After a two-year saga, I finally have the last surviving, unfired, Parasafe stove! I had an unbelievable saga in my relentless efforts to obtain a South-African Parasafe stove. Today I finally got it. It all began in 2011, when I first learned of the unique South-African Parasafe pressure stove, designed with safety in mind, and decided I wanted one. A couple of months of searching eBay yielded nothing, so I found the company web site, in South Africa, and sent them an email inquiry. There was no answer. A year passed, with more eBay searches, and more emails to Parasafe, with zero results. Then, in the summer of 2012 I met a very nice South African lady, visiting Israel. (She was a former member of the SA parliament.) We got to a discussion of stove collecting, and I mentioned that I am looking for a unique South African stove. Her reply was “of course, the Parasafe, I had one at home”. She also said she was friends with Mr. Mario Ambrosini, who was the developer, producer and marketer of the Parasafe. She kindly agreed to buy one for me back home, and mail it to me. After she got home she told me she met Mr. Ambrosini, and he was out of stoves, as the company went out of business due to Chinese competition. However, she managed to buy one of the last surviving virgin, original, Parasafes. This was back in January 2013. Unfortunately, by then the SA post went on strike, so she could not mail it to me (courier was way too costly). The strike went on for 4 months, to the end of April. When she finally was able to get it to the post office, they told her stoves were on the prohibited items list, and could not be airmailed. So we decided I will ask a friend of mine, who has business in SA, to stop by her, pick the stove, and hand-carry it to Israel. He was due in SA by November, so I had to wait a while. As his trip was to Capetown, and the stove was in Johannesburg, she had the stove air-couriered to Capetown. My friend got it, and flew with it to Johannesburg. When he was ready to board the flight to Tel Aviv, the airline told him he could not have a stove in his baggage – it was considered hazardous. So he left the stove with the airline, returning home without it. We had to devise plan C now. The decision was that when he gets back to SA (Feb. 2014), he would get the stove from the airline, and send it to me by surface mail. He did just that, two weeks ago, and I was mentally prepared to wait 3 – 4 months for the stove to arrive. To our great surprise, the stove arrived at HIS address (here in Israel) yesterday, apparently travelling by airmail (although it was sent, and paid for, by surface). So now I have a brand new Parasafe, the last of its kind found in South Africa. Here it is: I will post it later in the reference gallery. Yonadav
Congratulations Yonadav. Well done,the persistence paid off! I would be interested to hear more of the "safety features" of the stove.
A remarkable story. I will be interested in your detailed explanation of the features of the stove that makes it safer than the competition.
In a nutshell, there are pressure release valves in each of the legs, so that if the stove is tilted it immediately releases pressure and shuts off. The pump is not rigidly attached to the tank, so that pumping does not exert any force on the stove. The tank is heavy duty coated steel, and the filler cap is unique. I will post a full description soon... Yonadav
As others have said - what an amazing story! It looks to be a very interesting stove and I long to see it in the Stove Reference Gallery with lots and lots of photos.
Good Morning, Yonadav, What an outstanding saga, and what a wonderful result!! 8) Thank you for sharing this story with us all, and I look forward to seeing more of your rare and interesting stove, in the Reference Gallery!! Your new friend in South Africa is certainly cut from different cloth than many, these days, and please thank her, from your fellow Stovies, for her honesty and kindness!! Well done, all around! Take care, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc
Geneislucky said, You could take a sneak preview here ... Graham's Parasafe, Stove Ref Gallery It looks like the Paraffin Safety organisation of Southern Africa (PASASA) has gone belly-up since Graham posted those details back in 2009 PASASA website If I read it right, the Parasafe was made (at very low cost to wholesalers) in Vietnam and the manufacturer's main outlet was South Africa. John
Late reply to the topic: I recently acquired a Parasafe stove with a roarer burner and blue enameled cook top and also two radiant heater attachments that fit on top of the stove. Unfortunately missing the pump and two of the little seals under the feet.
very nice !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and a few other bits as well . well done . if ever some one pulls one apart . please document it with lots of photos . cheers, kerry
The stove has a rubber diaphragm between the upper and lower halves of the fount. Air is pumped into the lower half of the fount which pressurises the fuel in the upper half. When tilted, the air pressure escapes through the seals/air vents in the capped rubber feet. Very clever but I'm not sure those rubber seals or diaphragm can last for many years of use. -Phil
