The exchange rate was favourable and I bought this for nearly £20 (plus about the same for postage) from the Ukraine. No import charges or VAT were levied, consequently no fee to pay to Royal Mail for handling the admin to pay charges. Maybe I was just lucky, or it's something to do with the Economic Neighbourhood Policy of the EU with the Ukraine to favour trade? The seller sent me an English translation by email of the Russian instructions and the stove is variously referred to in the instructions as a Primus, a Tourist or a No.3. Box details and label on the stove casing Fuel tank is steel and of welded construction. Filling with fuel is done by removing the Enders-style pump and non-return valve assembly complete I'm unsure whether the fuel tank heatshield is in stainless steel or is chromed mild steel. Stainless I think The stove case is nicely done, hinged lid clasps shut on a springy strip of metal Size and weight are roughly comparable with an Optimus 111 The pump is of steel and the non-return valve is reassuringly robust too, which I'm glad of, given the stove is gasoline-fuelled and a leaky NRV could create a fireball were the stove fired up at the time. I'm as confident in this as in an Enders, but the Coleman steel check valve and positive locking of the valve with a clockwise twist of the pump knob takes some beating O-ring business end to the pump, but it works pretty well and the instructions, in saying "never run the stove with the pump shaft extended", seem to suggest that the manufacturer may have it in mind that the pump O-ring acts as a secondary safety device to prevent a gush of fuel into the pump tube if the NRV were to fail. It's not something I'm intending to test ... A spare O-ring for the pump, a twist of what looks like asbestos yarn to replace the spindle valve packing should it be needed and a jet pricker that doubles up as a jet spanner (wrench) It's got to be the toughest jet pricker I now own - no flimsy tinplate construction here The pricker wire passes easily through the jet, the bore of which gives the game away that the stove's petrol-fuelled. A finer jet would be necessary for paraffin It wouldn't have taken much to incorporate an in-built jet pricker the in-line spindle and jet axes Burner on Coleman lines with that distinctive crinkle and plain washer sandwich Priming phase. Alcohol in the primer cup and the burner's not at all prone to underburn when the primer charge is still burning and the fuel is released This is the high setting (no surprise there) and the yellow isn't down to overfuelling but is the burning-off of the burner's anti-corrosion coating Settled down Excellent simmer too Some more photos and observations to follow ...
Quick brew The proximity of the flame to the fuel pipe outlet, with the shut-off valve on the far side of the burner made me ponder on how safe that might be I was thinking of the rogue one in the middle of this line up. From the left, Coleman 501A (the notorious, some might say dangerous 501 made safe); the 501 - subject of a product recall by Coleman, to destroy examples and not put them right that is - Optimus Rider, also with the shut-off valve on the far side of the burner to the fuel inlet The 501A operates safely, shut off valve is directly on the fuel inlet side of the burner and the control knob doesn't get scorching hot as does that on the 501 Optimus Rider, even with the shut-of valve on the far side of the burner from the fuel inlet (quick-start valve on the left) doesn't throw up an overheating problem, but even so probably isn't so intrinsically safe as say a Coleman 502 or even the 501A Bad boy 501. Fired up, although the control knob is made of thermo-setting and heat-insulative plastic it still gets phenomenally hot, as does the pricker control on the fuel inlet side. Not a user stove in my collection - although I've tamed it by running it on butane with a purpose-built, short loop vapouriser, so an occasional user with that adaptation installed So the Russian stove in the light of those examples? The steel welded construction is reassuring, the fuel tank outlet pipe gets too hot to touch but not excessively so and there's no thermal runaway as the Coleman 501 was capable of doing. Quirky, but not unsafe I'd say. The Russian language instruction manual There's a No.2 stove, you'll notice. Different format, same burner Pricker wire has to be bent to get access to the jet
built like a russian motorbike! once again, outstanding post Maestro! you are a colossus amongst stove dudes! i have seen these on internet but now i think i have actually had one through my hands, so to speak, so excellent is your photo strip down i have always considered myself a fairly competent stove savvy type but not in your league - no way!
I got around to cleaning off the burnt and flaking plating on the burner, which started life all nice and shiny ... ... then became powdery ... and flaky Cleaned off, back to bare steel While I was about it, I tried fuelling the stove on paraffin, installing a 0.32mm jet, the threads of which were fortunately a match for the stove insert. It was worth a try, but it couldn't get up to vapourising temperature, even with a double prime John
Nice one John, I've looked at those before but dismissed them, maybe time for a purchase? I thought you were getting rid of some of your stoves? I've sorted out a van to come up and collect them should the need arise Si
Another marathon story, John. As always it is so well told and illustrated. You tend to always make me interested in stoves that I would not normally even give a second glance.
I was thinking about getting one of these Russian stoves off Ebay. Which stove should I get , 502 looking one or the Enders style?
