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Alcohol Stoves

    • LIhikers wrote:

      You guys really have this down to a science.
      I have no idea how long either of my stoves take to boil water, and I don't really care.
      As I see it, as long as I'm outdoors I'm happy. If dinner takes 3 minutes longer to cook, that's OK by me.


      For some people time to boil is a big deal. For others it's weight, convenience, noise, ease of resupply, ability to simmer, cost, reliability, etc... Each system has its own advantages and disadvantages. Each hiker has his/her own preferences.

    • Thanks for the pot stand BB, it's a work of art. It's girls' night out tonight so I'll get to play with fire tonight. I'm thinking about setting up my tarp in the backyard, getting some beer, and boiling some water. I'll report back later.
      "Dazed and Confused"
      Recycle, re-use, re-purpose
      Plant a tree
      Take a kid hiking
      Make a difference

    • jimmyjam wrote:

      Thanks for the pot stand BB, it's a work of art. It's girls' night out tonight so I'll get to play with fire tonight. I'm thinking about setting up my tarp in the backyard, getting some beer, and boiling some water. I'll report back later.


      got mine too. THANKS! haven't had a chance to test yet. The bad news is that I always though my hobby was fairly normal until I read JJ's post. set up a tarp, drink beer, boil water. I think we have a problem.

    • jimmyjam wrote:

      Well my test didn't go so well. The stand got too hot and deformed causing the pot to sit on the stove. Oh well, back to beer testing.


      This is good information. It is exactly what I am looking for. What type of stove did you use? I suspect my eCHS is on the edge of doing damage to the stand. In testing it so far I have seen no damage. The fact that your stand did not hold up shows that it is close to failure. I will be curious if OMO has similar results. I know he uses an eCHS. However, his pot has a heat exchanger. Keep the info coming guys.
      Non hikers are about a psi shy of a legal ball.

    • I can't help but think that the aluminum is such a thermal efficient conductor that the bends are acting like expansion joints and expanding at the top while the bottoms are still cold so to speak, like having a difference in coefficients, kinda...just typin' out loud here. I don't know.


      ...be interesting if you could measure the temp difference from top to bottom.

    • socks wrote:

      I can't help but think that the aluminum is such a thermal efficient conductor that the bends are acting like expansion joints and expanding at the top while the bottoms are still cold so to speak, like having a difference in coefficients, kinda...just typin' out loud here. I don't know.


      ...be interesting if you could measure the temp difference from top to bottom.


      I think this is why my stand is not failing. Aluminum is a great conductor of heat. The pot acts as a heat sink and the bottom of the stand acts as a heat sink prohibiting the aluminum from reaching the melting point of 1221°. I had suspected it must be very close to that threshold. JJ's test confirms this. I am curious what stove he is using. I suspect the efficient placement of the heat by the eCHS has a lot to with my stand not reaching that critical temperature. Again, I am very curious how OMO's heat exchanger will effect the transferal of heat to the stand. It may prove that, even though my stand has not failed yet with my setup, it may still be too close to failure to be relied upon.
      Non hikers are about a psi shy of a legal ball.

    • BirdBrain wrote:

      socks wrote:

      I can't help but think that the aluminum is such a thermal efficient conductor that the bends are acting like expansion joints and expanding at the top while the bottoms are still cold so to speak, like having a difference in coefficients, kinda...just typin' out loud here. I don't know.


      ...be interesting if you could measure the temp difference from top to bottom.


      I think this is why my stand is not failing. Aluminum is a great conductor of heat. The pot acts as a heat sink and the bottom of the stand acts as a heat sink prohibiting the aluminum from reaching the melting point of 1221°. I had suspected it must be very close to that threshold. JJ's test confirms this. I am curious what stove he is using. I suspect the efficient placement of the heat by the eCHS has a lot to with my stand not reaching that critical temperature. Again, I am very curious how OMO's heat exchanger will effect the transferal of heat to the stand. It may prove that, even though my stand has not failed yet with my setup, it may still be too close to failure to be relied upon.
      Ya know as I was typing that I had the same thought but decided to leave it as it was just typing out loud, that's how we learn. keep at it. Sounds like your on to something...I do like the design though for it's simplicity, complex as it is.

    • BirdBrain wrote:

      jimmyjam wrote:

      BB, here's the stove that I used:


      I recognize that stove. 8o That puppy puts out some heat. Side burner. The stand I sent is designed for a center burner. Having said that, I am glad you tried it with that stove. If everyone did what I am doing, I would learn nothing.



      All my stoves are sideburners. That stove works great with the pot sitting right on top of it.
      "Dazed and Confused"
      Recycle, re-use, re-purpose
      Plant a tree
      Take a kid hiking
      Make a difference

    • jimmyjam wrote:

      BirdBrain wrote:

      jimmyjam wrote:

      BB, here's the stove that I used:


      I recognize that stove. 8o That puppy puts out some heat. Side burner. The stand I sent is designed for a center burner. Having said that, I am glad you tried it with that stove. If everyone did what I am doing, I would learn nothing.



