Hi Got myself an Optimus alchohol bottle which I wanted to put in good use. However the bottle has outsmarted me and merely outputs 5ml at its best. Is there a correct procedure on how to use these things? Right now the bottle needs to be completely upside down to start pouring. Also the bottle needs to be reopened, shakened and cursed at between every consecutive fill. Quite a ritual for only 5ml. If I compare the bottle to Shagratork's, I can see that mine lacks the red plastic cap inside the transparent cap. Is this red cap magic? Since the bottle was unused, I needed to poke the little air vent hole in the transparent cap open. Perhaps this hole needs to be bigger? Thanks /Daniel
@annfield This is – in my opinion – a case of the tin ones were better; it’s just they all have pin holes, almost. I do have a similar plastic one working OK though. Not sure about the ml output, but a good three quarters of an Optimus No 5 spirit cup. I think you are on to it with the vent hole, rather bigger than small. This is also the downside to this type of bottle, as most do not have a cap for the cap (or vent hole) originally. The vent hole will leak under transport and left alone for a few days the angles will have helped themselves to the spirit. They do not seem to care denatured or not. A finger on the vent will help get the right amount for a smaller stove; start with the finger on, lift, finger back on at the right moment. A quick flick of the bottle should give a new dose. All the best, e
@annfield The missing inner red plug does not affect the functioning of the bottle. As long as there is a small vent hole in the cap then everything should be OK. I was surprised to see that you have dismantled the bottle. I have never seen one in that state. As far as I know the container and the lid are glued together, to ensure a correct seal. This also ensures that the thin plastic tube attached to the metal pouring spout stays sealed in the top of the 'false bottom'. The volume of the space in the false bottom is the dose of meths that will be poured in one pouring. You gave a link to my plastic container, but I had previously described the design of the containers by showing the metal container which lead to the design of the later plastic container. The container should be stood upright to allow the meths to fill the false bottom (please excuse my poor drawing). When pouring, the pouring spout should be at the bottom. Here is the link to my full post.
I am not so shure the red plug is missing. No one of mine has this red plug. All either bought new from retailer or from unopened military spare kits. It is probably only different batches from different years of manufacture. I have also been able to take one of mine apart and it was not glued together. Michael
@shagratork , Trevor, I agree with Tony @Tony Press! That is a wonderfully accurate illustration of that Meths tin! Well done! @annfield , I have two of those plastic Optimus bottles, a gift from Shirlene at A&H many years ago, and they work well. However they most certainly do not function as well as the older, well-proven metal Meths tins!! And, yes, they do meter out a specific amount of Meths, and it does not seem quite as much as the older Meths tins produced. Still and all, they are workable, and if you are careful, as they are very easily damaged to the point of ruin, they should give you good service. Good luck, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc
I have not used a plastic one, but ... Could the small measure be good for adjusting the amount of priming fuel depending on the weather? Or even depending on the stove it is used with.
@shagratork, Thanks for your informative and hand drawn sketches. Haven't seen the second sketch before. Now I know the proper filling technique and brass pipe orientation (the pipe is rotatable on this plastic bottle). Furthermore, as @cmb56 pointed out, the lid and inner compartment is detachable on this version. There is a large O-ring in the lid. I have enlarged the hole so that the hole size matches the hole on an old metal spirit bottle cap from Primus. Unfortunately the problem persists. The initial fill is ok (after the bottle have been filled) but consecutive fills are hard to achieve and produces a much smaller dose. What do you do between fills to prime the bottle for the next fill? 1. Shake the bottle up and down 2. Shake the bottle sideways 3. Rotate the lower part of the bottle in an horizontal manner 4. Tap the bottle 5. Tap the bottle cap 6. Sing a magic song 7. Blow into the vent hole 8. Just wait 30 sec or more 9. Other
8. Just wait 30 sec or more (since the initial splash is usually enough to wet my glass wick fully) And just maybe: 6. Sing a magic song - when I see the magic blue flame after igniting the stove... /Odd
@annfield I cannot think of any reason why your spirit can works as you describe, so I had to try out some of my own. I tested with the plastic Optimus, one tin Primus and two tin Radius (one with plastic top). You are right about the 5 ml output, they are all about the same. The next 5 ml comes directly when tilting the can back to vertical – one hears and feel as the bubbles leave the void between the bottoms – and back over to pouring. I found myself filling the cans about two thirds full, not sure why but it works. The Radius ones have the air went on the side. This is more difficult to manipulate with a finger, and a drop on top can delay the filling / pouring – but not much. The only thing I can think of is – are you testing with water??? That is no bueno. Water have different characteristics compared to spirit. All the best, e
You are so right. The key to outsmart an NOS Optimus plastic automatic can is to: 1. Enlarge the air vent hole. 2. Realize that you can not practice the art of filling the spirit cup with an automatic can using water instead of alcohol due to difference in viscosity. 3. Realize that no tap, waiting, shake or ritual is required. As a side note: I have used a modified disposable baby medicine doser up to now. It works ok but using a squeeze bottle instead of a syringe would probably give more control over the output pressure.
Can you measure the amount of alcohol that sets below the divider in the bottom? I suspect 2 possible solutions/problems. First, I would fill alcohol up to the divider, then disassemble, and measure what you have put in. 1) The divider may be set too low. The height of that divider is what sets the volume of the dispenser. One cannot pour out any more than that. 2) The divider is not as tightly sealed as it should be, and some of the alcohol is leaking back into the main compartment of the bottle. If the height of the divider is set correctly, then I would suspect the latter as the cause. Ken in NC
