June 09, 2015

Primus Model 2069 - Swedish post-1963 Camp Stove

Every year the City of Ottawa has a put-your-junk-out-on-the-curb day, where everyone in the city is encouraged to put their crap out, like a free garage sale, for everyone to drive by, and pick up.  It's a great way to get rid of that exercise bike you haven't been using and couldn't be bothered to sell on Kijiji!

I don't usually see anything that catches my eye, but I did this year! I recognized this as a camp stove, but didn't know its specifics until I got home; even now the details are a little unclear.  It is a Primus model 2069, made in Sweden, after 1963 (as the US Patent and Trade Office shows the patent was submitted in August of 1963).

Does this look like a 50 year old piece of camping gear to you?  To me, the peeling paint and bit of surface rust doesn't look too bad, and it's smaller than my Coleman, so it's prefect for getting bumped around in the back of the Suburban.  The catch is, the rubber hose which attached to the long-gone 1960s-era portable propane tank is cracking, and the end doesn't fit any modern propane tank, disposable or refillable.  So, I've got to build a custom hose before I can take it camping.

According to the patent, the burners in the Primus 2069 were designed to be used with propane over 45psi, and up to 105psi-275psi, without a regulator, to ensure an intense flame that would overcome harsh weather.  It turns out, a low pressure (standard BBQ) regulator normally puts out 0-20psi, a high pressure regulator can go up to 60psi, and unregulated flow would be...
According to the publication NFPA58, a tank with 20 pounds of gas at 70°F would have a pressure of 145 psi, at 90°F would have 180 psi, at 105°F would have 235 psi, and at 130°F would have 315 psi.
http://gashosesandregulators.com/propaneregulatorfacts.html
So, can this 1960s-era stove be run directly off an unregulated 20 pound or 5 pound tank of BBQ propane?  It seems so!  However, a high pressure (60psi) regulator might give more consistent results, so that's not a bad idea either.

Reference:
https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/pdfs/US3289731.pdf

11 comments:

  1. Cool find :)
    Do be careful though, a regular low-pressure BBQ regulator apparently outputs about 0.3psi (ref: http://www.tejassmokers.com/lowpressureregulators.htm ).
    Using a 20lb tank unregulated or with a high pressure regulator sounds dangerous, certainly any leaks would be much more dangerous! Also, I see on the sticker MAX 2x150g/h. Probably important to check whatever you end up with won’t put out more 300g propane per hour.

    Anyhow, enjoying the blog!

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  2. I have the identical stove. Did you find a way to convert to using todays Coleman propane tank?
    Thanks. Ida from Halifax

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  3. Hi there I have the same stove and looking for the hose and fittings

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  5. Having read this I thought it was rather informative. I appreciate you finding the time and energy to put this content together. I once again find myself personally spending a significant amount of time both reading and posting comments. But so what, it was still worth it!

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  6. Anybody have an update to adapt this stove to a single use / disposable propane canister for camping (either Primus ISO or Coleman propane) looking to convert mine !

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    1. They just screw into the fitting on the end of the hose on mine, work fine. With the adapter, they run fine off a bbq tank

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  7. My hose is also toast, and would love to hear if anyone has had luck adapting it!

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  8. My hose is also toast, and would love to hear if anyone has had luck adapting it!

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  9. My hose is also toast, and would love to hear if anyone has had luck adapting it!

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