I've read previous posts about Sveas and rebuilding them, but I just wanted to clarify what was causing my stove to pulse when lit. This pulsing quickens as the stove gets hot. By the time my water is boiled the pulsing is less loud and much quicker. I'm guessing that given long enough the pulsing would hardly be noticeable at all. What's causing this? Cheers GC
Hi, is the stove pluseing the whole runningtime or just at the first fiew minutes ? The pulsation may be occured by a "too fast" gasifikation. (in contrast to the supplies) In this case the Wick is, not able to transport the fuel fast enough. Importent is a consistent transport of fuel and a consistent vapourisation. Potential sources of error - wrong fuel (too viscous) - the wick isn?t mounted deep enough in the steam - a staining steam/cleaning needle etc. ........ To specify the problem may help to find the answer.
The stove pulses badly at first but gets better as the stove is run, so it starts with a violent slow pulse then over about 10 minutes it settles down to a very slight faster pulse. I am using Colemam fuel. I will strip the stove tomorrow and report what I find. My thoughts are that it is some impediment to the fuel flow that decreases as the pressure rises. Cheers GC
I, too, have one such pulsing 123. I stripped it and put back together quite a number of time, only to find it pulse again. Here are my findings: 1) pulsing is pronounced, when the fuel tank is full. Reduce it to about 2/3 full, and it will diminish drastically. More air space provides more pressure, so the pulsing stops earlier. 2) wrap a coil of fiberglass wick around the burner stem. Its ability to hold significantly more alcohol than the dimple could enhanses the priming action by providing longer-lasting heat. This usually eliminates pulsing entirely, even when the tank is maxed out. 3) pushing the wick way in should improve burning, but mine had it way up there, and still pulsed. I used the rehabilitated 123 for a while and forgot that it pulsed in its criminal past. I took the wick off and lit it oneday--only to witness the pulsing return.
Cheers bark2much, I'll do the stripdown anyway (because it's an old stove and I have no idea of its history) and I'll purchase some fibreglass wick (is the site sponsor a good place to buy this?). I can readily understand how the fibreglass helps because my Whisperlite uses a f/glass ring as a priming wick. In the past I've used those funny little cotton wool face cleansing pads with a slot cut out so that they fit around the base of the burner (on my Optimus 111T). Trouble is they are a one-shot item, but they did allow me to easily prime the stove using its own paraffin (I'm not sure how effective that is compared to meths or burner paste though). To digress slightly, now that I have started playing with these stoves I realise how little I understood the starting processes of my Whisperlite and Coleman stoves. I used to curse them for flaring up and not lighting properly, but in retrospect it was all a case of insufficient priming. The Svea is still a pretty good stove despite the pulsing so I'm not overly worried by it, but everything can be improved (if you have the right hammer) Cheers GC
I usually use the fiberglass rope that goes around the wood burning stove gate. It is used to seal the gap between the gate and the stove body. Another source is to yank the fiber glass wick off the canister burner that holds paraffin oil for garden illumination. It usually comes in the basket on top of bamboo pole. But this will be an expensive recourse. The fiberglass rope is sold in 6-7ft in length, so that you can outfit your whole regiment of stoves with it, including your 111T.
I rebuilt the Svea last night, I descibe this fully in a new thread (above) "Svea 123 and 8R clone" It's definitely better, but not right yet Cheers GC
....are you opening up the tank cap to allow the vacuum to escape? I always open up the cap then re-tighten to equalize the pressure in the tank before priming and lighting, seems to solve this trouble for me. Unless it is just a matter of water in the wick in the tank after a cleaning. Anyway, just thoughts. Cheers,
I followed the advice to start the Svea with less fuel in the tank and it worked really well... the trouble is I also changed another variable at the time and primed it with Coleman fuel so I have to light it again with my usual agent (Meths) and see how it goes then. First signs are encouraging GC p.s. I have been following the advice to open the cap before use.
just what do we mean when we say "pulsing"??? 123 's don't make a steady roar like the kero-burners but burn with a "puttering" "chuffing" kind of noise.. a 111b i got from ebay ran good for a bit but then "backfired" like a old car..is this the pulsing you are thinking of??..to get the 111b to run steady i cut the heat back and just kept it running untill it smoothed out..
Hey, if you don't know what a pulsing 123 is, add that to your count of blessings. A pulsing 123 is annoying, to say the least. The flame basically flares out then contracts. It does this in modulating fashion. As the temperature soars, the effect is diminished, and it may even stop altogether. Or, it may not. But a backfiring 111B is something new to me. I cannot imaging how it could do that. My brand new111C that is currently in transit to Brunton for warranty repair made the backfiring noise, when it initiated underburning. I guess there is a reason why Brunton is betting on Nova.
Now I can't say with 100% certainty what makes the SVEA pulse but I can tell you on Coleman lanterns that pulse it is ALWAYS in the fuel delivery tube. Colemans have a fuel air tube that goes into the fount. Fuel is sucked thru the bottom with a needle valve while the top of the tube has air holes that mix it as fuel goes up into the generator. As the bottom orifice gets plugged, the lantern pulls enough fuel for a second, then goes into 'fuel deprivation' for another second as it leans out and enough fuel is pulled for a second pulse. Additional pumping levels it out some, but the only sure cure is to pull the fuel/air tube out and clean it spotless. I'm betting the SVEA has similiar problem with the wick pulling enough fuel for a burst, but not enough for a steady burn rate. Since some do it and some do not, there has to be a reason and a fix. How hard is it to trade out wicks and maybe try some different material for them? I've never had one apart so am just spit-balling here, can't think of anything else but the wick that would affect fuel delivery...
Firstly, I'm really pleased someone clarified the fact that the stove should burn with a puttering noise, that's a relief. The pulsing is exactly as it the term implies, less violent than a flare-up, but still very annoying. Imagine you are using a gas stove (I dare you) and you are running it at half opening. You then quickly open the knob wide and return it to the halfway mark. If you can imagine how the flame would react then this is close to what my Svea does, only repeatedly, at two second intervals. Or rather, this is what my Svea did, as it is now a lot better. I agree that the fuel delivery is obviously the cause... but being a novice I have no idea of what happens when you reduce or increase wick diameters, etc. However, it boiled a litre in 8 minutes yesterday and by 4 minutes burning it sounds like a jet engine so I'm not worried and I've really enjoyed my tinkering. All in all it's been a good stove week GC
BARK-- it was a 111T that "backfired..i had just got it from Park the Korean collector and was running the first tank of fuel thru it..i went in the house to get a pot of water and when i came back i thought someone was banging on a trash can..it was the stove..all i can think of is that as the stove was "running clean" raw fuel got into the dome of the burner and then "exploded" when the jet cleared ..but who knows..i turned the valve down from full on and it smoothed out and runs fine since at all settings..
I had a brand new optimus 8R which was pulsing all the time. Changing the pressure and burner temperature and/or amount of fuel made some difference in the cycle of pulsing but it was doing it all the time anyway. I sent it back to Optimus Sweden and got information that they replaced it to new one. I havent got it back yet. I dont know what was the reason but one guess I got from a friend is that a small amout of water inside the fuel tube might be the reason not to get enough of fuel. Maybe adding some meths to the fuel could remove the water. I have also svea 123 which burns perfectly well so I expect 8R should do the same. Also an Russian copy of 8R which I have used a lot works well. Petri
