Hi Tony

> needs some tuning, the flame is a bit stronger than I would have liked because I think it has too much thermal mass.
I will disagree here. I don't think the thermal mass has anything to do with the amount of flame.
If there is too much flame it means too much alcohol vapour is coming off. You could reduce this by getting the flame further away from the metal (less boiling), or by covering the top ring and using jets to restrict the flow of vapour.

Go for it!
Cheers

Hi Adam,

I know you have been given at least one place to look for JB Weld in Australia so this may not be necessary.

When you posted your question I sent an email to the New Zealand distributor for JB Weld to ask where it was sold in Australia. I had exchanged emails with this person a few years ago. I just got an answer back from them and thought I would still pass it on to you. This is what they sent:
====
Contact the company below who are the Australian distributor. They should be able to help you.

Matt Allen
Finishing Services
tel 61 3 9553 2522
facs 61 3 9555 4048
email matt@finishingserv.com.au

===

For New Zealand see:

http://www.jbweld.co.nz.

Edited by bfornshell on 01/06/2008 12:54:33 MST.

Hi Herman,

I would like to test the Primus ETA pots and I have checked them out on the net but I have not seen them for sale yet in OZ, also my stove/pot testing is totally self funded, I will look at testing Primus ETA pots when funds become available. For a while my nephew worked at an outdoor shop and he got me some stoves including the JetBoil stove and pots at a good price but he has now moved on to another job and I have to pay near retail, prices are generally much higher here than the US.

Tony

Hi Roger,

"I will disagree here. I don't think the thermal mass has anything to do with the amount of flame.
If there is too much flame it means too much alcohol vapour is coming off. You could reduce this by getting the flame further away from the metal (less boiling), or by covering the top ring and using jets to restrict the flow of vapour."

You might be right about the moving the flame further away but restricting the flow of vapor did not work with this stove, I have tried using jets (see picture below) and the stove used its fuel even quicker than the open top. I was trying to design an inside out Gram Weenie with a central flame to improve efficiency.

As part of another project I have been building a similar alcohol stove with the very thin aluminium Red Bull cans and I have had the opposite problem of not been able to get a strong enough flame, I moved the flame closer and I now have a nice flame.

Tony

> (see picture below)

LOVE the scorch marks! Stove Testing Central!
I hope the asbestos sheet is safe though?

Hi Roger,

"I hope the asbestos sheet is safe though?"

It is not asbestos, I will post what it is when I find out.

The burn marks are from brazing.

Tony

FYI, NAGear.com not only has the EtaPower™ Pots for sale but also recently listed the EtaExpress Pot 1.0L

Still 1.0L though... not sure if anyone is ever going to make a heat-exchanger pot of less than that...

Thanks everyone for the response.
I'll ask a couple of mates who are mechanics if they can score me anything, and if that fails it sounds like I should head into KMart.
I went to Bunnings about 18months ago after JB weld and that 3M silver tape that is uber-heat resistant and they couldn't help me on that front. After contacting 3M (Aus) directly, they sent me a sample of a fibreglass tape which works ok, but sometimes catches on fire momentarily!

Cheers,

Adam

I can't stand the smoke and fumes emitted after a candle is blown out, as it seems to hang in the air forever. Then I noticed that the wick glows long after the flame is gone, and the gasified wax continues to stream off the whole time. I discovered that by touching a bit of the liquified wax to the tip of the wick immediately put an end to the smoke! So I'm thinking that the same technique could be used on the much larger wicks found on these candle stoves, maybe using a small flux aplicator brush. What to do about soot accumulation would be more of a problem for me.

Edited by TarasBulba on 01/16/2008 12:32:39 MST.

To eliminate fumes when extinguishing a candle I just wet my thumb and index fingers and put the flame out with them. (try it if you have never done this) So maybe this can be extended to multiple flames by using a cap that has some wet fabric inside or something like that.
Franco

Ok first let me say I have used candles to cook with before. I learnt to in the military because we used candles to heat up positions in the winter. I added a canteen cup to get something hot to drink. It can be done, carefully. Secondly, I learnt from some of the older guys that if you rub soap on the cooking pot before putting it over the candle, the soot collects on the soap. Than when you clean, wash the soap off and the soot goes away easily. Please use biodegradable soap. Thirdly, if the wax is heated slightly first than used in liguid form it will operate better. How is much like a rocket engine. The wax is placed in an outer container. A inner container it where the liquid wax comes to be burned. Holes in the inner container allow the wax to flow into the center. As the melted wax burns it preheats the outer containter and allows more wax to melt. One problem, keeping the outer container from catching fire. I have some designs, not avaible tonight, but most involve simple sealing air out of the outer container.
Mike

Mike,

I would love to see your designs when you get around to it. I looked at the 2 chamber idea and saw a prototype on the web from a student at the Univ. of Johannesburg, but the link is broken now. His stove used wax chips in a hopper like area that slowly fed into the melted wax. I'm afraid my experiments were far too rudimentary.

The trick with the soap I remember from my wood fire days, but it somehow didn't occur to me with these stoves.

Thanks for your input and I'm looking forward to any designs you might post.

-Mark

Interesting... I can't wait to see something of the design. that sounds really cool.

Revisitng the idea of candle stoves, would anyone happen to know the energy density of vaseline/petroleum jelly? Can't seem to find it online. And does it burn any cleaner than wax?

I ran a small test and a tiny amount of vaseline in a beer bottle top, with a small wad of cotton wool smeared with vaseline as both wick and firestarter, lit with a firesteel, burned for a long time and threw off a lot of heat. It didn't seem too sooty either, though there was just the one flame of course. It would seem to beat a candle stove in at least one respect: that of being extremely easy to light with just a firesteel.

With the area of the wad being fairly large in comparison to the size of the bottle top, you get quite a wide flame as well, comparatively speaking, though the height was fairly small - comparable to a normal candle rather than to an alcohol stove. In a normal tealight candle, the flame width is limited by the thin wick, which I would guess reduces the burn rate of the fuel and lengthens the time you wait for a brew.

I'd imagine (with the benefit of ignorance) there's some optimal size of flat, round wick (like part of a cotton make-up removal pad, say) that would increase the amount of vaseline being burned whilst balancing that against the need for the limited supply of air to give clean combustion of the fuel.

Thoughts?

Cheers, Simon

It'll get a lot hotter and burn a lot longer if you throw some twigs on top. ;-)

Funny guy ;o)

Actually, no need for twigs, because I found this:

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2003/28jan_envirorocket.htm

It could make those tough ascents a bit easier :o)

Not sure I can fit it in my pack though. And the oxygen cylinder might increase the weight a bit :o)