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| Post Number: 1
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dunkard 
Group: Members
Posts: 6
Joined: Jul. 2010
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Posted on: Feb. 13 2013, 5:33 am |
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I'd like to make my own alcohol stove. I don't know what style would best suit my needs. I usually hike with one other person. I use the stove twice once for breakfast just to boil water and once again in the evening again usually to just boil water. Occasionally I will use the stove to simmer but that's not that important. Three season use.
Can someone recommend a style and/or website with directions. I've looked at the soda can stoves and the cat stoves. There seem to be a multitude of designs for the "cat" stove some pressurized and some just an open flame
any help would be appreciated
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| Post Number: 2
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eyebp
Moderator
Group: Members
Posts: 9639
Joined: Dec. 2007
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Posted on: Feb. 13 2013, 7:20 am |
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zenstoves.net
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Of all the ridiculous things to micromanage. Even for a lunatic megalomaniac.
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| Post Number: 3
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CenAZwalker
Group: Members
Posts: 108
Joined: Jul. 2012
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Posted on: Feb. 13 2013, 5:11 pm |
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Check out bplite.com
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| Post Number: 4
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hoosierdaddy
Trophy spouse
Group: Members
Posts: 2772
Joined: Mar. 2002
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Posted on: Feb. 13 2013, 5:51 pm |
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The Pika Stove
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God, I am going to regret this someday!
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| Post Number: 5
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| Post Number: 6
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HikingJim
Group: Members
Posts: 49
Joined: Jun. 2012
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Posted on: Feb. 16 2013, 1:29 am |
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One of the easiest to make is the cat food can stove. You just need an empty Fancy Feast (or similar) cat food can and a paper punch.
I wrote an article on my blog on getting started on alcohol stoves. In that blog post, I've a link to a video on how to build a cat food can stove.
You do want to use a fairly wide pot to avoid this (flames going up the sides of the pot and wasting heat).
Have fun!
HJ
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Adventures In Stoving
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| Post Number: 7
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bikehikefish
Group: Members
Posts: 145
Joined: Jul. 2008
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Posted on: Feb. 16 2013, 11:42 am |
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My stove use is similar to yours - 1 - 2 people, boiling water morning and evening. I use a penny stove and it works great.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qj7PIhjPLxA
I fashioned a pot stand from an MSR windscreen and bent coat hangers. Here it is:
Note the ventilation holes drilled near the bottom
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| Post Number: 8
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HikingJim
Group: Members
Posts: 49
Joined: Jun. 2012
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Posted on: Feb. 16 2013, 7:06 pm |
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That's very clever to suspend it from the windscreen. Is it pretty stable?
HJ
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Adventures In Stoving
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| Post Number: 9
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bikehikefish
Group: Members
Posts: 145
Joined: Jul. 2008
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Posted on: Feb. 16 2013, 10:51 pm |
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Very stable. I've used it for the last year with just two hangers, after I lost one. I'm thinking abut painting them bright orange so I can find them after dropping,
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| Post Number: 10
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rfahndrich
Group: Members
Posts: 25
Joined: Jan. 2012
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Posted on: Feb. 22 2013, 10:13 pm |
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Help.. My buddy made me an alcohol stove from a Bud light aluminum bottle.
I just tried to make a windscreen from tin foil...
The windscreen has several holes at the bottom for air intake. It also sits close to my pot.. I have the GSI minimalist pot....
My issue is that I get lots of out of control orange flames all around the pot, not the nice blue flames like in everyone's pictures.
Looking for some advice on windscreen diameter compared to pot diameter.. How big of a pot should I use with the Bud can stove?
Other info: 1 oz alcohol
Tested in my kitchen
Boiled 2 cups of cold tap water in 6 min uncovered ( too many flames that would burn the plastic lid)
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| Post Number: 11
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| Post Number: 12
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rfahndrich
Group: Members
Posts: 25
Joined: Jan. 2012
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Posted on: Feb. 22 2013, 11:13 pm |
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(hoosierdaddy @ Feb. 22 2013, 10:47 pm)
QUOTE
(rfahndrich @ Feb. 22 2013, 7:13 pm)
QUOTE My issue is that I get lots of out of control orange flames all around the pot, not the nice blue flames like in everyone's pictures. What kind, or brand of fuel are you using?
