Hi all, I looked back a ways and couldn't find an applicable thread, forgive me if this is going over the same old trail again- I made a 1/2 penny stove from V-8 cans, as suggested on Mark Jurey's site, to use with my Heineken pot (with the paint on, but that's a different thread.) It takes my pot o'water to ALMOST boiling before it's out of fuel. This is in my temperate backyard with water from the hose. I tried sealing the seam btw top and bottom cans with JB weld but still, I can't get the mileage needed to bring the water to boil. Any suggestions? I'd rather make a stove than buy one, but don't want to make a career out of tinkering with it. Thanks for any ideas.

You could do a modified tri-pair setup out of the Heineken Cans...

Pics and videos here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/hiflyer.x/

OK, thanks Jared, maybe I wasn't clear in my request. I COULD start all over and make a different stove, sure, but this 1/2 penny stove should work. I made it according to measurements provided. I added a priming wick, have paired jet holes around the rim and 3 under the penny. I fill it to the brim with Heet, the yellow bottle- that's a bit short of one ounce. It lights fine, but burns out before it comes to a boil. I can't figure out why it's not performing as has been claimed. I'm asking for help trouble-shooting- others used a 1/2 penny stove have ideas? If I'm going to make a different stove, there's about a million great-looking designs out there. I like this design, though- maybe it just needs to be a bit taller to hold a full generous ounce rather than a bit shy of an ounce? Thanks for ideas about how to get this design to perform, or for reassurance that it doesn't, and it's not just me.:-)

Hi Elizabeth,
I hav'nt used a penny stove but anyone who tries to answer your question would probably need to know how much water you are trying to boil.

Hi Elizabeth,
As derek notes, we need to know how much water you are trying to boil.

General tips to try:

Reduce the number of jet holes. (aluminium duct tape is great for experimenting with this.

Use a wider bottomed pan: Always more efficient but heavier. I have a 5" diameter titanium pan which weighs two ounces.

Experiment with the size of the gap between pan and stove: critical to max efficiency.

I achieve a boiling full US pint with 1/2oz of fuel with my kettle design, so it can be done!

Elizabeth - I've had similar frustrations with the ha'penney stove and eventually ditched it. However, I always want to boil 24 oz, not the 16 that most stoves are designed around. Before ditching your stove, I'd try two things. First burning a mix of half & half SLX alc. and 90% isopropyl acl (rubbing alc). This mix is a bit more BTU dense. Second, fill the stove to the rim (literally) so that at first it's burning an open pool of alc. This just extends the stoves burn time. Maybe you've already tried that?

Frankly I've about abandoned heiny pot because I haven't found a stove that works especially well with it. So far, the best (most consistent boil of 24 oz) I've found is the Mini Zen Chimney/Sideburner Stove found here:
http://zenstoves.net/LowPressure.htm

A full sised penny stove with the jets pointed inward works GREAT but can't be carried inside the "pot"

Alcy stoves take patience, persistence, tenacity in pursuit, and a certain joy in tinkering. Without those attributes, I think they're an exercise in frustration.

Edited by jackfl on 05/16/2008 08:55:48 MDT.

Sorry about not saying, I was trying to boil a pretty full heineken pot, so probably 20 oz. I was figuring real world I'd want about a pint for food and the rest for a cup of tea. I appreciate the insights. I'm bound and determined to give the h pot a try, so with renewed energy for tinkering I will carry on. Of course I started out with a lot of zeal and my tinkerer's hat on, but allowed myself to get deflated by three or four rounds of failure. Back to it!

The first thing I would suggest (and forgive me for stating the obvious), but are you using a windscreen. This helps to avoid heat loss. If you are doing that, maybe you should do a little tinkering. I'd start with the fuel. I like denatured alcohol, and you can add various other alcohols (iso is a good one if its 90%). Just a couple of ideas, hope they help!

No problem, stating the obvious is part of trouble-shooting. I am using a wind screen- the obvious that I was (duh) overlooking was that success stories generally are related to a pint of water and my efforts were with a pint and a half (mas o menos) of water. Duh. I'll reduce the volume, play with fuels, then move on to another stove design... and then, if that fails, I'll buy a stove from a superior tinkerer. Maybe I can barter some basil and a zucchini....

Mixing tinkering/mixing alcohols might be a good place to start. There is a good thread here that you might be able to get some ideas from.

Edited by dufus934 on 05/16/2008 11:17:32 MDT.

I use a Whitebox stove with my Hineie pot and it works great

Can you be more specific? Volume of water boiled with how much fuel used in how long a time? Just curious.

I'm afraid I'm not as scientific as many ..... I boiled about 20 oz of water with around an ounce of alcohol ... took about 7 or 8 minutes. I like it and remember ... I'm used to a jet boil, so I'm tough to please.

scientific enough for me, thanks.

Elizabeth,

I love the penny type stoves. They work great and are fairly fool proof even for me. The height of the pot above the stove is critical and with a little experimenting you can find the sweet spot for your stove/pot combo.

I'm a big fan of mixing 91% Isopropyl with ethanol or methanol in about 50:50 mix. or use a little less of the isopropyl if you're getting too much soot.

Happy Trails,

-Mark

(P.S. - Just for fun you should try a CFV stove - worlds easiest to make and one of the most efficient alcohol stoves around. All you need are scissors, paper towels and a disposable pie pan. Search Forums for "CFV" for the thread.)

Edited by markhurd on 05/16/2008 21:00:28 MDT.

I've built both the original and 1/2 penny stove versions and i think the 1/2 penny could be improved. The original penny stove primes well because the jets point outward toward the cup so that some of the flame's heat can be conducted to the alcohol making it vaporize. In the 1/2 penny design, the jets point inwards and the flames don't hit the rim to heat the alcohol. So after trying a few designs, a good solution that primes every time is to drill 6 holes, 3 in the original position pointing inwards and 3 pointing straight up. The new holes should be drilled at the top of the 'dimple' that forms the base of the can. It's easier if you do it from the inside of the burner before assembly. With this design, i can get a 2 cup snowpeak to boil in about 5-6 minutes.