Some pictures of a No.6 No:5. A bit of a hulking brute compared to what I'd used in the past - and not for super-light back-packing (unless your name is Chuck Norris!) Dimensions are as follows: Height, 8"; Trivet diameter, 8"; Tank diameter, 6.25"; tank capacity, approx 2.25 pints. Fuelled up, and ready to go: Pre-heating in progress: Burning steadily (the red hot bit of wire puzzled me - till I realised that the seller had just put it through there to keep the top caps in place; now removed!) Second picture - and you can see that the pump shaft is starting to creep outwards, due to the NRV not seating properly; problem now sorted with advice from @Rangie Kettle on, and chocks away! (and pump shaft well out of place) Kettle coming to the boil: Good one! That'll give me some encouragement to make a start on sorting out my two stoves - with the dreaded Burmos Leaky Pump syndrome . . . I know, I know; buying one Burmos could be marked down as misfortune - buying two looks suspiciously like carelessness! (should have read up on other people's experience, first, but that's life, eh? ) With best regards, Jack
OK, why remove the wire? I have this on all my silent caps in one manner or another, doesn't affect the burn, and keeps everything together when it's not in use.
@Murph Well, the wire on mine was very thin, and it got up to bright yellow heat, at which point steel is really soft. It struck me that it wouldn't be much fun if it burnt through, and I had a yellow-hot piece of metal bouncing across the kitchen - especially if it was the first brew of the day, and I was still barefoot . . . But the No.6 No:5 is that big that it will a permanent feature on the worktop and not moved around, so I don't see myself dropping or losing the top caps. But thank you for the suggestion, all the same. With best regards, Jack
Hi Jack - these measurements, and the looking at the photos too - I would have thought this was a No.5? are you certain that there is a '6' not a '5' on the tank? Also, which catalogue did you find reference to a No.6 in, I haven't managed to find one? Regardless of all that though, Svea stoves are strong, quality products, once everything is nicely settled down you should have a reliable stove there for a few decades at least Ian
I agree with Ian. There is no Svea No.6 in any of the documentation that we have on CCS and no examples in the Reference Galleries. But if it is indeed a '6' then this is a first!
@igh371 and @shagratork You're both absolutely right - and I've no idea how I got cross-threaded on this one! I've just gone and looked, and - sure enough - it's a Svea No.5! Just to make sure, I've checked through all the catalogues / instructions sheets, et al, in the reference section, and there is no mention of a Svea No.6, anywhere . . . oh, dear; the senior moments seem to be arriving with monotonous regularity these days So the good news is that the old girl will see me out? Well, I'm happy to settle for that, and thanks for putting me straight on the model number. That will simplify matters a lot when it comes to ordering spares. Many thanks, and best regards, Jack
Actually, it's an Optimus-manufactured Svea 5 - identical to the Optimus and Primus nos. 5 after 1963...
PS: and it has an original Svea silent burner, so it was made straight after Optimus acquired the Svea brand, c. 1970 (as they would have first used up actual Svea parts - same with Primus in 1964: the earliest Primus Trading AB/Optimus versions used the original Hjorth 4138 silent burner, the genuine Primus filler cap and airscrew.
@shagratork Good-oh! I once made the mistake of buying a model of which AJS only made about 60 examples, before deciding that the Stormer was a far better bet, and dropping it completely. You can imagine the conversations when I tried to get hold of spares . . . "You've got an AJS trials bike, with a Villiers engine? There's no such thing, mate - must be a bitsa that some idiot put together!" Fortunately, I persuaded someone else to do a swap for a Honda - no character at all, but it worked, and spares were off the shelf.
