Hi friends, It's been a while since I did fettle a stove as I was busy fixing some pressure lanterns. Now finally working on a stove again. British army Nr 12 if I am correct. Extremely solid with stainless steel tank, nice heavy duty box etc. On the negative side is a majr problem with a bottom piece of the pump shaft where the NRV is sitting that went off due to improper solder. This was described before. I think I was able to fix it permanently. Stove builds pressure, holds it and fires up nicely. Current problem no cleaning needle. The spindle of the burner seems to be worn out so maybe the needle was removed because of that. My question: does the spindle and needle from Optimus 111 fit? (I did not want to disassemble just to try it as the graphite would easily be damaged). Your advise is appreciated. Pic of the stove outside the case attached thanks Mike
Hi Mike, I also damaged my no:12 and needed a new spindle and needle. I ordered one for a 111 from A&H in California and it worked great in the British #12. I am sure Basecamp also has what you need. Good luck with the fettle. Dan
I also forgot to mention that I had to file a little brass off of the cleaning needle edges to get it to fit into the burner. If I remember correctly, it was a little from the square edges of the cleaning needle. Dan
A depressingly familiar tale... Mine had what I thought was a massively incontinent NRV. It's a Tilley-style arrangement where the NRV screws onto the end of the tank side of the pump which unscrews so I set about removing it. Easier said than done, unfortunately. I presume there's a proper spanner supplied with the stove but I didn't have one so I set about it with conventional spanners. Not one spanner I had fitted comfortably and anything that was close just slipped off the skinny shoulders of the hexagon, rounding it off and eventually shearing off the metal loop which secures the pump knob. (Note to manufacturers - look at an old Monitor military stove to see how the pump hexagon really needs to be) I couldn't even beg, steal or borrow the correct-sized spanner/socket/whatever from anybody at all - bah! There the matter rested for well over a year until Ross invited Trevor and me over to his for a curry and fettle. I knew Ross was allergic to British Army No. 2 stoves but I decided to take the risk with the No. 12. Surely three of us could unscrew that pump... Well, it turned out three of us could, although we needed the help of a large vice, a huge pair of Stilsons and about an hour to do it. The pump threads were so tight it required all our strength (mainly Ross and Trevor it must be said) and we could manage only about a third of a turn each time - it fought back every nanometre of the way... It fell to Ross to be the one who eventually managed the final few degrees of turning and the pump was free at last. As he held it, the complete end of the pump-tube just came away in his hand. There was barely enough solder there to hold it in place and nowhere near enough to form a seal which explains the fuel leak in the first place. Then we found the brutal treatment necessary to remove the pump had irretrievably damaged the threads at the top. Hey-ho... I eventually managed to buy a used pump very reasonably from Geoff Cousins (Paraffin-alia on eBay) and got it screwed into the tank with a struggle after I found a well-fitting socket in a large tool-kit I've now got access to. For future reference, I seem to recall it was 24mm. Anyway, the stove now works tolerably well and easily passed the tea-test, but it's not a patch on the Heinze/Petromax/Geniol/Bund German military stove I also have. I think there can be little doubt that it left the factory in the condition I found it. The mind boggles that any company could make such a badly engineered object in the first place, but to supply such a POS to the military for use by troops, possibly under combat conditions, for me, utterly beggars belief. Who made these f-things in the first place, anyway - T&W? (Edit - I see from elsewhere it was a company called TOC which made them. What's that short for? - Tons of Cr*p?)
I keep seeing the No. 12 come up for sale on Ebay, and I have been tempted, but they seem to be in large demand with suitably high prices. Couple that with shipping costs to the US, and I don't feel like risking that kind of money on a stove that needs a complete overhaul, regardless if it is "brand new" or used in the field. I can't imagine a government contractor could get away with such poor quality control. I guess all that nice brass and stainless steel does not always indicate superb workmanship! Regards Doug
I'll have it at Newark, Andy - you can have a play with it and see what you think. I got it from another CCS member so I don't want to make any money out of it. If you like it, cover my costs and it's yours...
Thanks guys. Good to know that (as I suspected) the optimus 111 parts fit. I will try to install the cleaning needle. The other thing is the problem with the pumps which greatly reduces the rank this stove will have for collectors who also look for superior quality and useability. (good for me that I have 4 of the german Heinze Geniol stoves. All 4 are in 100 % good working order) cheers Mike
Hi Genuine Army Surplus in Darlington have them brand new for £80.00. If anyone wants one that much. Too rich for me.
Hi guys, Quick and pretty much final update: I had a suitable spare part from the optimus 111 at hand so could do the fettle. Cleaning needle from hytta.de - as described by a friend I rounded the rather quare body of the needle body a bit so it fits well. (this is a 5 tooth needle). Stove works fine now. The other thing that I did is I added a 3 mm Viton washer (self-made) when screwing in the pump as the last millimeters in were really difficult, I don't want to run into the troubles David had described. This is a stove that you need to earn... probably not for the "newbies" cheers Mike PS: I could not find these stoves on the page of the store either - any details on this?
Hi guys, As a follow up to the recent discussions on the British Army No.12 stove here is an additional anecdote/experience I just made when fettling another of these stoves (why do I need more than one - well you understand I hope) Stove was in overall very good little used condition. Few uses but a lot of carbon and dirt at the burner. First thing I noticed is that the tank lid sealing was partially dissolved -yes. Looks like someone had tried to use acetone or something similar, this was confirmed by the smell in the tank. Once and forever: acetone is NOT a suitable liquid for stoves and lanterns! The other thing that was weird: the cleaning needle although present did not want to show through the jet. Took me some time to find out what happened and this is very weird: the jet is not compatible with the cleaning needle! How did that come? Looks like all original parts. I replaced the jet with a spare one of Optimus 111 and now the needle shows - after a cleaning the stove works like a charm! (thank god I got the pump unscrewed from the tank I was really afraid that this previously reported problem could cause major headache) Overall: very mixed feelings about this stove, once it is fully up and running it will hopefully do his job for many years! kind regards Mike
