Svea 123R won't pressurize - what am I doing wrong?

I also have one of the new 123R that are not made in Sweden. One hot summer day I used too big a pan and the stove burned very hot and I ran it dry, out of fuel. I looked at the wick and it barely seemed scorched; it only showed a very slight brown discoloration. There was no charring and the wick remained soft. However, the stove did not burn well after that. I tried about everything to no avail. When I finally replaced the wick the stove was fine.

 

"I've run the 123 dry more than once, more than twice, with no effect on the wick or on the performance. I'm skeptical about the "run dry" issue"
Considering how hard mines been running when its run out Im not sure that scorching is an instant thing but certainly builds up over time. My 123r would of run dry at least 20 times from new with several of those at full noise under a 8 pint billy. The wick was scorched when I opened it but not badly but even that was enough to reduce its time from lighting to flat out. More than 10 minutes at full under an 8 pinter and the classic 123 chuff turns into a scream almost as loud as a dragonfly.

 

Well I did the bubble test. I put it in warm water and no bubbles, opened the jet and got a steady stream. Temps went up here, but they'll be going back down, and when they do, I'll try running the stove but first removing the cap

 

Sounds like it was a priming issue. This time, try filling up the priming bowl with white gas and drizzling the same mount over the burner bell and letting it run down the sides. Fire ball that baby up! I call it a "hard" prime for those especially cold mornings.

 

Hi all, OP here. I know it's been a while, but I got distracted by other things over the last year. I tried everything people on here told me, and nothing helped. Then, I had a small breakthrough, at least in diagnosing the issue. When I would go to shut the stove off, I had a lingering flame. Again, this stove is only a few years old and hasn't been used much, so I assumed that was normal. Restarting my research, I found out that's not normal and can indicate that the cleaning needle isn't properly set with the spindle.

I got a repair kit so I could disassemble, clean everything, and reassemble with new graphite. I followed the reassembly instructions and the first is to screw the spindle all the way down into the burner assembly. I did that, and when I look down the stem, I can see the teeth of the spindle where they will make contact with the needle.

My main question now is, how deep should the spindle sit? It only goes so far in that the teeth are only half way in, leaving a gap around the corner edge of the teeth. Should the teeth be farther into the stem? It doesn't look like the point of the spindle can fully seat in its depression on the other side of the stem the way it's sitting now.

 

@pkz19 ,

I usually set my cleaning needles at least 4 clicks down, and sometimes 5 clicks down, depending on the stove. Give that a try, and you should then have much more flame adjustment from your stove. Works for me, and has for about 40 years of doing it that way!! Take care, and God Bless!

Every Good Wish,
Doc

@Ed Winskill , Evening, Ed, I have to chime in on your comment:
"I've run the 123 dry more than once, more than twice, with no effect on the wick or on the performance. I'm skeptical about the "run dry" issue. Certainly, I try to avoid it. But my guess is that "scorching" the wick is something that can happen in such a situation, but seldom does."

As I have had to replace countless numbers of wicks, that had been discolored due to having been burned dry too many times, I would have to conclude that this problem happens quite regularly, at least in my own experience! I've replaced charred wicks in 123's, 123R's, 8R's, 99's, and many other wick fed stoves, and in every single case, the performance of those stoves was much better. As I say, this is just from my own experience. But, since I've probably owned quite a few more than 30 123 stoves, over the years, I've seen it happen far to many times to only "seldom" be a problem. My experiences, and others may have varying experiences......... Take care, and God Bless!

Every Good Wish,
Doc

 

I eschew responsibility for posts over 2 years old, but have to accept it for this one as it has been only about 1 year and 11 months.

I'm sure running dry is a bad thing and can lead to scorching. As I remember, my point was that it is not necessarily immediately fatal, as some seem sometimes to worry about. It happened to me two or three times early on before I had a real sense of the stove's capacity, but I used the stove without incident for years thereafter.

As I said in later posts in this old thread, it is something to be avoided.

 

@Ed Winskill

Good Morning, Ed,

Ahhh, I hadn't noticed that this thread was an Old Timer, resurrected by someone. I guess the "take-away" from this thread, and all our collective experiences, is that wick scorching can, and does happen, IF a stove is burned dry too many times. How many times is "too many"? I have no quantifiable idea. But, let us say that it's best avoided, if at all possible. In all the wicks I've replaced, I remember being somewhat stunned that sometimes those wicks had very little "charring" color to them, and still performed less than perfectly. My conclusion was that it didn't take too many times of being run dry, before stove performance began to drop. Just my thoughts, for what they are worth. As for myself, I have learned to refill every wick fed stove, after every use, and thereby render the possibility of running the stove dry far less likely a problem I'll have to address later. Best to you and yours, my friend, and God Bless!

Every Good Wish,
Doc

 

Maybe someone else can say, but for me I say a photo would help a lot.

Ken in NC

 

Sorry for the lack of response, been sidelined with a sprained ankle. Will post a picture as soon as I can.