Help experts ! I have a much-loved 111B which is brilliant and decided to get a nice 111C as well. I have to say it's a bit of a disappointment. I can't get it going nicely on paraffin at all and on white gas it's pretty underwhelming (really slow to boil a litre of water - twice the time of the 111b on the same fuel). I have also managed to get it underburning on one occasion and it takes loads of priming. What were they thinking of ? Does simmer nicely, however. Any tips for getting the 111C happy on Paraffin (=kero) which everyone says is the way to get real heat out of these stoves. All that seems to end up happening is I end up soaking the priming wick with paraffin which = big sooty mess. Second question - I'm now sniffing after a 111T, which seem to have a big reputation. How are they different from the 111C ? Many thanks
Sorry Optimist, the 111c is not up to much as a stove to be honest, your best bet is do what I did, sell it on. Not meaning to tread on toes here, but the build quality not great to say the least. I got mine cheap, tried it, and sold it. As Trevor said, go for a 111T (if you need a multifuel) or the standard 111 Kerosene stove if you want a real workhorse for minimal maintainence
Thanks for reminding me, Richard. I should have said that the best of the bunch (in my eyes) is the straightforward 111 which burns paraffin and is actually what the stove was first designed for. It is an absolutely bomb-proof stove which burns easily with a fierce heat and will not let you down. Very little maintenance needed.
Trevor, I've left a 111 out the back for a little over a year, its my 'brew stove' left out in all weather, and with no cover Its never failed to light, and all I have done is replace a pump leather at the beginning of the year when the stove had not been used for a good many years before I recieved it. I would guess that I've lit the stove in excess of 300 times based of 3 brews a week, maybe more
Richard, I can well believe you. There have been many plaudits written about the 111 but I don't think there has been enough emphasis on how robust the stove is.
Optimist, On your 111C, try a double prime, with meths. There is a lot of metal to be heated on the C model. Mine runs well on kero, although, as you mentioned, the silent burners are not as hot as the roarers. They were designed to be quiet, not thermo-nuclear ! I now have one (or more) of all the models, my favorites are the 111 kero and the 111T . Nothing wrong with the B and C's, but they are more common here... Probably the best ever made would be a 111T
Hey, Optimist, I must agree what's already been posted on this topic. The straight, kero-burning 111 is simply a fantastic stove, a work horse, and a reliable and ever-ready companion!! You really should get one. I love the 111T, very much, and have four of them. All have proven to be strong, reliable, and easy to use, and I very much like the triple fuel versatility. I have one 111C, and at least for me, it's worked well, for the few times that I've used it. Mine primes up fairly well, and seems to light easily. It also burns very hot, and also simmers quite well. I don't care for the steel fuel tank, and think that the overall workmanship is not up to previous Optimus standards, in truth. I also realize that my 111C might be rare in that it has given me no trouble, at all, and seems to work well. That having been said, however, if I had to choose between the 111C and the 111T, I'd take the "T" without a seconds hesitation!!! Why not get a 111 and also a 111T, and call it good?!! Good luck, take care, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc P.S. Baja's suggestion to double prime your 111C is a good one, and you might give it a try. I use an eyedropper to completely fill the spirit cup, for each prime, and so far, have had no problems firing up that stove. Also, do you filter your kero? If not, then you might want to, just for grins. Won't help with firing up, though, but worth the effort.
Well, the 111C has the Cobra burner fitted and the 111T, er, um, er... hasn't... I've a 111B which now works well after Ian kindly fettled it for me. It had been involved in an 'incendiary incident' at Sykeside 2005 when the NRV appeared to fail temporarily. That's the drawback of these, as I see it - they're based on the kero-burning 111 and the design was not changed to burn unleaded/Coleman fuel/panel wipe - type fuels safely. With kero a leak causes a mess; with UL/CF/PW you get an almighty flare-up etc. I've also a 111C which is a contrary beast at the best of times. The best of the bunch, IMHO, is the 22 (i.e. ~ 2 x 111's) - burn kero and designed to do so safely - lovely!
The 111 C burner looks like the one named Optimus Regulating BURNER Cast body on the link. The T burner are equal to Primus Regulating Burner Tubular body The mass of materials is quite different, and gives different behaviour. The long preheating of the C made the C unsuitable for use with preheating torch as in Optimus 155. (The soldering was not good enough) Link klick on Kerosene stoves under replacement parts. By my opinion the roarer 111 (+11B) are the moast reliable, when going to silent, you got a risk of underburning, when going from T to C (multifuel) you got a burenr who's not aoptimal for anything. (The C is probably a keroburner able to use gasoline(B) and alcohol (A). dsk
I read somewhere that the 111c's Cobra burner was 20% "more efficient". I got one new as I figured at the time that the latest was the greatest - not so! My burner was repaced completey but it still doesn't burn evenly. I agree that my 111T (ex Marine Corp) is a far better stove and I just don't believe the 20% BS about the Cobra burner.
