My name is Stan, and I'm a Coleman addict , however I've always been interested in this discussion about Optimus and Primus stoves. Today I finally found my first affordable European stove. It's an SVEA 123 and came complete with pricker, wrench/flame adjuster (attached with it's very own chain), an aluminum cup (with detachable handle) that fits over the top of the whole thing. Man is this thing ever little! I had no idea from your photos that it was this small. I took a pic of it "as found" and will be giving it a brief clean & shine, but nothing drastic. I emptied the foul smelling stuff out of the tank and filled it with fresh Coleman fuel and put a little alcohol in the depression around the valve and lit it up. It ran like a top. I put one litre of water in a heavy SS (18/8) pot and timed it to full boil, just over 5 min. at 0 deg C (32 deg F) outside air temp. Not too shabby! I think I'll keep it. Stan
Oh Stan! Your only chance to avoid terminal stove addiction is to get rid of the 123 RIGHT NOW!! Since I'm a raddled stove junkie, one more wont kill me, best let me deal with the consequences....and if you believe that I got a really cool bridge you might want instead. Nice one, now you see why the rest of us hold them in such regard. The only catch is now you need some nest pots for them, a subject much and long debated with several rather good options. I'm a GT man myself but the ETA pots (forget who makes them) look like a solid option too. Have you been starting it up just to hear it run? Bet you have! I'm also a fan of winding some glass or cotton string around the valve stem to ease pre-heating. If nothing else it means if it gets knocked or tipped during pre-heat, you dont get flaming liquid everywhere.
Tnx Mike...I'd never heard of winding some cotton or glass string around the stem to aid in pre-heating. I'll try that. Yes, the sound! It reminds me of a very quiet, old fashioned outboard motor. Very soothing. I'm impressed with the simmer on it too! What's the difference between the 123 and the 123R? Stan
Oh, dang. That's how my stove pox started, too. Just a little 123...what could be easier. Then an 8r, a couple of 111's a Svea 105...pretty soon you realize there is no cure. I'm sorry, Stan, it's too late for you now.
soon you'll find you've somehow worked your way up to a British mil No 12 and several 96's and 210's and several rooms of your house are dedicated to these flaming wonders...and then... and then,,,,,
The "R" version is the version with a built in cleaning needle that Optimus came out with after they bought the rights to the Svea name from Sievert in 1970. When the valve is opened fully, a needle is cranked into place that cleans the jet. A lot of owners prefer the pre-"R" original version. Some even go so far as to remove the needle. Looks like you got yourself a good stove! HJ
Stan, that is where I started. Had been happy for years with only a couple stove buys. You are lost now. I have 3 123's now, one was given to me and looks like the "R" but I haven't torn into it yet to look. Next will be the big(er) brass kerosene burners. Buy petroleum stock now so you can get some of your money back.
I, like you, Stan, started out with Coleman stoves, just two of 'em, and then there was the 99 I got on fleaBay, next, falling in love with an 8R, then modding the bleep outta the 8R--it only gets WORSE! Murph
HOARDERS! We are a miserable lot ain't we? Going around looking for other peoples' cast offs. 8-[ The Svea is a wonderful stove, I tromped all through the Sierra Nevada and even some Calipornia beaches with mine for many years. The 123R is what I used after my mini Coleman went "Chernobyl" on me. You might want to give your stoves birth control if you don't want any more, (yeah, right) The main thing is to have fun and be safe, remember to keep checking back here for more plentiful knowledge and answers to questions. Happy stoving!
Heya Stan, Nice 123 you got there. Don't leave home without it! It will need a sibling or friend to pal around with and then cousins and other relatives... Can't have too many 123s, I'm thinkin'. 123Rs are okay too. Elegantly engineered simplicity.... sam
Thanks for all the advice guys, but I know I can quit any time I want! All I have to do is find that perfect 111T and I'm done collecting. Honest! Really! Trust me! I mean it! No, really! Stan Oh ya, what container works to store this puppy in?
Stan that is a great find for the first euro stove , I use mine a LOT. but I must tell you all the others warnings are worthless, your infected and there is no cure, sorry. there are some options for containers and my favorite is a globetrotter canister you can see it Here
I'm on the wagon, have not won a stove for over a week now. On the road to recovery, until I find a vintage MSR. Sure tempted by some of the stoves on Evilbay, just tell myself I'm saving for a newer pickup don't buy it.
Just look at the angle of the valve shaft. The 123 valve is slanted downwards, while the R is horizontal. Yonadav
I thought so, but could not remember if afew were made with the horizontal valve. It is horizontal, my other two purchased ones are slanted down, one being older due to no "rings" on the vaporizer.
Here's what I thought would be the "after" cleanup shot of the little 123, but looking at the image, I see I still have some work to do. When you look at it in normal light, you can't see most of the imperfections in the polishing that you can see with the flash in the picture. This is after a few minutes with some brasso. I'm not after a shelf queen here, just cleaning it up a bit. Doron...Thanks for the tip on the "can" for storing a 123. Here's what came with mine, it looks like half of what you are talking about. Too bad the bottom half has gone missing. Stan |imgRemoved| |imgRemoved|
Nice tidy up, I'm predicting it'll become your 'go-to' user. The ali cup is standard with the stove, you aren't missing anything. They are generally held to be annoyingly small, I use mine for an emergency coffee cup. Conventional thinking calls for a retro fit with Gaz GT106 Globe Trotter pots, like these... I lucked into a set of anodized ones, they also come in plain ali. The cloth bag makes for a dead fit with no rattles. Useful for picking up hot stuff, too. I'm a huge fan of the smallest folding handle non-stick Trangia fry pan, between the pots and that you are fully tooled. Another fairly common tweak is building another set of pot legs a 1/2 inch or so longer on the horizontal to give a more stable surface for bigger pots/frypans. 4mm stainless rod is perfect. The Optimus Tattoo I'll leave for you to work out We all have one, you'll know it when it happens.
