My Svea 123 camping stove is in storage about 1,300 miles away, so I got another one from a seller on eBay. It’s an older model, but in excellent – barely used – condition. My “original” stove, which I bought in 1982, has the accessory pump with it, which makes it very easy to start. I started this “new” one by warming the tank to pressurize it a wnough to get it started. Here’s the problem:
When I turn the key about half-way anti-clockwise I can light it. When I turn the key all the way left, it stops. I’ve been using an MSR stove, so I’ve forgotten all the details of the Svea 123. Is it supposed to stop when the valve is “fully opened”? I’m thinking there might be a cleaning needle incorporated into the mechanism.
You may be right about the cleaning needle - break out a magnifying glass and check to see if it appears.
I bought mine in 1976. It has no pump and no built-in needle - has never really needed them. If it ever wears out, I’ll spring for one of the excellent MSR jobs, but it doesn’t look as if that will happen in my lifetime.
Johhny, I’m a bit unclear about what models you have. The earlier (and better in some ways) models had no cleaning wire incorporated into into the adjustment key, but both types will taper off at max cc rotation.
Look to see if the wire ass’y moves smoothly in an out of the jet, it might be horked inside, under the jet. It will just poke through the top of the jet about a 64th in. at max cc rotation
The accessory pump can be dangerous if misused, they are only for priming, not increasing output!
Aha! I can see the needle come up when I shine my LED flashlight on it. Thanks, Tedster.
The pump is an extra accessory. IIRC, it comes with a different tank cap.
The seller… well, let’s say he was being economical with the truth. The burner showed evidence of having been lit, it’s not “perfect in every way”, and the “warranty/instructions” are actually an inflatable mattress patch and glue. It doesn’t matter though, as it was still $30 cheaper than buying a new one and it’s fairly close to new condition. Anyone know what font they used for the “SVEA 123” and “MADE IN SWITZERLAND”?
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! As if!
I have the MSR Internationale. It’s a good stove, but it takes longer to set it up. Also, I nearly started an unintended fire when the valve wasn’t quite closed and fuel leaked. I have two espresso pots: one is the traditional octagon shape, and the other is a sleeker one with a rounded bottom. The latter works very nicely on my Svea 123, thankyouverymuch; but the pot holders on the MSR were too far apart for it. I won’t get rid of my excellent MSR, but I’ll count on my Svea 123 (or one of them, now that I have another).
(If anyone knows about the Sigg pot set that works with the stove, please let me know!)
Johnny, they were made in SWEDEN… I have the Sigg pot set and special 123 windscreen, if you’re wondering about that… It works fine.
MSR products are over-engineered rube-goldberg affairs imho. Maintenance kits galore, lots of fiddling around, and they have no soul. Try googling “MSR recall” sometime. The stoves are great for torching snowbanks into drinking water, though. I have the X-GK which I almost never use, and had a whisperlite which I have no idea what happened to.
Once again, eBay is your friend - this is the exact set of cooking pots that work with the Svea 123 (although if I recall correctly, the model that includes the little self-cleaning needle that pops up when the key is turned full-on is the Svea 123R):
It’s easy to ID the non ‘self-cleaning’ version, the adjustment key is different and the whole ass’y is at a downward angle versus horizontal.
The quality control, fit and finish seems to have slipped a bit in later years and they will not throttle down to a precise whisper nearly as well, because of a coarser pitch thread. The earlier type are much preferable in my opinion. But, be sure to carry some sort of jet-cleaning wire pricker, if you ever need it, you’ll need it bad.
cybersnark: Yeah, I saw that last night. They had another one that had a “pot” in which the stove sat, and then a perforated plate went on top. There was a big central hole for the burner.
That’s the Sigg Tourist Cooker , specially setup for the Svea 123.
They are hard to find.
The brass windscreen isn’t used in this arrangement, the naked svea is installed in its own two-part windscreen. It works well, but then the stove isn’t really useable for smaller cups, or a coffee pot. I usually end up taking it on longer trips.
The Sigg pots themselves have their own problems, too. The thin aluminum burns food easily, and the Devo hat fry pan is a major pain to clean, with the stepped ridges. They also tend to corrode easily, eventually tiny holes will work their way through the pots unless they are kept scrupulously clean and dry after use.
I had a Svea explode on me once. I was simmering some chicken and rice, and after about 45 minutes, the tank over heated and split a seam. My dinner erupted in a ball of flame about 5 feet high. Aside from that, it operated flawlessly for over 15 years. I had the optional pump also, which is used only for priming.
It sounds very practical. But the ritual of the stove engulfed in flames as it builds up pressure is by now part of the Total Svea Experience. I really think I’d miss it.
Yep. The pumps were a bad, bad, bad, bad idea. Everytime I hear of anecdotal evidence of one letting off, that damn pump always figures into the mix, or operation in an enclosed space. The fact that the seam split indicates the safety valve was inoperative. It’s probably not a bad idea to replace the cap every decade or so, though.
The stoves are a ‘plate-burner’ self-pressurizing design, and need no outside pressurization.
That’s exactly how/why people blow up their stoves with that damn pump and special cap. They think it’s stove pump.
The pump/stove was designed to be given just 1 or 2 strokes, NO MORE, just enough to cause raw fuel to exit the nipple and dribble over the stove generator into the cup.
It’s not a “pump” as most people think, it’s just a handy priming device, and a tragic one considering the other 99 million different ways to prime a Svea. Your “dump gas all over it and light” is perfectly acceptable, although it blackens the stove eventually. But, if the pump is used correctly, the stove is then lit off in the classic, identical manner you describe, aka Total Svea Experience.
Tedster, you are not reading my post. I didn’t use the pump to pressurize the tank; you just give it one little pump to squirt some fuel into the priming groove before lighting. That’s it, no pressurizing at all. It is just a lot easier and neater than trying to pour fuel from a Sigg bottle into that little groove.