For a little while now, I’ve been working on building an alcohol stove to offer for sale. I’ve built several models of alcohol stoves in the past, and most have worked fine. Yet I wanted to produce something that would perform a bit better, and incorporate some useful options. There are many knowledgeable stovies across the internet today, and some have helped me in one way or another. Because there are so many good alcohol stoves on the market today, I decided that I wouldn’t offer one myself, unless it offered added benefits over existing alcohol stoves. Building stoves & experimenting with various designs can be an addictive past time, as anyone who’s spent time doing so will attest. I don’t consider myself a stovie, but have found a lot of enjoyment in tinkering with these things.
The cooking system that I use when backpacking & hiking, consists of a Trangia Spirit Burner & a Snowpeak Titanium Pot. The Trangia has always been my favorite alcohol stove to use. The screw on cap with rubber o-ring allows the user to store the stove with any remaining alcohol left in the stove. This means that you don’t need to make exact measurements for the amount of fuel you use when cooking. I wanted to replicate this feature of the Trangia, but in a smaller size. I’m just about there. The stove itself has been constructed, and I believe the current model will be what I eventually offer for sale. The last thing needed is to fit the cap with the proper size o-ring. Here are the specs on the stove:
- Stove weighs 2.5 oz
- 2 oz fuel capacity
- Contains Inner Wick
- Will boil 2 Cups Water (55 deg) in 9 mins ~ 70 deg water in 7 mins
- Will burn 1 oz of fuel for 16 mins
The stove measures 1.500 inches in height, 2.070 inches in diameter with 16 jets. I did many tests with varying amounts of jets, and 16 .040 sized holes seem to produce an excellent flame pattern, along with good boil times. The internal wick, similar to the Trangia, is 100% cotton, which will absorb the fuel fairly quickly. To allow the stove to blossom, a minimum of 1/2 oz of fuel is needed. The time for this stove to blossom, once lit, is approximately 20 seconds or less. The flame pattern is small, making it ideal for smaller sized pots.
The feature that really excites me is the fact that the stove burns for over 16 mins on 1 oz of fuel. That’s more than enough time to cook a meal & heat up a couple cups of coffee. At this point, I have not designed a simmer ring. I’m still debating on whether or not to go in this direction. For all intents & purposes, the simmer ring supplied with the Trangia Burner is something I don’t normally use. All in all, this design seems to be a pretty efficient model. Here are some pics of the stove, one painted in black, the other left natural, beside the Trangia Spirit Burner.
Lastly, I need to come up with a suitable name for the stove. My initial thought was to call it the Crude Burner, but we’ll see if I can improve on that. Thanks for reading!
~Steve, The Pilgrim.
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February 22, 2010 at 12:31 AM (UTC -4) Link to this comment
[…] post was actually intended to be made before the last post concerning the Crude Burner. But alas, I figure it’ll do fine here. My main cooking system for the past few years has […]