Simply to satisfy my curiosity, can anyone help me narrow in on the estimated production year of my SVEA 123? It is newly acquired with a Sigg Tourist. It came with the aftermarket pump and pump compatible fuel cap. It didn’t include the windscreen or the standard fuel cap. It is a 123, not a 123r, so I’m sure we can eliminate the later production years. Attached are some photos. I’m thinking the key, chain, flame spreader and ribbed vaporizer may provide some clues. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you, in advance.
@jdlsc Welcome to CCS. I think your stove is from the 1960s. There is an excellent piece of research done on the Svea 123. It has three pages of posts. The second and third pages provide lots of photos that will interest you. Each of the aspects are looked at in detail. The thread is here.
hi j, You do, do you shagratork . Filler cap can be indicative of when an Optimus Svea 123 was made. Your cap.. for me was no help however, not yet. your riser has me thinking c1971/72. As an aside, it would be of interest to see the bottom side of the filler cap. thx omc
Wow! That link had a ton of information. It appears that if you took every possible key type, chain type, fuel cap type, burner air port shape type... every possible combination was produced at some point. I didn't even think to post a picture of the nipple cleaner. It appears they vary, as well and mine didn't come with the box, which also varied throughout the years and is another piece to the puzzle. What a rabbit hole! I'm guessing mine is probably late '60s - early '70s; either C3 or C5 on the page 2 pix, the best that I can tell. Thanks!
@jdlsc , Yep, that's the Optimus version of the SVEA 123 burner. It's early 1970's, IMHO. Nice stove, though, and well worth owning, and using!! Congrats on getting it, and enjoy!! Doc
A couple responses happened while I was posting mine. I’ll get a photo of the underside of the fuel cap and nipple cleaner when I get home from the office in 3-4 hours.
Thanks for the compliments on the stove. Here’s a before and after shot. The after shot was before I test fired it. The pix above were after the test firing and you can see some stains from the alcohol priming.
I was just looking at the early '70s SVEA 123 advert in the catalogue section: https://classiccampstoves.com/threads/1970s-early-svea-123-brochure.16183/ The riser on that one isn't ribbed like mine. Any idea what years they had the horizontal ribs?
@jdlsc One thing about advertisements: Old illustrations often appear in an advertisement. Therefore they can’t always be relied on for dating. If some new feature appears, that is useful, but old features can just mean a prior illustration. Your pump cap is probably not much help, but all the other features are. Cheers Tony
My first thoughts were late 1960s or into the early 70s. I reread parts of exeter_yak's thread and looked at the post by SNOWGOOSE, here. He has a photo of various 123 filler caps. The bottom-right filler cap looks the same as the one in jdlsc's stove. The text to go with this cap is: . . . . . and finally a lid from a 60’s 123 Sievert 123.(concentric rings on burner head). It may well be that the stove is from the early 1970s. My comment was a starting point. I gave a link to exeter_yak's thread so that the OP would have a good read and find for himself where his stove fits into the history of the 123.
Hello again j, So that is a pump cap and we may not know what original cap was with your stove but c1971/72 is accurate. Pump cap works with a mini pump. Optimus sold a mini pump and cap as "an option" for use with several stoves that use same compatible filler cap. Pump is helpful when lighting in cold temps. Here is some detail credit shagratork but... do I recall a Optimus 199 Ranger as your avatar earlier? So you would be familiar as the pump and pump cap are standard issue with that model. thx omc
I do have the pump that came with this stove along with the Sigg Tourist. They are a great combo. Did Optimus sell then like this or was the Tourist and pump/filler cap added after the fact by a previous owner?
j, The pump and cap are an option, purchased separately. There were some SIGGs sold with this vintage Optimus Svea 123, example here... and if yours does not have Svea 123 windscreen, pot or pot handle, I guess, it's possible yours was sold as a kit originally. thx omc
Early '70s. The ribbed riser was on stoves being sold in '73 (a friend of mine bought one then), possibly a bit earlier. ....Arch
It looks like the consensus is that I have a stove from the early ‘70s that was sold as a kit with the Sigg Tourist. Mine included the stove, Sigg windshield (2 pieces), 2 pots, lid, pot lifter, pump, pump filler cap (no standard filler cap) and pricker. I have plans to let this baby live on and provide many more years of use and enjoyment. Thank you everyone for your help.
In my mind there are basically two versions of the 123 after the purchase by Optimus in '69. The stove without rings and the stove with rings. No doubt there were transition stoves, since companies use all available parts, but the rings were a change Optimus made around '71.
My Svea 123 was purchased about 1972 and is ringed. Question related to the nipple cleaners (they must have a name other than that!) - through carelessness, I’ve lost both wires from my 123 nipple cleaner. Is there a way to fix these? Wire available of appropriate size? Was the wire soldered into the crimped tool? Thanks all. Rob
HI, @Rob McMillan , The wires were, I believe, just crimped into that fold at the end of the pricker assembly. And, yes, you can buy the proper size steel wire. Having lunch, right now, but as soon as I finish, I'll measure one and send you the info, OK? If someone else pops in with the info, that's good, too. Talk soon, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc
