I just acquired this stove online from a thrift store. I didn’t ask for more photos because I like surprises, I think it could be an early Optimus 0 (the proportions suggest me a 0 but I could be wrong)… but I can’t resist to ask here if any of you have ever seen a roarer burner with 4 screws positioned in direction with the four tubes of the burner. Sorry for the photos but I had to enlarge the poor 2 photos that were available. To me it looks a legit thing, it seems well done and not a modification that wouldn’t have any sense. Thanks, Nicola
The only stove with screws on a roarer is this Alpha Sundyberg Campus 2 mistery stove that probably is home made, but I don’t think there could be any relationship also because I am confident that my new stove is an Optimus. Nicola
@Nicola Francesco Elia "To me it looks a legit thing, it seems well done and not a modification that wouldn’t have any sense." I humbly disagree. Let's see what it looks like when it turns up. Examining the stove will explain more.
@Scrambler Sure I will have an answer when it will be delivered, but in the meantime I wanted to see what you guys think. I agree with you that those screws don’t have any sense to be there and this is what puzzles me so much! But why someone should spend time to put 4 screws there and why? The stove doesn’t seem extremely used or battered to let me think to a “last chance” repair to have the stove working a little more. We’ll see
My very uninformed guess is that there is unattractive damage to the burner. Again an uninformed guess, but I wonder if it was drilled for an electric light fitting but the DIYer called it a day before getting very far.
Well I really hope it was not drilled for such purpose and that the tank is safe… well it costed me 13€ so I bought it for the trivet… the stove will be a plus anyway. Nicola
It may be that a PO drilled those locations to decoke the burner legs, then filled the holes with the screws.
Hi, stove arrived, I was right, it’s an early Optimus 0 with a nice cast iron trivet that is a real plus for this size of stoves, very happy. The burner still is a ? But I will remove the screws to see what’s the magic behind Nicola
Well removed the screw it shows what one would expect. I don’t think the screws make a seal so the burner probably cannot work.
Nicola, I agree with abman47 that the screws were probably installed for cleaning. You should be able to get them to seal. Even if it means braising them in. It's a nice stove and trivet.
That’s a great find, Nicola. If it were mine, I would do as Martin suggests and braze the screws in place after giving the burner a thorough clean. Cheers Tony
@ROBBO55 and @Tony Press Hi guys, I agree with both of you. Sure it’s a great find, both for the price and for the model, that strangely is quite rare. I kinda like the look of the burner as it is so first of all I want to keep it as is. I will do a dunk test to see if the screws make a seal (if someone did that for cleaning purpose probably knew that was possible). If there are no leaks I will fire it. Last solution obviously is brazing the screws. I will keep you updated. Cheers guys, Nicola
I wouldnt braze the screws . Its such an unusual and rare burner . Clean it up and if you want to run the stove, use a replacement roarer from another stove. Most of our stoves are used only occasionally anyway . Maybe some more information on these screws will show up in the future . Then it would be nice to have it in original condition.
@A A C we are lucky! I can only soft solder, so the burner is safe ahah I agree with you, that’s why I was thinking about some washers if the seal is not possible with the screws only. Nicola
Hi I don’t see why they won’t seal after all jets do and Max Sievert used brass removable plugs on some blow lamps so you could clean out the burner tubes. He also made the jet (nipple) the same shape as the NRV so one tool removed both.
The screwholes in the burner look threaded; if so, graphite paste or ribbon would provide a positive, but antilock(and non permanent) seal. Yes?
