Hi Guys, Did the # 5 come in different configurations? ie; was it offered with different burners? Were they of the silent type or roarer? Also, from time to time I see versions with a flame control valve and others without. I don't believe the top photo has a complete burner. It was advertised as having a silent burner but the box for the burner said "Made in England". I thought that was odd for a stove made in Sweden! These two definately have different burners. I'm trying to determine if someone has taken odd parts and pieced together a stove and called it a 5 just because it said so on the tank or are these genuine versions? Can anyone expain this please? Ian...
Primus, Optimus, Svea, Phoebus, Ginge etc. number 1 & 5 is stoves at the same size but with different names. Primus and Optimus number 1 has roarer burner, and number 5 silent burner - both without regulation. The silent burner number 5 was also made in 5R version - with regulation - for these stoves. All burners was made for kerosene. But Optimus also made alcohol burners with regulation, which also could be used on these - and similar stoves. These alcohol burners looks like the burner on the upper one of your pictures, but you are missing the burner cap. I have some of these alcohol burners,and could make a picture if you wish.
That was on eBay the other day. Didn't it have an empty RM silent burner box with it? The lower image shows an appropriate silent burner on a No. 5. The upper image shows the stove fitted with an incomplete burner from another stove, although as I recall, it was listed as working/ready to go or somesuch...
Hey, David, and all, Yep, you're right, Mate. We discussed that, at the time it was listed, and I mentioned that it had a partial Optimus 209N Meths burner, missing both it's inner and outer burner caps. A few of our Mates substantiated that fact. That stove will not function, at all, without both of those burner caps, so whomever ended up with it, will have to seek them out. Salar and Stove has mentioned that he has such burners, and I believe he also said he could sell some caps for them, if I'm not mistaken. Take care, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc
David you are absolutely right about the Ebay stuff......all of it including it being listed as working.......when I saw the missing half of the burner I said "no way" and quickly ceased any thoughts of procuring it but it's configurations confused me cuz I had not seen a 5 with any type of control valve before. I had to find out for sure by posting my questions to you guys who are in the know far more than I am. Saler and Stove, thanks for the great info and luckily I don't own that stove, well maybe not. I like them all LOL. Sometimes I think I am part magpie.........I gotta have anything bright and shiny hehehe....Those other makers you mentioned that make the 5 and 1 sizes.......are the stoves identical for all intents and purposes? Thread sizes and pitch, burners etc. are they interchangeable as well? Perhaps what I should be asking is if I aquired one of the others would I be every bit as well served by it? Anyhow, you guys have been great. Thanks Ian....
For many manufacturers, No. 1 is a roarer burner version; No. 5 is the silent version of the same stove. You can effectively change one to the other by simply changing the burners over.
Different soves, but this should give you an idea of how they can interchange. I have an Optimus #45 with a silent burner. This should be a roarer burner, the Optimus with a silent was known as the #48. I have a Svea #106 with a silent burner. Again, this should be a roarer, the Svea with the silent was a #105. I had a TWIGG Buflam 2 pinter that came with a Primus silent burner (or at least Primus silent burner outer cap). I swapped the burner with an adjustable Hipolito silent burner, just for fun, and it worked a treat. One thing to keep in mind when fettling silent burners in particular, is that the matching of the outer and inner silent caps can make all the difference. Sometimes you'll have to swap caps around between stoves 'til you find a combination that works. A case in point is that Svea 106 I have. It came with a Juwel outer cap which underburned like a mad thing. Eventually I exchanged that cap with another, kindly supplied by CCS member Prindel, and the stove works a treat. I think this interchangeability is one of the reasons these brass stoves have endured so long and are still being used and appreciated to this day. Enjoy the Flame
Here is a picture of Optimus 209N meth burner - inner and outer cap is of the same size as the "normal" cap's for these stoves but you also need the round tube with hat, and I don't know where to get it - could rather easily make one if I need one. The cleaning needle isn't the same as for most of the other regulated Primus and Optimus burner. Spare parts numbers for this burner
just to confuse things... my optimus is marked no 5S, S for silent? - it has no regulation on the burner. my mother used it some years after the war, so it is fairly new - no fancy antique stuff. were these normally plain 5, then pick your choise of burner, or normally sold in a specific set configuration? if so - why all the separate options?
That (round thing with a hat) inner tube is probably still available from A & H in Tustin, CA. They had quite a few last summer I visited them.
1. Does anyone know the dimensions of the No. 5? 2. I'm looking for something about 8" diameter. Any No. recommendations? I just purchased my first stove in a long while, a No. 96 & was surprised when it arrived it was so small. It looked bigger in the pictures, dah.
No. 1 and No. 5 stoves are about 8" in both diameter and height. Actually, the tanks are a bit less than 8" diameter, but the cooking surface is 8". ....Arch
Thanks Arch, I'll look for one of them then. Any other numbers appreciated. The No. 96 I just purchased is 4 1/4" in diameter?
How can you tell the difference, in looking at them, if the Optimus is an alcohol burner or a kerosene burner?
99.9% of the time it will be kerosene, the alcohol burner will be very unusual and I stand to be corrected here was in all probability produced during petroleum restrictions during WWII If you look around the site you will get an appreciation of the differences, the images above are probably the best to compare with kerosene versions.
Hi Joseph. Welcome to the Forum. Alcohol and white gas are easier to vaporize than kerosene. The fuel travels from the tank through the fuel supply line and is vaporized almost immediately by the hot burner and streams out of the jet ready to ignite. Kerosene needs a little extra time to vaporize and the burner design will have two feed tubes going to the top of the burner with the vapor internally crossing through the top of the burner and coming down through a U-tube and then out of the jet. The picture at the top of the page shows a alcohol burner at the top and kerosene below. Here's a link that shows another kero burner. There is a good breakdown above showing the parts of the Optimus 209 alcohol burner. You can see there are no feed tubes at all.
Thanks @Ray123 Far better explanation than mine. It's too easy to make assumptions about the question before responding. Welcome Joseph, there are far more helpful people than me here regarding the intricasies of burner design. As you are probably aware the basic burner design historically will equate to the volatility of the fuel it was designed to work with. Kerosene, heavy fraction, requires quite a lengthy heating process to vaporise to be useful. Hence the loops in burners designed for the fuel. Petrol/white gas etc will vaporise quite readily with just being warmed, so limited pre heating required. Ethanol/spirits are overly happy and need control. wicking or a control valve. If you keep that in mind then I don't think you'll go far wrong. There are certainly multi fuel variations, but that is done elsewhere on the stove features.
I just went back today, and found that I AM on the Forum! So, Thank you, Simes and Ray. You know, I am not particularly mechanically inclined, as are you fellows. But I AM a Prepper, and have been for years, Prior to this, I only had a few foldable/portable wood burning stoves, and just recently made a half dozen soda can stoves. Yesterday, thinking that my Optimus might be alcohol, I dumped out the kerosene, and tried alcohol. The first time, the burner seemed to want to light. Excited, I tried 5 more times, and failed each time. I followed written directions, to no avail. So, on I go, with your help, and again, I thank you for your help. guys, and for your welcome. Joe