@Jon Frum Same burner on both and I'd guess, the same performance. Choose on looks I suppose. The pot sits lower to the ground on the one I have, which might just tip it (no pun intended) in its favour over the other type. John
Got myself one of these (M-S N°3) and it happens to be a total waste of hard earned cash. During the first(!!!) try, the valve locked up solid, no way to make it move again. Really sad. The old Tourist stoves (N°8 clones) are far better I think. YMMV. Best regards, Wim Forgot to mention, the paint looks like it was applied over a coat of rust
@Wim Sorry to hear that Wim. The valve is a simple assembly and there's no cleaning rack-and-pinion of course, so it should be possible to disassemble it. Hard to imagine how it locked up John
Hi John, I got a bit frustrated and put the thing aside. Maybe it is time to have another look, and maybe a good spray with a penetrating oil, coupled to a heat treatment will do the trick. Must try that soon. Problem is, the stove let me down in a big way, and now I don't trust it anymore. Somehow it looks as if the threads on the spindle locked up solid. We'll see! All the best, Wim @presscall
Been looking at these, many thanks Presscall for posting this. I'm glad that this one is working out for you! I confess that I had my doubts with these as they seem to be made in the Ukraine and not Russia (I trust Russian design, manufacture and QC way more than anything made recently in the Ukraine), doubts that were intensified with the fuel shut off being on the "wrong" side of the pre-heater. I think, given Wim's experience that I will give these a miss and stick with my 8Rs, "Touristy" and Coleman stoves for petrol! P.S. Is that flaking on the burner because it's been galvanised?
Hi chaps, Ok, I am new to posting on this forum, but like to add my experience with these PT3 stoves. Bought one several months ago off eBay and arrived fine. Fired it up on petrol and worked for that day, next day no chance. To cut a long story short, although I flushed out the tank prior to first use, muck blocked up the generator tube. Also, the regulating valve was full of graphite grease and other muck. Cleaned out both bits until absolutely clean, Dismantled the pump and fixed up the non-return valve as this was sticking 'open'. Changed the fuel to Aspen 4, then her up. Well, what a great stove now. Boils water as fast as my Coleman 533 and has the smoothest, easiest flame regulation on any stove that I have used. Far better than my Coleman 400 b, which is very good. Thing is, even on the lowest setting, the flame stays there, not going out after half an hour. To be honest, it looks like it has just from a war zone, all the paint dropping off etc, but most excellent for cooking. I use it whenever I need some fine temperature control. I will admit that when it arrived, the valve was so tight that it required a small stilson to free it and after the third fire-ball, it was put away in the garage for a few weeks until the urge to fix it came back. Now it is a stove I use most days. I should say the flame is pure blue and looks great when it all starts to glow red. So, stick with it and you should be rewarded with a wicked stove. I could post a photo or two, but I haven't any as yet. Cheers chaps.
@C-Dog Welcome to CCS and good for you for persevering. I agree with you that once the running-in period's over and perhaps some remedial servicing done a tough and reliable stove results. Interesting to hear about your experience with pump petrol and the precaution of subsequently filling up with Aspen. @Wim Maybe time you had another go at reviving yours. Puts me in mind of that Dnieper motorcycle of yours and how some remedial work on that creates a reliable and bomb-proof machine. John
I should have posted this earlier, I know... A couple weeks ago I decided to try to fix this stove. It took a while, almost gave up again, but after a lot of penetrating oil, some "torching", and continuously trying to get the spindle "in" & "out" something finally gave in. The problem had been the seal of the spindle, it looks like asbestos string wound around a fine iron wire. Somehow the wire got trapped in the spindle (must have been assembled early monday or late friday) and this prevented free movement of the spindle. I repacked the spindle with Terry " @Trojandog "s graphite foil and now I have a nice, fully functional stove. All's well that ends well! Best regards, Wim
Excellent, @Wim ! @C-Dog See Wim's comments, preceding post. Another one of these stoves brought back from the dead ... maybe the 'Motor Sich No.3' should be renamed a Lazarus stove. John
Hi chaps, Thanks for your comments. It was this excellent post by Presscall, on this thread, which convinced me to try a PT3. I did contact the seller to ask about availability of spares. His reply was, "What spares? You will not need any as there is nothing to wear out". Liking the beauty of the simple stuff, that made the sale. He was pretty well on the mark with that answer as well. Yes the valve packing on my stove was also a problem, as it was pretty well shredded, but did not see any wire mind. Just repacked the gland with a few turns and it did not leak, so considered it ok. The self tapping screws holding the regulating valve to the stove case would not tighten either, when it arrived, as the holes were too big, so had to rectify that. That was ok, as the burner bracket had to be bent a little, to get the jet to line up with the chamber, so both done at the same time. I enjoyed fixing this stove up (although it was new and unfired), because I now see it as an example of the beauty of simplicity, like the Primus 96. It gets used several times a day for my cooking, as it is nicer to use than the kitchen electric stove. Just a pity the postage from the Ukraine is so high, or I would really be tempted to get a second. Regards, Steve
Hello everyone! Here's a video with the story of the healing of the disease: (оn another model Motor-Sich is the same burner installed)
