I made this crude little stove out of an olive oil lid some fiberglass wick and some cotton... it looked sort of similar to zelph's starlyte
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/obijiwa/starlyte002.jpg

any how the design was stole from zelph but rather than the wick material he used i tried cotton with the fiberglass on top of it, which makes it so no alchohol can spill out, and it seems to work fine, i was just wondering of any dangers using cotton? i have to say the stove isnt as pretty or effective as the starlyte.

The cotton will burn up eventually.

An alternative material for the stove is the plumber's cloth I've been playing with for a couple years. I had a bunch of small scraps I hated to throw out so I cut some up in tiny pieces and put them in a wedding tin. Use a larger piece on top and snap the lid on.

I made this crude little stove out of an olive oil lid some fiberglass wick and some cotton... it looked sort of similar to zelph's starlyte
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/obijiwa/starlyte002.jpg

any how the design was stole from zelph but rather than the wick material he used i tried cotton with the fiberglass on top of it, which makes it so no alchohol can spill out, and it seems to work fine, i was just wondering of any dangers using cotton? i have to say the stove isnt as pretty or effective as the starlyte.

No danger in using cotton. It will start to be consumed as the fuel runs out. Just replace as necessary.

I like the way you think!!!!!! You Ventured You Gained:D

Recently I suggested to someone to use cotton in the pop can stoves to make them cold weather resistant instead of using a priming pan.

Everyone needs to wickitise something using something, cotton balls, cotton oil lamp wick, cotton rope. Try it, you'll like it.

Way back when------------I showed a stove made with fiberglass cloth and was asked what I used. I gave the info on it and where to purchase. Sorry, I should have given alternates. Alternates get consumed, accept plumbers cloth according to Skids.

Tell us Skids, is it a good wicking material? Does its surface harden over after a few burns making the fuel hard to pass thru it. Will it absorb it like cotton does? Please give us your imput .

I like your photo:banana

thanks... i figured it wouldnt be invinceable i just wanted to be sure my stove aint gonna blow up... any other alternates you can reccomend?

thanks... i figured it wouldnt be invinceable i just wanted to be sure my stove aint gonna blow up... any other alternates you can reccomend?

Try some of that moss that hangs from trees down your way. Get it nice and dry, crumbled/shredd it up real fine, pack it in real tight, cover it with class cloth and let err ripp.:banana

Try some of that moss that hangs from trees down your way. Get it nice and dry, crumbled/shredd it up real fine, pack it in real tight, cover it with class cloth and let err ripp.:banana
HaHa... wait before i try that and blow my eyebrows off your not serious right?

One other thing i thought of is vermiculite... which is a gardening thing that absorbs water for the plants. and one last question is there anything else you seriously used, because I am an advocate of leakproof stoves

Tell us Skids, is it a good wicking material? Does its surface harden over after a few burns making the fuel hard to pass thru it. Will it absorb it like cotton does? Please give us your imput .

Zelph,

I've only done about thirty burns with the one I use most often, but there's been no hardening of the surface. The only difference I can tell is that the black plumber's cloth may be slightly lighter in color. See attachment for a photo.

As to absorbency; You know your one ounce tip-over test for the Starlyte? I tried it with the plumbers' cloth stove. No spills, pretty impressive.

Sumpunk, check the stove section of your hardware store for a product called "Glowing Embers". It's designed for yuppies to put in the fireplace to give an appearance of glowing hot coals. I'm pretty sure it's fiberglass, but it acts differently than ordinary house insulation and wicks very well.

HaHa... wait before i try that and blow my eyebrows off your not serious right?

One other thing i thought of is vermiculite... which is a gardening thing that absorbs water for the plants. and one last question is there anything else you seriously used, because I am an advocate of leakproof stoves

I was kidding about the moss!!!!!!!:D

The only serious product I have used since the begining is fiberglass cloth, steam pipe wrap and automotiveheader exhaust wrap. Everthing else will not work well enough in the long run.

Vermiculite absorbs but will not wick. The fibers of whatever you use need to be oriented perpendicular, and close together. Capillary action is what brings the fuel from the bottom of your container. I did a test on one of the forums showing 3 diff. materials sticking up 1 inch or so above the rim of containers. Pink house insulation, 0000 steel wool and fiberglass cloth. The fiberglass cloth outperformed the other two by a bunch. I think the other 2 did'nt even light:-? .


SkidsteerQuote:
Originally Posted by zelph http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/images/buttons/viewpost.gif (http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?p=327872#post327872)
Tell us Skids, is it a good wicking material? Does its surface harden over after a few burns making the fuel hard to pass thru it. Will it absorb it like cotton does? Please give us your imput .

Zelph,

I've only done about thirty burns with the one I use most often, but there's been no hardening of the surface. The only difference I can tell is that the black plumber's cloth may be slightly lighter in color. See attachment for a photo.

As to absorbency; You know your one ounce tip-over test for the Starlyte? I tried it with the plumbers' cloth stove. No spills, pretty impressive.

Sumpunk, check the stove section of your hardware store for a product called "Glowing Embers". It's designed for yuppies to put in the fireplace to give an appearance of glowing hot coals. I'm pretty sure it's fiberglass, but it acts differently than ordinary house insulation and wicks very well.


I'm impressed that you are working with wick, thanks, thats a compliment:)

I have used the white plumbers cloth and after 2 burns alcohol runs right of the surface when I try fo fill it with fuel:eek: .
Skids you have seen my wicking demo, is your plumbers cloth in mass like steel wool or are the fibers perpendicular?

