Calling Optimus Nova lovers. O.k the valve sticks. It is quiet the way it came but leaves skid marks of brown gooey stuff on me pots.(kero) Raised the plate and inserted a "filter" on the control end of the fuel supply hose.(don't know if it helps) O.k. burns blue and the skiddy's have gone. Bit noiser but can live with it being wind prone 'n all the other silly things like not packing in the bag. Trouble is I'm getting sick of flipping the burner plate and tightening up the nipple. Done it cold done it hot. After a couple of burns it self loosens And burn blue it will not. Any solution?? Bloody toy stoves!!!! Think a Franken Explorer would be better Stumped with the bloody thing 'ol barra
Hi Bruce I've never had residue from any fuel I've used, maybe try changing your kerosene source? When you pack the stove, always leave the control valve open or they do stick Keep the fuel nipple that goes into the pumped slightly greased to prevent the valve sticking (tells you that in the instructions) Both of mine tend to burn with white/yellow tips until you put a pot on when the flame then goes a nice blue.
No No sorry Rik The nipple/ jet 'o'thingo loosens after a couple of burns. Iit seals at first Burn or 2 Then it seals as it heats up a bit but keeps getting looser till I have to tighten it again. Thought the plate was just bent down on to the "fin things" was by some one playing with it in a shop and started to raise it all up till its pretty much level at the top of the burner bell. NO smell or gum from lack of heat/02 Hmmm. After I fix the nipple see how it goes!! May press it down in stages and see what happens. Still it should burn not so great kero just fine if its rated for "diesel" Shouldn't it?? mean me 111T burns it nicely!! No troubles. Thanks Bruce
Hey, Bruce, I'm with Richard on this one, as I get no residue, at all, and no problems burning kerosene, or Coleman fuel. I don't use diesel in ANY of my stoves, as I think doing so will lead to problems, sooner, or later, and I don't need to set myself up for that. Are you burning kerosene that had dye in it? If so, I'd dump that, and go with straight, K-1, water-white, odor-less kerosene. It works perfectly, burns hot, and in all the years I've used such fuels (more than 20 years), has never left any residue in any of the tons of kero stoves in which I've used it. Best of luck sorting it all out, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc
Mine both run great on clean Kerosene. No soot or other deposits. And the jets stay tight. Bruce, I don't think it's the Nova stoves that are toys, maybe just the one you have didn't come out so good. Also, a diesel rating doesn't automatically mean it will run dirty or tainted Kerosene nicely. Al
I must be speaking a different language Try and rephrase it. How do I jet the nipple to not loosen. OR I got a loose nipple that won't stay tight after I torque it up and firmly seat it?? Is it just mine or a known problem with this type of jet. Ie Nova XGK Dragonfly etc I'm burning kero..kerosene.. Can't get K1 outside of the states. Yep its blue dyed like all the kero we get now. Its Diggers new stuff after Rochem bought them out. and heavily tainted. Couldn't see througth the steel 20 ltre drum when I bought it. Burns nicely in 2 pint silents and others pretty well. Blue very little smell and no gum or such on the billy base. Maybe a slight white powdery film here and there.But clean.and vaporizes well. Maybe a tad heavier than some others Iv'e gotton but good. Think its the nipple thats all. Torque it up with a quick twist and it sticks fast when you try to undo it. Seems the heat expands the nipple holder threads and tightens /seals it when hot but after it cools down a few times SOME HOW it loosens it self. Maybe the threads are too loose a fit and the nipple seats on a wide area of the taper. Might try and loosen it a bit and let kero burn though it and soot up the threads on a small yellow flame and hope there is enough friction from the soot burning from the outside of the nipple to help provide some friction to keep it playing up. Thread of a lamp mantle or something maybe??? Any way besides that I think I will enjoy it more once I can use it with out having to "fiddle with it" Thanks for the reply' s fellas Bruce
Hey, Bruce, Did you buy your Nova brand new, or used? I'm wondering if you have the proper jet in there, size-wise. MSR is famous for changing the jets of various models, supposedly as an upgrade in performance, then not supporting the older jets!! Sounds like a ploy to me, to get you to spend more money on a new stove, instead of keeping your older one!! They have done that with the X-GK series, and also the Whisperlite series. I tried to fit a newer jet into an early X-GK, and though it did screw in, it didn't fit properly, and thereby, came loose very quickly when used. Sounds like you've got a similar problem on your hands. Can you take a good, up-close photo of your jet, please? I will compare what you have to some of the other MSR jets I have on hand, and see if your's has been switched with what's supposed to be in your Nova. Just a thought... Take care, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc
See if I can do a photo but the Nova is a "brand spanking new one" with test sticker box etc. Never lit. Green and black with the normal fuel valve. Trust me to get something wierd!!! Bruce
O.K. O.k. Here goes nothing!! Nipple seat can see stain on one side where it wern't sealing after a few burns. Nipple. Note the ring which is forming on the taper now. Skid marks before fix. A few wraps of mantle rope and it seams to behaving much better. Stove burning with the crappy kero slightly yelow bit mixed with red. Pot on the top. O.k it aint burning super but heaps better. Still hear a SSSsss every now and then. Hope it aint a hole somewhere. (most likey bit of crap coming through the nipple.)dug out some of me last low oder Kero which is old and in a clear plastic container thats been baked in the tropical heat and sun etc for a few years. that burns Red tipped and produces little gum and will simmer down to nothing with a blue flame. this other crap not so good Still I thought that it would go better than it is since a lot of me other burners cope with it much better. Stench has reduced remakably and probably to the normal amount for these from what I have read. Lot more usable anyway at this stage. Comments!!! welcome Bruce Thinking of contacting Optimus in Aus and see what they have to say about it.
