@Remus1956 You are most welcome! Great flame shot photo. That is one seriously red flame spreader. Hipolito’ ‘seahorse’ logo stamped into the windshield. Pharael.
Well, I finally got my old Svea 123 running, and I had to show it off! I've never used one of these before. It seems to burn much hotter than my 8R, and is easier to prime either with the little-bit-of-burning-paper trick ala Colin Fletcher, or with a bit of alcohol. To gain confidence in it to use on trips I've been testing it, letting it burn for half a tank of fuel at a time. It sure does get hot - I assume that is normal. Can someone point me in the right direction to buy a pricker (it's the old kind without a built in cleaning wire) and a spare vent? I'd need have both before I rely upon it on a trip. Mine has a nice dent in the base of the tank. I can't imagine how it got that, but I guess it's ok....Hasn't blown up yet... Used teflon tape and plumbers faucet graphite for the repair, probably not ideal...
@Robert Van Putten Yes it is HOTTER! I prefer both the 8R & 99 simply because they get less hot and thus less pressure and like 30% less BTU output. Thats because the brass/metal burner bowl is in DIRECT contact with the fount transmitting that heat directly below it and into the fount much more eficiently than the 8R & 99! Plus the vented metal "tube" around it makes it a more windless and self-contained and hotter environment as well as that metal "tube" itself getting very hot and radiating yet more heat downwards into the fount also via DIRECT contact. I don't mean to negative, but teflon tape and plumbers graphite are not rated for gasoline and the very high heat and very high pressures in backpack stoves especially the Svea 123! Don't forget plumbers pipe dope and nail polish! Many people get away with it but its not safe. You need a fuel and heat rated thread sealant at any auto parts store. Anything else and you're just fooling yourself with these amateur night products in this application. Please don't get me wrong. I respect your freedom and its OK with me if you ultimately go that route because its not MY tent and sleeping bag, or MY arms and face that run the risk of being burned. But I would prefer you change out those inferior materials ASAP to properly guarantee a safe stove adventure! I'm assuming your testing was designed to prove your stove is operating safely. But if you want a real-world realistic test you need to throw a pot of water on top of that stove otherwise all the flame and heat is harmlessly escaping skyward. Any real world use of any stove will have a pot or pan on top 3 inches away from the flames and doing a marvellous job reflecting all that heat and flame downwards back toward the stove increasing the heat on that stove even more! Anyway, best of luck in whichever direction you go! Stay safe! Ron
Hey Boron, I'm leaning as I go along, and I appreciate the reply! Yeah, I kinda figured that the teflon tape was not ideal, but I'd thought that graphite was OK for the valve? Anyway, my doubt about that material was why I included that stuff in the photo. Now you wrote about "a fuel and heat rated thread sealant at any auto parts store." I have automotive Permatex gasket maker stuff on hand, two types. It is gas and heat resistant, but I didn't think that was appropriate for sealing threads or on the valve stem. Is that the kind of stuff you mean? And I guess the dent is no big deal? I would like to actually use this little gem. Yes, not pot on top as of yet, I simply let it burn in a safe place for the first few trials. Pot comes next. Foolishly, I did pop the pressure vent on my 8R doing such a test with a much too large pot.
123 requires really simple seals.. 1) Real graphite packing on the control spindle. 2) Viton cap seal and Pip.
@Robert Van Putten you can find even sellers who sell a kit that has all the parts needed to rebuild it. Lemme know if you need a link or a hand...I have bunches of these stoves
@Robert Van Putten @snwcmpr is exactly right about real graphite packing and not the plumbers stuff. The fact that it said "Plumbers" is what many people would call a "HINT". haha Here's their blurb: Permatex's High Temperature Thread Sealant locks and seals threaded fittings. Resists leakage, vibration loosening, moisture, hydraulic fluids and diesel fuels. This high-temperature thread sealant lubricates threads for easy assembly and disassembly. Won't shred or wear like Teflon tape. Parts may be repositioned up to 4 hours after application. Temperature range -65 Degree Fahrenheit to 400 Degree Fahrenheit (-54 Degree Celsius to 204 Degree Celsius). Contains PTFE. Finally, I think I am more afraid than most people here. I get uncomfortable when even my Coleman PeaK 1 stove gets uncomfortably too hot to touch. Its not the fire and heat in itself that bothers me its really the close proximity of my arms and face that bothes me. So I try to stay within the unquestioned engineering maintenance envelope to be be a proper technician and stay as safe as possible within the engineered parameters of the stove. Personally I dislike when a company sells the same product under different packaging to rip off consumers. But its a jugement call. Personally I buy into their honesty and give them the benefit of the doub over their differentiation between Thread Sealant and gasket-maker hence the 2 different products. Since I don't have my own engineering lab and materials test center I go with the one thats advertised to be correct for my highly specific heated gasoline application and I leave it at that. Personally I don't try to cajole or squish one product as a substitue for another against the advice of experts when it comes to hot gasoline devices operating in close proximity to me. That may make me an unthinking fool in this case. Again, its a judgement call.
I will attest to the fact that the FettleBox graphite tape is an excellent resource for fettling stoves and lamps. Tony
