Came across this old optimus 111-t the other day. Dude was just throwin it away so i nabbed it. When i lit it the first time, i was like "hell, a big yellow fire ball will cook the hell out some food!" Some more friends showed up so i lit it again and now the flame was blue, and i was like "what in the hells wrong with this piece o shit? its suppose to be a big ass fire ball!". I eventually did a bunch of research on this site, and thanks to you guys, i now know everything i need to, well almost everything. At this point, i'm just tryin to figure out which fuel will give me the best bang for my buck. Obviously regular unleaded is way cheaper than coleman fuel, but according to you guys, gasoline will crud up the burner? And what about moonshine? I can get that for 10 bucks a gallon. Same price as coleman fuel, but maybe it'll burn longer, making it worth it? I dont even know how much a gallon of methylated spirits cost though. Anyways, what about diesel? Some of ya'lls threads say the 111-t isn't made for diesel, but isnt diesel and kerosene practically the same thing? Preciate the help
111t? i'd head over to Ace Hardware, IGA, or the Piggly Wiggly 'en get some o' dat kerosene fer my 111t! :-) honestly, kero is best - much safer than Coleman (aka naptha from Homeless Despot) but don' fergit to prime dat sucker hot!
You came to the right place. Welcome to the site! Lucky find. Some would say the Optimus 111T is one of the best stoves made. I only burn Coleman fuel or Kerosene in my 111T. This stove needs to be primed by meths (methanol alcohol or denatured alcohol) Or by using Coleman fuel. The problem priming the stove via Coleman fuel is the soot that is formed when Coleman fuel burns in open air. Link to manual for later Optimus 111T (PDF webpage) Cheers, Jeff
its been sittin in old boys barn for probly 25 years and i dont even think he bought it new. works good though. heres a picture
That ain't bad, an embossed one too. Be sure to light up when fueling up with Coleman fuel. Kerosene works good, if using denatured alcohol, you will need the alky jet and restrictor. Duane
Nice find. While kerosene or Coleman fuel is going to give the best performance, I would love to see a picture of it running on honest-to-god moonshine. However, you would need an alcohol jet or proper restrictor tube (or both) for that to work.
For a nice blue flame everytime use Coleman fuel or K1 kerosene. Kerosene is much safer to use since it only creates vapor when heated. That's why it needs to be primed. You can use HEET (yellow bottle) fuel additive for the priming - take off the brass shield surrounding the burner and fill the little cup at the bottm about 1/2 full of HEET. A plastic squeeze bottle makes this easy. When the alcohol goes out you can light it and go. I love the 111T and it loves kero. 8) As for bang for the buck, K1 can be found at some gas stations in rural areas (USA) for around $4, but even if you have to pay $10 at Home Depot, the savings you get from a clean burning fuel is worth it. They can run a very long time with minimal maintenance on good fuel. Using diesel or unleaded is cheap in the short term, expensive (or a lot of work) in the long term. Great find!
Nice find . I'd use the moonshine for a primer ...... You could also use it to pre heat the burner . Nick
