Here is one you don't see too often. Ben (z1ulike) was kind enough to ask me to fettle the stove for him. It was an honor and a special opportunity given the rarity of this stove with it's unique early regulated silent burner. Thank you Ben. But, before the "afters" here are some befores and durings: Burner was missing it's spindle nut. A more modern spindle nut fit adequately. This odd clear plastic "pump cup" was replaced with an excellent Sefa leather during fettling. The pump knob and the pump shaft were mismatched. I determined by checking with some of my period-correct stoves in my collection that the knob was the issue. It was eventually rethreaded to match the correct pump shaft thread. The unusual structure of this unique Primus burner. The burner was bent from some abuse during it's life which shows somewhat in this photo. The bend was corrected during the fettling. After some cleaning of the stove: These photos show the unique burner mount. No gasket is required for this mounting system: By now observant stovies have no doubt noticed the interesting threaded "nipple" in the side of the burner. What could be under this? Was it a "spare" nipple parked in this location... or, perhaps access to the interior of the burner? Stay tuned for post #2 to find out more.
Gary; awesome; curious about the insides and the cleaning needle + jet arrangement; look forwards to part 2, cheers Lou
The "nipple" was discovered to be a plug with a tapered pipe thread so that it seals when tightened. Inside the passage of the burner was this piece of steel wire wrapped in brass mesh. The angle end inserts into the opening first with the leg of the angle pointing up. It does not engage with any internal workings (such as the spindle) but appears to be a filter and/or surge restrictor. Cleaned and rerolled, the wire and mesh were returned to their location behind the taper-threaded plug. Before the following "finished" pictures were taken, the stove and burner were completely cleaned and the tank was flushed. The filler cap gasket was replaced. Rust was removed from the pump leather carrier and a new Sefa cup was installed. The pump knob was rethreaded to match the pump shaft. The NRV was pulled and the original dried cork pip was replaced with a Viton pip. The NRV spring was derusted and the NRV reassembled. The NRV was reinstalled with a HDPE washer under the head to replace the missing lead washer. The burner was heat/air cleaned of carbon and the graphite packing was replaced with a new packing. The modern replacement spindle nut was turned down in the lathe to more nearly resemble the size and shape of the period correct spindle nut found on the Primus 12 stoves in these links: Link 1 Link 2 The burner was carefully re-bent into a more nearly vertical and original situation by hand. The wavy bent trivet was made as flat as I could get it and cleaned of grease and grime but left otherwise uncoated. The tank of the stove was hand-rubbed with a couple of coats of quality carnuba wax. The date code "W" signifying 1932. And, of course, the burning shots. This stove is a great runner. Just a few here with a couple more in the final follow-up post to come.
The unique regulated silent burner runs well at all power levels. And, here we are back to the original picture with which I started the first post, just because I really like the photo and the subject. For those who are so inclined, you can view the stove in the 1922 Primus catalog at this page: Link 1 Here is the link to the full catalog: Link 2 Just a few other points before I go. The stove was obviously nickel-plated originally and much of that nickel has been polished away in days of yore. And, in case you didn't already notice it, I'd like to draw attention to the interesting spirit cup with it's scallop to accommodate the angled spindle of the regulated burner. Thanks again to z1ulike (Ben) for the opportunity to have this much fun, and joy in exploration, with this wonderful rare stove. Sadly, I have said my fond farewells and it is already on it's way home. I hope others have enjoyed my exposition of the stove as much as I did fettling it. Cheers, Gary
G,,day Gary . lovely job , and an interesting stove indeed . I like the use of the same universal joint as in the jet tool for the control shaft . and it looks lovely by not being polished super shiny , personal choice !! cheers kerry
I can't thank Gary enough for getting this Primus 14 back in such fine operating condition. The stove came to me from New South Wales, Australia. I thought about trying to get it going myself but figured this wasn't the stove for a beginner to learn on so I sent it straight to Gary for fettling. Obviously a wise decision. I plan to show the stove off at CASG9 next year. Until then it will occupy a place of honor in the house despite my wife's protests.
Hi Gary, masterful fettle of a rare stove. Have you found it in a Primus catalogue yet? I have only seen photos of this stove once before, and that was on CCS. Hi Ben, you have a very interesting stove, and, as I said, probably rare. I have a "kissing cousin" of your stove: https://classiccampstoves.com/threads/4924 I wish I had included more photos when I made the post, but perhaps we were limited on the number we could include at that time. I think the burner design is super, and well advanced for its time. On the subject of the "blind" taper nipple on your burner. These are fairly common on Blowlamps and are fitted to the burners of these tools to allow access to periodically "rod out" carbon deposits which would otherwise reduce the efficiency of fuel vaporisation. Here are a few photos of these blind nipples, or blanking plugs on a Sievert paraffin (Kerosene) blowlamp: As I recall there is no gauze plug lurking behind the blanking plugs on blowlamps. Best Regards, Kerophile.
I do have it on file in at least one catalogue from 1929. I will endeavour to add it to the site soon. Haven't had a big catalogue update for a while.