      All my stoves are sideburners. That stove works great with the pot sitting right on top of it.


      Seeing that yours failed, I just ran another test and added another viable. This time I placed the stand on as slippery of a surface that I could find. I am now ready to certify it as a failure. :thumbdown: It appears that mine was on the edge of failure and friction was enough to keep the legs from spreading.

      I am psyched that you still use the stove though.
      Non hikers are about a psi shy of a legal ball.

    • BirdBrain wrote:

      socks wrote:

      I can't help but think that the aluminum is such a thermal efficient conductor that the bends are acting like expansion joints and expanding at the top while the bottoms are still cold so to speak, like having a difference in coefficients, kinda...just typin' out loud here. I don't know.


      ...be interesting if you could measure the temp difference from top to bottom.


      I think this is why my stand is not failing. Aluminum is a great conductor of heat. The pot acts as a heat sink and the bottom of the stand acts as a heat sink prohibiting the aluminum from reaching the melting point of 1221°. I had suspected it must be very close to that threshold. JJ's test confirms this. I am curious what stove he is using. I suspect the efficient placement of the heat by the eCHS has a lot to with my stand not reaching that critical temperature. Again, I am very curious how OMO's heat exchanger will effect the transferal of heat to the stand. It may prove that, even though my stand has not failed yet with my setup, it may still be too close to failure to be relied upon.


      I picked up the new stand yesterday. You did a great job bending the aluminum wire, BB. The copper piece has two small cracks, probably due to the crimping process. I could replace it easily. It is 2 1/2" tall and 4" in diameter. My pot is about 3 3/4" in diameter, so I cannot use it on the stand. I have a grease pot in storage with a large enough diameter to use with the stand.

      I went shopping today and bought a hard anodized aluminum tea kettle from GSI Outdoors. The diameter seems to be 5 7/8", and the flat portion of the bottom is 5 5/8" in diameter. The spout extends 3/8". The lid fits in a 4 5/16" diameter hole, just big enough to put a Sea to Summit X Mug inside. The X Mug is silicone rubber reinforced with a plastic rim. It collapses to a height of 9/16".

      I think your conical windscreen is important to your success, BB. Without it, a cross wind can easily push the flame around and increase the heat output of the stove at the same time, a bad combination for aluminum stands.

      I have a suggestion for what to name the stand. How about Lissajous? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lissajous_curve
      I am human and I need to be loved - just like everybody else does

    • TrafficJam wrote:

      I got my package BirdBrain, thank you soooooooo much!


      You are welcome. I sure hope Robin goes to the post office soon to get hers. If she doesn't before the 15 days are up, there will be no stoves going to Australia. Tracking says they are still at post office. They are going to send them back to me soon.

      Violet, are you out there?
      Non hikers are about a psi shy of a legal ball.

    • Rasty wrote:

      BirdBrain wrote:



      Might have a winner. This puts a lot of lateral stress on the stand. It bows out under this strain, but pops back into shape after the bowling ball is removed. Don't see a pot offering any competition to that.


      What weight bowling ball?


      14 lbs. I will be making more and mailing them out. Will need dimensional preferences. Diameter of stove it is for and height of stand wanted. The one I built is 2.5" high and fits a 35mm high eCHS made from a v8 can.
      Non hikers are about a psi shy of a legal ball.







    • The camera on my phone is terrible. I also picked a bad backdrop. There is steam coming out of the kettle on the 2nd picture. I just ran an extreme test on my latest pot stand. I filled a stainless steel kettle with as much water as it could hold. It weighed just over 6 lbs. Next, I brought the water to boil on the kitchen stove. Then I lit my eCHS stove with my latest stand around it and set the kettle on the stand. I left it on the stand until the water was boiling again. Finally I took a couple more pictures. The last picture shows how the stove fits in the stand. Note that the heights of the legs where they touch are not the same. That is by design. I only wanted the non-jointed sections to be load bearing. The difference in heights are exaggerated in the picture because the legs slide a bit in the tubing when it is not resting on the ground.
      Non hikers are about a psi shy of a legal ball.

      The post was edited 2 times, last by BirdBrain ().

    • socks wrote:

      BirdBrain wrote:









      A few more views to show how it assembles and stores.
      I see vectors and scalars.


      I can see that. However, I was thinking more of short compression members and long tension members in a truss. It has one fatal flaw (beyond its enormous weight of 16.9 grams) that has me puzzling. It is incompatible with my current stove snuffer.
      Non hikers are about a psi shy of a legal ball.

    • BirdBrain wrote:

      socks wrote:

      BirdBrain wrote:









      A few more views to show how it assembles and stores.
      I see vectors and scalars.


      I can see that. However, I was thinking more of short compression members and long tension members in a truss. It has one fatal flaw (beyond its enormous weight of 16.9 grams) that has me puzzling. It is incompatible with my current stove snuffer.
      hmm, sounds like a new project brewing for a snuffer per the old mother of invention saying, or forum fits function.