Just alcohol from the drug store...
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| Post Number: 13
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big_load
Group: Members
Posts: 21963
Joined: Jun. 2004
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Posted on: Feb. 22 2013, 11:16 pm |
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(rfahndrich @ Feb. 22 2013, 11:13 pm)
QUOTE
(hoosierdaddy @ Feb. 22 2013, 10:47 pm)
QUOTE
(rfahndrich @ Feb. 22 2013, 7:13 pm)
QUOTE My issue is that I get lots of out of control orange flames all around the pot, not the nice blue flames like in everyone's pictures. What kind, or brand of fuel are you using? Just alcohol from the drug store...
Do you mean isopropyl alcohol? It's typically 30% water and doesn't burn very well. You need denatured alcohol, which you can find at places like Home Depot, Lowes, Kmart, or anywhere you find paint. Heet is OK, too, but only the stuff in the yellow bottles.
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| Post Number: 14
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rfahndrich
Group: Members
Posts: 25
Joined: Jan. 2012
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Posted on: Feb. 22 2013, 11:22 pm |
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(big_load @ Feb. 22 2013, 11:16 pm)
QUOTE
(rfahndrich @ Feb. 22 2013, 11:13 pm)
QUOTE
(hoosierdaddy @ Feb. 22 2013, 10:47 pm)
QUOTE
(rfahndrich @ Feb. 22 2013, 7:13 pm)
QUOTE My issue is that I get lots of out of control orange flames all around the pot, not the nice blue flames like in everyone's pictures. What kind, or brand of fuel are you using? Just alcohol from the drug store... Do you mean isopropyl alcohol? It's typically 30% water and doesn't burn very well. You need denatured alcohol, which you can find at places like Home Depot, Lowes, Kmart, or anywhere you find paint. Heet is OK, too, but only the stuff in the yellow bottles.
Okay. That might be my issue.. Changing the alcohol will get me a hotter blue flame? Also how close should the windscreen be to the pot? And should I have black soot all over the sides of my pots?
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| Post Number: 15
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AlmostThere
I must not be there yet, I keep hiking...
Group: Members
Posts: 4965
Joined: Apr. 2008
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Posted on: Feb. 22 2013, 11:30 pm |
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You should have a gap to allow the stove some oxygen.
And denatured alcohol won't leave soot.
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All truly great thoughts are conceived by walking.
Friedrich Nietzsche
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| Post Number: 16
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rfahndrich
Group: Members
Posts: 25
Joined: Jan. 2012
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Posted on: Feb. 22 2013, 11:33 pm |
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I really want to like this type of stove! I hope changing fuel works. I will swap fuel and see what happens...I made a wind screen out of tin foil that leaves about 1/4 inch around the pot. I used a standard hole punch and made holes around the entire bottom of the windscreen about 1/4 inch up from bottom. Does this sound about right?
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| Post Number: 17
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hoosierdaddy
Trophy spouse
Group: Members
Posts: 2772
Joined: Mar. 2002
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Posted on: Feb. 22 2013, 11:42 pm |
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This is what "most" alky stove users use:
The gap sounds good, if just slightly too close and should help a little with boil times. The main point is to shield the pot & stove from the wind.
The black soot is from using crappy fuel.
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God, I am going to regret this someday!
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| Post Number: 18
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rfahndrich
Group: Members
Posts: 25
Joined: Jan. 2012
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Posted on: Feb. 22 2013, 11:48 pm |
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Last thing.... Will boil times get faster? I thought 6 min was okay. My jetboil does 2 cups in 3 min. I was expecting longer boil times with the alcohol stove...
