About 10 years ago I bought a brand new Svea 123r. Its construction felt very crude and rough, and much tinkering only made it run just ok, never very good. This week I bought an old original 123 (with the valve stem angled down)... what a huge difference. The old one feels like a high quality product and runs like a dream. It was just a bare stove without any accessories so I'm using the windscreen, etc. from the 123r, but now I have a stove I can take out and use. I don't know, maybe the 123r was a just a lemon, but if that represents the quality being made now everyone should buy the old ones.
You are preaching to the choir here Most here would agree the earlier stoves were better. There are very good 123R s however.Ivan
I prefer the 123, but nothing wrong with a 123R. YMMV. HYOH. And so on. Oh, we drool over photos, if you can post one or more. Welcome to CCS. Ken in NC
This is how it's set up, old 123 with new style windscreen, pot & handle. The non-originality of the accessories doesn't bother me, this is going to be a user and see lots of action.
I've used the 123 with the Sigg set for a long time, but the last 2 or 3 outings have used a 123R. I really like just half-turning the key instead of the slow "unscrewing" process on the 123. Both burn hot and fast.
@mad_dad , Welcome to CCS! I, too, love the older SVEA123's, and most especially, the first version of the Sievert SVEA 123!! BUT, a good 123R is still a great performer, though many times, right out of the box, the cleaning needle needs to be reset. As shipped, it common for the cleaning needle to be set too high, so there is no "throw" in the simmering control. I always reset mine to 4-5 clicks down, and then they work very, very well, indeed! Still like the older Sievert SVEA 123's best, but the others are also very good, once you reset the cleaning needles. Take care, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc
Wow, after reading some of your responses I guess my 123r was a fluke, maybe just a bad production run. It surged and sputtered horribly and out of the box had high flames on one side of the burner plate, low on the other. I had to modify the plate to sit way off-center, 50% closer to one side for the flame to be even all around. Never got the flame all blue either. I pulled out the wick and it looked fine... I replaced it anyway and the extreme surging didn't change. The old school 123 I just got is such a sweet runner it's hard to believe it's from the same company.
Probably its not, in respect of the manufacturer at least. Production moved from Sweden to Taiwan some years ago with a change of ownership of the parent company (Optimus) and the consensus is that quality suffered.
@mad_dad Well done. Have you looked at the alignment of the burner bell to the vaporizer/tank? That may be the cause of the uneven flame. Or the jet, or jet hole, is not clean. maybe clean the jet thouroughly. Some here have put a very small chamfer at the exit hole of the jet. Not too much, just enough for the gas to get a clean exit of the jet.
I know I am in the minority here, but I had very good luck with my modern 123R. I bought it new in 2014 or there about. It ran very well and I had no issues with it. Except, I ran it out of fuel one time by using too large a pan and I had to replace the wick. However, I sold it anyway and bought an older made in Sweden 123R to go with my 123. Why not, right? Brad
I have a 123 and a 123R also-both run good but like the look of the 123 as it is aged and has never let me down.
I have given away the 123R stoves that I have found. Like sharing a birthday gift all year long. Others like them fine. I can live without. Next trip will have the 123 in a Sigg kit, (@Ed Winskill) a Trangia 25, and whatever I feel like adding. The added stoves will be for fun. The first two have become my favorite travel stoves. (Exception: Heinze Geniol Dieselkocher is in need of repair parts).
@snwcmpr Yes, the R model is built much heavier, I guess to accommodate the needle apparatus. The 123 seems svelte in comparison. My 123, full of fuel, weighs 495 g. My 123R is 555 g.
From what I'm hearing (and I've heard it from others also) it seems the Taiwanese 123Rs may have had a quality control problem, possibly just in the earliest production. ....Arch
I got a new made in Taiwan 123R in 2012, and i can not see any difference between that one and an older made in Sweden 123R, except the stampings on the tank ('Made in Sweden' vs 'Sweden'). No apparent worse quality. The fact that I like the 123 better is another case, because that is another burner. I like 123 better beacuse it is sligthly faster to prime and it is sligthly easier to adjust the power. And it is slightly more light weight. Because the wick is filtering the fuel, it is working very long time without cleaning the jet, so I don't miss the internal needle.