Re read the destruction emanual. Petrol stove Pressed on regardless. The plate now lives virtually level with the top of the burner bell. Same kero Now redder tipped and flatter flame propagation. Simmer Flame on the pan Hmmm gum has gone.Well vertually. Just a wee tad when you first put it on and it heats up to proper operating temp. Simmer is quiet. open it up a tad and it putters which increase in frequency but not noticeable in volume. flat out not bad. That about right???? Best I can get anyway. I did lift the plate up to theoretical nipple height (supposedly) And it burns complete with lots of good 'ol roarer noise. Burnt 3 litre of water in 9 minutes. The way it is now is a compromise. Quieter and just a slightly more wiff than a normal burner.With better kero I hope to be better but not annoying or sinus head ache stuff the way it came anyway. Happy now I can use it and hmmm getting to like it. Barra
Morning, Bruce, I'm glad you finally found your niche with the Nova. It's one of my most favorite stoves. One thing that I've noticed is that you do a lot of raising and lowering of the flame spreader. Is there a reason for this? In truth, I've never done it, but just use the stoves as they arrive, without messing with the flame spreaders. Seems to work just fine for me, and I've never broken a leg off of a flame spreader, by work-hardening the metal, raising and lowering it, trying to find the "sweet spot". I've messed with lots of other things with stoves, but the flame spreaders are pretty much left as they are when I get the stoves. I'd be interested to know how many others do as Bruce does, and get into messing with the level of the flame spreader. In most cases, it seems to cause more problems than it fixes, but then that's just my opinion. Thoughts? Comments? Bruce, one way, or the other, I'm glad you've got the Nova up and running. How about the jet? Is it still coming unscrewed in use? That one was perplexing, that's for sure! Take care, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc P.S. Bruce, I still have your shopping list of X-GK stuff, as well as one from John in NZ. When we finish with our next gig, which will be at the end of this month, I can dig into it, and see what I can find for you.
Yeah your right about the plate DOc But gives me the willies having a stove that don't burn blue. Why should I suck on fumes just be cos the air fuel mix is totally wrong. Probably find the jet is leaking and the extra height helps get it to burn right or something. Have contacted Aus distributor about it. See what they have to say. Buying a brand new in the box stove I expect it to just fire up and work as it should. Shouldn't I ?? or am I just living a delusional pipe dream? Barra
Hey, Bruce, You have every right to expect a brand new, out of the box, stove, to work perfectly!! Unfortunately, not all of them do, however. I can think of a few that messed with me. One was our very first Coleman Model 400 Peak 1 stove. Tried to fire it up and damned near caught my hair on fire!! The thing was almost as flaming as Ian's flame cannon!!! And, it would not settle down. I took it back to the place where it had been purchased, and the sales person told me that, OBVIOUSLY, I didn't know what I was doing. He took the stove in the back, to try it out, and was soon back, completely red-faced, saying something like, "Damn, I almost caught my hair on fire"!!! Uhhhh, yeah.... that's what I tried to warn you about, Dude! They gave me another new one, and to this day, it's worked perfectly, with no flaring and no problems, whatsoever! A second one that messed up, right out of the box, was my now cherished Optimus Explorer #11!! Yep, right out of the box, it had a horrible leak..... steady drip, drip, drip, right at the fuel connection to the pump! I tried tightening it up, and everything else I could dream up, all to no avail. So, I put it away, thinking it was just a dog. Years later, I contacted A&H, and told them about that stove. Without hesitation, they sent me a new connecting part, and once installed, that stove, like the Model 400, has been as right as rain, ever since! So, just because it's new, does not guarantee that it will function perfectly, as much as we might wish that it did! Best of luck on getting your Nova letter perfect, and I think you will like it, very much, when that happens. Take care, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc
The new Optimus stoves sound like Microsoft and their crap products to me. They don't give a toss what the users want or think.
I've learned a lot here! Never had problems with my Nova (after reading the manual) The quick coupling has to be operated with care, and the valve get stuck if you just turn off instead of using flip-stop, and wait for cooling down to close valve. I have registered several people having other problems. The o-rings wears out, (mine is more than 6 years) The pump leather needs oil. Some burners do not burn well on a spesific fuel, and here I get the highth adjustmen af the flame spreader as a possible solution. The Nova is made in several versions. No magnet, just shaker jet, hex nut under. Magnetic tool and needle, hex nut under Wider nut under with flat skrew slot Green handle Hinged flame spreather Black footer adjusted design on the footer. At least they struggle to keep their product in a top level. The last years has been turbulent, and the 3 owners since the Nova was introduced is now in. dsk
Try low oder paint thinner. Thuggy turned me onto it, and I've been using it ever since w/out any probs.
