The paint finish and decals can be defined as ephemeral: noun: something that lasts for a very short time There’s another one of these in the Stove Reference Gallery and it illustrates how short-lived the paint and decals are on a working stove. The owner of that example can be forgiven for misinterpreting the text of one of the labels, since they are barely readable on his stove. He suggests that there’s an instruction on one to ‘empty the tank to prevent corrosion’ but in fact the relevant label reads, ‘Swill out the reservoir with paraffin occasionally’. The tank is brass. The ‘swill’ recommendation is surely to prevent an accumulation of fuel detritus in the tank, causing blockage of the jet and a need for frequent pricking of it, which after all just pushes the blockage back into the tank. I believe the OP was confusing the labelling on his stove, his photos of which reveal that the labels only partially have survived, with those on a WWII steel-tanked example, which carries the understandable recommendation to empty the tank to prevent rust forming. So what I have here is a post-WWII stove made by Monitor for the civilian market. The removable pump was a military contract requirement, presumably to make the non-return valve more accessible for servicing. It never featured on stoves listed in catalogues for the civilian market. However, what Monitor presumably decided was that with a number of the pumps in parts bins and the tooling set up to produce steel tanks to take them, brass was substituted for steel, there was no ‘broad arrow’ stamp, the the text of the decals was revised (‘swill out occasionally’ instead of ‘empty and clean out weekly’) and a rather flashy gold paint was substituted for the wartime green paint. The pump removed. Interior of the tank, the impression to locate a pot rest is visible, together with the base-to-sides solder seam. The fuel pickup tube. Non-return valve. The tool marks on the NRV barrel are the manufacturer’s in assembling the valve - I take more care! Pump cup washer (manufacturer has applied grease, ready for use). The burner caps. There’s been discussion in the past regarding ‘one heat-proof washer or two’ to seal the burner/priming cup/riser tube joint. I favour one above and one below the priming cup. Evidently Monitor did too. Boxed with a packet of Monitor-brand prickers. The stove and prickers were the only contents of the box, but with an operating instructions decal and other useful information adorning the stove itself the absence of printed material is perhaps to be expected. The only marking on the box, in red felt-tip marker, reads ‘A.T.C. P. Cass’. Air Training Corps and prospective owner’s name? The use of a marker pen puts the date as 1950’s, earliest. It’ll remain unfired while I own it. Paint and decals gone, it’s lost much of its charm I feel. John
@presscall,OK, then why does my Monitor C11 with MoD markings from '56 NOT have a removable pump? Sometimes, British logic puzzles me - 6 volt positive earth, wrong side of the road, 220 VAC, give you this, you've got the beer spot on!! Murph
It could be that by then the wartime production stocks of pumps had been used up and as the C11 and C15 were then the Monitor mainstay the military were willing to accept that model, in quantity for the right price and suitably stamped with the MoD markings.
Hi John. I haven't happened to buy an unused old stove yet, but I think I would do as you did. Greetings Stanisław
