Primus Omnifuel - diesel stove?!

[danielsprague]

I've just browsed through the catalogue of one of the local camping shops and seen the Primus Omnifuel stove, which the catalogue boasts "...will burn on virtually any type of fuel including petrol, diesel and even aviation fuel."

Now I'm not about to race down and buy one (not at £114.99 anyway), but the idea of a stove which runs on the same fuel as my Toyo sounds good - too good to be true I suspect.

Has anyone ever used one of these contraptions? I can only imagine it (when running on diesel) to be a fickle, dirty, smelly piece of kit... but I'm intrigued.

Any experience of these would be... interesting.

Cheers

Dan

[This message has been edited by danielsprague (edited 07 April 2006).]

[Gecko]

Dan
I've got one of these and they do what they say on the tin. You get 2 nozzles , one for petrol and low flash point fuels and another for diesel. I haven't tried mine on diesel but normal leaded or unleaded petrol works fine but your pots get a bit black so I imagine that diesel would compound this. When burning they sound a bit like a mini F16 jet fighter but are very efficient and boil up quickly at all temperatures and altitudes. Mine only cost about half what you have been quoted - I think I paid about 60 pounds for it a year back . I got it from Les at traveldri (http://web.ukonline.co.uk/leslie.madge/index.html) I don't see them listed on his website but I am sure he'll give you a price if you email him for some info.
I rate these as a great little stove, not cheap but efficient and compact.

[ct_miller13]

I have used my MSR International 600 liquid fuel stove for over ten years with no major problems. These types of stoves come with two different jets. One is for white gas, petrol, etc., the other larger jet for diesel fuel. The diesel fuel does not give the most effecient flame do to the impurities in diesel, but will work. I have used every type of liquid fuel avaliable with the exception of aviation fuel. They have all worked well for cooking and boiling water. As above the white gas, (Coleman fuel) or petrol works the best, providing the most effecient flame. I have even used stoddard solvent a few times. MSR, Primus and Coleman all make an excellent multi fuel stove. There are a few different designs of the stoves, but definitely reccommend a multi fuel type.

[Ianm1956]

I bought the Primus Omnifuel in Kathmandu for NZ$150 (GBP 50). I have had several gas stoves but had trouble finding canisters (It seems that there isn't a camping shop in Egypt or India). Also problems taking a Coleman multi-fuel stove on aeroplanes. The airlines get all paranoid because they can smell petrol even when the tank is full of water. I wash out the Primus fuel bottle with detergent and leave some in there so all they smell is lemon-fresh. Haven't tried diesel either.

[Wheelie]

I own a Primus Omnifuel. I've never run diesel on it. Even though it can run on it, it is probably one of the least favourable fuels you can use.

I've placed a post here regarding different types of fuel: http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...obsolete-21665

As for aviation fuel, this is pretty much the same as Kerosene/Parraffin, and works wonderfully... but a little bit more smokey than for instance lamp parraffin.

[henryuk]

I've used an MSR XKG Shaker-Jet multi-fuel stove, again can be run on anything, less maintenance than my whisperlite 600 (but heavier). The XKG works well, even at altitude, but for bike trips I like my whisperlite - lightweight, works on leaded or unleaded fuel (just like my bike so always have fuel), and with a small spares kit will go for years and years