Interesting Indian Kerosene Burner "Premier Alfa"

Old age yup! Just glad to be here. Happy New Year peeps!

 

Indeed, happy new year!

 

If the trivet was poorly made, the burner riser and threaded bosses for filler cap and pump appear to be installed very expertly.
Sweetly ironic that the impact that the introduction of ‘gassies’ had on the production of liquid-fuelled stoves has been eroded by this reverse-engineering example putting an LPG bottle into use as a kerosene-fuelled stove tank.

John

 

Good eye. I think the tank is assembled by a fairly major manufacturer, and Premier puts the bits on. You really can't fool around with LPG.

Despite the overwhelming number of gas stoves, there continues to be research on kero burners. There was a large project in South Africa about 10 years ago to optimize their cooker, which was a great success. They got quite a lot more efficiency from the burner, and made the thing tip- over proof. I've only seen the stove in pictures, but I would really like to get my hands on on one.

I'm going to paint up the Alfa when the weather warms up, and probably fit the large roarer back on. It's got the charm of an old Land Rover. Not the prettiest gal at the ball, but strong and reliable.

-21F when I awoke today. I miss my old Series II Rover on summer afternoons, but I like fuel injection and a heater that works also.

 

Well, this is a free-for-all! OK, my two cents on the legalization debate. I cannot use cannabis myself, as I am genuinely allergic to it, and being wretched while hallucinating is no fun.

I also have no use for opioids. I had shoulder surgery a few years ago after taking a dive off the bike, and they gave me a bushel. I took the first course, and threw the rest in the furnace. Felt like I had someone driving screws into my skull.

A couple of disabled vets in my circle use cannabis to calm their anxieties. Reported to work better than the stuff the VA hands out, with fewer side effects. I believe that for some people, it may be beneficial. The most responsible fellow, a great sailor, will use a tiny quantity once or twice a day.

On the down side, a kid I used to coach in archery is now about 21. He's a good kid, but has had a lot of poor guidance. He got heavily in. I talked to him when he was more or less sober, and we had a good chat. Next time I saw him, he was barely conscious in the back of a car.

I have a drink in the evening. I don't drink a liter of grain alcohol. The cannabis that's out there is dangerously potent, and should not be handed out to everyone that shows with shoes and a shirt.

Or as my brother says, "They don't call it dope because it makes you smart."

 

The thing I enjoy about this forum is the gentalmanly nature of the members. Thank you all.​

 

There was the ParaSafe presure stove, didn't go over real well, the Arivi kero stove, never got off the ground, and the FSP stove, designed to be made in primitive workshops, I've yet to see a set of plans for it, though!

http://www.newdawnengineering.com/website/stove/paraffin/

There's enough photos and commentary that one could reverse engineer the bugger and make one yourself, it you're a bright 'un.

Murph

 

Murph obviously has more current info than I do. The Parasene project looked hopeful, and had a big increase in efficiency. I don't get to SA much.

 

Ebay listing w/ photos of a complete stove like the one in the OP:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/PREMIER-KE...873479?hash=item25e91e6607:g:SigAAOSwtfhYnz1g

Edit: I read the sticky regarding eBay links. Here are the relevant photos:








Now they won't disappear with the eBay listing.

I also sent this link to @Canuman awhile ago. I do expect we'll all be gentlemen here and let him get first shot at buying the complete stove, if he desires.

The top-down view shows some very poor welding on the pot holder, while the welding on the tank itself looks pretty good.

Given the disparity in welding quality, I think the tank was likely manufactured in whole by the LPG tank manufacturer, complete with riser, fuel pump, and fill cap locations, and then purchased by Premier. An existing stamp or mold for another tank seems to have been used as a cost reduction measure. Looking at google images, lots of very similar tanks exist:

 

Thanks, Marc. Those actually look a good deal better than what I bought.

What I had to fettle: there was paint on the pump cap threads, which needed to come off. The threads from the tank to the burner were sloppy. Although I use it as last resort, the Teflon paste came out and fixed the problem.

As I said, a rugged large-capacity burner. One could do much worse if you need a big tank.There are a lot of things that could be better about it, as well.

Don't think I need another one. As various have said, the biggest issue appears to be the pot support, which a competent tradesmen can probably machine his way out of with tools from the home shop. Otherwise, you could probably stack up some bricks and throw a grill on, and have about as good a setup.The easy way is hard enough.​

 

Gladly!

It definitely has a worktruck like demeanor to it. One of the pot stands like Miles Stair built would work fine too, some threaded rod and angle iron bolted together. Would be easy to weld something up, too.

 

I don't know if Miles welds - he appears to use slot bar and bolts, but the results are much the same.As I said previously, I wish I could find an old steel milk crate. Near perfect.

 

That is a very interesting use of a standard product, lpg cylinder and adaption for paraffin use. Wonder how the internal feed tube was fitted? Certainly a good base camp type user for large catering.

Adding to the other element of the thread, California legislatiin change is in the press here as well. A close friend with MS when enquiring about medical use of cannabis from his doctor was asked if he could obtain it himself then it was probably useful for the condition.

This BBC humurous radio programme may give some insight into drug law enforcement here in the UK.

@Ed Winskill @Marc and others may find it interesting. Hopefully available outside the UK.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0612hjl

UK on a similar cusp regarding legislation changes.

 

Hi @Simes What a great episode! I listened to it on head-phones and my wife came through twice to see what the laughing was about.
Best Regards,
Kerophile.

 

@kerophile

Yes he is good isn't he.

A few nervous members of the audience as well.

 

@Simes You've sent me those programs before, brilliant stuff! Listening now, thanks for sharing.

 

This has been flogged into the ground, but particularly on a boat I feel much safer using kerosene. Back in the '80s, I was in charge of the hiking shelters in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. We would send the shelter caretakers up with a 20 lb cylinder. We called it "The Bomb."

If you've ever hiked up a ridge with 20 lbs of propane on a pack board in a thunderstorm, you know it can put you in a speculative frame of mind.

We had some issues. Each tent had a cast-iron two burner stove and a Humphrey mantel light. All the stoves and fittings over-wintered in the woods in a steel drum, and a lot of the rubber pipe was dry and crumbly. It was hard to avoid leaks.

One of my crew got the short end of this. He nodded off reading in his bunk with the Humphrey mantel burning. His radio report the next morning said "Awoke to stars. Ringed by fire."