Optimus 99R stove

“Brought my Optimus 99R out of storage last year and tried to use it on a car camping trip. I set it on a picnic table and fired it up early in the morning, thinking I was going to brew some coffee for my sweetheart. The gaskets under the fuel cap had dried up and failed - next thing I know, the stove presurized, and started squirting burning fuel all over the stove.

Somehow I got the stove to the ground. What to do next....it was really burning now, and catching the dry grass on fire. Yelp!

Thinking a little more quickly, I found a large pot and placed it over the stove to out the fire. The pot wasn't large enough, air got under the pot, and now fire was coming out from the pot. Yelp!

So I did what any male would do - I just stepped on the pot driving it into the ground, and finally sufficating the fire.

Does any one know where I can still get a kit to fix the gaskets for an Optimus 99R? I used the stove for my hike on the AT and numerous other hikes and camping trips, and I would like to see it back in action.

Thanks.

Oh yeah, I ended up jumping in the car and driving 15 miles to get coffee at the 7-11.”

“I got a rebuild kit from LL Bean for my 8R about 10 years ago. I'm not sure if they still carry Optimus parts, but it might be worth giving them a call.”

“Brunton/Optimus tech support is excellent. Give them a call at (307) 856-6559.

15 miles for 7-11 coffee? Yuck. I would have driven twice that for Dunkin Donuts. ;o)”

“There's nothing worse than that feeling of indisision as you watch a stove going up in flames and not knowing weather to run or try to put it out knowing it could blow up at any time. LOL! Sounds like the pressure cap blew too so ya might need a new one of those too.”

“Guess I'll have to pull out my 1972 vintage 99 and see how the seals look. I still consider this stove as the benchmark when comparing with other companies stuff.”

“I've had my Optimus 8R stove since 1981 and the fuel tank cap has been the only part I've had to replace. The first one started leaking from the pressure release valve. The second cap is still hanging in there.”

“I've never replaced my seals and the thing is still the best stove I own. Even better than my Svea 123.”

“Shhhh. Hey, buddy, Wan'na buy a slightly used esbit with lots of fuel, cheap?
last edited: 2/12/05 7:58:09 AM”

“Dang, solitary hiker beat me by three years.
My 99 was bought in 1975.
Dang thing still works great.”

“Are the sseals still intact? Try soaking them in brake fluid for a while. This may help fill them out.”

“Try making a new seal out of gasket material from your local auto parts store. That's what I do to for the cap seal in my SVEA 123. You can also find Optimus' two USA distributors on the Optimus website www.optimus.se : Brunton in Wyoming and A&H Enterprises in Southern California. A&H is a "mom & pop" operation, but they sell the full line of Optimus products, provide great service, and sell parts for older stoves like the 99R.

(Note to Webmaster Matt: The Optimus company link on the "Gear" page is wrong; should be www.optimus.se. )”

“Optimus 99 R? Cant picture it in my mind. Anyone got a pic or a link to one?”

“backpackerbryan:

Look on the Optimus website; the 99R looks like the blue box-shaped stove they currently sell. Main difference is the 99R's lid came off and could be used as a small pot. The black one on the website is larger and works great as a single burner stove for a car camping (I've got one), and can use kerosene or gasoline as a fuel.”

“SS
I bought mine new for somewhere between $19 and $23. Can't remember. I think Sveas 123s were something like $15. A lot of money back then. Mine is the earliest version of the 99. This model had a removable chrome plated heat shield on the fuel tank. Later they changed the heat shield design by making it fixed. Too many people were removing them to save weight and causing explosions. The case is unpainted aluminum with the cover serving as a pot.”

“BTW,
Nothing can top the blowtorch sound of a 99 or 123 when it's cranked up. It just has that sound that says "I mean business". Kinda like when you flip the lid on a old style Zippo cigarette lighter. That nice heavy metallic klunk. Us old wheezers and geezers know what I'm talking about.”

“sh - we have the same exact 99”

“Stovie yuo have a stove you bought in 1975..crap ..what a STOVIE..lol”

“

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“Just realized I have the one solitary hiker was talking about with the fixed heat shield over the gas tank.
I just took these pics a few minutes ago.

