So.... I'm just opening a package for my birthday from the extended family in Slovakia. Brother in law is awesome and found this stove...and I'll have to say for a single burner stove...it's huge. I'm tearing into it now but I don't think I've seen this variant in the forum yet... Other similar models but not with the configuration like this. It reminds me of a Coleman 500 in a box. Just for reference.... This is the chassis sitting on a kitchen chair. Family said that this was a stove they had when they were part of the communist era ..and it's a home stove. More later....
Ok ..so some luck. Big time luck. When I peered down the pump I was very scared to see a slotted NRV. Being direct I said "ohhh shit" as these are usually hard to get out. A magnet sticks to the tank so also probably going to be a real knife fight to desolder the pump....I started pacing around the kitchen thinking what to do...and my wife says what I thought to be stupidly obvious "Did you even try to take it out with a screwdriver?" I just decided to try it and be really gentle... Used a screwdriver that fit without wobble...and.... It just came out loose. Whew!!!!!!! I took the rest of it apart and found a knob for the pump that was missing... But here it is. Weird things.. Slotted NRV The generator tube just has some asbestos type crap in it... No cleaning needle There is a needle for the Coleman style ecentric knob... That was weird The tank and black top are enamel painted.... Tank is a plum color (like parts on my Makarov for those who know) More later...
Nice stove and a great narrative as you tear into it. I can't wait to see the beast fired up cooking bryndzové halušky. Keep up the good work and keep us informed on your progress. Ben
Did Coleman invent the Ridged/Flat/Ridged/Flat/etc burner ring configuration? MSR also borrows it for their Whisperlite. White gas or kerosene? Nice to have generous relatives in exotic places. Happy Birthday.
So... the beast is back together. Needed to fix the fuel pickup tube and rinse a bunch of dirty fuel out of the tank (brown fuel) and pump cup replacement. The nrv was broken so I was lucky that a standard Optimus nrv for the 111 fit without any fuss. Used a Coleman 425 pump leather.... Weird right? Here are some photos! Put some stoves (Optimus 8r and a Coleman 425 next to it for comparison
@z1ulike I AM SUPRISED YOU KNOW WHAT THAT IS!!!! I even told the wife "this guy on the forum knows what bryndzové halušky is" and she is asking when you came to Bratislava? For those who dont know its the national dish...and tastes amazing. We cannot get the correct cheese here in the US.
@SveaSizzler You know I am not sure but I think they did. This stove (Meva "Mevar" 2142) was made somewhere in the 50-60's....no clue. There is no date I can figure or decipher. The stove runs on white gas quite well actually...but is as I said a huge stove. Appreciate the well wishes for my birthday. I dont normally celebrate it, but the mom and brother of my wife call and sing to me and have a toast of Slivovica (plum alchohol) and she sent me a cake called "Marlenka" I actually really like my mother in law a lot...
@The Warrior its so big I am going to have to stack it in the garage with the other colemans...haha...its too big but nice in a way. Looks sophisticated. I like how the Czechs use gray and blacks with some white like the Beverex stove.
@Sellig33 I'll give it a try but it's the cheese that makes the dish. Its potato dumplings covered with a goat cheese sauce and crispy bacon crumbles....and spring onions... It's in this photo top left... And the other plate has fried cheese (breaded cheese that's fried called "Edam" cheese) The item in the middle is pork crackle that's been crushed down into a spread. Slovakia love pork for sure hahahaha
@Remus I read a spy thriller where the ''Good Guys'' at the Company's West Berlin Station kept a 5 gallon office water cooler filled with Slivovitz. When heavy hitters coming in from DC to throw their weight around would take a slug from the water cooler -- thinking it was water -- they got a big surprize when it hit. Spy _fiction_ of course.
@SveaSizzler My brother in law's favorite thing to say to me is "just try it" and would give me all sorts of beers and drinks constantly toasting anything and everything. Never been so ripped in my life, I literally went to another planet and woke up in a hotel...haha
Sadly I don't know what bryndzové halušky is. I just Googled "national dish of Slovenia" figuring it would be an appropriate thing to cook on a stove from Slovenia. It looks and sounds delicious though. Ben
@Remus1956 , Thank you for the culinary explanations. My paternal grandmother was Hungarian and my grandfather was Yugoslavian. My father was born in Yugoslavia, on the Croatian side. They arrived in France pushed by the Russian advance during WW2. I think I ate similar dishes when I was a child. I remember potato dumplings stuffed with plums and especially Hungarian goulash, which I also cook. Gilles