    • socks wrote:

      BirdBrain wrote:

      socks wrote:

      BirdBrain wrote:









      A few more views to show how it assembles and stores.
      I see vectors and scalars.


      I can see that. However, I was thinking more of short compression members and long tension members in a truss. It has one fatal flaw (beyond its enormous weight of 16.9 grams) that has me puzzling. It is incompatible with my current stove snuffer.
      hmm, sounds like a new project brewing for a snuffer per the old mother of invention saying, or form fits function.
      Fixed it for ya' ;)

      The problem is where the crossing members touch the stove. I need to lower that intersection and have it remain a truss. It is that or make a new snuffer. The silly part is that I am also working on a way to not use a stand. My latest cone build allows me to use the rim of the pot as the stand. The main reason I am trying to perfect a stand is that I have already mailed several eCHS stoves that require some sort of stand. One is going to Australia. I have a finite window to complete my task.
      Non hikers are about a psi shy of a legal ball.

    • BirdBrain wrote:

      socks wrote:

      BirdBrain wrote:

      socks wrote:

      BirdBrain wrote:









      A few more views to show how it assembles and stores.
      I see vectors and scalars.


      I can see that. However, I was thinking more of short compression members and long tension members in a truss. It has one fatal flaw (beyond its enormous weight of 16.9 grams) that has me puzzling. It is incompatible with my current stove snuffer.
      hmm, sounds like a new project brewing for a snuffer per the old mother of invention saying, or form fits function.
      Fixed it for ya' ;)

      The problem is where the crossing members touch the stove. I need to lower that intersection and have it remain a truss. It is that or make a new snuffer. The silly part is that I am also working on a way to not use a stand. My latest cone build allows me to use the rim of the pot as the stand. The main reason I am trying to perfect a stand is that I have already mailed several eCHS stoves that require some sort of stand. One is going to Australia. I have a finite window to complete my task.
      I just been using 1/4 wire mesh for a stand...but it's in the building I think where you have the most fun...for tinkerin' sake. eh?

    • WiseOldOwl wrote:

      BirdBrain wrote:



      Here is the other extreme. 1/16" stainless wire. Weighes 16.9 grams, but you can almost stand on it. Will test it Monday.


      BB are you heating the Stainless metal prior to the bend or just using a jig and hammer?


      No heat. No jig. No hammer. Stainless is very forgiving. I use a calculator, ruler, angle finder, sharpy, pliers and my hands.
      Non hikers are about a psi shy of a legal ball.

    • socks wrote:

      BirdBrain wrote:

      socks wrote:

      BirdBrain wrote:

      socks wrote:

      BirdBrain wrote:









      A few more views to show how it assembles and stores.
      I see vectors and scalars.


      I can see that. However, I was thinking more of short compression members and long tension members in a truss. It has one fatal flaw (beyond its enormous weight of 16.9 grams) that has me puzzling. It is incompatible with my current stove snuffer.
      hmm, sounds like a new project brewing for a snuffer per the old mother of invention saying, or form fits function.
      Fixed it for ya' ;)

      The problem is where the crossing members touch the stove. I need to lower that intersection and have it remain a truss. It is that or make a new snuffer. The silly part is that I am also working on a way to not use a stand. My latest cone build allows me to use the rim of the pot as the stand. The main reason I am trying to perfect a stand is that I have already mailed several eCHS stoves that require some sort of stand. One is going to Australia. I have a finite window to complete my task.
      I just been using 1/4 wire mesh for a stand...but it's in the building I think where you have the most fun...for tinkerin' sake. eh?


      You are correct. It is how I am wired. It is part of my OCD. I have to have a puzzle to solve every day. I prefer them to have some use.
      Non hikers are about a psi shy of a legal ball.

    • BirdBrain wrote:

      socks wrote:

      BirdBrain wrote:

      socks wrote:

      BirdBrain wrote:

      socks wrote:

      BirdBrain wrote:









      A few more views to show how it assembles and stores.
      I see vectors and scalars.


      I can see that. However, I was thinking more of short compression members and long tension members in a truss. It has one fatal flaw (beyond its enormous weight of 16.9 grams) that has me puzzling. It is incompatible with my current stove snuffer.
      hmm, sounds like a new project brewing for a snuffer per the old mother of invention saying, or form fits function.
      Fixed it for ya' ;)

      The problem is where the crossing members touch the stove. I need to lower that intersection and have it remain a truss. It is that or make a new snuffer. The silly part is that I am also working on a way to not use a stand. My latest cone build allows me to use the rim of the pot as the stand. The main reason I am trying to perfect a stand is that I have already mailed several eCHS stoves that require some sort of stand. One is going to Australia. I have a finite window to complete my task.
      I just been using 1/4 wire mesh for a stand...but it's in the building I think where you have the most fun...for tinkerin' sake. eh?


      You are correct. It is how I am wired. It is part of my OCD. I have to have a puzzle to solve every day. I prefer them to have some use.
      Dig it, I love to toil.