I have been curious about the little Svea 123 stove for a long while, and finally decided to get one. Why? Well, mostly for fun, but I also for the kind of use I usually take one of my smaller Coleman stoves like the 400B or 550B, the Svea is a little smaller and a little lighter, perfect for coffee duty on a day trip or solo hiking. Ironically, while I live in Norway and only a 30 minutes drive from Sweden, obtaining a used "made in Sweden" Svea 123 proved virtually impossible. There are none for sale, you have to stumble upon them somewhere. Buying from the US or Europe is possible, but expensive with the freight. The reason for this I think is that Norwegians (and possibly also Swedes) never used to buy Gasoline stoves, only kerosene. Getting a cheap but good Optimus 111 takes minutes, there are 10 for sale right now relatively close to me, but Svea 123, Optimus 8R etc. are like hens teeth. So, I decided to buy a new Svea 123, made in Taiwan, and I have to say right away that I'm very happy about it. Is it a classic camp stove? By design, obviously, but since its now made in Taiwan by a Swiss company one could claim it to be some kind of a replica, but I find it fascinating and rather great that they still make it. Hence I decided to post some pictures of it, provide some data about weights, boil times etc. And pictures! Here it is, new in the box: If you take the box apart you will find "Made in Taiwan". The stove also comes with what looks like some "classic" instructions! I think the stove looks great, no obvious flaws or signs of bad workmanship. Looks perfect with a small Bialetti: It is not "mine" before I have taken it apart somewhat, and I also wanted to check the tank, burner and jet for debris, or other left overs from production. I found nothing and went on to check the weight of the components- Basic stove straight from the box, empty tank. I doubt I will be using the cup. After the inital "scrutiny" I had to fire it, a bit exciting since it is my first self-pressurising stove. But the process was really easy, and I basically fire Kerosene "discuss" stoves with roares burners the same way (shut the vent screw and light a healthy dose of denatured alcohol in the cup). It fired up without any drama, pulsed a little until it got hot and settled with a steady roar at "full speed". I was a little surprised by the output, it burned hotter than I thought it would. I had to do a "boil test" and filled a 1.4l Trangia kettle with 1 liter of cold water, 7,8 degree Celsius (46 Fahrenheit) The little Svea took it to a roaring boil in 5 minutes 58 seconds. Faster than the claimed 7 minutes. Its all the same to me if it takes 4 minutes or 8 minutes, but at least I know it is performing as it should (or even better...) I have read many times that the Svea is not so great for cold weather use, or for melting snow. Since it is winter here and relatively cold I had to test my new stove outside as well. I made a patch of some welding cloth, basically a heavy glassfiber weave used to protect objects from weld spatter, and glued two layers of thin foam to one side of it, to have an insulated base for the stove. I put the Svea outside in the snow for about 30 minutes, the temperature was -11,4 degree Celsius, about 11,5 degree Fahrenheit. I even measured the temperature of the outside of the tank, it was -11 degree C. I fired the stove, it went very smooth although it pulsed for a little longer before it settled at a steady roar. There was a bit of wind from the north so I put up a windscreen on one side, about 10cm away from the stove. I filled the kettle again with exactly 1l of cold (7.8 degree C) water and did another boil test. This time it boiled 1l in 8 minutes 38 seconds. I think the Svea performed just great outside in the cold. In the weekend I have also used it with my Bialetti coffee maker with good results. The Bialetti make the best coffee if warmed slowly, or at least not at full blast, so I got to test how the Svea simmers, and it does simmer quite well. Maybe not as well as my more modern Optimus stoves like the Polaris, but well enough for most situations. So far I am happy, exited and impressed by my modern Svea 123, its a great littel stove. It burns hot, fires easily and is simple in use. It is probably the least noisy roarer burner I have had, but I will most likely buy a minicap for it at some point, since I prefer quiet stoves. Feel free to ask any questions you may have about the "modern day" Svea 123. Kind regards Tron
Fun write-up, thank you. To fully appreciate your 123 you need a Sigg tourist set or an Optimus 88 set. The little windscreen that come with them is cool looking, but for me not very useful (read: unstable). Keep the pictures coming!
Thank you! I have looked up the sets you are refering to, but for my use they can not compare to a Trangia set with an Optimus Nova burner. Trangia 27/Nova, without the kettle, is only a few grams heavier than Svea/Sigg-Optimus 88 and more usefull. Hard anodized/duossal/teflon coated pans and pots, the power and flexibility of a Nova or Optifuel burner and relatively low price brand new makes Trangia the winner for a user (not collector). I will use a folding aluminium windscreen in addition to the original Svea when using it outside, placed a little away from the stove. Kind regards Tron
@Tron, I'll be testing a stove of two here later in the week, we're expecting -3 F (-19,4 C) here by week's end!!! At those temps, NOTHING self pressurizes worth a damn. Murph
All it really needs to self-pressurize is to be cool when you start then warm it up, at low temp it becomes even more important to loosen the cap before you try to light stove. I've used my 123 a couple times well below zero F and it does take a double prime, and something under it other than snow.
