Brought to me at Newark ‘24 to advise on a repair. Issue was a burner’s fuel tube cracked almost all the way through from opposite sides of the tube’s circumference. I offered to take it home with me to fix, asking for return postage only. First job was to soak the burner-to-tank joint with penetrating oil overnight. Burner bell was seized on the burner so that got a soak too. Next day, the soak had done its work. Most of the badly perished wick remained in the burner tube. Inspecting the cracked tube. Before silver soldering I got the assembly up to red heat to burn off the tightly-packed wad of wick remaining in the tube. A fine gauze had been rolled around the wick and this disintegrated on removal with the wick residue and brass wire wick armature. It occurred to me that the gauze/wick/armature could have expanded due to pump gasoline additive build-up over time, splitting the tube. Silver solder repair done. New wick to be installed, fuel cap seal replaced and control spindle graphite packing replaced before a good clean of components and test firing prior to returning it to its owner. John
A very good point and most likly the cause, another possible cause, maybe a previous owner tried to dismantle the seized burner by holding the burner in a vice and twisting the tank this could have stressed the tube splitting or even weakening the tube , so it could not hold up to the expansion of the build up of pump gasoline. As all ways John an excellent first class repair job, which is virtually invisible well done there
Thanks Brian, Duncan. I couldn’t see any sign of mis-applied torque however, unlike this sheared Primus 80 burner riser … … for which there was a happy outcome!
Thanks@CW @pete sav Cheers Pete. Not idle certainly, but I reckon I’d have PTSD if I’d had to fire up the OXO stove you coaxed into life. Sorry I missed that but I was fully engaged in my bit of the camp too. Very chuffed to take this Thermidor lantern off Dave Shouksmith’s hands. Pretty rare, maybe not quite so rare as the OXO lump (no disrespect to it intended!) but uncommon. Chuffed as I say, to have the stablemate to the Veritas bowl fire I picked up at Ashover in October last. John
Another one back in action- well done! Scrolling down and seeing the Thermidor, it suddenly brought that wonderful Veritas bowl fire to mind, and then lo and behold- there it was!
I have been trying to find the words to say thank you, but I am still speechless really. You are a metal magician, and not only is my little stove mended to a high standard but now I know what variant it is too.
Hi @presscall I have an almost identical crack on an 8r tube in the same spot. (Slipped in the vice) How did you avoid melting the solder in the adjacent joints while filling the crack? An excellent job by the way. Scott B
@Driftwood You’re too kind, glad to help. I’ll keep you posted on progress with the Optimus and the other couple of bits. @Blackdog Thanks Chris. Yes, the ‘pipework’ and glowing steel ball with flame spikes on the Veritas bowl fire are certainly attractive. Thanks @gnome @Scott B I use a silver solder (aka silbraze, aka hard solder) with a lower melting point (higher silver content) than the burner joints. It still holds at a far higher temperature than the tube reaches in use and has the mechanical strength of the surrounding brass. If I’m repairing a roarer or silent burner where the repair point gets red hot in use I use a higher melting point braze metal that melts at about the same temperature the burner joints contend with. I shield those joints with fragments of fire brick during the repair and avoid directing the torch flame at them, having got the whole burner red hot with a broad paraffin blowtorch flame then giving the repair point a blast of intense localised heat from the MAPP torch.
@Driftwood Pretty much completed, with just the safety release valve in the filler cap to service (it’s stuck shut) and a clean-up of parts. Here’s the replacement wick with brass with armature. Installed in the burner. Test firing. Getting underway. Properly on song.
