getting my stove brewin

[strollingalong]

I'm currently boiling water testing out my stove, indoors obviously with no wind yet my Trangia stove is still taking 12 minutes to burn out of the holes properly and a further 5 mins or so to get a decent boil on of 0.5l... what am I doing wrong?

[4eyedbuzzard]

What are you using for fuel?

[strollingalong]

denatured alcohol... one asumes theres only one type of this?... got it from the pharmacy

[strollingalong]

and was only about 350 ml actually. nice cuppa tea though

[Tinker]

If the tank is full it will take longer for the burner ports to catch because the fuel has to boil to burn out the holes. Less is more when it comes to quick preheat and boil times. Try using only 1 oz. of alcohol. This is one of the downsides of the Trangia design. I have one and have found that you're better off carrying your alcohol in a separate container and using only what you need per meal. The Trangia loses points here because it is made of brass and takes so long to "bloom" when full. I made a supercat stove several years and won't use anything else as an alcohol stove since.

[Tinker]

denatured alcohol... one asumes theres only one type of this?... got it from the pharmacy

Pharmacies usually only carry Isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol. It burns slowly, cool, and produces a lot of soot. If it says isopropyl it's not denatured. SLX is a brand I've had success with. It's available in quart and gallon sizes at The Home Depot.

[strollingalong]

it is denatured, from pharmacy in mexico. but just checked the back and it says 67-72% ... so guess thats not so good. and yeah, was pretty full... gonna experiment with different amounts, cheers.

[4eyedbuzzard]

Yeah, 70% isn't going to cut it. That ratio (alcohol to water) is typical for rubbing (isopropol) alcohol as well, which burns sooty. I just use yellow HEET because I don't use that much and I know for sure it's 99% methanol.

[strollingalong]

no soot whatsoever, but will hunt out other stuff

[Tinker]

You can get denatured alcohol at most hardware stores. It's used for thinning paint, cleaning up paint spatters, etc. The Heet (remember, yellow bottle only) you can get at most convience stores and auto supply centers.

I don't know where "All over" is, but they probably have some near you (remember to pour only the amount of alcohol you need into the stove, and use your windscreen). Oh, the inexpensive Trangia set doesn't have a windscreen. You can make one by cutting a strip about 5" high and long enough to circle the stove and pot stand with about 1/4" space all around the pot. This will speed up your boil times significantly. You may need to punch some holes around the bottom of the windscreen with a paper punch (or only punch holes on one side so you have a better wind block - I've seen this done, too).

[Tinker]

Is this the one you have? http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?_adv_prop=image&fr=fp-yma2&va=Mini+trangia+28

If so, one of the problems is that the pot support arms are too short and the bottom of the pot is too close to the jets on the stove. The flame is hotter higher up. If you fire up the stove and bring it just to a boil, then lift up the pot another inch, you'll see that the intensity of the boil increases dramatically. I cut a new pot support based on the original one out of a one pound steel coffee can (I don't know if they're still available). I made the arms of the stand an inch longer than the original - big improvement in boil times and a lot lighter.

[strollingalong]

that is the one I have *shakes fist at Sweden*

[cabbagehead]

I recommend using Heet. You can also check out bottlestoves.com.

[lunatic]

I Agree with Tinker. This is the stove I used on my 2009 thru and still use today. Try better fuel and also consider pot size, material, dimensions, and distance from stove. I use the MSR titanium kettle and generally have boil times around 8 minutes for similar amounts of water, and I'm still using standard pot stand most of the time. Get faster boil times when I raise the pot on a different stand. Best. - Lunatic

[beakerman]

For you all that have tried isopropanol and got soot its jsut he nature of the beast. It has nothing to do wtih water in it its purely an incomplete burn. If there were a way to get a leaner fuel/air mix and get it a little hotter it would burn clean.