Today I received a new Svea 123R (made in Taiwan), and right out of the box, the burner seemed off-centre. Refer to first picture, which is a top-down view, with my phone camera as centred as i could. Once I removed the wind-screen, it was clear that (whatever you call the vertical part that connects the tank to the burner) is a few degrees offset from vertical. See how in the second photo it tilts to one side, and in the next one, it tilts to the other side. On the bottom of the tank, the brazing all the way around looks less neat than I’d hoped for, but I am more surprised by what looks like a patched hole, though maybe it’s just a drop of solder. I am guessing the circumferential brazing is ok; I presume the blob of solder is ok; but the non-vertical burner support seems like a problem. It is aesthetically unacceptable, and I am guessing it may affect burn performance. What would you say? I will contact the vendor tomorrow. I am sure they will make things right, but if some of you can share your expert opinions, I would be grateful. (I have not performed a dunk test. I expect this to be an exchange or refund, and that minimal messing with the item prior to sending it back will be best.)
new new or old new? I would be tempted to send it back as first option but consider a deal if this isnt practical. It is not in as new condition so you should not pay as new price. The soldering on the bottom is fine but the burner does need a little straightening. Others here know more than me on the best method
Can we see where the burner screw in the tank. It may be possible to bring it back. If it is from Taiwan, it is not new or ???¿?? does they are MADE in Taiwan now ?
@Montrealer This photo clearly shows that the stove has been bent at the point where the burner screws into the tank. As you bought it as new, you should seek a new replacement or full refund. It can be straightened but that is sub-optimal for a new stove. Tony
Thanks, everyone, for confirming that the bent part is not normal (and that the soldering is probably okay). I will contact the business after it opens to return or exchange it. To address that curiosity, I took some pictures of that part before I will return it.
It looks to me that the burner is pumped too far into the tank also. Even though the control spindle is over the “1”, there are no threads visible. Tony
I have received a new 123R from the store, which readily agreed to take the defective one back. The previous one came in a vintage/retro-style box like in Gnome’s recent post, and this one came in a different box (photo below). I tried it out a few hours ago and enjoyed the flame :-) I tried priming it with gelled fondue fuel, which is readily available where I live, and comes coloured blue. It tarnished (corroded?) the brass noticeably. Most of the blue/green rubbed off (not shown) but the brass there is now noticeably un-shiny, reddish brown, a little rough to the touch instead of the smooth finish. I don’t at all mind patina, but do worry about material damage, and don’t yet know what is safe and not safe for brass. Is tarnishing that dramatically and quickly a sign to use something else for priming? I can switch to methanol, but did like how gelled fuel isn’t going to spill. Can you help assuage my fear of overfilling? The instructions say to fill to 2/3 maximum, but how do you tell? In practice, is it safe just to fill to near to the base of the fill-cap? Can I assume that overfilling is not a safety risk, but would only make it harder to build sufficient pressure? What about windshields? I understand that the risk is that too much reflected heat could cause the stove to over-pressurize; but the built-in windscreen doesn’t seem to block that much wind. The Sigg Tourist sets I have seen on this forum, though, look pretty restrictive and reflective. I have a simple folding windshield (from Firemaple, intended for use with canister stoves, I think). Does the setup in the photo below look reasonable to you? This stove was just too charming not to acquire, and this forum has been very helpful. Thank you, everyone, for the enablement!
Very nice 2/3, 3/4 is full enough because you need some space to built pressure. Methyl Hydrate alcohol is good to preheating and let messy than gel. Also with door stove gasket in the preheating cup make the flame stay near center. To clean it use something without ammonia so copper wanna crack. If you thing used your stove in cold weather, a manual pumps with srv valve is available to buy, it make the stove much more easier to fire up. Here things you can find at Canadian Tire.
Merci JP. I already have lots of that methyl hydrate for my Trangias. How do I tell when the 123 is 2/3-3/4 full?
Empty it , full it then you will discover it. Personally I just leave a space that I know in enough to built pressure. The form of the tank and where is the preheat cup make me decide where could be the best level.
I very often fill till I spill. My 123's have a tube below the fill opening so you always have a bit of air space above the fuel level. Again, I often fill till some spills out. That is not ideal ( I hate wasting fuel!) and probably doesn't leave as much air space as ideal, but works fine. In many years of sporadic use, I have only once had a 123 vent thru the safety valve, that was 30 minutes of run time indoor, so zero breeze. Don't worry too much about it. Your windscreen would be fine
I’m not sure why it says “pumped”! Was I still waking up or was it Autocarrot? Any way, I meant to write “… the burner is screwed too far into the tank”. You can polish the gel tarnish out, but I doubt you’ve done any damage. I use denatured ethanol for all my alcohol burners and for priming. Cheers Tony
After use and shut down and maybe needed again after some time has passed, release pressure, then preheat again, other wise you may be working against negative pressure in the tank and overcoming that. Duane
