I acquired a Bremer Sea Swing with an Optimus 45 some time back. It has the 207 burner. Started fiddling with it yesterday and got it taken apart for cleaning. Fired up the stove and it is burning nicely (once we replaced the dried out gaskets -- the first go with flames shooting out the sides was a bit exciting...) Some things I'm wondering about: 1. The stove is pretty hard to pump... I had a spare non-return valve from a 155 repair kit that I installed. Didn't seem to make much difference. 2. The pump handle sticks out after pumping it up. Not sure what that means. I am curious if there is a 2 pint stove that I could adapt to the sea swing. The 45 seems a bit light on cooking time and I wonder if the 2 pint stoves are any sturdier. I "popped" the top of the 45 back into place where it had dished -- probably due to the weight of the sea swing.
Good Morning, sail843, Welcome to CCS!! The Sea Swing/Optimus 45 combination is a good one, and should work a treat for you. My own Sea Swing came with an Opti 45, too, but mine had been converted to a regulated silent burner. I've used it for 40+ years, and it's still an outstanding stove!! That's about the only change I could suggest. Maybe one of your three Taylor stove burners, which you mentioned in another thread, would work for with the Sea Swing. As for being hard to pump, well, it shouldn't be hard, at all. I suspect the NRV is still not right, or is partly stuck shut. You did oil the flex the pump leather, so it was nice, pliable, and soft, didn't you? Otherwise, you should change out your pump leather, and our member, Sefa, is the man to see about a replacement. Or, you can order them from Ross in "The Fettle Box", on the right hand side edge of this page. Might want to get a kit for your 45 from Ross, too, just for grins. It will have all the stuff you need for returning it to complete service. How about posting some photos of your stove(s) and Sea Swing? Use the Image Optimizer, found in the blue menu bar at the top of this page, to help you learn how to do that. Good luck, and let us know how you make out on this one. Take care, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc
"2. The pump handle sticks out after pumping it up. Not sure what that means." Just to clarify -- are you saying that after you pump it up, the pump rod pushed back out? If so, that likely mean the check valve is not working, or perhaps you did not get it seated and tightened properly (less likely the pump tube may have a crack). Best not to use the stove until you get that sorted out; it could be messey or worse.
Itchy, Yes, the pump rod seems to stick out 1" to 2" after pumping up the tank. I'm giving it about 25 to 30 strokes. Doc, I know the pump leather looks bad so it probably is... Will get a replacement. -- Sam
Hi Sam , it is not unusual for the pump rod to stick out for an inch or two after pumping up the tank to that extent. If you pull back very gently on the knob you should release the residual pressure in the pump tube and allow the shaft to move down to its rest position. You only need to worry about a leaking NRV if kerosene is pushed back into the pump tube. Have a look this post on how classic stove pumps work: https://classiccampstoves.com/threads/14026 Regards, Kerophile.
Yep, an inch or two sounds fine. I am not sure you need 25 to 30 strokes, unless the tank is nearly empty. Unlike a Coleman, you don't need high pressure with these kerosene stoves. I don't keep count, but I am guesssing you should have a pretty good flame after 10 pump strokes. Stop pumping when the flame seems to max out.
With the tank 3/4 full, 4-6 pumps is more than adequate. Less than 10 anyway. 25-30 pumps is waaay too much, makes for tank boinks, and flame blowouts.
Thanks all. I will experiment a bit more today and report results. On the topic of non return valves, I've searched the site and found some posts describing how to remove and install, but I haven't found one that describes how to disassemble and replace the little plug. I inherited some optimus repair parts and I'm pretty sure it includes some replacement plugs but I have no clue how to get inside the nrv. -- Sam
I think I might have been over-pumping... 6-10 strokes were fine and the stove lit up. I'm getting quite a bit of orange to the flame. Blue at the burner cap but orange as the flames rise up. I ran for probably 25 minutes and thought I might have seen some improvement but that could just be my imagination... It's obviously fuel rich and is giving off some odor as it burns. I did work the cleaning needle a bit and also tapped on the burner while lit -- got a pretty good shower of sparks initially but seem to have gotten all that out. There's no telling how long it has been since this stove was lit. Given that the gaskets had complete dried out I'll bet it's been a while. Will running the stove for a longer time have some impact? Or, should I start trying other things? I do know the kerosene is top quality and fresh. I will try to post a couple of pictures next -- Sam
Those flames look more orange than yellow on my monitor. Try cleaning the burner caps really well to get rid of both carbon and rust. Have you put a pan of water on it? Use a clean pan and check for soot after a while. If it is running too rich that is a dead give away. Somes times a kerosene odor is due to a little spilled kero on the stove, or a small leak at one of the joints. I do think it is worth wile burning a through a fill or two with clean fuel before assuming the burner is the problem.
You might add a teaspoon of carburator cleaner to a tank full of clean kero. I'd burn that tank in a well ventilated space, tho... It'll speed up the cleanout some.
Put a pan of water on it and look underneath at the flame. Is it now all blue? If yes, all is good, continue cooking. If no then something is running rich. Try a new jet. Goto beginning and run again. Stan
have two Bremer Sea Swings with Optimus 45's fitted. I have noticed that with the long riser tube they place the burner very close to the bottom of the pot. About 1/4" (6mm). I have also noted that all of my other kero pressure stoves hold the pot from 5/8" (17mm) or slightly higher from the flame. When running the Sea Swing I smell hot kerosene, when running a free standing pressure stove I do not. If I wasn't so lazy I'd measure the riser tubes to see the difference, install a shorter one and run it in the Sea Swing to see if it helped. I also have a Sea Swing "clone" with cruder castings, fitted with an Hipolito stove almost identical to the Optimus 45 and which has a Force 10 sticker on it recommending one use diesel oil as fuel. That is a HUGE mistake. Diesel in a primus type stove stinks to high heaven while (sort of) burning. Much to my chagrin, I tried it. YECCHH!!! Sam. if you're having issues with the pump, a drop or two of light machine oil, 3in One or sewing machine oil on the leather cup might help. It can't hurt. Gerry
Thanks for all the suggestions. After reading more I've disassembled the riser/burner from the stove and have run an alcohol wash through the tank. First batch batch came out very dirty. Second batch was quite a bit improved. Have third batch soaking now. Plan to empty out in a couple of hours and refill with fresh kerosene for another try. --Sam
More experimenting. I put everything back together, filled the tank with fresh kerosene and fired it up. Now I get a nice blue flame that starts burning orange after a minute or two... And the outer cap is getting red hot. See photos. Is this because a little alcohol was still in the tank? I only ran for 15 mins because I was afraid of damaging the burner. While at is, I looked at the parts list for a model 0 (couldn't find a list for he 45). Should ere be a lead washer between the tank and riser tube? I have nothing there right now. Just tightening the riser to the tank with a wrench (gently)... -- Sam