I'm impressed that you are working with wick, thanks, thats a compliment:)

I've been fooling around with wicked(LOL) stoves a loooong time. Looking at your designs has definitely been a timesaver because you've pretty much figured out what works and what doesn't. You are the wickedmeister! :D




I have used the white plumbers cloth and after 2 burns alcohol runs right of the surface when I try fo fill it with fuel:eek: .
Skids you have seen my wicking demo, is your plumbers cloth in mass like steel wool or are the fibers perpendicular?

It's hard to describe. It's not really like steel wool, but the fibers aren't perpendicular either. It's sort of like thick felt.

PM me your address(again)and I'll send along a sample to you this week. My guess is you'll come up with a 'Now for something completely different' design for this material. It really is interesting stuff.

Thanks skids ill check out plumbers cloth... the "glowing ember" is like a mix of vermiculite and wool and some other stuff so ill try that out and zelph... Fiber glass is the best thing ive tried but hey theres always room for improvement!(maybe)

Thanks skids ill check out plumbers cloth... the "glowing ember" is like a mix of vermiculite and wool and some other stuff so ill try that out and zelph... Fiber glass is the best thing ive tried but hey theres always room for improvement!(maybe)

That's right, always room for improvement, "nothing Ventured Nothing Gained"

If "Dust Never Sleeps" is lurking out there come in and rest a bit and share some of your info on wick materials. I think that was his name. He pooped in on the "StarLyte" thread, remember? Where is he when you need him.

Was given permission to post this information by its author who is not registered here yet. It shows how he incorporated fiberglass cloth into a favor tin to create a stove.


I saw this thread and figured that a recent stove project of mine would be worth posting. I have played with a number of alcohol stove designs in the past including soda can, v8/juice can, tea light, open burner and pressurized varieties. In each case I was either dissatisfied with some element of the stove or how it would integrate into a complete cook kit. For most trips I would look at my pile of alcohol stoves, and then throw the Jetboil into my pack. Now I have what (for me) is a stove I am happy to bring on my upcoming trips.
I have found that the fast boiling stoves tend to suffer dramatically in efficiency, and when I am backpacking I've never had trouble finding a few extra minutes of free time. For me, I was most concerned about meeting the following criteria:
* Efficiency (minimize fuel use)
* Durability
* Ease of use
* Reliability (over a range of temperatures and elevations)
* Compact (fits into my Ti 600 cup)
* Easy to make
* Only use for boiling (up to) 2 cups of water
My total cook kit comes in at just a hair over 6 ounces (170g) and everything fits nicely into the cup. It contains the following items:

* Snow Peak Ti 600 Cup - 80g
* Foil Lid - 2g
* Stainless Steel Wire Mesh Pot Stand - 20g
* Favor Tin Burner - 20g
* Ti Foil Wind Screen and Bottom Reflector, Paper Clip - 6g
* SparkLite - 6g
* Nalgene Flip Top 4 oz Fuel Bottle - 18g
* Lite My Fire Spork - 10g
* Mesh Bag - 8g
The burner is just a 1 oz favor tin with some fiberglass cloth coiled up inside. (Tip hat to Jason Klass.) No holes or anything.

The fiberglass cloth acts as a wick and seems to help with fuel vaporization. I keep the lid on the tin when the stove is packed away to keep the wick in place. When in use, I place the lid under the tin to provide some insulation from the cold ground. It has been easier to light in cool weather (low 40's) than any of my other alcohol stoves. I can light it easily with the SparkLite.
The flame this burner produces seems to be just the right size for the bottom of the Ti 600 cup. I can pick up the cup (by the handles) with bare hands while it is at a full boil, so not much heat is escaping up the sides.
I have taken this stove out on a weekend trip, but I didn't make any measurements in the field. I did a bench test last night to wrap some numbers around the performance of the stove...
* Ambient temp: 64F
* Elevation: 234 ft above sea level
* Wind: none
* Water temp: 64F
* Water boiled: 2 cups
* Fuel used: .5 oz
* Time: 11 minutes to full rolling boil
* Total burn time: 12 minutes
When I used it in the field I was able to boil 1.5 cups of water with .5 oz of fuel and I had a few minutes of burn time to spare. In colder weather or with more wind, you could increase the fuel to a maximum of 1 oz.
Sorry I don't have a more extensive field report. I will be using this cook kit on my trips this year with confidence, and I expect it to hold up well.
The 4 ounce fuel bottle (which fits in the cup) holds more than enough fuel for a weekend trip, with capacity to boil up to 16 cups of water.

Photo of fiberglass cloth in favor tin (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/obijiwa/stove1.jpg)

Photo of kitchen kit (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/obijiwa/cook_kit.jpg)

djphome
Orange County, CA


I highlighted the areas you see in red.

Thank You djphome for your input on wickitising.

I've been fooling around with wicked(LOL) stoves a loooong time. Looking at your designs has definitely been a timesaver because you've pretty much figured out what works and what doesn't. You are the wickedmeister! :D

It's hard to describe. It's not really like steel wool, but the fibers aren't perpendicular either. It's sort of like thick felt.

PM me your address(again)and I'll send along a sample to you this week. My guess is you'll come up with a 'Now for something completely different' design for this material. It really is interesting stuff.

I sent you a sample of this stuff Flame-Gard (http://www.pace-asp.com/productdetail.asp?pid=2400#)