Probably over-thinking this one but couldn't help asking the question..... In the heat deflector between the burner bell and the tank on a 123R, there are three holes. Two are slotted, one is circular. The circular hole is beside the cutout in the windshield on the burner bell side. Is there a reason for this? Were there accessories to fit the slots etc? Or is that just how they were made for alignment....... Alec.
The round hole is for the valve key. The slots are for the pot handle and the cleaning needle (that only comes with a non-R 123). Yonadav
Hi Chef, I didn't, no. As it transpires I need the mini-pump cap also. I've never had accessories with my 123R, it came incomplete but works lovely! Bit of a pain sticking it in my armpit for 10mins to get it warmed up in the really cold weather!! Remaining on the lookout....... Alec.
Whenever I camped in cold weather I put my 123 in an old wool sock and cuddled with it in my sleeping bag. The sock was mainly to cover the pointy bits so I didn't get all scratched up. In the morning I primed it like snwcmpr says by pulling 3 or 4 cc of fuel out of the fount with an eyedropper to prime it. Worked wonderfully, it did. Gerry
I went wintercamping with minus 10° Celsius this year and lit the 123r just "from the cold" with a bit of white-gas from the tank... worked like a charm and i got the fastes brew of tea from all of the other guys I f*cking love my SVEA...
Yonadav: THanks for telling us about the holes as I never knew this. You taught me something new for sure. Rangie: Honestly I think that the whole pump thing and the cap is pricey if you dont already have those two items or find them cheap. The SVEA123 tank is so small and relatively easy to warm up quickly or prime quickly even in cold weather. I like to use alcohol as it doesnt black or soot up the stove like the white gas. When I put the alcohol in the priming cup if its cold I will let a little extra flow down over the tank and light the whole thing. Dont put to much as you dont want to over heat the stove to much. Generally a little trickle over the tank warms it up enough. Outdoors be careful with the alcohol as its hard to see the flames in broad daylight. You can also warm the tank by the fire if one is present or another person has their stove going already. The SVEA's tank is so small its sort of overkill to get that mini pump. Everyone does things differently so do what you think works for you.
I keep a small plastic squirt bottle in my 123 w CF in it, that way I don't have to take the windsceen off to get some fuel out of the tank. An interesting aside...a couple of months ago I broke my leg up hiking and Search and Rescue had to come get me. Laying there in snow for 3 hours, S&R folks arrive and start doin their thing....they are trying mightly to get me warm, their heat packs barely work, they start chatting about "Wish we had something warm for him to drink" well, I had my 123 along, had just used it up the mountain a few hundred yards, you think they could get it lit?? Nope, even with some coaching from the victim, they couldn't, they all looked at it like it was from Mars. Me, I was shaking too hard to be much good at anything. They got me down and I obviously didn't freeze to death, and the leg will heal someday. Moral of story, always tell someone where you are going and pack a stove that ANYBODY can use. Keith
It amazes me how so many individuals really do look at those SVEA's as if they are from mars or any stoves that not propane bottles and a ignitor built in. I had one of the Scout Assistant troop leaders that supposedly backpacks all the time was a scout as a kid himself etc. The guy was mocking me priming my 1950's Coleman military stove saying I was a fire bug for letting those flames go in the priming well. He was thinking it was a bad stove or I didnt know how to work the stove. I just shook my head as this guy had never even seen a stove being primed let alone knew how to prime a stove. He didnt even have a concept of it. Sad Sad sad... Pretty soon people will stare at a thing on a piece of paper with lines on it called a MAP and gaze with wonder and confusion as to what it is...
I was at base camp on Mt Adams a few years ago. Someone asked if I knew SVEA stoves. I said yes. (Now I know I didn't know much, but that's another story) They said this guy needed help. I got there and the cap was lit. I guess it had been lit for a while, they were still trying to get the stove to burn right. Anyway, I blew that out, and the burner, and when I could got the cap off, I saw the fuel was boiling. I fixed the pumping pip, re-lit the stove and all was well. I always imagined that could have been disastrous because there were 5-6 people standing around him. Oh, these were mountaineers, too. Ken in NC (Now I know one thing .. I don't know very much)
snowcmpr: Were they all wearing spandex? LoL as I am sure the one troop assistant wears those shinny body armor jogging outfits all the time which is about the same as spandex.
Mini pump AND cap at a good price http://www.ebay.com/itm/27115166957...l?_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=271151669570&_rdc=1 from A H Packstoves, they've given me good service over the years.
Hey, That's the pump I just bought, and the same person I just bought it from! It needed a little fiddling with the spring in the cap valve [stretch] but now works great on my svea 123r.
