass control knob mounting end piece had developed a crack, which I silbrazed shut.

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    A curiosity. The stamped 'Sweden' is upside-down to my eye, readable from the back of the stove and not from the front. There's no question of wrong assembly, it's just made that way.

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    Vapourising tube components, left to right - control knob spindle packing (fibre); packing nut; end cap (at the fuel tank end, where the wick/filter is inserted).

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    The wick/filter ...

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    ... described as a 'strainer brush' on the user instruction decal on the fuel tank.

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    The fuel tank is of nickel-plated brass.

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    Another curiosity. The fuel cap has a dipper to take a charge of alcohol ...

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    ... and by pressing it down in the priming fuel trough extension the priming fuel is released and cascades down to the priming trough below the burner.

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    What's curious about it is that the ritual can be avoided simply by opening the control knob and fuel flows out of the jet and into the priming trough, a simpler process.

    Most examples I've seen of this model have a front fiddle-rail with a part of it dropped to provide clearance for a skillet/frypan handle. This one doesn't ...

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    ... but it's a simple operation to slide the rail out and put it to one side.

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    Powerful and controllable flame.

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    Brew time.

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    John
     
  2. G1gop United Kingdom

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    Excellent John.
    Could you perhaps go through what you use to silbraze and ideally a tutorial on it?
    I can find a few mentions of it but not found a 'this is what you need and how you do it' post.
    If there is and I have missed it, could someone point me in the right direction please?
    Alan
     
  3. presscall

    presscall United Kingdom SotM Winner SotY Winner Subscriber

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    Silbrazing, aka silver soldering, aka hard soldering. The process eesembles 'soft' or lead soldering but instead of lead solder and resin or acid flux a brass/silver-solder rod and borax flux are used. Higher temperature required than for lead solder to melt the silver solder, achievable using a MAPP gas blowtorch.

    Result is a mechanically strong joint that won't fail at stove burner temperatures.

    Here was a repair on a Primus 71 burner, which required a steel plate jig to hold the parts in alignment while being silbrazed.

    IMG_4517.JPG IMG_4518.JPG IMG_4519.JPG IMG_4520.JPG

    John
     
  4. snwcmpr

    snwcmpr SotM Winner Subscriber

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    Bravo John, a very nice thread and a beautiful set of photographs.
    A strainer brush in good condition, I see.

    Does yours have the small flame below and left of the burner?

    Thank you,
    Ken in NC
     
  5. BradB

    BradB United States Subscriber

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    John, your Punker so SOOO nice! Mine was a gift from a friend, rescued from his attic after sitting over thirty years. They are a great stove and yours is the best I've seen.
     
  6. BradB

    BradB United States Subscriber

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    Ken, I had not seen your Punker before. It is also beautiful!
     
  7. snwcmpr

    snwcmpr SotM Winner Subscriber

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    Last edited: Mar 13, 2017
  8. BradB

    BradB United States Subscriber

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    @snwcmpr I read your old deck post. Beautiful. Reminds me of my old place in Pennsylvania. But we downsized and moved to town here in NC. The Punker looks great and right at home there. Nice work for a "non carpenter"! No one would ever know.
     
  9. G1gop United Kingdom

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    MAPP?
     
  10. G1gop United Kingdom

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    Ok looked up MAPP and understand what it is. Last time i did any brazing was 40+ years ago!
     
  11. presscall

    presscall United Kingdom SotM Winner SotY Winner Subscriber

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    Yes it does Ken. It pre-heats/vapourises the fuel, though the tube loop around the burner does that also, so I see it as a fail-safe to ensure reliable vapourisation with no surging. The combination certainly works as you know.

    John
     
  12. snwcmpr

    snwcmpr SotM Winner Subscriber

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    I have done sil-brazing with 'dental grade' silver and Harris brand white flux on small pieces with a small Bernzomatic butane torch. Larger pieces I use propane.
    I bought an oxy-acetylene setup, and a micro-torch, but have not needed it since a master fettler advised me.
     
  13. presscall

    presscall United Kingdom SotM Winner SotY Winner Subscriber

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    I resolved the puzzle of why that priming arrangement is provided when the priming tray can be filled simply by releasing some fuel from the stove jet by opening the control spindle briefly.

    It's peculiar to the design that the fuel line encircles the burner rose and by filling the tray from the jet the fuel trapped in the loop (control valve shut) vapourises in the heat from the priming tray and a surge of vapourised fuel creates a foot-high flame at the burner for a couple of seconds.

    Startling, and once anticipated not much of an issue, but loading the priming tray with fuel from the little dropper cup attached to the fuel cap avoids the drama. Simple as that.

    John
     
  14. snwcmpr

    snwcmpr SotM Winner Subscriber

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    Good point.
     
  15. linux_author

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    yes, avoiding that drama in the confines of a sailboat's cabin is kind of important... btw, i'm using my little stainless Punker single-burner quite a bit lately (one fill of the tank equals an entire week's worth of coffee and breakfast meals)

    i also ran into deterioration of the end cap gasket... in use, that area of the stove barely gets warm to the touch, so a viton o-ring handily fixed the slight drip leak that developed (this is after a year's use - dunno the vintage or dating of these stoves - 60's?)

    willie
    on the stinkin' hot and humid Gulf of Mexico