I have the C and mine works fine. It is not my favorite. My T with the Olive drab paint is the one I use most. As far as the 20% efficiency goes. I will buy it. But .... that doesnt mean it burns 20% faster or hotter. If you look at the design you can easily see that they designed it to light faster and transfer heat out of the bottom of the burner slower. By raising the burner off of the bottom of the pan and setting it on a vertical piece of steel. Better for snow then the 111, B or T. Also it has to burn diesel. I,m thinking the 20% has to mean it transfers heat faster in the end. The Steel tank is not too hot. But the paint is very good. I suspose that will be the end of the 111Cs in about 20 years. . The tanks rot out from fuel being left in them. Pretty much I look at it as with anything else . The 111C is the jack of all trades , but the master of nothing. The 111 is the master of kerosene, but cant do anything else. The 111B is the master of Coleman. But since I dont burn diesel to cook. The 111T is just fine. And like my Bs which boils huge pots of corn or potatoes. I suspect the 111 can't simmer well either.
Someone posted a copy of one of the Optimus ads for the original 111 kero roarer and it said it can burn kerosene and white gas. Not sure if it requires a jet change for white gas though. I know the 111T says white gas/kerosene/alcohol and the 111C says white gas/kerosene/diesel/alcohol, but I bet that the 111T will burn diesel just as well as a 111C. There just isn't much difference chemically between kerosene and diesel apart from the additives they put in diesel for lubrication, anti-gelling, and anti-algae. In general, any stove that burns white gas will burn gasoline and any stove that burns kerosene will burn diesel. I generally avoid automotive gasoline and diesel though because those additives make it a smoky, sooty, stinky affair in any stove.
I have a "C" two "'T"'s and three B's. The B's easily boil water 20% faster than the T's and C which finish in a dead heat with one another. The C might burn hotter than the T but the burner on the C is a good inch or more lower thus the boiling time is similar. I'd be willing to bet the C puts out less CO when heating up water due to the lower placement of the burner. I enjoy all of these stoves. Prefer the B but the silent burners are good too. Don't see much to choose from between a good C and a good T.
Hello, Optimist, It appears that you are giving your 111C plenty of priming. Do you use alcohol to prime? It is much cleaner than using kerosene. It is true that, with the same jet, kerosene will produce much more satisfactory flame than white gas in 111C. I have one, and here is what it looks like: |imgRemoved| I actually had to return my original 111C to the service center (with much negotiation involved), because the spindle froze inside and snapped, when I forced it to turn. That was five minutes into the virgin operation. You can imagine my disappointment. The one in the picture is the one Brunton grudgingly replaced. It does not perform as shown in the picture, if I use white gas. The flame size is about the half of what you see, with white gas at full pressure, with the Gas jet installed. Not to brag, my 111T puts up pretty good flame; I did not pump up too much this time: |imgRemoved| If I pump it up to max, the flame gets pretty large--but stays blue. Here are the two together: |imgRemoved| With flash on; hard to see the flames, though: |imgRemoved| Notice the flame on 111T is larger than the one on 111C. It has been that way, only because I switched around the inner caps and the outer caps, and tried the best combination that produces most optimal output. I am lucky in the sense I have a few 111's to play with, and I took time to find the best combination of inner and outer cap on a particular 111 stove. It is my experience on other classic brass kerosene stoves that each replacement burner and inner and other caps produces a different characteristic when they are mated with different parts. The same is true for 111's. I can only guess that your particular 111C does not have the ideal combination of the parts, and it will improve noticeably, if you would try switching around. I would suggest that you buy a couple sets of spare inner and outer caps, and try different permutations. I have a good feeling that you will find the happy medium.
Mmmm... interesting comments Bark2much. I might just have a play around with my caps. When I go over to the motherland next year, I am coming back here with a sack of part and bits from Basecamp for my Optimus stoves.
Yep on one of my 11 i like to have alcohol one i play with it for a long time caps restricter etc. runs good now
Thanks to all. I think my action plan is a) try harder to get the 111c running on kero, b) get a 111T and c) get an original 111 ! Whoopee more stoves....
Speaking of 111s, can anyone please identify which one this is : Link The seller says it's run on petrol, but it could be a 111 and he was just lucky......[/url]
