Yonadov, You may have answered my problem. I am using kerosene in the stove. Is this stove supposed to use the Coleman white gas or Kerosene? Cheers, Bryan
Here is a simple rule: If the stove DOES NOT HAVE A PUMP, it is a "self pressurizing stove" that only burns white gas or Coleman fuel. (This ignores alcohol stoves, which are a different story.) The reverse is not true: if the stove DOES HAVE a pump, it may be a kerosene stove, or a gasoline stove, or a multi-fuel stove, depending on many factors - you MUST read the instructions. Yonadav
I have replaced the kerosene in the stove. I rinsed the tank out a few time with clean white gas, then added approximately 1/2 cup to the tank. Let it sit for about 20 minutes, then lit it. It spit and sputtered and flared a few times, then settled into a "clean" burn, albeit a very "aggressive" flame. i let it burn for a bit then tried to shut it off. I must have goofed something up because it won't shut down. I had to blow out the flame and then release the pressure by unscrewing the cap, which is hotter than Hades...thus my first burned fingers. I am going to try adjusting the "click" to see if it will correct the problem, if not, I'll be back in here with my hat in my hands. But for tonight, I am going to get a beer and leave it alone, as suggested earlier. Maybe tomorrow evening I'll have a look. Cheers, Woodsy
Hi Woodsy, Don't feel so bad, in the end you'll get it working. Whether it be dismantling and rebuilding with what you have or buying a part(s) to solve the issue. I have 3 of these stoves and the more you 'play' with them the more you'll learn and be able to troubleshoot/diagnose and solve any problems that arise (and carry it over to other pressure stoves). Oftentimes the 'hard' way can be the most informative/beneficial down the road (whether you meant to or not), so there is a silver lining. The more trouble/frustration you encounter with them initially will (hopefully) pay dividends, and people will be asking you for help. Don't let comments get you down, just keep at it but be safe.
Hey, woodsy97845, This is perplexing, indeed, especially as the 123 is one of the easiest stoves to fettle back to life. Very little to go wrong with it, and only a few things to fix. First, I note that you thought the gasket "looked fine", but you cannot judge from just looking, I'm afraid. You must check the hardness of the gasket by poking a sharp pointed object into it, and seeing how pliable it is. If it's not REALLY pliable, then replace it, and as a matter of fact, I'd replace it just as a matter of course. Be sure to use either Nitrile rubber, or better yet, Viton, which you can order from the site owner, Spiritburner, in his store here on CCS for a very reasonable price. Second, you said you "pulled the pin below the burner", and I am thinking you mean the spindle, which has a very important graphite packing on it. IF this packing goes South, or gets a crack in it, which is very likely, then your stove will leak fuel like a sieve, and will go into fireball mode as soon as you try to light it, or soon thereafter. As for BernieDawg, he's one of the finest guys on this forum, and a true, honest, and generous friend. I KNOW that me meant no disrespect in his comments, and was only telling the naked truth about what most of us find out when we fix stoves for Newbies. I'd say, almost 95% of the tinme, it's the Newbie who missed something, and not that the stove is a real problem. I'll be happy to give your stove a go, too, should you feel like you want to give up on this, then will report here as to what I find when working on it. The last two stoves on which I worked were truly and horribly abused by one of their former owners, at some time in the past, which caused me no end of problems in fixing them!! But, I finally got it sussed out, and they both work again, now, after much major rebuilding and work. So, please check out what I have suggested, or if you like, send your SVEA to BernieDawg, or me, and we'll see if we can get it going for you, with a full AAR send when finished. Take care, good luck, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc
Ahhhhh.... I see you already found out what the problem was! Yep, just as my good friend, BernieDawg thought, it was "operator error". But, don't be too hard on yourself, as I've bought countless SVEA, and Optimus white gas stoves that had been filled with kerosene, which WILL NOT BURN IN THEM, then taken to the swap meet and sold to me for only $2-$5 because "there is something wrong with this stove"!! Again, lesson learned, which is a good thing! But, please change out the gaskets, and also the graphite packing, too, just to be safe. Coleman fuel is a far more dangerous fuel then kerosene, if misused!! Take care, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc
Heya Doc Mark Thanks for the kind support. Just trying to help out. As you well know, I spent a lot of years teaching shop classes to kids and adults. It's hard for an old shop teacher to miss when someone doesn't do their homework - somehow it just shows. Anyway, per Woodsy's request... a video of Svea 123R disassembly! It's not perfect 'cause I was in a hurry. I had other folks work to do too, and hadn't really planned on doing this today. The cleaning and reassembly bit is filmed but still needs to be converted, edited, processed. Later for that! Anyway, there Woodsy, here's how I do it, mostly. About 15 minutes to disassemble. Hope this helps you out in some way. [media=youtube]LNJSDacuCHQ[/media]e 'Course, it may be that someone will come along and be all critical and high-horsed about what is or is not polite or appropriate for me to to post or say. But, really, who goes the extra mile to help? I know you know what I mean there, Doc. Cheers, BD
Hey Woodsy, Step 1 of my instructions seems to have helped you a lot. Why don't you try to follow the rest of my instructions EXACTLY? If you did, you should have tried the stove WITHOUT the cleaning needle (step 4). Moreover, if you had poured cold water on the tank, as I suggested (step 12), you would not have burnt your fingers. After all, advice of the elders comes from experience... Yonadav
If the stove won't shut off then the end of the spindle is not sealing properly when closed. Have a look at my earlier post for the solution.
BernieDawg, Thank you for the video...Honey badger don't care I have a question about the spindle. I notice that mine don't have the pricker needle. I am not sure if it was there to begin with, but it is missing. Is this going to affect the burning of the stove? I will anxiously await the next 2 videos, cleaning and reassembly. Thank you for your help Cheers, Woodsy
In your opening post you said "I pulled the pin below the jet out and it looked very good. I put it back in following a recommendation from one of the forums here of 4 clicks. Cleaned the jet with the pricker and then wiped it off and reinstalled it". Have you lost it?? No, you don't need it to run the stove.
Trojandog, I have a little pricker tool that came with one of my stoves. As far as I know, the needle wasn't in the spindle, but don't know. I suppose that this stove is going to be my sacrifice stove. I will learn what I need to know before I touch another stove in any way...other than lighting it...after reading everything about it that I can find. Cheers, Woodsy
Hi, Woodsy, Can you post a photo of your exact stove, please? That would certainly clear away some of the mist that seems to be clouding our understanding of your problems. If your stove has a vaporizer that is rather thin, and angles down to the spindle, then your stove is the older SVEA 123, which many of us dearly love; if your stove has a thicker vaporizer, which angles out of the burner at about 90°, then your stove is the later SVEA 123R, which has an internal cleaning needle. When you mentioned setting the clicks, that caused us to believe you had the "R" version. But, if your stove does not HAVE the internal needle, then you cannot set it up for "clicks" as there is nothing to "click". Please post a photo, and that will help us a ton. If you cannot post photos, then send me a PT, and I'll give you an email address you can use to send the photo(s) to me, and I'll post them for you, after looking at what you actually have. Not to worry, one way, or the other, we will get to the bottom of your mystery stove! Take care, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc
Doc, I will try to post a picture of the stove this evening, Pacific Time. I am pretty sure it is a 123R, but I defer to the experts once they see a picture. Thanks, Woodsy
Hey, Woodsy, Here are two photos which show the difference, if that would help you any. The first is a SVEA 123, shown with an Optimus 00 tank, and my cartridge tumbler, which I'd used to clean and shine them both. Came out great, IMHO. This version, the oldest, uses an external cleaning pin, or needle, and has no internal cleaning needle. This second one shows some goodies that Shirlene, of A&H, kindly sent me a while back, and it includes a SVEA 123R tank, and partial burner, which shows the size difference, and different angle of the burner stem, compared to the regular 123. This is the one that has the cleaning needle installed internally. Hope that helps you a tad, but keep asking your questions until the mystery of why your stove doesn't want to work as it should, is solved, and your stove fettled into perfect life, once again! Take care, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc
The way I used to remember it when I was a sprog was that the 'R' in 123R stood for 'right angle' i.e. 90 degrees between the vapouriser and spindle. Worked for me...
