It has been a great success, don't you think, but now I have some questions to put to you all. Please answer honestly, (I've broached this topic before) but who found the key arrangement on the 123(r) to be a fiddly little awkward thing ? David S. please supply details of your vinegar polishing technique ... or is it a Shagratork secret ? Doc, explain please the use of the sheet beneath the tent ? The Coleman oven, does it have a solid bottom or a hole to allow the heat to enter the oven proper ? Recipe for those cakes please? Who was guilty (as I was before this weekend) of thinking that the 123 was just a quick brew stove ? How the feck do you prime the stove without getting meths, petrol, panel wipe, Coleman fuel etc. all over your hands ... PLEASE ? If a 2 burner 123 existed ( as a 22 is to a 111) would we covet it ? I'm sure I'll have more Q's as I re-read the thread, again & again & again & again & ....... Spudz
Hi Spudz It was indeed a great success, well done for the suggestion ! I'll answer only one query as it applies to the 71 / 80 / 123 family. You can use a short length of narrow copper or brass tube to put preheat fluid on top of the tank. Open the tank, insert tube, finger on end, withdraw from tank, remove your finger and fuel runs out onto tank top ( remember them ? ). Close tank and light - voila ! Others use a small eyedropper which is the same idea. Oh and I think the key is fiddly as well, but easier than using your fingers !
Hi Spudz, I want to thank you for inviting me to participate in the photo weekend. Your family picnic was inspiring. I'm always looking for kid friendly hikes for my two. I use a long eye dropper to prime my svea with denatured alcohol. I'm trying to envision a two burner Svea. Cheers, Manny
Hey, Spudz, We use an additional plastic sheet underneath our tents (always) to keep water from pooling under the tent, in the event of rain. If water gets directly under your tent floor, your body weight can cause it to leak through the floor, waterproof or not, and into your tent! No good! So, we use an extra bit of plastic, with it's outside edge rolled inward, under the tents, to keep that from happening. That extra bit also protects the bottom of your tent, and your sleeping pad, from those little sharp twigs we might miss clearing out, when setting up. Most of our tents are over 25 years old, and all of them are still in almost brand new condition. This is due to the extra care we take when using them. For priming, I use a very tiny, plastic eyedropper, which you can buy from REI. It works a treat, weighs practically nothing, and fits perfectly inside the SVEA stoves. If you can't locate one, give me a shout, and I'll send you one, with which to play! I've used the SVEA stoves for so long, that I don't really consider the keys to be "fiddly", but I used to. I prefer the SVEA 123, over the 123R, but both are fine stoves, and I could "make do" with either of them. But, the 123 starts easier, and adjusts to a simmer more easily, for my money. Part of the trick in using the SVEA keys, and obviating the "fiddly" stage, is to keep the stoves up off the ground, if possible. Otherwise, it's just practice. But, for all this stuff, it's really whatever works well for you, personally. I'm sure that each of us has his/her own way of doing it, and I'm equally sure that all of those ways work very well! Take care, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc Mark
Hi Spudz Some answers: David's transformed stove was all his own work - get him to describe it in more detail. Yes, the Coleman stove has a hole in the bottom with a heat deflector plate above it so that the flame does not go directly into the oven. The easy way to light a 123 is to direct a propane gas flame through the large horizontal slot in the windshield for about 15 seconds and then turn the key. Out in 'the field' when you do not wish to carry a blow torch, just hold your warm hands around the burner for about three minutes and then turn the key with a lighted match held above the nipple (if using a pump with this method, don't use it until you have the flame lit). If it is very cold, do as Doc has suggested and use an eye-dropper to fill the tank depression with meths. TrainManny - what a great double Svea 123. Let us all into the secret of how you did it! (maybe in a separate thread) |imgRemoved|
