Welcome Lonnie - for many folk that's exactly how it starts! Get that Svea 106 - they are a fine stove & perfect introduction to the world of kero. We categorise the 106 as a 'discus' stove due to the shape of the tank. Some members here are known to dribble on their keyboards at the mere sight of such a beast on thier screens.
Welcome Lonnie. 123's and 123R's are the workhorse of the true mountianeers. I mean the guys and gals who think nothing of spending the night hanging from line anchored to cliffs a thousand feet above a rock fall. They are also my workhorse for any backpacking i do when visiting the mountains of Washington state. Mostly Whitehorse Mtn., and the hills in the Darrington area. As stated before you are going to fall in serious love with that wee bit of stove. It will not (given proper care) ever fail you. And if it does the fixes are as simple as breathing. One bit of advice, do not let it burn dry. This will cause serious problems later. Another bit of advice; do not store this stove near any others, they breed like rabbits and soon your storage area will be overrun. lance
OK. Here's where I'm at. Disassembly complete. I probably didn't have to go this far but in the interest of wanting to know how these stoves work I wanted to see all the guts. I need a new rubber washer for the fuel cap as the old one was pretty brittle. I note that one of the pot rests is homemade and the wick appears to be in excellent shape. My plan at this point is to soak all the brass parts in vinegar and begin the cleaning process. Questions.... 1. Can the fuel cap be soaked in vinegar or is there some kind of over-pressure seal in there that I can't get to? 2. At this point I guess I need another graphite packing. Can I buy those individually or should I just buy the whole repair kit from A&H? 3. Can I just get a rubber washer from the hardware store for the fuel cap? 4. After the vinegar soak I assume you rinse all the parts thoroughly with water. What is the best way to insure that no water remains in the fuel tank and valve body? Thanks guys! Lonnie
Hi, Lonnie, Great job on taking down your SVEA 123R. If I were you, I'd remove the wick, too. Most of the time, when it's charred, that damage will be up inside the burner vapourizor, and you won't see it unless you pull out the wick. As to the fuel cap gasket, you can get a Nitrile one from A&H, as well as the complete rebuild kit. I would suggest you use only Nitrile material for your gaskets, as anything else will not last, and some materials are simply not safe. After rinsing out the tank, you can use a final rinse of Meths (Methylated Spirits) to clean out most of the water, then put the tank someplace warm to finish the drying out. I would not put the fuel cap into vinegar, as there is a spring and safety release pip inside it. Use citric acid to clean the fuel cap. Works very well, and doesn't seem to harm the internals at all. You're doing a fine job, just remember that when you reassemble your burner, set the cleaning needle down 4 to 5 clicks to get the best performance out of your stove. Take care, have fun, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc
Thanks Doc! I just tried to call A&H at both numbers listed on their website and it says that both #'s are disconnected. Any ideas?
In case you haven't done it already, you might want to pull the wick out from the burner just to make sure the tip isn't singed from burning all the fuel. sam
When I talked to Shirley (I believe that was her name) late last year at A&H, she said that they don't sell new gaskets only new caps. She felt that the SRV in the old caps couldn't be relied upon and that the only safe recourse was to replace the entire cap. HJ
It's Shirlene. You can get Nitrile, and stuff ad infinitum from McMaster-Carr, online. If you can't find what you want, call them up. They also have nice arc punches for cutting your own gaskets forever. It gets cheap pretty fast, that way. Also, if you don't check out our site sponsor, Base-Camp, you'll really miss out on some neat reading... and buying, too. Al in Oklahoma
Hey, MTcamper, It's best to order from A&H from their website, these days, and not to try and call them. Shirlene is doing her very best to continue to help us Stovies, even though they are no longer "official" Optimus dealers. I've used many old fuel caps, with more than fair success. Some have leaked out the safety pip, but more just keep on chugging along. For the fuel caps that are made for use with the mini/midi pumps, you can easily replace the safety pip. But, without a very special tool, which is exceedingly hard to find, it's a tough thing to replace the pips on the regular fuel caps. Take care, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc
Let's assume that I can get a nitrile gasket for the fuel cap, or make one. If the safety pip leaks then I will obviously need a new cap. But do I have to worry that the safety pip won't work if that time ever comes? What's the consensus of the experts. Get a gasket and go with the old cap or get a new cap??? When I re-install the vaporizer onto the fuel tank do I need to use any type of sealer or do the tapered threads seal sufficiently???? My vinegar bath is complete and was successful in cleaning the majority of the crud. Then I rinsed everything in fresh water and then in denatured alcohol. This is starting to look good!!!!!
