Hi, I have recently posted photos of a Primus 100 from 1911 in the Reference Gallery. This time I took photos during the fettling, to show what is involved in getting from the "distressed" condition, to a fully operating Classic. Here is the single image provided by the seller, from Ayrshire in Scotland: I could see that this was a Primus 100 stove, as the dirt and any patina had been removed in places. It also had a tank-mounted air release valve, so it had to be pre-1920s. It had some potential, so the purchase went ahead: Here are some photos of the stove as I received it: The positive points were that I had most parts of a sound stove, with an "A" date code, meaning that this stove was produced in the first year of date-marked stove production, 1911. On the other hand, this stove has had a hard life; there were crude solder repairs on the feet and tank penetrations. The legs were wrong, they belonged to a one-pint stove and had been forced into the steel feet of this 1.75 pint stove. They were rusted solid in position. The burner bell and lipstick vaporiser were also locked together by heat and corrosion product. The flame plate was a crude effort cut from brass sheet: The washer between the tank and burner vapouriser turned out to be a mixture of fibre washer and red-lead. Surprisingly, the pump assembly was in sound condition, with a brass shaft, and a leather pump washer that only needed to be soaked in neatsfoot oil to be serviceable. With the stove now dismantled I started by soaking the tank in solvent de-greaser, before a water wash. This removed a lot of oil and loose dirt: I then applied GSR to the tank. This is a mixture of wallpaper paste and citric acid, with a few drops of detergent. The beauty is that it sticks to curved surfaces as it goes about its business of removing oxide and the remaining crud: The mixture in agitated on the surfaces using an old toothbrush, and a well used abrasive pad helps with the more stubborn patches. TO BE CONTINUED. Please do not comment until I have posted more photos. Thanks.
After the GSR treatment the stove was dried and closely inspected. Despite a few dents, the tank was in very good condition, considering the age of the stove. The steel feet on the other hand were condemned due to extensive corrosion, both external and internal. They had been full of hardened mud and rust, which must have built up over the Century. Here is an image of the feet after removal, using a blowlamp: The next job was the removal of the excess solder from the tank. This was done using the torch to melt the solder and a brass wire-brush to shift the molten metal. I also used one of my favourite tools, a one-inch wide paint scraper with a freshly sharpened edge. This allows residual solder to be shaved off carefully, to expose the underlying brass: The next few images show the stove tank after GSR treatment, removal of the steel feet, and excess solder removal from the tank surfaces. The black lines mark the orientation for the new feet: The tank was then prepared for attaching the "new" feet. These were slightly modified brass feet from an Optimus 45 donor tank. These feet had to be bent out a bit, as the feet of an early Primus 100 stove are slightly more splayed than later discus stoves. You can see the areas to be tinned for the re-soldering operation have been masked off using magic marker ink, to prevent spread of unwanted solder on the tank. A MAPP gas torch was used for the attachment of the donor feet: The minor items were now cleaned in citric acid solution, washed, dried, and inspected before re-fitting to the tank: You will see evidence of heavy use of the stove, from the wear on the aperture of the pump cap. The NRV was in good condition, and all parts, including the spring, brass carrier, and original cork pip were re-used. Replacement legs were made from the cut-down legs from a British, Valor 2-pint donor stove. The stove was then assembled, fuelled up and can be seen operating. Finally, the stove was polished, using both a mechanical buff, and elbow grease: The fettling of the stove only took me slightly more time than did the preparation of this post! Best Regards, Kerophile.
G,,day . very informative , interesting and educational . bloody good work , photos and write up . thanks . cheers, kerry
Good Morning, George, Brilliant fettle, my friend!! I especially like the information on soldering the legs back in place. I got an old, pre-1911 Primus from Handi Albert, many, many years ago, and two of it's legs fell off in shipping from AU to the US. I've only tried to resolder legs once, and that was on an old Phoebus stove, which did not come out very well, at all. So, thank you, very much, for your very informative fettle, George!! Spot on the mark, and much appreciated! Take care, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Mark
I like to keep a bit of patina on a stove if possible but that was too far gone for that for sure. Interesting you mentioned the use of a MAPP blowtorch for soldering, George. Although overpowered in theory, it sounds like you too have found that the intense localised heat melts the solder in an instant, job done, before the mass of the stove tank can conduct the heat away or before heat soak in the bottom seam starts to melt the solder there. Fine job. John
Hi John, I was working outdoors on a very windy day. I used a torch with a pencil flame and butane/ propane mix to remove the stove feet from respective stoves, and it was struggling. I used the same torch to "tin" the Pr 100 tank fixing positions, and it was really struggling, so I switched to a MAPP fuelled torch with a wider flame, with some success. I added the feet by dry assembling all three in their correct positions, held there by a single large Jubilee/hose clip. I did not use wet cloths or tissues, or tank part filled with water, (or a safety net!). Instead I relied on the powerful MAPP burner and quick reflexes to melt and secure the pre-tinned surfaces of each the foot and stove, before the lower tank seam had time to melt. As you can see, I got away with it on this occasion. It is good we can share experiences via CCS. Best Regards, George.
