STARLYTE alcohol stove worlds lytest almost

[Skidsteer]

The inside of my Starlyte is filled with Starshine, Unicorns, and Lolipops. This Zelph creation is a fake.

Hahaha!!! Mine is "layered".

Second layer has Sugar n' Spice and everything nice

Odd.

Mine's black and makes scary noises when I poke it.

[zelph]

damn. i thought there was some sort of inverted flux capacitor in there or something.
This little thing pumps out the btu's like a fluxxed capacitor non inverted.

swedish technology! born from jets?
Nah!!! from boats(Marine Stoves)

nice. i'll have to try plumbers cloth. i have plenty of fiberglass around.
a large(ish) grommet, with 3/8" aluminum tube sticking halfway into the tin would ease filling... (but might disrupt the flame pattern)

does the shell material matter here? is heat required to vaporize fuel... should i stick with aluminum on this or doesn't it matter?
It doesn't matter.

what is an optimal pot height above the burner?
I believe it to be 1 1/4"

my stove of choice thus far is a variable pressure stove (similar to a penny design, but without the penny and slightly different jets) that has rolling boiled 35 oz of cold tap water on just under 1.5 oz of fuel. (have to make sure that is repeatable!)

Have you seen the Hybrid Sideburner? It uses a disc on top of the burner like the penny stove.

Don't make me post a movie.

I retract my statement. It should have read: with a pot on top they will not have jets of flame coming out. Sorry!!!!!

upi reuters: dateline mozambeek

zelph corp anounced planns to build an alcohol car engine based on the starlyte stove of fame and fourtune. its reported weight is under 100 lbs for the engine and can develope 200 hp. as news of the fuel injected zelphv8 spread, stocks in zcorp jumped to an unpresidented high 7 dollars above the opening of 100 .

Mathewski, how did you find out that I was dealing in Mozambeek? You be the man, We'll eat bacon together come Trail Days

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[zelph]

Odd.

Mine's black and makes scary noises when I poke it.

Never ever poke inside a "Starlyte" The scary noises are from the Stove Devils. Poking invokes nasty nasty responses. Never again Skids, you have been warned

[mweinstone]

last night i filled my zelph starlyte with a shot of knob creek. it burns nice and leaves the water when the alcohol is gone. nice smell. warm glow. good for nightcaps or moodlyte.

[StarLyte]

At the PA Ruck I'll be cooking on my StarLyte in the kitchen at the hostel

Can't wait....pictures posted afterwards!

Thanks Zelph

[bmike]

last night i filled my zelph starlyte with a shot of knob creek. it burns nice and leaves the water when the alcohol is gone. nice smell. warm glow. good for nightcaps or moodlyte.

hmm. so you can drink all night with a small fire and have H2O in the morning?

[bmike]

so, got a stash of wedding tins, plumbers cloth, and fiberglass mesh. going to make one of these this week when i get a break from the renovation work. hopefully the plumber's cloth will work as well as the unicorns and comet dust.

and, i have a 'heinylite' ready to go - but haven't tested it yet. need some more fuel for that. (burned through my last small can testing the ion and my variable pressure concepts)

thanks for the pics zelph!

[bmike]

starlyte is an incredible little stove.
made a few last night. wedding tins and some 'heinylytes'.
also played around with 'jetting'.
more tests, for sure, but this morning i managed to boil 16oz of water on just about 2/3 oz fuel. going to try for 32 oz on 1oz fuel...

not using the zelph potstand - on my large pot i use a windscreen / potstand combo, and on my small snowpeak 700 i use a small stand made from recycled bicycle spokes and seperate windscreen.

going to make a homemade caldera - i think it will make this stove even more effiecient...!

no unicorns for me though - just plumbers heat shield fabric - which seems to work OK.

[zelph]

last night i filled my zelph starlyte with a shot of knob creek. it burns nice and leaves the water when the alcohol is gone. nice smell. warm glow. good for nightcaps or moodlyte.

Yes!!!!! Now try some Courvoisier. Thanks for sharing the moment. Maybe we porkout in PA. with "The StarLyte" in the kitchen. Weather permitting.

At the PA Ruck I'll be cooking on my StarLyte in the kitchen at the hostel

Can't wait....pictures posted afterwards!

I can't wait either. I hope to get there, weather permitting and the creeks don't rise.

(bmike)starlyte is an incredible little stove.
made a few last night. wedding tins and some 'heinylytes'.
also played around with 'jetting'.
more tests, for sure, but this morning i managed to boil 16oz of water on just about 2/3 oz fuel. going to try for 32 oz on 1oz fuel...

not using the zelph potstand - on my large pot i use a windscreen / potstand combo, and on my small snowpeak 700 i use a small stand made from recycled bicycle spokes and seperate windscreen.

going to make a homemade caldera - i think it will make this stove even more effiecient...!

See there!!!! Mike has it all together. He is a Stovie. Modification is what it's all about. Thats how we come up with better stoves.

