Sorry if this has been discussed 100 times, I tried searching but as we all know... that doesn't work that well.

This is my first summer with an alcohol stove, I made the classic fancy feast stove to give it a try and see how it works before I decide to invest any real money in it. I made it per all the directions 2 rows of 16 paper hole punches around the top. I am using a snow peak 600 with a foil lid and wind screen, and I am using the crown alcohol stove fuel they sell at REI. I am trying to boil 2 cups of water, and no matter how much fuel I use it doesn't seem to do more than bubble a bit before I run out of fuel in the fancy feast can.

What am I doing wrong?

SP600 is really too small for a supercat stove made from 3oz cat food can, the pot bottom covers the stove (no flame area) and there is no bottom area left for heating. All your heat goes up the sides in a big uncontrolled looking fire I bet.

You can make a smaller stove from another type container (redbull, etc) that leaves more of the bottom of pot exposed to heat. OR.. try a different stove type.

Me too. I have a Evernew 600ml Pot (ECA421) that I thought would be wide enough (4.88" wide, 2.05" tall). I've tried two boils with a similar 2 row x 16 hole stove. I used 20 ml, wanting that to be enough, with 400 ml of water. Each time it ran 6 minutes and peaked out at ~170 degrees F.

I have noticed that I have some tall yellow flames, running pure ethanol. I wonder if a different hole pattern would fix that. I don't know whether I should have more, or less though.

In the meantime ... makes me think my Caldera Cone was a good investment. It's heavier, with the caddies etc., but does 2 cups very reliably with about 18 ml ethanol.

You could try a tea light stove. Here's a video from Jason Klass using the same SP 600.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4WSyfwGLug


You're also gonna risk burning yourself with the cat stove and the SP 600.

Edited by NomadJack on 06/07/2012 18:05:38 MDT.

"SP600 is really too small for a supercat stove made from 3oz cat food can, the pot bottom covers the stove (no flame area) and there is no bottom area left for heating."

+1.

It's a great stove, as long as it's matched with the right diameter pot. I use an Evernew (REI-branded) .9L pot, similar to what Andrew Skurka uses. I already had that pot when I decided to make a cat can stove for my first alcohol stove and I've always had consistent boils.

I will have to light it up tonight and see. I get blue flames all over the place, but haven't noticed if they are mostly up the side. I would have never thought of that to matter.

I have used a cat stove with a Heineken can (quite narrow)and been able to boil 2 cups just fine. I don't see why it wouldn't work. I am not familiar with the brand of fuel you are using. You might try a small bottle of SLX or HEET and see if you get different results.

I don't believe you mentioned a heat reflector under the stove; try adding a piece of tinfoil about the size of your windscreen or a bit smaller and see if that makes a difference. I do think a wider stove would be a good idea. I use an Imusa 12cm mug with a cat can stove with good results, but I don't think I'd want a pot narrower than that.

First time I ever tried an alcohol stove, I was trying to boil 2 cups on concrete with no heat reflector and no wind screen. I obviously had no luck. Now, I prefer alcohol stoves, and cat can stoves specifically, regardless of whether I'm cooking proper or not. My Imusa mug has a cat can stove with max holes for fast boiling, and my old MSR Blacklite 1.5L has a simmer cat and a "med-high" cat can stove so I can cook or just boil or whatever.

-Jeff

Zelph's Fancee Feest stove burns cleanly with ethanol
http://www.woodgaz-stove.com/fancee-feest.php

I use ethanol exclusively and never get any soot on my pot. For $18, I consider it to be a bargain. He has put a tremendous amount of development into his stoves.

Get one of the larger Evernew pots and a windscreen, and you will be set.

I'm too dumb to drill all those holes, so I went with something just as light:

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=49519

GL!

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=42874&startat=20

I suspect your problem is the pot. The alcohol from REI is "standard" denatured alcohol and is fine. Just as good as Heet (yellow) or SLX from Home depot.
Side burner stoves need a fairly wide pot or the flame licks up the side and wastes the flame/heat. I use a thin aluminium pot as the heat transfer is best compared with, say, Stainless or Titanium. The above thread examines the problem is some detail

I can try a smaller diameter stove, but I am worried about stability at that point. Could I try more smaller holes in the fancy feast can? Would that let less flame out and keep it all at the bottom of the pot. I realize that could result in slower boil times but that really doesn't bother me in the summer.

Here's a variation of the Supercat stove. The wick leads to the flame being more vertical, which might be more suitable for a narrow pot

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgCsnoGqPbY&feature=plcp

Ultra Magnus posted pictures in the "Caldera Clone" thread in the MYOG forum of a pleated 5.5 oz V8 cat stove variant that works very well with narrow pots. I have been using it with my H Keg system. Check it out.