A Mirus Gaz Bleu paraffin stove from around 1929, lacking the enamel frame/pot stand it would have been bolted to, missing burner cap, jet, pricker needle and having a couple of soldered repairs to stress cracks in the fuel tank, which tells me that it mattered enough to someone as a functional stove to repair it or have it repaired. The burner cap is a BernieDawg 'Top Dawg' issue No.4 provided by BD as a tester converter cap for my British Army No.12, on which it has performed flawlessly and does so on the Mirus too - but more of that later Stress cracks apart, I've no complaints about the quality of the components in this stove It has the fuel vapourising 'gallery' which is evidently a characteristic of the Mirus Gaz Bleu family of stoves, such as this one of Ian's ... Ian's Gaz Bleu ... this one of Brian's Brian's Gaz Bleu ... and this one up for sale on ebay France a while ago I'll grant that ebay example and Brian's don't carry the Mirus name, but they're undoubtedly from the Mirus factory at La Courneuve, Paris. The burner is large - compared here with a Primus No.10 silent burner, which is no tiddler I date the stove by reference to this poster drafted by Charles Loupot, dated 1929. Loupot was apparently one of the most renowned poster artists of the era, and Mirus were clearly of importance to have commissioned him I'm not sure if this is a Loupot poster too, but it shows the double burner version of the Mirus and the caption is evidence that the company produced gasoline and kerosene versions of the stove (essence & petrole) They were still going strong in 1934 with a trade stand at an exposition of French foundry products, Paris, 9-24th May 1934 Some more details of my battered example The stress crack repairs have held out well, but they're not pretty I'd to fettle the control assembly, fashioning a new pricker needle and delighted to find that a spare jet from an Enders 9060 is a perfect fit FUELING UP AND FIRING TO FOLLOW John
Top Dawg cap, fits the Mirus burner perfectly and performs beautifully In common with many French stoves of that era the Mirus was not equipped with a priming cup and a priming torch dipped in alcohol fuel was what was used. This Tilley priming torch would do the job, two better still Maybe another day. I used a Soudogaz blowtorch for convenience Et voilà, as the French would say It just remained to sort out a pot rest. I've been using this Tilley lamp frame adaptation for my 'bored' Frankenstove ... ... and together with a wooden disc base to raise it to a suitable level, it came to the rescue again I should add that although the control wheel suggests an 'on' and an 'off' position, the flame can be regulated from max to simmer, the control doesn't shut the burner down. With no spindle tip bearing on a valve seat incorporated in the design, the jet pricker-to-jet nipple interface was presumably intended to act as the shut-off function. With my non-original Enders jet I might be missing out on what was possible with the original jet. Nevertheless, the control effectively regulates the burner output and it's just a case of using pump and air release valve to provide the 'on/off' function. John
As always outstanding text and pictures. Several of those pics can be considered work of art. Nice stove as well. Really like the setup with the copper kettle. Thanks for sharing. Best regards Stoveuser
Hi John, As always you seem to find all of the really good stoves to post. Great fettling job and pictures. Wonderful post. I have a Top Dawg cap for my #12 stove and it works great for quieting down the #12. Thanks for sharing. Cheers, Norman
Beautifully displayed, handily fettled, and the report is written with such great detail. Thank you, Ken in NC
John, what did you use to fashion the pricker needle?; I think the jet on my battered example is repairable ; think they are no longer available , thanks in advance, cheers Lou
Just a bit of wire of suitable gauge and stiffness (guitar string) cut to length and with a short angle bent on one end to anchor it in the pricker nut as here John
awesome..........thanks again John for sharing hard earned wisdom; do you recall size or gauge of guitar wire you might have used?......thanks in advance Lou
John thank you so much for sharing the admirable rescue ; awesome do you by any chance remember the thickness of the guitar wire?; cheers Lou P.S. glad am not the only one who has forgotten my fire stick/lighter....the scenery was lovely though
I can't remember whether it was an E or a C string Lou, but it's whatever will fit through a 0.32mm jet hole. John
