Over the weekend I did to some maintance on the two Optimus 8R stoves each of my daughters got from me as a christmas present. I aquired them quite cheap last summer. One case had quite some rust, the other had a terrible black paint applied. But a electrolysis bath did the job quite well in removing paint and rust. A nice Motip metallic blue spray paint with a heat resistant clear lacquer coating restored the cases to its former glory. The cotton in both stoves was charred, but by cutting away the charred part and reusing the rest, they both burn properly again. Both stoves were fitted with a reproduction mini pump and cap from A&H Packstoves. Not really necessary but it gives them a fast start. Over the past months these stoves have already seem quite some use and abuse since they were restored.
I've had several 8rs and that model turned out to be the overall best one. Bought cheap and repainted, runs great.
These are nice and fun stoves. The only flaw - in my view - is that these stoves tend to have difficulties with larger pots. The tank is quite close to the burner bell and large pots can bring too much heat to the tank, with the risk of too much pressure building up in the tank.
True, but they weren't really meant to accommodate larger pots -- they're designed for a quick boil-up on a lightweight trip. Simmering and other such tricks are really just a bonus. ....Arch
8rs were the mainstay of New Zealand hiking until they were usurped by the whisperlite Standard fair on a tramping club trip was an 8r with an 8 pint billy on top. They were less prone to overheating than the 99 and more stable than a 123 with an 8 pint on top
