Alternative way to light the Svea 123 stove

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Loosearrow

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Picked up a used Svea a few years ago for ten bucks. It looked like it had been used quite a bit. I did notice that the bottom of the stove is shaped like a bowl and had a lot of tarnish that looked liked burned fuel. I was wondering if anyone has tried to flip the stove over, with the windscreen on of course, and poured fuel on the bottom bowl to heat it. It may be that the previous owner used a small tea candle under an elevated stove. Not a bad idea in itself. The candle could be reused many times to preheat the stove. This would work in a very cold climate. Regards
 
I saw a guy at a campout, put fuel in the bottom of the stove bowl , & light it & let it burn out. it heated the stove up & it lit easily. I was kind of worried it might explode. I have put a little fuel on the top burner & lit it, to heat it up. now I just open the valve up a little & turn the stove upside down, for about three secounds & then try to light. it works pretty well. they can be hard to light at times, but are great stoves & I love mine.
 
PLEASE DON'T turn it over to heat the fuel. You're not trying to pre-heat fuel: you're trying to pre-heat the generator...the metal tube just above the little "well" on top of the fuel tank. A bit of fuel in that well, or a bit of firepaste or fireribbon, have always worked for me.
 
I carry a small piece of straw with my Svea. I open the fuel resivor, stick in the straw, put my finger over the exposed end and withdraw the straw, then I empty the straw into the indentation around the metal tube and light it after closing the fuel cap. When the fuel is burning I open the valve. Lots of times the burning fuel lights the stove.

Chad
 
you are doing it backwards,you are trying to heat the generator not the tank,it might mess the lid up doing what you are trying to do...
 
I think we're talking about two issues: 1. Preheating the tube which needs to help vaporize fuel and 2. Pressurizing the tank. Both are important. Old time Svea 123 users recognized that colder weather challenges this design. Two things can help with the tank pressure situation: 1. It's important to have a way to insulate the tank from the cold ground. A small piece of ensolite (sp?) pad works well for this or really anything that can protect the tank from excess cold. 2. You can also add the midi-pump with its alternative fuel cap. One real plus for the midi-pump is that it allows the Svea to perform very, very well without having to get the tank hot for pressure.

PC
 
I had a Svea 123 and used it at 8-9000 feet. I also agree that the top of the tank is where you should put fire ribbon or just a little fuel. In wind and cold you may have to put fuel in the top 2 times. Adding the pump made it easier to light as you could pressurize the tank and then let fuel dribble on the top. Now you already have pressure and just need to get the metal tube hot. LP gas stoves are great in summer and low altitudes. White gas stoves like the Svea 123 are great everywhere.
 
unscrew the difuser from the top, turn the valve on and blow a puff of air into the tank. close the valve, screw the diffuser back on and open the valve. light the fuel that comes out andthat will warm the stove up and have you cooking in no time.

no extra junk to haul, and the valve parts you''re putting your mouth on are sterilized from the heat, but not sooty. so unless you've dropped it in the latrine since the last time you used it it's not an issue.

my last one went AWOL years ago. i'd love to find a deal on another one sometime.
 
I carried a SVEA 123 with pump for years. I also carried a small soft bottle of cooking alcohol and an eye dropper for pre-heating the stem. Worked great at altitude and in the cold.
 
Loosearrow said:
Picked up a used Svea a few years ago for ten bucks. It looked like it had been used quite a bit. I did notice that the bottom of the stove is shaped like a bowl and had a lot of tarnish that looked liked burned fuel. I was wondering if anyone has tried to flip the stove over, with the windscreen on of course, and poured fuel on the bottom bowl to heat it. It may be that the previous owner used a small tea candle under an elevated stove. Not a bad idea in itself. The candle could be reused many times to preheat the stove. This would work in a very cold climate. Regards
Click to expand...

I wouldn't do this. As other's point out, you want to heat the vaporizer tube and not the fuel tank primarily. I've still found the most reliable way to light this stove is to prime it in whatever way you like, but make sure the vaporizer tube is hot (with white gas, alcohol, fire paste, etc.). The colder it is the more fuel and heating time you'll need. But I've never had one of these stoves not light for me. I posted a video recently where I go over two ways I get my Svea 123R stove to light:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUihCydKhBQ
 
Thanks for all the good information. Instead of using a plastic straw, how about a thin brass or copper tube about the thickness of a pen and short enough to fit within the windscreen. I have seen plastic melt down when in contact with gas. I suppose you have used this method long enough to trial that. Maybe it has to do with the differences in plastic.
 
Whatever works. The straws I have I've used for years now. So they are a type of plastic immune to softening it seems.
 
This week I tried a product called "Heet", found in the automotive section at Walmart. It is alchol used for gas line antifreeze. I put a little on the top of the burner & light it & open the fuel valve & it lit up after about 20 seconds.
 
That will work. You can buy denatured alcohol at the hardware store as well. The only problem with alcohol is it is harder to light when cold. If you get below freezing you'll have to warm it by keeping it near your body or putting in a piece of leaf/dry stem and light that as a wick which will heat the alcohol so it lights. Usually I'll just use the white gas in the tank because it always lights. On very cold days I may have to prime the stove twice to get it warm enough if I don't use enough fuel on the first try.
 
my last one went AWOL years ago. i'd love to find a deal on another one sometime. posted by fixer

Don't wait for a deal. Get one now, maybe as a late Christmas present to yourself. Last I saw, they show up on ebay from time-to-time.

As you know, it is one of those pieces of equipment that is both function and art, and makes a neat helicopter sound too!

Happy New Year.
 
Tim the Slugman said:
This week I tried a product called "Heet", found in the automotive section at Walmart. It is alchol used for gas line antifreeze. I put a little on the top of the burner & light it & open the fuel valve & it lit up after about 20 seconds.
Click to expand...
Read the ingredients. You'll want to use the yellow heet (isopropyl alcohol), and not the red heet (methanol). Methanol is *very* nasty stuff, and can cause all kinds of health problems, even just getting on your skin. The isopropyl is much, much safer.

Rubbing alcohol (90%) works very well also.
 
The yellow is what I bought. I did not know about the difference in red & yellow. my yellow bottle says (methyl alcohol )
 
The yellow bottle Heet is methyl alcohol. That's the one you want for alcohol stoves.

The red bottle Heet is isopropyl alcohol. It doesn't burn as well and smokes up everything but might be better than nothing if that's all you can get.
 
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