when I got my sigg firejet a very very long time ago the instructions were to use an alcohol jelly to prime it if wanting to use diesel/kero that came in a big tube costing a fiver however at the time the magazines like TGO/Trail etc.. claimed you could use slug pellets as they were cheap, light and easy to transport I never did find pellets that combusted, any idea what I should have looked for in the ingredients? I understand meta tablets made a good slug killer and oddly enough I have a small packet of them though never primed a stove with them as i just used it with petrol.
The metaldehyde in Meta tablets is what kills slugs but not all slug pellets contain the substance and rely on other chemicals to do the job, that happen not to have the flammability of metaldehyde. Apparently the slug-killing propertiy of Meta tablets was discovered by accident when it was noticed that tablets discarded at picnic sites had killed off numbers of the molluscs. Even in pellets with metaldehyde in them (I can’t be sure of any brand names) a larger proportion of the pellet is cereal as a bait to attract the slugs, so they wouldn’t be as flammable as the purer form in Meta tablets.
most of the pellets seem to be copper based (blue ones) maybe I needed the white coloured ones. I never found a packet labelled flammable though. I found the metatabs I have in a barn in france with a very usefull randoneur pan set my firejet lives in nicely, never knew there was a whole stove industry based around them until I discovered this site a few years ago, I was going to use them as firelighters but there are probably collectors with a genuine desire for them. no idea when they were made as they are in a blister pack with a white sliding cover rather then the cardboard boxes yours are in so they must be at least 1970s I'll stick a pic up when I get chance for some critique
I bought some meta tabs in the sliding plastic pack in the mid to late 80s. Its all I ever used to use for priming a 123r
i got a vague idea that some firejets were supplied with priming widget for kero but i did not get one with my stove, does anyone have one? it was a wick type thingy
@Rickybob I didn’t know they marketed that priming device. Not long enough to fill the whole diameter of the priming cup, but maybe that’s not necessary. Got me thinking. Thanks for posting.
thanks shag, that is the thingy, i think it was a late addition to the firejet kit in a desperate attempt to justify the 'multi-fuel' claim for the stove, when anyone who has tried knows the firejet is a total git to run on kerosene, what with the 'one jet fits all' approach white gas only i would say always thought the firejet had a strong whiff of whisperlite about it, made in the same factory perhaps? someone out there knows, that is a story i would like to hear
mine was a mk1 I think which has the flat diffuser in the head and no primer thingy, it also had a pretty crappy vinyl backed fabric case for it instead of the drawstring baggie. I have run it on diesel but only the 1 litre bottle full as it did need priming with a seperate fuel. meths worked pretty well, I made a horseshoe shaped wick larger than that one with something similar to stove rope IIRC. someone suggested that you could mix fuels together but I never tried that. not sure about the whisperlite bit - I did think the firejet could have done with shaker prick thingy msr came up with. it was obviously meant to be a simple military water burner, shame they didn't improve it further.
i have one with the flat diffuser and another with the cone shaped one crimped around the edge they appear to work the same so i assumed that the flat disc was the later version but you may be right, i have always been intrigued by the firejet and would like to know more about it's origins then there is the similarity of the pump with the msr of the time it would be neat if you could drill out the base and fit a whisperlite kero jet and shaker needle, then regular running on kero might be a proposition alas i lack the expertise to do it but i bet M could sort it out
there's enough space in there for a shaker needle I reckon, but no longer had access to the kit to make something. I will try and do a better gas conversion though, the one I experimented with leaks after a few minute.
Greetings, All, I have several Firejet stoves, and got some replacement jets, and other goodies, a while back, with help from a fellow Stovie at CCS! Some of those parts kits had the priming rope in them, but it would be very easy to make one for yourself, if you find that necessary. I would NEVER burn diesel, unless it was a dire emergency. Kerosene, Coleman Fuel, and Meths, offer me all the fuels I need, and work wonderfully in my stoves. Diesel is not good for your stoves, and with the noxious fumes, not good for your "punkin' haid neither"! Just sayin'....... Take care, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc
parrafin or kerosene is not so easy to get here anymore leaving diesel as the simple option if you have a diesel car or are cycle touring for example and petrol is not available. I'd use coleman fuel if it wasn't 5 quid for half a litre. some say panel wipe is the way to go as it burns cleaner. I have petrol kicking about for the lawnmower anyway.
from my own experience with a firejet i can report that the pressure release valve in the pump handle is not a gimmick - it must work correctly for the safe operation of the stove - most certainly for running on white gas the firejet does not react well to too much fuel pressure if the release valve sticks shut as it might after a long period of storage it is easy to over pump the fuel bottle which will cause flooding and a fireball. if you work the pump you should be able to push the handle down and twist lock it to the to the top of the pump barrel - if it refuses to stay put and jumps back up that is a sure sign that the valve is sticking and not venting excess pressure from the pump and an indication that there is too much pressure in the bottle i had this happen once and since i wish to avoid a repeat i check the pump every time i have an idea that the real problem is the plastic needle valve on the pump, on my stoves at least the valve seems to be an on/off switch and gives no fine control over the fuel flow anyone had a similar experience? or a different interpretation perhaps given the age of the firejet and the lack of spares i think people should be to urged to use them with a bit of extra caution
the time delay makes it hard to adjust and turn down and you can't get as close a tolerance with the plastic parts, shame really.
Here is an unused packet of the Meta tabs - used to use them in the late 1960s to light up Optimus 96 on DofE expeditions rather than carry meths - worked a treat - 1 tab snapped in half in the spirit ring all that was needed Price written on box: 1/9d, aka one shilling and nine pence - but probably past using by now damn what a waste Note the additional instructions for the alternative use as a slug killer on the back of the box Ian.