Hi, the other day I posted some images of the PPIMUS marked flame plate that came with a Primus No 100 stove date coded 1926. It showed that even Quality manufacturers, like the Swedish stove makers could have an"off-day". If you look carefully above, at the close-up shots of the NRV, you will see in two photos a partially attached disc, lodged in one of the air exit holes of the valve. I only noticed it this morning whilst editing the enlargements for this post. I nipped down to the garage and quickly pulled the NRV, to check it. Both exit holes were clear, so I obviously dislodged the offending punching, when cleaning or reassembling the NRV. I wonder how long ago the NRV was made? Best Regards, Kerophile.
Excellent outstanding work George, and brilliantly documented. Your Primus 100 looks superb, you have done a brilliant job removing all the bad soldering work and you have done a very neat and professional job on the soldering work. Even though the stove is over 100 years old and in some cases nice to keep the original patina on a antique stove, it was beyond patina years of baked on oil oxidation and dirt through years of being abandoned and neglected. With it being cleaned we can see all it's beautiful lettering in detail. A very good point pointed out by John regarding the use of a MAPP torch, I have used one of my small half pint blowlamps on all various unsoldering/soldering work and would have used one on this if it was mine. But even a small half pint lamp produces a large wide flame, even though not as highly powered as a mapp torch but it is more easy to unsolder the seam or any other parts, due to the flame spread. Once again George fantastic work congratulations
Absolutely stunning fettle George. When I saw this stove in the Gallery I thought you had done a good job. Now that I see it exactly as you received it and all the problems it had, I am even more impressed and bow to your skills.
Hi, here is the link to the final result in the Reference Gallery's: https://classiccampstoves.com/threads/primus-no-100-from-1911.28200/ Regards, Kerophile.
George can you post the diameter of the round part of the flame spreader plate? I have to make one of my own out of brass as I can't find any available at any of the commercial sources. Stan
Hi, it is possible that Stu still has some of these flame-plates available. They are excellent, and much better than original manufacturer's plates IMO, as they are made from s.g. cast iron, rather than brittle cast-iron: https://classiccampstoves.com/threads/19359 Now checking my notebook from 2007: If you want to handcraft a flame plate for a No.100 style stove, the dimensions are as follows: The overall diameter of the plate (measured tip-to tip of the legs) is approximately 64mm or 2.5inches. The Centre plate has a diameter of 44mm or approx. 1.75inches. The thickness is probably not critical, if you are using stainless steel. 0.6mm (or 24 thousands of an inch) is adequate. For brass sheet I would probably double that thickness. Before using the above dimensions to fashion a plate, I recommend checking the dimensions of your burner bell. The one I measured had a diameter of 59.3mm or approx 2.36in at the base of the cutouts, where the flame plate legs perch. Best Regards, Kerophile.
Thank you very much for the information George. I've printed it off and put it in my "important Stoves" file and am off to find the proper stainless or brass. I've been in contact with Stu and he said he'd get back to me if he could find some around but he didn't so I assume they are all gone. And yes, my admittedly rough measurement at the base of the cutouts comes to 59.5 mm +or- so it's the same burner bell as yours. I assume your flame plate has a concave shape on the down side, as have most pics I've seen. Stan
Hi Stan, sorry for the late reply. I reckon your should just try a flat surfaces flame plate first, to see how it operates, perhaps make a slight round on the outer edge of the side facing down. It will be a lot less work and with my experience of flame plates, could work acceptably well. Best Regards, Kerophile.
Thanks George, sorry for the late reply but I"ve been away and in/out of internet range. Sound advice. I've seen somewhere that someone even made a flame plate from a large brass coin and some wire. I've some solid brass and the tools to bend it any way I want so I'll come up with something. Stan
Hello, this is my first post! Excellent job on that old stove. Could you tell me a bit more on the soldering process? I have to perform a similar operation on my poor old Coleman. I have happy memories of this stove and was annoyed when one of the feet/support holders was knocked off. The only real difference is that on my Coleman, the piece I need to get back on to the tank is also brass. Edit: Just noticed the new supports you attached were also brass. I have bought in preparation, some Silver-flo 55 rods and flux. Did you use similar and, if so how did you get the excellent results displayed above? Thanks in advance.
Hi @Hugh_Manatee lSoft soldering is the method used on these classic brass stoves. https://classiccampstoves.com/threads/re-soldering-stove-legs.4525/ Best Regards, Kerophile.
Outstanding restoration!! I am so glad I found this post. Lot's of good information here. I LOVE seeing the old girl brought back to life.