Just as Mike and others are using their own potstands it seems only natural to make available the "StarLyte" burners only, no stand.

You know, adding a grommet to the center of the burner adds weight. I decided not to add it. I've been convinced by feedback that the inversion method of putting the fuel in the stove is going well and the grommet will not be necessary.

I've made available some burners in the Gear For Sale forum.

A big "Thank You" to all that have shown an interest in the "StarLyte"

P.S. Thanks to Mike, we all got to see what's under the fiberglass cloth. Just be sure never to poke at it

[zelph]

Recently received this communication from Sweetpeastu:

Hey Zelph, I just wanted to praise your Starlyte stove again! I used it this past weekend up at Dolly Sods, WV in the snow. The thing worked like a charm. Never having used an alchohol stove before, I didn't know what to expect in the cold temps. It was great. In fact, my friend is so impressed he wants one.
Could I purchase another one from you, please? My buddy wants one for x-mas!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks for mailin it. That was fast!
Oh one other question, does the Starlyte burner have a life expectancy? I just wondered how long you've been burning yours...theres nothin wrong with the stove, I was just wondering.
I don't believe I've ever been so excited about a stove before "

(Printed with permission from Sweetpeastu)

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[bmike]

zelph... i think i'm ditching the grommets too, although it does make filling easy with the brasslite measuring bottle. i'm not worried about the weight - but i've burned my hand twice now... that grommet takes forever to cool! and i get a small flame that stays lit down in the grommet hole. burns forever.

here's some pics of my testing... the heinylites all bit it (i had about 10 variations of penny stoves and variable pressure stoves lying around) that i took apart and made into 'heinylites' and played with jetting and such. more ideas there for sure. i've got a few more cans to tinker with this weekend.

i'm getting consistent boils with 1/2 +/- oz fuel, 16 oz water at around 7:30 - this is full, quiet, rolling boil. the pot starts creeking at around 4 min, first bubbles at 5:30, small boil at 6:30. water would be hot enough for tea or coffee at about 5min in. probably on less than 1/2 oz fuel.



[IMG]<http://lh5.google.com/mike.beganyi/R1B1xC6I3RI/AAAAAAAADiE/ny8OXsa-Ttw/s800/IMG_4288.JPG[/IMG]

i'm not having much luck with the caldera. the one pictured is version 5 or 6. it adds to the boil time over a standard windscreen. i keep adding holes, and i think i have the pot and stove in the correct position. rolling boils at around 9:30+, sometimes up to 10:30. note - this is bench testing - the caldera may perform better 'in the wild' when there is a significant wind coming from one side... but i doubt it.











note the slightly larger starlyte. (maybe i'll paint it? red dwarf?) this is made from some sort of magnetic tin (aluminum? stainless? not sure) that i picked up at bed bath and beyond. they have a glued on magnet on the bottom and are about 2.5 inches tall, with a top that is similar to the wedding tin. cut down they make a great stove! burner size is nearly identical to the starlyte, weight is more due to the thickness of the material and adding extra burner material - but it will hold almost 2 oz of fuel, and puts out a slightly wider flame... i've consistently boiled 35 oz of cold tap water on 1.5 to 1.75 oz of fuel with it... and the flame kept going for another 3-5 minutes. (although once i swear it went for at least 20 minutes from lighting) i need to do some careful tests - but for me, the slightly larger version is the ticket - i can cook on my small pot of the large pot, and decide on fuel amount based on what i'm cooking...

i'll probably order one of your burners... i'm curious if the mystery material changes burn time and efficeincy. this stove is not as fast as a full burning penny stove... but for the convenience that this stove offers its a great trade off.

more later, after i do some renovation work and have some time in the garage...

-mike (always on the lookout for containers to turn into stoves...)

[bmike]

any way to edit posts? the other forums i visit allow this...
here's the image that didn't work:

[pure_mahem]

Only way to edit is to donate!

[bmike]

Only way to edit is to donate!

will do!

[zelph]

zelph...
i'm not having much luck with the caldera. the one pictured is version 5 or 6. it adds to the boil time over a standard windscreen. i keep adding holes, and i think i have the pot and stove in the correct position. rolling boils at around 9:30+, sometimes up to 10:30. note - this is bench testing - the caldera may perform better 'in the wild' when there is a significant wind coming from one side... but i doubt it.











note the slightly larger starlyte. (maybe i'll paint it? red dwarf?) this is made from some sort of magnetic tin (aluminum? stainless? not sure) that i picked up at bed bath and beyond. they have a glued on magnet on the bottom and are about 2.5 inches tall, with a top that is similar to the wedding tin. cut down they make a great stove! burner size is nearly identical to the starlyte, weight is more due to the thickness of the material and adding extra burner material - but it will hold almost 2 oz of fuel, and puts out a slightly wider flame... i've consistently boiled 35 oz of cold tap water on 1.5 to 1.75 oz of fuel with it... and the flame kept going for another 3-5 minutes. (although once i swear it went for at least 20 minutes from lighting) i need to do some careful tests - but for me, the slightly larger version is the ticket - i can cook on my small pot of the large pot, and decide on fuel amount based on what i'm cooking...

i'll probably order one of your burners... i'm curious if the mystery material changes burn time and efficeincy. this stove is not as fast as a full burning penny stove... but for the convenience that this stove offers its a great trade off.

