I have just acquired this today and the date stamp om the bottom is V15 - 1931. The burner basket is unfortunately burnt through in many places where the caps meet the basket. I am not sure of finding a replacement. The reflector bowl is missing. I am not at all sure how the cleaning needle works yet either but it has a nice brass knob rather than the later Bakelite/plastic ones. With a lot of extra engraving giving a serial number and Patent No. at the base of the riser tube.
Excellent acquisition Nick. Though I agree it looks well, I don't think that brass pricker control knob is original. The original should be steel and wasn't ever bakelite or plastic on that type of stove. I see that it reads 'open' on it, which suggests it's a control wheel from a stove of some kind, but on that type of Primus burner the knob merely raises or lowers the pricker rod and has no fuel flow control function - hence 'open' is a misnomer. Though this project of mine was a reconstruction, you'll get an idea of how the pricker arrangement works on an original burner. You might want to have a go at knocking up one of those distinctive pierced windshields Repro Primus burner and windshield John
Hi Nick The brass pricker control knob is original. They are in some of the catalogues somewhere. By the way, a nice stove. Ian
Thanks for the input gentlemen! I have removed the burner and unfortunately the rack and pricker are missing from the riser tube! It will obviously work without but its a pity. I should think that whoever cleaned it did not realize its significance. A new filler cap washer is fitted, pump cup is in an oil soak and WD 40 soaking is the NRV ready to change the pip hopefully. So watch this space. Looking at the info available the control knob is as Ian says original. I may have to re-thread the screw hole to take the screw that fixes it to the spindle as the thread seems a bit dodgy. Both inner and outer caps are a bit damaged from over zealous cleaning, but the outer is correct in that it has 5 rows of holes and the cut out that enables it to lock onto the burner when located and twisted. Not that there is much of the burner to locate it on! Doug how did you get on last night with Sandy? All OK? Cheers Nick
All is well here at my home. Many of my friends and neighbors were not so lucky. The house next to me had its roof shingles blow off. Good news is I should be getting plenty of free firewood with all the trees that fell. Thanks for your thoughts Nick.
glad all is well Doug with you at least. My sister in law lives on the border of Pennsylvania and Delaware and they were fine not even losing their power. Its amazing how much chance plays a part! Ian you don't have any spare burners that you would trade or a reflector???? Long shot I know but you gotta ask! They are good looking stoves aren't they. Cheers Nick
My 1020 Primus lamp of same vintage has the same knob, which is a turned brass item, but nickel plated. The knob serves the same function, that is the cleaning of the nozzle, yet says "Open". So likely an original knob on this brass 110 - uncommon, as I believe most were plated - but I agree with John: a misnomer realy. "Clear" would have been more to the point, even if this means 'opening' a blocked jet. As for the missing original burner head plus cleaning gear, that is a common occurance as most of these were replaced with a silent burner in time. Primus simply stopped producing them, perhaps as soon as WW-2. Finding these as separate items will be the proverbial needle.. No wonder John converted an austrian donor - with succes I must say.
After reading Presscall's post describing his excellent burner modification/reconstruction again something was nagging at me about another suitable donor burner (I think the Phoebus burner is pretty good in it's own right). Several hours later I placed the burner that was nagging at me. It's from either an early British Military No.2 (the Mk1, not the Mk2) or the No.3 (same burner). Without the luxury of side by side comparison it seems to be a good starting point for modification. The major gotcha might be the threads. If they are not the same size it might be too much slicing and brazing to be worthwhile (both ends, stove connection and jet as the Military stoves are designed for petrol). However, you might also be able to fashion a burner that's easily changable between roarer and silent. Scroll down the post in the link below for a picture of the burner I'm talking about: British Military No.3 Burner The old No.2s can be sourced fairly regularly and reasonably cheaply on UK ebay. Edit. Mmmm, had another look. Seems like the connection on the military burner is an internal thread rather than an outside thread. That could be problem number one.... Cheers, Graham.
That knob was used at this time by Primus, so nothing strange about that. But the mechanism itself of the 110 stove is in fact the same as they used on the 1001-series of lanterns (same as the 1015-lamps, and their kind). Just with a shorter needle rod. I have always considered the term "open" a bit unfortunate on this pure cleaning mechanism. I have no idea why Primus choosed to use that word.
Thanks for all of the input gents. I have been looking at the options as well. For the time being I have a silent burner which is a straight replacement.As mentioned by someone else this was a common "fix" In the meantime I will look at all of the above suggestions. I have fired her up but with that damaged burner basket and a leaking cleaning spindle its all a bit yellow but not too bad actually. It may be over-fueling due to an enlarged jet orifice as well. The weakness in the basket is due to the use of the cap locking system which has really reduced the metal thickness at that point and allowed the flame / heat to eat a way at the metal. I am wondering if that part of the burner outside the silent cap could be cut off and a suitable piece of another silent grafted on in its place, if you follow me? I do not have the facilities equipment or skill for that, but I will mull it over. What do I need to stop the leak from the cleaning spindle where it goes through the 2 nuts into the riser tube? [stuffing box?] Is this where the graphite tape comes in? Also the joint between the second nut and the riser, tube what provides a seal there? I will look at the military No.1 mk2 in the mean time. I will have to ignore the missing cleaning needle rack and rod for now I think. Thanks for all of the input its a great help. That military burner No. 3 looks very interesting indeed. It may require a cut and shut on the vaporizer tube, but you never know. My brother in law has a couple lurking in his shed but he might notice if one went missing!
Not really, but it probably works if you can get it inside the small box nut. What you should use here originally was one or more very small packings that looks like a tiny washer (Primus No. 6128). It feels like it's made out of graphite ofcourse, but it's not like when you use the tape. These washer-like packings lies flat. One trick I've learned otherwise from Nils S, is that you can use teflon tape - the one plumbers sometimes use on pipe fittings - and roll a length of it to a thin thread. Then roll this thread around the spindle and mount the boxing nut and tighten. It works very well, even if I prefer to use original packings other then as an emergency. The other, inner, nut shall seal against the riser tube "by itself". It should have a tapered sealing surface.
Its only a thought Nick, re the burner bell, get some clay, I dont know what type you'll need, stuff the burner bell inside, scrape any excess of the outside, and silbraze. It might work, you never know. Graphite paste is also suitable for the leak.
Thanks Ian, that is an idea. I need to replace the missing metal somehow. I can feel a project coming on. Can I silbraze with a MAP gas powered plumber's torch? Off to look up silbrazing techniques!!
If you have got an old tank Nick, take some little fillets of there, for replacing the brass. Never used a MAP torch, perhaps Presscall or Loco can advise you there. All I use is a bog standard blow torch head, and use the Gosystem 2350 Butane Propane Mix, for reconstruction, and the torch on the left for de-construction. I still like Prescalls nipples, sadly, I'll never be able to tweek nipples as well as he does.
After a delay of 13 years I found this today! A 157R reflector. It will take some polishing but it is the brass version there is a copper one and an aluminium version as well.
@nmp a Nick good find but 157r is not for the 110, but for 57. Also used obviously on all the stoves of the discus series (53/54). The 154r reflector is identical, only the correct part number for primus 54 conversion. Nicola
