EBAY LINK REMOVED - EXPIRED I took a bet on this clearly very old Primus 71 mainly because I was intrigued by what appeared to be a silent burner. It just arrived, and indeed, instead of the usual burner plate, there is a silent burner cap, inscribed 'Primus Metal Sweden Patent Sokt' all round and 'no. 4200' in the middle. The cap fits very well into the burner cup, which shows no sign of ever having had a plate, so I guess the arrangement is original. However, I couldn't find any mention of this part in the Primus catalogues and spare parts here on CCS, nor for that matter of any other than roarer 71's. Anyone here ever heard of silent 71's?? Strangely, there is no dating code (visible); only the flat filler cap with cork gasket - and the tin of course - indicate that the stove must be quite old. (It's brass btw, not the chrome suggested by the link's pic). The tin is superficially rusty but otherwise OK. On its front side there is the classic primus logo (with kero burner, as can be seen in the link) and on 3 sides the texts 'Burns AUTO FUEL - benzine benzoline gasoline petrol naphta' (under), 'MOTORING - BOATING CAMPING' (left) and 'HOUSEHOLD - PICNICS BOY SCOUTS' (right). So any clues will be most welcome. Jur P.S. Pics will follow in due course, after fettling has been completed.
Jur, I came by the same cap on a Pri.70 (effectively a 71 sans valve) early last year. The silent cap and roarer plate are interchangeable.
Ross told me that the 70s date from around 1926-30 so , presumably, the 71s date from around the same time or a little later. I've idea about the caps though. Ross has an article on the 70 & 71 stoves coming up sometime so maybe that will answer the questions.
So I take it your 70's have no dating codes either? Odd, whereas I have a 71 here inscribed AC (= 1938), so by then they were date-coded, whilst other types (such as my Pocket F = 1916) apparently were coded all along. BTW, I just noticed that my new (now oldest) 71 has a much smaller (lower) tank than the 1938 one. However the burner stem is somewhat longer, so all in all heights aren't that much different.
I've noticed the lack of date-codes on early 70's & 71's. Anyway - the 71 came out in 1931 & continued with that style tin until 1937. 4200 is the correct optional silent burner for that model - or it came standard with the 71B along with 2 blow-torch type attachments. It's a long story re the 70 but basically there were 2 versions running side by side - an older one one with no control valve & a handle like Ian's & the later one which was the same as your early 71. When the 71 came out Primus continued with the old style 70 for a while. Bizarre.