@abbahco1 How can you tell the difference between mine and a Svea 5 which was built before the Optimus take-over, Abbahco? Not that I'm disputing what you say, mind; I don't know enough about stoves to know one way or the other - just interested! And can you tell me what the difference is between a Svea silent burner and that made by Optimus, please? With thanks, and best regards, Jack
Hi Jack: Look closely at the shape of the tank, legs, general features and other details. The original Svea designs (like Primus, acquired by Optimus in 1964) were completely different (if you look at an Optimus no. 5 from around 1970 on, and compare it in detail: leg shape, filler cap, airscrew, top plate you'll see that all of them, whether marked Svea, Primus or Optimus, are the exact same stove - for this reason the parts were stamped "Sweden" rather than with any of the individual brand names). You'll find identical stoves variously stamped Primus, Optimus and Svea. All were made in the same factory in Upplands Vaesby, Sweden by Optimus, which acquired Primus' kerosene products in 1964, and Svea/Sievert kerosene products in 1970 (they also acquired the Radius name, but never used it). In the Primus/Optimus models around 1964 you'll find original Primus parts (burners, airscrews, tank lids) still used. Around 1970, you'll find Optimus-made Svea stoves with the last remaining original Svea burners - later replaced by the Optimus No. 205 silent burner and equivalent roarer. Once again, the differences are slight and easy to overlook: the original Svea silent has a shallower burner bowl, and a slight "lip", which is absent on the Optimus. Also, the Optimus has a perforated central riser tube and inner dome - an innovation to prevent "underburning". I have been around (and a collector) for long enough that I recall the changeovers as they occurred. Any Primus stoves stamped "Primus Trading AB" was manufactured by AB Optimus - you'll find it on the box label. Same with Svea after 1970, until both Primus and Svea were dropped in the 1980s and stoves bore the Optimus brand name. hope this is useful - cheers, Peter
Many thanks for your detailed reply, Peter - though I'll leave off reading it, and comparing it with my Svea until tomorrow evening, when I'll have more time. The using up of existing parts, and what's called 'badge engineering' over here - making the same product but putting different names on it - was rife in the last days of British motorcycle engineering, as the big firms with big money (though with appalling management) bought up or wiped out the smaller firms who actually understood the customers and the market. Not, mind you, that I'm implying any similar failure on the part of the management team at Optimus; that they are still in business (unlike the losers who bankrupted BSA, Triumph and AMC), and with their products having such a fine reputation, that tells you all you need to know about the bosses, and how well they run the company. With best regards, Jack
Hi Jack @Jack Enright , I once had a AJS Stormer too! Mine was a 250, there also was a bigger one (I think 360cc or something like that). A man called Fluff Brown (hope I got that right) kept making them after AJS stopped their production. Good memories! Best regards, Wim
Oh, I didn't have a Stormer, Wim - mine was a trials bike with an unimpressive and very outdated Villiers 37A, which was not that different from the engines they were building in the early 1950s. By the 1970s, it was totally outclassed. The Stormer had the Villiers Starmaker engine, and that was a real tiger! If Villiers had started building engines like that around 1960, when it was obvious they needed to start afresh, they might still have been in business today. And yes, after AMC went bankrupt, Fluff Brown (a very gifted engineer) set up on his own, initially building 250cc Stormers, and later enlarging them to 370cc, then 410cc. They still fetch very good prices, too (and they're worth it!). With best regards, Jack
Just looking at the photos you posted, Jack. Your stove has an Optimus tank, filler cap, air-screw, top plate and spirit cup. It has a Svea burner (you'll find the part number stamped on it if you remove the burner caps and you can see the slight lip at the bottom of the burner bowl). P.
@abbahco1 Just out of curiosity (if you know the answer): Am I correct in assuming that the non-brass pump knobs found on several Svea models are late in the production?
The Optimus-made products briefly used bakelite for the pump knobs around the 1970s. The model 535 double-burner stove featured a bakelite pump knob even back in the Primus/AB BAHCO days (1955 - 1963).
You're dead right, Peter. Burner is stamped Svea 815; top cap, inner (steel) is stamped Svea 847; top cap, outer (brass) is stamped Svea 1239 - and I see what you mean about the tiny lip on the spirit cup. It must have been fun and games for the stores people in the immediate aftermath of the mergers / takeovers, eh? Many thanks, and best regards, Jack
