Long time in coming as I was intent on putting a package together to save on shipping cost but this put a smile on my face today. An early Merry Christmas to me!! Probably not a big deal to you boys on the other side of the pond but I'd likely never stumble into one over here. MONITOR stove in that absolutely delightful aluminum case and a Tilley PL53 lantern. I figured if I was going to get a MONITOR stove I should also acquire an appropriate lantern to display and use with it. Always loved the look of both of these. Pics and tea to follow after both are successfully fettled. ps...Thanks to John (presscall) for alerting me to the value of having that travelling cap for the stove. I'd likely to of impulse spur of the moment bought one and after the fact been unhappy as those caps do seem to not be present more times than not.
Congrats Alexxx Your Monitor you may already have idea re vintage or model... "Hi Speed", a Picnic or a what?? Seeing yours reminds me that Ed's Monitor was posted recently as well. Now both have made an impression . He has the unique case with slight difference and the color of his case matches his stove, seen here. Credit Duane for the pic and Ed for bringing out his stove. BTW in that post Ed later asked "Can anybody identify that Monitor of mine? You can see how it compares in size to the 00 tin... His having the silent burner makes it different than those in the gallery not that I know his model if it did originally have a lipstick? Anyway I recall it was interesting but I was stumped at the time and it is still unanswered. thx omc tag @Ed Winskill
Mine was the delivery of the GSI anodised Ali 10" Dutch oven. Just the old lady and a mountain to carry it up test to do now. Have so much new stuff to play with during holidays.
Hi Simes, I've had an anodised alum dutch oven for a few years now in my tent-trailer. Though I don't do much fancy cooking, I appreciate the light weight and easy maintenance of this oven [bought at MEC - Montreal]. Happy Holidays to all - whatever Faith you follow !!!
@camper52 I'm wondering how well it will pair with the wood gasifier, and as I have bags of wood pellets for the pizza oven that can be used, and according to Youtube reviews can run for an hour on one fill, then cooking options are almost limitless.
@Simes I haven't tried it but I watched a vid of a guy who used a gasifier in his home burner then used the charcoal again for either a second burn or his bbq in summer. mind you there was a meter of snow outside and he was damping it down and venting as much heat as he could claim back into his house. more mylar ducting than a hydroponics drugs den in smethwick
Okay...a good as day as any to put some seals into the MONITOR and let's see what this little British expatriate can do. Obviously had been sitting around for some time as the seller had mentioned that it was an old shed save. It certainly looks like that's where it has spend the last who knows how many years. Outer aluminum case has oxidized corrosion and the stove is covered in honest age related patina. I like patina, corrosion not so much. Remnants of the original decal still evident on the top cover. Outer case and stove not banged up at all so looks to be in pretty good nick. After consulting the stove reference gallery here it looked at first glance that it was an early version of the..."High Speed"...picnic. It has the correct heavy knurled pump knob and male threaded pump collar as well as the PARAFFIN ONLY logo on the side of the stove suggesting pre 1950. So while this holds true for most of the stove it appears that the burner bell with the slot cut into it to assist in removal of it from the burner tube is from the later version post 1950 stove. Also the flame plate sits affixed to the burner bell with four lugs which also lends itself to a later version stove. So...at some point in it's life maybe it was a replacement for a lost burner bell...or maybe an upgrade done by someone who had gotten tired trying to wrestle a stuck bell from the burner tube or even maybe done at the factory by MONITOR as they used up old stock and mixed it with new. Who knows? At any rate I think a split in a burner bell with an affixed burner plate is a good thing to have. Changing the seals were pretty straight forward except maybe picking out the NRV lead sealing washer which was a PITA! Always good to have a girlfriend who still works in a dental office and brings the old picks home to me. They sure are handy for a task such as that. Almost thought that the dreaded NRV was going to also be a PITA but just as I was going to leave it alone it let loose with that nice sounding little..."snap"...sound and I knew all was good in the world. With all the important stuff done all that was left to do was the fun thing that we all like doing. PREHEAT time!!! The anticipation was killing me waiting for the preheat to burn down and since it is bitterly cold here at the moment decided to do a double preheat. That made the anticipation doubly worse. Nice green preheat flame burning off that age related patina and whatever else. It doesn't last long though so be quick with your camera. Just as the second preheat was burning down gave it a couple pumps and it fired right up. Within seconds the burner plate was glowing a dull red. A couple minutes later... And then back into the case... And back to work...kettle on...I deserve a tea. In no time flat we had hot water. I like it. I'm always torn between a complete polishing or repaint of a stove and leaving them as is. This one I think will stay as is. Considering it's older than me I think it looks okay. My impression of this stove? In one word... OUTSTANDING!!!
Fantastic, a reward well deserved! In almost all cases, I vote for stabilizing in good condition + leaving the patina. A tool that's done it's job, earned it's keep, and withstood the ravages of time will indeed show marks of it's adventure. Purely opinion of course, but I find these more beautiful than a pristine factory-new model.
