Hello good people, I have been lurking here and learning for some time. I learned a great deal, and it finally occurred to me that I should join up and support the site monetarily. I don't have much to offer compared to the experts, those with vastly greater experience than I, but I do intend to find something of interest to post in the future. For the moment, I must ask for advice. I ordered two NOS Optimus 207 burners from A&H Packstoves, and when they arrived they both had file notches in them in the same place on both, (opposite end of the structure that houses the spindle). I sent pictures to Shirlene and she said "what are you talking about", but that she would replace them. Could the burners have been marked with nearly identical file cuts to mark them as seconds, or defective? Here are pictures of the notches. I fired up one of the burners and got this....underburn? I changed to a brass cap and there was very minimal improvement, but still a yellow ball of flame. I also replaced the jet with a new replacement from A&H but it made no difference. I guess I cannot send that burner back now that I tried it out. Another issue I need advice about are these crush cone washers, for lack of a more precise term. They are part of an Optimus 155 that I purchased from a member here. They are a one use item that seal the burner to the tank plumbing. Does anyone know of a source for these? If at any time I remove a burner, the cone washer must be replaced. I tried reusing them and it leaked. I thank you for any help with these issues.
Let the preheat cup burn dry, THEN take a second match and light the top of the silent burner, solves that problem. I'll wager the file "notches" is where the sprue was removed from the casting after it was removed from the mould. Murph
Hi, Dogface, Welcome to CCS, Sir! We have some fine members in NC, so you'll have to touch base with them, and see about attending one of their Stove Gatherings. As to the little file marks on your burners, I wouldn't give a thought to those, if those were my burners. Remember, getting ANY such burners these days, so many years after they were discontinued, is flat-out amazing, and a real blessing!! So, a few file marks shouldn't rain on your enjoyment of using those fine burners one bit. A&H are a great source of such parts for those of us who live in the US, but remember, what they have, is what they have, as NO more parts such as those exist for ordering. Hopefully that will help you understand that, even with the small file marks, those burners you got are outstanding, and when those are gone, they may well be gone forever, at least from a Swedish manufacturer. As for the cone lead washers, I've never seen them before, but as HD said, most of us just use a flat lead gasket, many times pounded out of fishing weights, or lead bullets, and then cut to size, inner and outer holes made to fit the burner you're using. Not to worry if you can't replace them, exactly, as the ones you can make will do just fine. Again, welcome, and have fun with your stoves! Take care, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc
Welcome aboard the Ship of Pyros(Tm) Under burn is a much harsher noise than the regular smooth 'flat tire' hiss of normal operation. Also the burner cap will glow cherry red all over in short order. The orange-y flame ball could be as easy as dodgy old fuel burning off and the burner head settling into it's job. Another possibility could be the wrong size (too large) jet. Don't panic just yet, there is any amount of hard headed to be had here abouts.
Did you ever get any of the problems with your burners resolved? or did you get the burners replaced? Photos of the stove that you are fitting it to would be great. It is good to see what a member is working on or cooking with.
Geoff, the Optimus 155 sits gathering dust since then, as I moved on to other stoves, other things. I have many projects going on all the time, and some of them become superseded by others, and then forgotten. I did eventually find a source for the aluminum cone washers though.
If a 155 is what I think it is, a friend has one in a yacht, very nice stove, he actually has two one kero and one alcohol. I am not sure which one he is using though.
It is an excellent stove. For what it is, it's capabilities, construction, I do not know of a better one. The one I have runs on kero. Now that you brought this up I feel a bit guilty about neglecting the situation with the stove, and perhaps it will be enough to inspire me to finish the job. The file cuts in the burners are still a mystery to me. They are not the result of removing excess metal, rather they are purposeful cuts, as if to mark the burners for some reason. Why someone would mark the burners in such a ham handed manner is beyond me, as is why they were marked at all. When I inquired at A&H about the situation long ago, they did not address my question, instead just offering to refund my money if I so desired to return the burners. I do not believe the burners are under burning, that is if my memory is at all accurate on the subject. I really need to fire them up again and figure out what is going on with them, perhaps torment the membership here with incessant questions about it.
Yes I think that you should absolve your guilt and put that stove to the use it deserves. I have had all sorts of problems with silent burners, mostly due to age and swapped about inner and outer burner caps. I am using a two burner stove at the moment that uses the same burners as yours, the left and right burners have caps with the same pattern of holes but set at a diffferent height. One burner preheats and fire right up to full power, the other needs gentle feathering of the control, slowly bringing it up to full power. Give it a go, I do not think that the membership will be tormented by incessent stove questions.
Clayton Abbott, one of the founders of A&H, used to mess around with modifying stoves, much like folks on CCS do. The original A&H was housed in his crowded garage, so it may be that he would mark burners he had modified in some way, so that he didn't mix them up with sales stock (or with other experiments). Note that this is just speculation on my part. I have an Optimus 45 that he had experimented with before selling it to me, but there don't appear to be any extraneous file marks on it. ....Arch
It seems to me you made it a puzzle, and are tormenting not us but yourself. To give file marks that might look odd any significance I find already out of the ordinary. And then you seem to lean towards a negative scenario in connection with them. Here in The Netherlands we have a saying for such drama: "seeing burglars under the bed". Do yourself a favour and lighten up (no pun intended) or just let go. After all, they work, don't they? Or did I miss something? Mike
Yes I think you missed something, and proceeded to read into the situation a negative attitude, even paranoid on my part. I purchased two identical burners, both burners have a rather deep, to me, file cut in the same place. This does not necessarily have any effect on their performance, but obviously the cuts were purposeful. The question is why. As ArchMc suggested, perhaps they have been modified at some point, and marked to indicate that fact. If so, what modifications were performed on them? Noticing things out of the ordinary in one's environment is a survival trait. Curiosity is an innate part of man's psychology, and for good reason, for without it we would be more akin to the grass eaters, that do not bother themselves with anything beyond their basic physical needs. This constant asking of why that all humans are subject to compels us to find answers to many things, that benefit us in a myriad of ways. Ascribing meaning to these things is often a puzzle of some sort. Lecturing me that I should ignore such things, or am blowing them out of proportion is absurd. Going through life blithely ignoring the little things that are different, perhaps out of order, is what gets people injured or killed at some point. I have let it go, that is until some new information may present itself that informs as to the nature of the situation.
Seems no different to me than the interest many have in innumerable small details, often of great subtlety, about various stove models. This causes no comment....