In the photo above, it shows the top holes of the caldera almost touching the pot. Air flow not geting up there. widen the base of the cone so you have air flow up to the near top of the cone. elongate the holes by multiple punches side by side.

Really nice work on the starlytes. Handy little burners they are.

Same here, always on the lookout for stove making containers.

Who and how was the drawing made for the cone????

[bmike]

In the photo above, it shows the top holes of the caldera almost touching the pot. Air flow not geting up there. widen the base of the cone so you have air flow up to the near top of the cone. elongate the holes by multiple punches side by side.

Really nice work on the starlytes. Handy little burners they are.

Same here, always on the lookout for stove making containers.

Who and how was the drawing made for the cone????

tried a wider version... looked wrong and burned slow. i should try again. the latest version is as good as my 'normal' windscreen / reflector when using the starlyte.

when using a modified penny stove i can boil in 5:30 or so. should be able to do better...

will try a wider version.


drawing is done in autocad. i print them out to scale and then tape them together with match lines. cut out the pattern, then tape to my al. sheet. prick all the centerpoints (i'm currently drilling the air holes) and go. works great - and produced a super fit.

the connection of the two ends is done with some tiny binder bolts and a keyhole slot.

working on a 'corrugated' windscreen / heat exchanger this evening. saw an MSR one at EMS this afternoon and thought i'd take the pot holder approach from the cone and adapt it to the corrugated windscreen. so far so good. got the drawing done - now i just need to figure out how to make about 60 folds in the thing!

[bmike]

Who and how was the drawing made for the cone????

oh - the drawing pic'd above is for a 'standard' wind screen that also doubles as a pot stand.

here's a pdf of the cone

[zelph]

oh - the drawing pic'd above is for a 'standard' wind screen that also doubles as a pot stand.

here's a pdf of the cone

Your corrugated windscreen sounds interesting. 5:30 is great time wise. You can tweek it down to 3:30 no problem withe coruggated screen.

Thanks for the pdf of the cone. Your StarLyte flames look just like mine. The plumbers cloth has been tested quite a bit by Skids. He likes it!!!!!

[bmike]

Your corrugated windscreen sounds interesting. 5:30 is great time wise. You can tweek it down to 3:30 no problem withe coruggated screen.

Thanks for the pdf of the cone. Your StarLyte flames look just like mine. The plumbers cloth has been tested quite a bit by Skids. He likes it!!!!!

got the corrugated heat exchanger / wind screen / pot stand working with the starlyte. it will need serious tweaking to get to 3:30.

currently running 5:30 or so with 3/4 oz fuel. seems i'm burning hotter - so more fuel but a slightly faster boil. i'll need to tweak it for the starlyte. with the jetted stove in there is sounds like my whisperlight...

but - i haven't really standardized a test yet. working late in the garage - everything is cold - fuel, stoves, water. as i work and tweak things warm up. i'll have to move everything inside and test it when i get it just so. seems my position to pot might be off a bit... not sure.

inspired by the msr heat exchangers - but i want mine to do everything - potstand, wind screen, heat exchanger... might be too much to ask.

the fiberglass wick at the top is a temporary fix. first test burn the pot started to drop through as the stove and screen heated up. lots of metal to expand - and its noisy as all get out. wrapped it with the wick to keep it tight. i'll need to work up some sort of connection here - as its based on my snowpeak 700 i needed lots of room for the handles - so the top gets loose.





might just cut 1.5" off the top, use it as a heat exchanger / windscreen and add some spokes through the lower part to hold the pot. might open up some air flow and improve times - but i don't want to be hasty. took forever to make. need to improve my process.

with some testing and tweaking this might be the wind screen / stand i'm looking for. might be tricky to pack (won't fit into my trek 700) - but if i make one for my larger pot it could all tuck away nicely.

also note the revised starlyte without grommets. been testing with the larger size - but i have a half dozen or so to play with. i double the fiberglass cloth as i was getting plenty of burn through and staining, and use 4 or 5 circles of plumbers heat shield fabric. the stuff is great... i just need to find a place to order it in bulk. pricey $$.

[zelph]

Hey Bmike, looks like everything is coming together nicely. Nice job on the corrugations, how did you form them?

By the way!!! I was just kidding about the 3:30 time factor.

An old design of mine, The Dual Flame burner, is about to be resurrected. It's been machined from a solid piece of aluminum. With the original copper I was getting 4:00 min boils a good percentage of the time. I might be able to get under the 4:00 min boil with the aluminum version.

The old record is sure to collapse someday. Anybody hear of under 4:00 for 2 cups using open flame design and 1/2 ounce fuel?