Hi, I have been given this beautiful thing including a windshield and I want to bring it back to life. Where to begin? Brasso on the outside but their is white stuff on the air jet inlet and the tank needs an internal clean. If someone could please get me started in the right direction - I don't want to jump in and end up with a museum piece. Many thanks FM
Hi @Fading Margins . Welcome to CCS have a look at this thread: https://classiccampstoves.com/threads/stove-restoration-parts-1-to-4.3963/ Best Regards, Kerophile.
Many thanks! I now have my 67YO baby working but I was wondering what sort of boil time one might expect for a litre of water? Also she seems very low pressure by which I mean more than three strokes or so and she will give and orange flame and start doodle bugging. Otherwise she is all but silent, a far cry from my Optimus Nova and soot free which is nice.
Hi @Fading Margins Primus claimed 3 to 5 minutes to boil 2 pints of water. The range of times was claimed to depend on the tank pressure used. As for the behaviour you describe. It does not sound normal. The tank should only be 3/4 filled with paraffin. The free space in air filled and is pressurised when you operate the pump. Have a read of these instructions for operating the silent burners. http://www.base-camp.co.uk/instructions 3.htm Best Regards, Kerophile.
Underburn can soon melt and destroy an outer cap unless the stove is quickly extinguished. The way to avoid underburn is to never allow ignition of the flammable mixture under the outer cap. First, make sure the inner and outer burner caps are clean with no adherent rust or carbon flakes on their surface. If residues are on these surfaces they can glow once hot and cause early ignition of the air/fuel mixture. You should also check that the caps are properly seated on the burner so that no flame can slip under an edge. 1. Pre-heat the burner with absolutely no pressure in the tank. 2. Allow the pre-heat flame to totally extinguish. 3. Quickly close the air release, and pump the tank 10-15 pump strokes. 4. You should get clouds of white paraffin vapour/air mixture exit the many holes in the outer cap. 5. Only now should you light this mixture with a match or flame applied above the outer cap. 6. After 2-3 minutes of successful burn you can increase pressure gradually until full power is achieved. 7. If, on lighting, the burner immediately reverts to underburn, release tank pressure and start the whole process again. Best Regards, Kerophile.
Thank you Kerophile, I think my No 5 is okay, I suspect it is user error - pushing fuel into the jet prior to pre-heating which means burning some Kerosene as well as alcohol. What is underburn?
@Fading Margins Underburn is where the gasified kerosene burns underneath (inside) the outer cap of the burner. Underburn, if not stopped (shut down; light again) will destroy the outer burner cap. Tony
Thanks guys. Let me describe with problem and perhaps you can tell me what you think. I follow the instructions and she lights up very nicely - beautiful blue flame. I then continue to pump up to get max flame and at a certain point the flame goes from blue to orange and I start to get vapour coming up past my pot. I dial back on the air screw and we go back to a blue flame - any thoughts?
Hi, it is possible to overwhelm a silent burner with too much pressure. Look closely at the flame pattern as you increase pressure. You will progressively push the flamelets off the burner until they become totally detached and the flames go out. Perhaps this is what has happened. Best Regards, Kerophile
I also notice that the surface of the internal cup is tatty like the nickel is flaking off so perhaps that is creating points of turbulence or hot spots? Does that make sense?
On most of my kerosene burners I seem to get full power with 8-10 pumps. more pumping seems to do nothing more, unless the tank is nearing empty. Brad
Dirt, metal flakes, and carbon deposits can glow red-hot under silent burner caps during operation. These hot-spots can ignite the fuel/ air mixture under the caps and cause underburn. Always keep burner caps clean! Best Regards, Kerophile.
Maybe I am luckey but I never get under burn on silants, but I always prime well and keep the inner and outer very clean. This must add to it. So try cleaning the inner and outer cap too. Cheers Rob
Thanks everyone for your help. I gave both caps a rub down to ensure they were seating properly and then I though I would try the 68YO jet which I had replaced as a matter of course and bam - she boiled a litre in just under 7 minutes and a rolling boil in under 8 so not too shabby. Inevitably one thing leads to another: now that I can pump it up to pressure there seems to be a bit of sweating going on at the pump cap. At first I though this was just the oil I had used on the leather seal but if it smells like kerosene I guess it is kerosene. Is this normal or do I need to look for a fix. I say it is the cap but equally could it be the seam and if so can these be soldered? I am assume they are soldered? Once again many thanks for all the cups of tea
@Fading Margins. I appreciate it's been a couple of weeks and you ay have already discovered and fixed the leak I guess from the NRV.
The leak is from the soldered joint between the tube and the tank and as a lad who currently does not own a blow torch or solder or flux I am just enjoying my stove and wiping off the seep of fuel; a bit like an engine drive in days of old always had a rag handy. One day I will sort it out ;-)
