Whats wrong with my 111C? When burning kero, it runs OK on 1/2 power with a nice blue flame but when on idle and full, it burns with a yellowish/blue flame. I awlays clear the jet during startup. I am preheating it well with meths and after 5 minutes it is still burning yellow. This is a fairly new 111C, only a couple of years old and has not had much use. I runs really well on white spirits but I have been trying kero due to comments about the better heat output.
Grunter I've just got a 111T, I tried it on 'kero' and it burned yellow on one side, I did put a post here asking if a new nipple was needed but no one answered, no one wrote , no one phoned, boo hoo Anyway it is a bit of a state so I thought a damn good seeing to is in order. I'm going to strip the 12 layers of paint and respray the box. I want it to look like Ian's. When I took the burner apart, pulling out the gauze filter, half a bucket full of coke fell out, well not half a bucket but a lot, the valve spindle was also covered in crud. It's a wonder any fuel got through at all. I'm going to give the burner the old O/A treatment tomorrow at work. You say you've had it a couple of years. Could it need a bit of maintenance?? Just unscrew the burner and pull out the gauze and have a look see. Henry
Hi, Henry, there are 7 responses to your posting. I have put one up there, too. Maybe you missed the whole thing? Hope your 111T is working as it should, by the way.
Hey your right, I did miss it, sorry. I'ts all stripped now as I told grunter. The muck that came out when i stripped the burner it's awonder any fuel got through at all. Henry
OK, I will give the thing a good seeing to. I haven't pulled these things apart before. I'm a bit worried that it will leak when put together again? Anyway the thing needs to be sorted as it is going to be lugged along on a 5 day tramp just after Xmas. We can't have a yellow flame out there in public view can we.
Just give it a good test before you go. It'll be fine I'm sure. Just don't test it in the utility room, eh David Henry
I have given that 111C a good clean out. There was a bit of but not too much gunk inside the burner tube. One small black piece of gunk fell out. I can imagine that bit of gunk blocking the jet area from underneath. What should I use to clean up this area? I sprayed in some CRC but not too sure what good that did. Anyway the thing is burning much cleaner now but still not a clean as my old upright jobs with silent burners (No 1's and 5's I think). It doesn't simmer as well as I would like or as low as my older ones. It will boil 1 litre at just over 4 minutes which sounds about right. The problem I now have is I can't turn the bloody thing off - it leaks gas and stinks my shed out. I set the pricker using the "four-click" method with it jammed on the end of a match stick. Should I try only 3 or go to 5 clicks? It used to shut off OK before my "fettling". The valve area looked clean but maybe I has disturbed some gunk at the valve cone? I must admit I am getting a bit brassed off with this 111C. Thanks for all the help
Have you tried carburetor cleaning liquid, Grunter? It can loosen up carbon pretty well, and it will also dissolve any paint quickly. Just do not breathe it in. It should be used only outdoors. I dip a Q-tip in it and rub the inside of the jet as well. If you take apart the burner, open the spindle, remove the jet, so that the liquid could freely enter the inside, and soak the parts in the liquid for a few hours, it would help make it easy to clean. I also dunk the whole thing in the vinegar over night to loosen any thing inside the tube. Then I put the nozzle of the garden hose to pressure wash the inside, with the jet removed. If the stove is not shutting off, chances are that you did not turn the spindle all the way to close after the cleaning needle is out. Then place the needle, count 4 clicks, and turn it all the way to close it. Install the jet. It should solve your problem.
i have a hiker multi fuel -couple of concerns , after a bit of testing i found i could run parrafin without the restrictor tubes- i then get a blue flame , but then a buzzing sound occurs and then a loud pop -it then turns into a roarer !!!!!!- furthermore the pump seems to offer no resistance, is this normal regards biff
I am not sure whether you are refering to 111T with blue paint or 111C with black paint. Any way, if you hear the buzzing sound and pop, it is underburning. It is a condition in which fuel burns not outside of the burner dome, but inside. It is no good to let the burner continue this way, for it will subject the metal to unusually high temperature, and it may damage it. Immediately shut it down. Some 111 variants tend to underburn, and there is no cure, as it seems. Many months ago, there was a thread dealing with that annoying symptom. As for the pump, the leather might have dried out, or torn, therefore not providing adequate air lock. If dry, oil it with 3-in-1, and it will likely restore its supple quality. If it is 111T, it may have a rubber O-ring. It is easy to get a replacement from plumbing supply assortment pack at hardware stores. 111C, if it is working well, it is a fantastic stove, but its average workmanship is below that of older 111s. Its fuel tank seems to shed black coating inside the fuel tank. Mine, a brand new one, although produced a beautiful flame, refused to shut off, and the spindle became frozen, and it broke off when I tried to remove it. I am awaiting a response from Brunton Optimus. I will see how they treat their customers. I intend to publish my experience of 111C and customer service on the popular review website to which I contribute a few articles. I hope Optimus has improved on this flagship stove.
cheers- it seems i have a blue 111T , as it has an O ring rather than a leather plunger...shame about the popping and under burning , i assumed it was my ignorance with the restrictors , however i shall perservere regards
Looks like others are having problems with thier 111C's too. I thnk I need to strip it down again and seriously clean it. I will report back when it is sorted.
