Hello, I'm new to this forum. I got a beautiful Optimus 324 at a local pawn shop for $20. that appears never to have been used. No scent of prior gas in the tank, orig. box, no sign of ever having been heated at all. Never had one of these -- I have 3 Optimus 8Rs and a Coleman Peak 1, though. Tried to light it with very fresh fuel 2 times. Both time same result. Seems pressurized well (pumps up very firmly), but flames out after only a few seconds. With persistence, trouble starts -- it gets to flaming rather seriously UNDER the burner, - evidently liquid gas escaping somewhere under there that quickly envelops the whole stove. Threw cold water on it before any further damage and don't want to try anything more until I find out where this gas is coming out. Anybody have experience with this stove and have any suggestions I should try? By the way, there's a check box below that says "Disable BBCode in this message. What the heck is "BBCode"? -grizbizusa in Montana, near Glacier Park
Hey, Grizbizusa, Welcome to CCS! I have two of those neat 324's and they are nice stoves, in many ways, but rather finicky to start sometimes. One tip is to check to make certain you are using the brass fuel mixture lever the proper way. If you don't do it, just right, your 324 will flutter, flame, and go out!! What a PITA!! But, once you get used to it, and follow the directions that came with your stove, exactly, you should get it up and running. Be sure to check the fuel cap gasket, to make certain it's still soft and pliable. On a stove of that age, new, or not, the gasket could be hard and not sealing correctly. I would also suggest you change out the pump rod O-ring for a nice fresh one, made of Nitrile rubber. Your's could have gotten flat, having sat in side fuel pump housing all these years, and despite the fact that your stove is unused, and you are pumping a lot, the pump may not be actually working right. I change the O-rings on mine, regularly. You are using Coleman fuel, right? If not, they you need to use the proper fuel. I will be away for about two weeks, working. But, if you still have troubles, give me a shout, and when I return to regular email access, I'll get back to you. Have fun, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc P.S. Optimus made the 324 to compete with the then wildly successful Coleman Peak 1 stoves. In truth, the 324's performance, even when working perfectly, is no where near that of the old Model 400 Peak 1 stoves! Still, the 324 is worth owning and using, in any case.
My neighbor just gave me one of these. I am having the same problem it seems. Did these sugestions work?
Griz---try pre-heating the burner longer..i think you are getting raw gas into the box under the burner..there is a heavy steel "heat sink" inside that sheet metal box that the vapor blows into before it go's thru the burner discs--
