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I understand I might encounter some difficulties with igniting the alcohol in my Pepsi stove when temperatures are low.
I was thinking about warming the stove with a lighter before filling it.
Any comments?
flyfisher
03-17-2004, 10:20
I understand I might encounter some difficulties with igniting the alcohol in my Pepsi stove when temperatures are low.
I was thinking about warming the stove with a lighter before filling it.
Any comments?
A bit safer would be to have a shallow can, like a tuna can, big enough that the pepsi stove will sit in it. Lighting a quarter teaspoon of alcohol in the outer can will safely warm the pepsi stove. It will also help, if the stove is insulated from the cold ground. It is not only the stove, but the fuel that needs to be warm.
Warming a filled stove with a lighter (not what you proposed) seems like a way to enter the Darwin Award ranks.
StoveStomper
03-17-2004, 10:27
The thin pepsi can will not hold the heat long enough to make a difference.
The better thing to do is keep your fuel bottle in your pocket so the fuel will not be at freezing temps.
Try and not to set the stove directly on snow or ice. They don't work well with all the heat being sucked from the bottom. :-) A piece of box cardboard covered with foil makes a great cold weather stove stand.
Alcohol does not vaporize well at really cold temps, but once it's lit, it will work fine as long as it's not setting on ice.
I have had trouble lighting mine in sub freezing temps with a mini Bic lighter because I couldn't get the flame close to the alcohol. I took a stick and lit the end of it and used the stick like a match to light the alcohol. Worked great!
Cheers,
StoveStomper
flyfisher
03-17-2004, 10:42
I have had trouble lighting mine in sub freezing temps with a mini Bic lighter because I couldn't get the flame close to the alcohol. I took a stick and lit the end of it and used the stick like a match to light the alcohol. Worked great!
I have trouble lighting the lighter in the cold unless I keep it warm in my pocket. Matches seem to work better for me in the cold.
StoveStomper
03-17-2004, 11:03
My mini Bic lighter lives in my pants pocket along with a compass, small knife, and led light so its always ready.
I understand I might encounter some difficulties with igniting the alcohol in my Pepsi stove when temperatures are low.
I was thinking about warming the stove with a lighter before filling it.
Any comments?
I did some experimenting this winter. Alcohol does not vaporize below about 32 degrees. Thus, it does not light and burn. Below freezing, the alcohol needs to be warmed up above 32 degrees in order to light and burn. So, when it's freezing out, figure out a way to warm up the alcohol before lighting.
deeddawg
03-17-2004, 12:02
I did some experimenting this winter. Alcohol does not vaporize below about 32 degrees. Thus, it does not light and burn. Below freezing, the alcohol needs to be warmed up above 32 degrees in order to light and burn. So, when it's freezing out, figure out a way to warm up the alcohol before lighting.I did some experimenting too. Although not quite as easy to light, I had no issues getting my alcohol stove to light on ~20F mornings.
Definitely keep your lighter in a warm pocket; that makes a big difference. My alcohol fuel just sat outside and thus would have been roughly ambient temperature.
I did some experimenting too. Although not quite as easy to light, I had no issues getting my alcohol stove to light on ~20F mornings.
Definitely keep your lighter in a warm pocket; that makes a big difference. My alcohol fuel just sat outside and thus would have been roughly ambient temperature.
When I tried lighting 20 degree alcohol in 20 degree temperatures, I put my match out as if I put the match in water.
deeddawg
03-17-2004, 17:38
When I tried lighting 20 degree alcohol in 20 degree temperatures, I put my match out as if I put the match in water.Interesting. I use a bic lighter kept in my pocket, and now that I think about it, it may have taken a second or so of flame contact to light the alcohol -- that flame contact must heat the nearby alcohol enough to light, then the stove gets going.
If you are (it sounds like) tossing a lit match into the stove, it may not be doing what the bic lighter did, which would explain the differences in our experiences using alcohol stoves in cold weather.
At and below freezing (high 20's) and at high altitude. Never had a problem lighting it. Just kept all the stuff in my pack.
i put some alcohol in my stove then cup my hands over it&blow warm air in it then swerl it arrould&blow in it again. now it is evaperating a little&will lite easer.
Like everyone else I agree that it helps to keep the lighter in a pocket while you sleep to keep it warmed up as they will not perform well when they are frozen. The same applies to the alcohol you are gonna cook with. Freezing cold alcohol will not ignite. I will move the alcohol bottle into my jacket pocket or sleeping bag if it is really cold and I am cooking from my bag. It will only take a few minutes to get to temp. I think that it helps to take the stove and pop it into a pocket too if you are using a soda can model. This is what worked for me with an alcohol stove when it was down to 15 degrees f this winter.
Youngblood
03-20-2004, 10:27
Like others have mentioned, preheating your stove/fuel with your lighter is dangerous- the alcohol in your stove could burst into flames while you are holding the stove in you hand and that figures to be an unpleasant experience. What the folks at Trangia recommend (the Trangia stove is what the Pepsi can stove is modeled after) is to use a preheat pan to assist in lighting the stove in cold weather. It is also helpful to use your body heat to warm the burner, fuel and lighter. I use a different alcohol stove but I use a preheat pan that acts as a ground reflector and also helps protect whatever I have placed my burner on- the ground, table top, etc. I use a piece of aluminum from a disposable oven liner that I have cut using a plate (or the lid of my stove would have worked) about the same diameter as my pan for a template. I form a lip around the edge when I carefully push it in my pan. The preheat pan will now hold the small amount of alcohol that I drip from the edge of my burner. The alcohol on this preheat pan is much easier to light than the alcohol in the burner. This preheats and ignites the burner. I use this technique even in warm weather because it works very well for me.
Youngblood