There is no secret... Buy a gallon of the cheapest vinegar you can find. I use vinegar from Makro - it's 'weapons-grade' stuff - God knows what it does to your stomach lining. Put it in a plastic tub with a lid (you'll soon find out the importance of that when RHM gets wind of what you're doing!) Dismantle the stove and put the brass parts in for 20-30 minutes only. Remove and rinse under cold water - most of the crud will simply rub off between your thumbs and fingers. If necessary, repeat for another 20-30 minutes. I find several short sessions with a thorough rinse/rub in between to be better than one long soak. On some thicker parts e.g. the valve/riser tube thingy, which was heavily blackened, you can use a wire brush with brass (NOT steel) bristles after soaking. I suspended that upside-down in the vinegar so the wick didn't get submerged. I wouldn't use a brass brush on the thinner stuff like the windshield which might get scratched. Once everything's clean and dry, I normally use Solvol Autosol as a first polish and then Brasso as a second. For the 123, I used only Brasso - couldn't find the Solvol. Use clean polishing cloths between the two polishes. A couple of warnings. Don't soak anything overnight because the vinegar will leach out the zinc preferentially from the surface brass, leaving a pink copper layer on top. This can be a real b*gger to polish out. Do not put iron/steel articles in with brass parts because the brass gets a black layer next to the steel which is also hard to remove. Finally, don't believe any internet articles you read about the dangers of cleaning brass with vinegar and/or using polishes containing ammonia e.g. Brasso. These articles are usually referring to delicate, museum quality antiquities and not stoves, lanterns and lamps etc. Works for me - as you can see! The whole episode took only about an hour to complete. Some might take it further with a buffing wheel and then a thin coating of lacquer to protect the finish - it's up to you how far you want to go. Hope that helps...
Another way to prime a 123 is to take a 1/2 square of toilet paper and twist it into a wick. Dip the wick into the tank and then place it at the base of the burner stem and light it.
Or fill a Zippo-lighter fuel canister with meths and spurt that into the base stem hole. Lasts for ages with much cleaner results.
Ain't got one yet but with the 99 tank. Just turn it upside down. Turn it on and shake to get a drop of fuel out. Light and turn off flip back upright. Open fuel when flame is nearly out. Adds fun to the event.
This is/has been my method of choice for awhile now. However, last Sunday, I decided to try a different method, and brought along some Optimus priming paste. Aftre squirting some paste around the base of the riser and replacing the windshield, i found that I couldn't get the flame of my little cigarette lighter close enough to light the paste. So, plan 'B'. I opened the control valve and cupped the stove in my hands 'till some fuel flowed into the burner bowl., but when I tried to spill this back down to the base of the burner, I managed to spill it onto my hands too. This, along with the fiddly key on the chain being fed through the windshield made me think that although I think the stove is wonderful, I'd hate to have to depend on it in a hurry up the side of a mountain, in a blowing gale. Mind you, there's little chance of me ever being up the side of a mountain in a blowing gale. So tell me, do 'serious' backpackers/hikers/climbers really rely on the 123 for their cooking duties whilst up the side of a mountain, or is this the reason why the world and his granny seems to use MSR 'bottle-on-a-fuel-line' stoves. Tell me I'm mistaken, please Enjoy the Flame ... especially a 123 Flame Brr Brr Brr Brr Brr Brr !!!!!!!!!!! Spudz
Rik you can't be serious ? Surely that is inviting a flaming accident, at best. I mean, how are you supposed to thread the key through the windshield in safety, when the priming flame is lapping at your pinkies. Naaaaa ... there's gotta be an easier way. Spudz
Here you go, not a good picture, I only had one hand on the camera. Just position the top and chain as in the picture, aligning it right, light your primer, and slip on the cover. done it this way many times, not a burn to date You could always use a match through the side of course
Rik I, like you, have often applied and lit the priming fuel before putting on the windshield.|imgRemoved|
Rik, You've been reading part of my mind. I just wnt away from the p.c. for a bit whilst I prepped the dinner and I had a thought that what I really need is a vid. from Rik to demonstrate how it's done. Et Voia !! I'll give it a try after dinner - coffee brew up time - and let you know how I got on. BTW tonight at 21:00 or perhaps 21:30, U.K. on the beeb, a programme about Alien life forms populating the Earth. Seems we might just all actually be descended from inter stellar bacteria !! That would explain a few things alright Spudz p.s. how do you adjust the simmer ring on a Trangia, swivel type, without the burner going spinning in the lower windshield ?
To be honest, its the way I've lit the 123 since I first got one, just makes sense to light it this way