My fondest memory of my original Svea 123, is me sitting alone in the middle of an ancient road with low ledges rising on each side, and the little stove chugging away. Making onion soup, which I believed to be nutritious, 'cause Colin Fletcher said so. (Right Doc?) It was the Appalachian trail north of the Delaware Water Gap. Spring of 1973. There was a little trickle of water running down off one ledge, and down the old boulder road bed. Al in Oklahoma
Al, Thanks for that info. Re; the safety pip...I guess my concern is that it won't operate when it needs to. Is that a concern at all or is the main concern that it leaks when it shouldn't? I can deal with a leak but I want to know that if it needs to blow, it will.
MT Camper, quit worrying about the pip in the fuel filler cap. Not only is it unnecessarly hard on your stress level it's near to unnecessary on the stove. As for a replacement washer for your fuel filler go to your local NAPA or Schucks auto parts store and ask for a proper sized "O" ring. take the cap with you so you know the size and buy three. You will likely only use one in 5 years but it's good to have a spare or two on hand. They tend to get hard from the heat of running the stove. Be sure to tell them it will be exposed to fuels so they get you a nitrel ring. In tightening the cap finger tight is all that is necessary. Just run it down until the "O" ring engages the filler tube then add a 1/4 to 1/2 turn and it's tight enough. lance
I agree with Lance. Run the damned thing and it will be fine. Mine is 25 years old and I never knew it had a release in it until I got on this forum. Wasn't worried about it before I knew about it and am still in agreement with the original sentiment. Good little stoves....now go enjoy it. Buy a spare cap sometime. Best, Bob
well i beg to differ i would and do replace the srv pip at the same time i do the tank gasket if it hasn't been done for years i'd sooner trust my fettling than a 30 or 40 year old bit of rubber or cork on old ones why do i do them? because i have had a few seized solid that wouldn't release even over a 100psi most will say don't touch them because it's dangerous and they need to be set to a certain pressure release around 70psi, imo it's more dangerous to use them seized than fettled if you only have this stove to worry about buy a new cap if you have had 50 or 60 with that type cap keeping buying new ones isn't an option neither is using them in an unknown condition as i see it it's up to the user to do what he feels is safest no one would hesitate to repair a leaky nrv in a 111b but flunk it on the srv but it's the same mechanism a spring a cup and a pip they just work in reverse nrv keep pressure in srv release pressure if it is excessive if you don't fettle it and it is seized then a tank rupture would be far worse than it venting a bit to soon btw this is just my opinion and what i feel safer doing you will have to decide for your self what you feel happy with
I agree with Bill and Lance somewhat. I never saw the harm in just replacing the srv pip. I found the same size oring at a auto store. And exeter_yak was kind enough to make a tool for removing the the srv. So I am set. One day I will get around to making a jig for testing these but until then this works. Cheers, Jeff
I believe Lonnie has the one 123 stove that he's rebuilding and if he wants to go to the effort of replacing the SRV pip, I betcha he will sometime. Doesn't stop him from running his stove when he gets it back together and he's apparently doing a fine job of that. I just went back and read the little bit he's said or asked and the barrage of info that been thrown at him and the thought that comes to mind is....TMI or too much info too quickly. I have a tendency to want to learn a bit on my own as I go along and figure that others may also, until they holler help. And thats what I meant when I said to fire the damned thing up and see if it'll burn. and I think thats what Lance meant also. Hows that for a little yellow smiley thing? Best, Bob
Lonnie, if you want to source fuel cap washers locally while saving time and money, your local Ace Hardware store will have(mine does) nitrile washers by Danco, stock #61807B for $.50 each. They need to be trimmed down to 3/4" OD, but the ID is perfect at 3/8".