My 111C, which was brand new, came with black coating inside the fuel tank. I think it was on Optimus's attempt to provide anti-rust measure. Unfortunately, it is not like the brick colored coating Coleman used in its 502s or similar coating found inside the Manaslu brand Phoebus 625 clone. I discovered that this 111C's coating cracks and chips off. It will soon clog up the fuel line, no doubt. The black stuff you discover inside the fuel line, when you remove the tank is probably the remnant of this coating. I tried to remove this inner coating as much as possible, before I started stove initially. But it would not come off easily. I was going to give it a thorough wash with carburator cleaner that melts paint fast. But I had to defer the treatment, because the stove had developed more pressing problems: the spindle froze after 5 minutes of operation, and the flame would not shut off completely. Trying to get a repair waranty was another story. Brunton in WY initially said they could not help me, because they dropped the stove entirely. Recommended me to talk to A&H. The guy at A&H told me to call Brunton. I informed him that I was introduced to A&H by Brunton. A call was placed by A&H, and I was able to speak with a helpful rep at Brunton. It turned out alright. I am sending my 111C away, and hopefully in a month's time, I will see the baby again, all fixed up. By the way, when I first lit the stove, it produced a significantly larger flame than 111T. I was a happy man for about 5 minutes.
I have stripped this 111C down and spayed the tank and burner with carburetor cleaner and let it soak for a day. It took some paint off the outside of the tank so I hope it has cleaned the inside out. It seemed to assmble OK until I started on the pump unit. The problem I have is that after soaking the pump washer and inserting it into the pump tube, I couln't get it to move. I ended up putting a bit (too much) weight on it and ...bang...it now loosly slides up and down the tube! It looks like I have buggerred the valve at the end of the pump tube. I puilled it out to have a look but it seems that there it has no moving parts. Have I damaged it? I looked at the schematic on this site biut could not see enough detail. Where can I get a new valve if I actually do need one? Next question. Can I use the valve from my Optimus 00 in this 111C as an interim measure? I will get this 111C to work properly with blue flame if it is the last thing I do... Thanks for all the help from members so far.
grunter first thing to look at is the leather cup. see if it has riped. All OK . pull out the one way valve then put the pump side in your mouth and suck on it, slip your toung over the hole (dont swollow it ). The valve should hang on your toung by vacuume. If it falls off the small seal inside is not sealing. (not sealing OK) with a pair of plirers grip just below the exturnal thread (this is the thread that screws in the pump tube). Then with a small shifter or your valve tool unscrew the inlet side. Inside you will see a small spring and a brass piece that partly fits in the spring. Inside the brass piece is a small seal. Originaly it was made of cork or a rubber substance. You have to dig that out leaving the brass carrier clean inside. Don't pry on the edge of the carrier you could damage it. Clean and polish the insides where the spring and carrier goes. Clean the other part that presses on the seal. Cut a new seal for the carrier (about 4 mm dia). Don't have a tight fitting seal in the carrier. You should use Nitrol for this seal. Assemble the valve, TEST it before fitting in the tube as above. After the valve is fitted you can test the tube the same way (for valve sealing to tube, cracks in tube). Or send the valve to me It is not far from NZ to Aust. I have spares. Send me an email at white are @ uq. net. au no spaces.
I got the pump sorted and all assembled but have now noticed two things: 1 The burner cap is really rough (I will post a photo soon). I wonder I didn't notice this earlier. (I am talking the the burner head, not the fuel tank cap). 2 The spindle will now not shut fully off. I replace the burner cap with one from another old silent optimus burner and there is a big improvement - only a slight yellow flame (gets worse at high pressure after 50 pumps) I thought the spindle problem may be due to a mal-adjusted pricker but the same occurs when the pricker is removed. There is a small leak from the nipple (I think) that is causing the problem. This problem makes it too dangerous to ise this stove in practice. All this from a relatively new stove! I might just send the whole burner unit to you Albert to sort out.