Funny, I have a working backpacking stove older than a lot of TTers.
last edited: 2/12/05 11:00:16 PM”

“Not what I am talking about..you guys..lol”

“Funny, I have a working backpacking stove older than a lot of TTers.
10:58:06 PM
2/12/05
ignore this user

I could say that too. I know mine is older than me anyway.
last edited: 2/12/05 11:13:09 PM”

“See those little dimples right in the center of end caps of the tank? That's where the the chrome heat shield "attached" or pivoted actually. You could rotate it away from the burner nozzle and take it off without any tool. Hence people got into trouble.

Just think of it as the backpacker's equivalent of the Ruger 3-screw Blackhawk.”

“LOL
Yea, I see that. Glad mine has the fixed shield.”

“Damn! Stovies even got the detatched wind screen still. I'm green with envy.”

“LOL
This is the only backpacking stove I used up untill about four years ago.
It's seen a lot of use.”

“Well I must say that my 99R stove has a twin cousin. I have the same parts - removable windscreen, key on a chain, pot holder and top. I have replaced the old cloth strap that holds the folded stove together with a nylon one, but everything else is original.

Thanks for everyone's comments. I will try the cheap method first - automotive gasket, and then buy a repair kit if that doesn't work.

A backpacking friend of mine in North Carolina had the 8R, and it worked without complaining on every trip we took. REI had a clearence sale back in the early 1980s, was moving the 99Rs, and I bought it for, oh, I don't know, hard to remember, 20 bucks or so. Somewhere along the way I also bought a Svea 123. I just never got around to buying a Whisper Lite, Coleman Peak 1, or whatever was the latest and greatest stove on the market, and just used my 99R, and sometimes the Svea123.

The 99R looks unsteady, but I have never lost a pot of food. I have an old plastic syringe, wrapped with first aid tape, that I use to get a little fuel from the tank, and squirt into the fuel bowl. I guess I should replace the syringe - but it works so why mess with it.

But for the gasket drying out in the fuel cap, the stove has never failed me. You can get a more fancy and maybe a lighter stove, but when its cold and dark and wet or snowy and you're hungry, it is no time for a finicky stove.

And yes there is something about the jet engine sound, the sound that means that HEAT is being generated, cooking my food or boiling my coffee water. I can still remember on the trail, at night at the shelters, everyone would have their stoves going, and it sounded truly like several jet engines. And when the last person turned off their stove, there was the sudden deafening silence.

My eldest son is about ready for backpacking, so I am looking forward to introducing him to the pleasures of tuna mac: tuna mac with hot sauce, tuna mac with soy sauce, chicken mac, tuna mac with wenies, tuna mac without the tuna, tuna mac with extra cheese, tuna mac with lentils, and all the other variations of macaroni and cheese that is devised in the backcountry.”

“Your idea about the syringe is interesting. It sounds like you were solving the same problem I saw in this stove. That problem was/is that it was hard to get fuel down in the little half donut shaped "bowl" used to intially fire the stove. It was always a messy job and usually caused the stove to be black with soot caused by burning this fuel at low pressure.
>
I solved this dilemma by making a donut shaped wick made from wound up cotton string. It filled the donut shaped bowl. Then I used plain old alcohol for startup. It burned clean and saved the Coleman Fuel that I used to cook with. I still have the 32 year old Gerry plastic bottle (remember them when they sold BPing gear?) that I kept alcohol in as well as the separate wind screen. I am on my second wick though.”

“sh - I have a little plastic eye dropper I use to put the starting fuel in the bowl. Should have put it in the pix too. Bought it at REI years ago.”

“I guess you, me, and Nigal are going to have to have an Optimus 99 Reunion. Anyone else out there with 99s or 8Rs etc that wants in?
Svea 123s could come too. We could do a cookoff in GSMNP late in the Fall or something.

How do you post a picture on TT? I'll take one of my 99 and post it.”

“Cool. I have an 8R that's has to be pushing 30 or 40 years old. It works like it just came out of the box. It's a great stove; I just wish it were lighter.”