A post about field repairs

Discussion in 'Stove Forum' started by Espen Lothe, Apr 18, 2021.

  1. Espen Lothe

    Espen Lothe Norway Subscriber

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    Last weekend me and my 14 year old daughter went on a skiing trip in Skjåk area in Norway. Everything was well prepared as this was first time she was out winter camping. The weather was nice and the snow perfect. The tent came up, it was getting late and we needed some food. My dear friends Optimus 111 and Nova had to stay home this time. I primed my recently restored Høvik Verk Primus 210 and as I started to pump I realized something was wrong: The pump leather was totally gone! I think it must have happened when I soaked the tank in citric acid solution to make it shinier.
    DSC00598.JPG
    Being without a burner in -10 C is not the ideal situation, so I had to improvise. On my skiing botos I found soft and thin leather so I started to cut out a piece. And it worked!
    DSC00593.JPG

    But as the Primus started to roar, another problem appeard: A yellow kerosene flame came out from under the spirit cup.
    DSC00594.JPG
    The gasket between the spirit cup and the rising tube was split up and broken. And furter tightening did not fix it. I was not prepared for this either. After some thinking I thought this was worth a try: Making a gasket out of a paracetamol package.




    IMG_20210418_210803.jpg

    And it worked! Finally we could get our dinner cooked! Next time I will be better prepaired. The only tool I used to fix these issues was a small Leatherman Skeletool. Here is a picture of the alternative gasked and pump leather.

    IMG_20210414_211527.jpg

    I think my daughter understood the beauty of having equipment you actually can repair yourself, rather than buying new if it breaks....
     
  2. Ed Winskill

    Ed Winskill United States Subscriber

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    All's well that ends well, but....

    Great improvisation, though!
     
  3. CRAZY CRAB

    CRAZY CRAB United Kingdom Subscriber

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    good job,
     
  4. Robert Bruce

    Robert Bruce SotM Winner Subscriber

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    A good job, improvisation is the key, well done.
    Cheers
    Rob
     
  5. geeves

    geeves New Zealand Subscriber

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    Someone found a use for paracetamol. Recent research suggests its as good as useless in all but a handful of ailments. The plastic side of the package though is pet which has a low melting point. Obviously it worked in -10 but I wouldnt rely on it. A gasket made from the box might have been better.
     
  6. ArchMc

    ArchMc SotM Winner Subscriber

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    Definitely a testament to a simple stove and the value of improvisation.

    ....Arch
     
  7. CRAZY CRAB

    CRAZY CRAB United Kingdom Subscriber

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    when I go camping/fishing, I allways have a tube of metal putty, in the car, great stuff
     
  8. pipenfly

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    What a great first winter camping experience for you and your young daughter. Your ingenuity is commendable. Thank you for sharing this with us!
    Your story also taught me something about the Høvik 210. I was not aware about there being a gasket in between the riser tube and spirit cup. In fact, I was under the assumption that the entire burner on this type of stove was brazed together as one piece.
    I recently purchased and repaired my own 210. Thank you for this information!
     
  9. kerophile

    kerophile United Kingdom SotM Winner Subscriber

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  10. pipenfly

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    Excellent! @kerophile
    This is great information and a fine step by step tutorial I would have probably found after my washer gave out. I plan on using my Høvik 210 for winter below freezing camping, much like Espen. I will go ahead and replace these burner washers once I give this stove the final once over.
    A fine job, everyone! Thank you!
     
  11. Focus

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    Thumbs up !
     
  12. David Shouksmith

    David Shouksmith Subscriber

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  13. Ed Winskill

    Ed Winskill United States Subscriber

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    I have found acetaminophen (our name for paracetamol) to not be of value for pain standing alone, but that when potentiated with aspirin it definitely works. The literature supports this, as does the experience of friends with aged joints.

    The big brand here of aspirin/acetaminophen/caffeine is Excedrin, which I have long found to be efficacious.
     
  14. geeves

    geeves New Zealand Subscriber

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    Came up on the local news. Dont know the original source. I know for me if I have a headache paracetamol will do nothing so always reach for ibprofin. However mix ibprofin and paracetamol and you have a painkiller that doesnt take prisoners. When I had kidney stones a few years ago I was prescribed tramadol but I stopped taking it and went back to the paracetamol/ibprofin mix as it worked far better.
    Not heard of mixing asprin and paracetamol before but if it works thats whats important.
    My main original comment was the pet layer on the packet melting if it got too hot
     
  15. Murph

    Murph United States Subscriber

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    Had a incident here where the missus was tired of taking crap and getting slapped around by her useless drunk of a spouse, seems he died from a mix of paracetamol and hooch.

    The Peelers knew it wasn't any accident - sod all trying to prove it, though. Got chalked off as "death by misadventure", her lawyer said the old boy was trying to dry out from a hard night's tippling, and bought the farm the hard way. Hard cheese, eh?

    Murph
     
  16. geeves

    geeves New Zealand Subscriber

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    A lot of people get in trouble taking paracetamol for a hangover. The max daily dose is 8 500mg tablets a day. Thats safe for a healthy sober person but have a 9th one and it eats your liver. If your liver is damaged or just stressed from dealing with alcohol the limit is less than a quarter of that. The above could well be accidental or some undeclared knowledge.
    Aspirin thins the blood and so does alcohol so thats not safe either.
    The good old raw egg smoothie could be loaded with salmonella.
    Best thing to do for a hangover is grin and bear it. (yes I know that doesnt work either)
     
  17. Jaime Massang

    Jaime Massang Australia Subscriber

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    Well done Espen.

    The paracetamol packaging (aluminium/plastic sandwich sheet) would be a good emergency seal as I imagine the softened plastic would also contribute to a hermetic seal. Great improvisation.
    Lot of guys like the idea of leather pump seals and that you can rejuvenate them ( e.g. if dried out) in a pinch with some cooking oil when on a camping trip. Problem is the same thing happened to me with the pump leather cracking and disintegrating completely at the most inopportune time. I think leather doesn't cope well in extreme temperatures ( -10 degrees or long continued use of the stove.)
    Unfortunately, my boots also didn't have a tongue to improvise with (and I didn't really fancy cutting a large hole in the RM Williams elastic sides at the time).
    You might therefore like my jumper valve piston pump rod modification in the 'Frankenstein' section of this site in which I describe replacing the pump leather with modern tap washer material. Not traditional, I know, but extremely durable especially as they are used for both hot and cold water faucets.

    Kind regards,
    Jaime.