So I had purchased two of these, and had given one to a close friend. Went out to his house and looked at took a look at his. I then realized that when turning the spindle on mine the retaining nut was spinning with it. So after tightening that down 1/4 turn it ceased to leak. It took about 7 minutes to get a simmer, but I couldn't achieve a rolling boil. It was a bit windy out but my modern propane backpacking stove reached a rolling boil in 3.5 minutes.
I pressurized and submerged my friends stove, and it was leaking out of the pump (NRV right?) I told him that I would have to make a tool to remove it, and start researching how to braze. He told me I could just have it to cannibilize or fix up so I got 2 projects now. Look at what you guys have done to me haha.
So I now have a fuel cap that is requires a square tool and has a raised nipple (shown in most recent videos) and I have one that requires a 5 sided tool. Any reason to use one over the other?
@Luke I first refer to your post two above this one: 1. Why are you talking about needing to learn how to braze? If the NRV is leaking fuel into the pump chamber all you need to do is remove it (with an NRV tool) and replace the pip, and ensure it's seated properly back in its place at the bottom of the pump tube. then re-test. On your post immediately above: 2. Both fuel caps are fine, but the leaking one should be repaired. 3. On your lack of rolling boil: there's obviously something not right going on, and silent burners, as you have on your 111t are also subject to underperformance in wind. So.. 4. Check all your seals, restart out of the wind and with a proper pre-heat. Give it a good pumping after lighting and then test the boil. If its burning blue and strong, you should easily get a rolling boil. In the wind, I use one of these. Cheers Tony
Ran another boil test out of the wind, and a rolling boil was reached just under the 3 minute mark. The wind has a much larger impact than I thought it would! I removed the NRV from the other tank, and the pip looks fine, it's rubber and doesn't show any obvious signs of failure. The spring has not collapsed either.
just a friendly caution, try not to say things like " modern propane " its a sign of a lack of proper upbringing. You will soon have both stoves tuned up, I'll wager. Ivan
@Luke ... and an excellent flame, too! Get yourself a windscreen (cheap Chinese 10-panel from eBay) and you'll be a very happy camper! Cheers Tony
Yes, very pleased with it. It is only blue at full power, if I close the spindle it trainsitions immediately to yellow. I don't really need a simmer as I generally only boil water for freeze dried food and coffe though. I spent a couple hours today trying to find information about fixing the NRV on the other stove but wasn't able to get much farther than removing it and inspecting it's component parts.
@Luke If that's the NRV in the photo above, and you think that the rubber is soft enough to make a good seal with the brass, then I would: 1. Give it all a good clean; 2. Stretch the spring just a little (10 -15%); 3. Replace pip and spring in the NRV and put it back together; 4. Make sure the pump tube is clean; and 5. replace the NRV in the pump tube, tightening it so that it is very firm - but do not force it beyond that point. Then put kero in the tank, and some in the pump tube, and pump the kero in the tube past the NRV. After that pressurise the tank and see if the NRV is working properly. If it's not, you will have to replace the moulded pip with a brass pip holder and pip (which you can get from The Fettle Box). Cheers Tony
Stretched the spring a smidge, cleaned up the tube and filled her with kero. pumping builds pressure but if I wiggle the pump rod at all then I hear pressure releasing through the NRV. I suppose the pip is too hard (difficult to indent with my thumbnail). I also swapped the burners and this one behaves quite differently. Slightly louder and more yellow flame. Boil time was 4:30 I'll post pics from my phone in a bit
Hi Luke, if you have a leak due to a bad NRV, it is kerosene which will leak into the pump tube as the NRV should be below the liguid level. When you wiggle the Pump shaft do you get fuel in the pump chamber? Best Regards, Kerophile.
Yes, after draining the tank there was a little kero in the pump chamber. Not a large amount but the pip is compromised.
been scouring info about burner caps. Does anyone produce any (other than india/korea) for the 111's that increase performance over stock caps?
I'll look for a good pice of cork to try and craft myself a replacement. I was also reading (one of your posts I think actually) where it was explained that cork has a grain, and you need to make sure the grain is horizontal and not verticle to prevent leaking.
Hi Luke, Base Camp has these listed: 2252 Rubber cone for pump valve, all paraffin lamps & stoves, £ 2.60 GBP 2252V Viton cone for pump valve, all petrol lamps & stoves, £ 2.60 GBP I have tried the S. Korean stainless steel caps and they work well. However there is no performance advantage other than corrosion resistance, and the Primus Optimus caps are still best, IMO, if you can source them. Best Regards, Kerophile
I was looking at that website earlier. I intend to get a few things when I do place an order to get the most out of shipping. would the their "5144 Pump rod complete for 111 stove £14.95" use a leather cup? Sounds like it's generally accepted to be better than the O-ring.
@Luke Or you can convert your O-ring pump to leather by using one of @kerry460's converters. They are very good. Go to the Trade area of this site, or send him a PM. Cheers Tony
I recently acquired a very used Optimus 111 kerosene roarer stove. After much cleaning and replacing the cap seal, and soaking the pump cup overnight in mink oil, cleaned jet with carb cleaner and checking it out for gross function I fired it up and it seems to run very well. I have a Hiker + which I love so am somewhat familiar with this model from that. The only thing is that the flames have small flickering yellow tips in parts of the outer flame crown. I pumped it 50 times to get good atomization but nothing changed. If I turn it down a little they are still there. The only thing it effects is that I get soot on the bottom of pots whihc my H+ doesn't do with kero. Is this normal for that model or do I have worn jet/needle or something? I don't know if they can wear, but it looks to my like it is running a bit rich (excessive fuel to air ratio). Also something that doesn't happen on my Hiker + but does on this, when pumping fast/harder the pump jumps like there is suddenly no back pressure near the bottom of the stroke. It seems to be pressurizing, just seems strange. It happens very suddenly like something let go instantly. If I pump more gently it doesn't do it. Maybe the NRV (I think it is called) is popping open all the way when pumped hard? Or even though the pump cup is soft and oiled it isn't keeping seal? Any help would be appreciated. This site is such a robust source of knowledge. I am most impressed.