@Tron The Svea 123 seems to be more common in the US than in Sweden. Over the years that I have been collecting/using stoves, I have only once encountered a Svea 123 in Sweden. An unused boxed Optimus Svea 123, that I of course bought. I usually only buy in markets and swap meets where the prices are low. Tradera/eBay and Blocket are way over priced for my taste. I do not know how many Radius 42 and Primus 71 I have but they are much more common here in my experience. Michael
I don't understand the loosening of the cap (never heard of it) when it's cold. Should I do this instead of a double burn of alcohol when it's below freezing ? Tron...My first swedish stove and my first self pressurizing stove was the 123R model (early 70's ish) that I purchased last year. I absolutely love the thing. The one thing that I have noticed is that it doesn't really simmer low enough for my methods of cooking and will warp a new Sea To Summit frying pan (on the lowest setting) when cooking eggs and pancakes lol. I now only use steel or cast iron cookware on mine. Good luck and enjoy the stove. Great write up btw.
@Cookie Loosening the cap (and re-tightening it of course) equalises the pressure inside the tank with ambient atmospheric pressure. Cheers Tony
(Cross post with Tony) The purpose is to equalize the pressure in the tank with the outside air before priming. In that way the priming, warming the tank, increases the pressure in the tank to push the fuel up into the vaporizer, and out the jet. One prime may only be enough to squirt liquid fuel, which then could be used to do a second prime. One prime may be enough to get a flame going. My tip for that is to open the valve slowly, until you get a good stable flame.
Thank you for the replies. I normally check the fuel level each time before priming and top it off to the correct level so I assume that I was inadvertently doing this each time without really knowing why or knowing the benefit. In all of my below freezing test burns I insulated the base (if needed) and primed. At the end of the initial priming burn I'll test it with a little throttle from the valve. If it's a no go then a second priming ensues and it has always lit up.
I have repeatedly burned, shut off, cooled down, primed and burned as many as 5 times and never needed to open the cap. That was room temp and 3 season camping. Not winter or very cold conditions.
Thanks for the positive comments! When I fired it up in the snow last friday I took the stove from room temperature out in minus 11,4 celsius and let it cool until the stove was also minus 11 celsius, when I opened the cap there was vacuum in the tank. I have picked up two pieces of advise on this forum, about using the Svea in the cold, equalize the pressure and insulate the tank from the cold ground. I feel this is very sound advise. It only took one prime to get my new stove going. To be honest, I was a little surprised with how smooth it went. I am still trying to wrap my head around the concept of the wick. Is it there simply to hold the fuel in the column under the valve, so that it takes much less pressure in the tank to move fuel to the jet? Apart from the wick, and the low pressure in the tank, the operating principle seems to be the same as my Optimus Polaris and Nova stoves. If the wick is old and the stove has been used a lot, could the wick become polluted with undesirable components in the fuel, like wax or varnish? If so, will the fuel travel through the wick with more resistance and the stoves performance be affected? Kind regards Tron
If the wick is old simply replace it with a 100% cotton set of strands from a mop head. Varnish and water will definitely create an issue if you get it in the tank and into the wick. A burnt wick from letting the stove burn dry is also an issue and will affect the capillary action of the wick. When I use my stove I always set the timer on my phone for 30 minutes. I know that it will burn for around 45 min but I can usually get all of my cooking done way before then. I try to always start from a properly filled level (not completely full) so that it pressurizes much faster and easier.
I have only replaced wicks on stoves I got used. I do not know what caused the burned wicks. I run them dry sometimes. A PITA to always fill the tank. That was my original reason to go to the MSR stove so many years ago. Now, I just like them all.
I remember it being said here at CCS many, many moons ago that at some time in the past, Norwegians were not permitted the use of petrol-burning stoves. I must assume that this was never the case in Sweden, however, because I seriously doubt that Swedes were forbidden the use of Primus, Optimus, and Radius gasoline stoves. What is the history on this point; the reasons for it and the reason it has (presumably) changed? If anybody knows....
Tron, welcome. I am always glad to hear of newly made stoves running as good as their forebearers. Continue to enjoy it. Ivan
There is no pickup tube going to the bottom of the tank, just the wick. Fuel gets to the burner by capillary action in the wick. ....Arch
As far as I know there has never been any kind of legislation against petrol stoves in Norway. It is possible that, in more modern times, stoves would need an approval before allowed on the market. That I think is the case today. I do know that for the Norwegian market, and I believe also in Sweden, the Optimus 111T was marked "for kerosene only" on the lid, for safety reasons. I do know that Coleman stoves were allowed on the market here at least as far back as the 1980's, I bought one myself, and all of the remote tank stoves burning petrol, like MSR, has been allowed for as far as I can remember. I think the reason older petrol burners are unusual in Norway is that we have not had white gas for sale at petrol stations, and have no tradition for using white gas, so you would have to rely on expensive camping fuel or burn car fuel. Kerosene, on the other hand, has always been very common, with a pump for it at every filling station and much less expensive than camping fuel and even car fuel. People used it for heating, when I grew up everyone used kerosene for heating in the winter, and for lighting and in stoves. Those days are gone, you can hardly find a kerosene pump now and kerosene for house heating will soon be banned. People receive government incentives, money, for switching from kerosene to electric heating. And of course relatively inexpensive white gas, like Aspen, can now be bought "everywhere", as it is the prefered fuel for lawn movers etc. Still qute a few people here in Norway, hikers and campers, still prefer kerosene in their modern stoves. It has no apparent advantage today when it comes to cost or availability, you can only get kerosene in 1 liter and 4 or 5 liter cans at the same places, and at the same price, as the white gas or alkalyt. If asked they will claim security reasons for their choise, I believe tradition plays a small part as well. Kind regards Tron
