To the first question at least for furure reference - brass is very soft and easily worked. Remove the bell, straighten the stem. Takes about 2 seconds in the padded jaws of a vise. Not a cause for concern. Probably dropped at the factory, or hard knocks in shipping.
@snwcmpr We/l should trawl through all new stock… . Edit: Ken, and others. The post by @gnome shows the same feature: No thread showing above tank, and evidence of thread sealer: New Optimus Svea 123r This must be the new standard. Tony
That is the newer box. Where does the box say the stove was made? My recent production stove came in a box like the one that you linked from gnome. It was made in Taiwan. I had heard that current production is in Romania. I also prime with alcohol, and the top of the tank is discolored. Photo next to a 1974 123R shortly after I got it last year.
Chumango, my green box said Made in Taiwan, but it took me a long time to find it. The font is very tiny, and it is printed in a place where another fold of carboard mostly covers it. i thought that your retro-style box with the flame would be more recent, as that is what shows in the images on the Katadyn website?
Last year my brother ordered a replacement fuel tank cap for his 123, and at the time he asked where the stoves are made now. He was told that manufacturing had recently moved to Romania. My box says manufactured in Taiwan.
"On the p;ss" is a British, Irish, and Commonwealth slang phrase, meaning "on a heavy drinking session" . which in NZ English common usage means - "Built slightly out of whack, skewif, not plumb." So what I meant is, straight out of the box the burner is slightly on a lean to one side, not so bad it won't work or can't be fixed but bad enough that it's impersonation of the Leaning Tower of Pisa is noticeable to even the casual observer. I am sure that once I put it in a bench vice a pull it straight it will be fine.
We thought you meant that something was wrong with the way the stove was burning, or wouldn't start, or ?? Pulling it straight is the correct thing to do -- go slow and easy. It may have been dropped at some point; that's the usual reason the burners get out-of-true. ....Arch
I had a fully assembled 00 behind the seat of my pickup. When I moved the seat back, I bent the riser. It did straighten when I massaged it.
I’ve had a few pre-owned ones with the off-center stem/burner bell. Pretty easy to bend them to where they belong.
If I bought something new and it was bent, I would send it back unless I urgently needed it. No excuse for shoddy workmanship like that. Hike your own hike
Eh, you could have straightened it faster with your fingers than it took to type that out. It’s just silliness on steroids.
I got curious about what "Manufactured in Taiwan", on the box, actually signifies. Legally, according to one (sometimes suspect) source, it is only means that some assembly occurred in Taiwan, and it can be minimal as long as there is "value added". So it sounds like all the parts can be made pretty much anywhere. That definition can vary from country to country. And, again in Taiwan, "made in -", "manufactured in -", or "produced in- " are legally equivalent.