I also noticed that I need to hold the pot over the flame for a bit to warm it up, if not and I place directly on the stove it cools it down and puts out the flame.. Is that normal for this type of stove?
Sorry for all the questions but I just have been a jetboil user and hear so much hype about alcohol and want to use and like....
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| Post Number: 19
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big_load
Group: Members
Posts: 21963
Joined: Jun. 2004
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Posted on: Feb. 23 2013, 1:04 am |
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Boil times won't be as fast as canister or white gas. I have enough other things to do around meal times that it really doesn't matter.
What I consider the greatest benefit of alcohol stoves doesn't get mentioned often, so I'll repeat it here: life-cycle convenience. Most of my big trips involve air travel, and I like to get as quickly as possible to the TH from the destination airport. Especially in smaller towns, it's much easier to find alcohol (especially at night) than other types of fuel. It's also less of a hassle to properly dispose of the unused portion at the end of a trip.
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| Post Number: 20
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highpeakdrifter
Group: Members
Posts: 838
Joined: Jul. 2006
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Posted on: Feb. 23 2013, 1:06 am |
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Couple years ago, I went backpacking in Europe. Picking up my backpack at Charles DeGaulle Airport, I noticed a note from US Homeland Security that my outgoing pack had been searched, "for my protection,"and that they had taken my PocketRocket stove, even though I had no cannister whatsoever.
Stuck in France with no stove, and having to meet my friends in the French Alps in six hours, I raced through Paris in my rental car... a fantastic Renault Clio Diesel, top speed 200 kph... and pulled into the first Carrefour,(French Walmart,) and ran through the store buying a can of cat food, a church-key beer opener and a pint of "Alcool.")
Over a garbage can outside the store, I dumped the cat food, and with the church-key, I punched a similar series of holes to HikerJim's stove above. (Actually, I followed the hole pattern of a former poster to this site named Atlanta Randy...)
With my Walmart Greasepot, the stove worked great for the whole 7 days, and it made it back through US Homeland Security with no problem.
As a matter of fact, this beat-up, soot-blackened can of French cat food is sitting on my shelf above my computer, and it constantly reminds me of my father's favorite expression, "See. you don't have to spend a lot of money to have a good time..."
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| Post Number: 21
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hiking_tiger
sekk, plyndre, og deretter brenne
Group: Members
Posts: 4771
Joined: Oct. 2003
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Posted on: Feb. 23 2013, 1:57 am |
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Once you're using the denatured alcohol, you might still have some orange flame. That probably means you need a few more holes in the can. Add one or two then test again. Your issue of the pot being placed on the stove and the flames snuffing out was what happened to mine the first time I lit it. Two more holes did the trick, but altitude will affect this somewhat. Works fine locally, but add 5k feet and I need more holes...works o.k., but the boil time is slower. Temperature may also have affected that a little.
If you're only boiling water, I'd suggest a kettle.
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“Sometimes you have to be ready to receive the information before it can take hold.” – C. Schwarz
“When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.” – Attributed to the Buddhism tradition…
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| Post Number: 22
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HikingJim
Group: Members
Posts: 49
Joined: Jun. 2012
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Posted on: Feb. 23 2013, 11:08 am |
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(rfahndrich @ Feb. 22 2013, 8:13 pm)
QUOTE
(hoosierdaddy @ Feb. 22 2013, 10:47 pm)
QUOTE
(rfahndrich @ Feb. 22 2013, 7:13 pm)
QUOTE My issue is that I get lots of out of control orange flames all around the pot, not the nice blue flames like in everyone's pictures. What kind, or brand of fuel are you using? Just alcohol from the drug store...
Yeah, Isopropyl alcohol (the kind you get at a drug store) doesn't burn cleanly unless you have a very specialized stove.
I wrote an article on my blog on What's the Best Alcohol for Stove Fuel? if you're interested.
I also wrote an article on Basic Design Principles for Alcohol Stoves that you might find useful.
HJ
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Adventures In Stoving
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Survival Skills 101 • Eat Better
