Alcohol burner troubleshooting


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woodswatcher

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My brother ordered a Trangia from ebay and received a homemade version along with it. He didn't order it, the guy just threw it in with his trangia burner. The problem is neither he nor I can get the thing to work.

Its the pop can style, looks to be two bottoms joined. However, it has a threaded rivet with a screw installed in the middle of the top. It has jets around the top outside and some around the top inside.

I assumed you would pour the alcohol into the srew hole and light...it will spit at you and thats it. Its well made, yet not pretty. You can tell its been used some by somebody, but not us. Ant ideas as to why it will just sort of spit and go out (if you can get it to do that), or what we are doing wrong?

I can't put pictures of it up, but to give you an idea it looks like the penny stove except it has a threaded rivet type device with a screw where you would lay the penny. We tried it with the screw in and out. The screw will not tight up as the rivet spins. Any ideas before we chunk it?
 
Use less fuel and the can should be preheated with a little fuel poured around the sides of it and lit. A little fuel poured around it will heat the stove and cause the alcohol to boil. The gas from the boiling is what escapes thru the pin holes and burns to heat your billy can.
 
Good point. I forgot to mention that we did try to preheat it, but still no go. I think its just faulty, but I have no experience with the hand made burners. I've only used fire. I only really paid attention to alcohol burners a couple of years ago.

I will say that after that first spit, we both looked like the first cave man who discovered fire lol. We would just creep up on it, light it and run.

I don't think we put even an ounce of fuel in it.
 
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woodswatcher said:
Good point. I forgot to mention that we did try to preheat it, but still no go. I think its just faulty, but I have no experience with the hand made burners. I've only used fire. I only really paid attention to alcohol burners a couple of years ago.

I will say that after that first spit, we both looked like the first cave man who discovered fire lol. We would just creep up on it, light it and run.

I don't think we put even an ounce of fuel in it.
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It's possible that it may have a ring of metal inside. Some designs do. If that ring is not cut properly it can cause a pressure difference in the two chambers it creates. Making the stove spew fuel out from the lower pressured side.

I would trash it to be safe. If you want one to try out shoot me a PM.
 
The weight of the penny in a "penny stove" is supposed to hold the center hole closed just enough so that pressure can build up to what is needed to operate the jets from the little holes near the rim.

When you are filling a penny stove, the penny isn't covering the center hole, and the alcohol you add in the cup around the center hole can go down into the inside. That's how you "fill the tank."

The stove you are describing has a treaded thing that acts as an "adjustable penny". If you loosen the screw, you should be able to fill the tank. Then, after lighting the alcohol, you can adjust the jets by adjusting the tightness of the screw. Use a long screw driver for this so you won't burn your hands while adjusting it! (After you've done this a couple of times, you'll have a feel for how tight it should be, and you can set it correctly before lighting the stove.)
 
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tennecedar said:
Use less fuel and the can should be preheated with a little fuel poured around the sides of it and lit. A little fuel poured around it will heat the stove and cause the alcohol to boil. The gas from the boiling is what escapes thru the pin holes and burns to heat your billy can.
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this is what i was thinking, but i see the OP said they did pre-heat it...

depending on how big the stove is you should be able to put at least 1oz of fuel in it, or more. i use a priming pan with mine. a priming pan is nothing more than the botton of a soup can cut down to about 1/4" in which the stove sits in. fill the stove, cover the fill hole, fill the priming pan with enough fuel so it can be seen all around the burner, then light the priming pan.

wish we could see pics.
 
Use a primer pan.

I have a few of those penny stoves. The only way I can get them primed is to set them in a metal jar lid. You put a little alcohol in the jar lid and let the burning fuel in the jar lid heat the stove enough to bloom.


Of course, the best alcohol stove is in the background of the photo.
 

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Thanks! I going to try the instrucs and prime the heck out of the thing. I will let you all know how it turns out. I will probably catch the "make your own burner" bug after this.
 
woodswatcher said:
Thanks! I going to try the instrucs and prime the heck out of the thing. I will let you all know how it turns out. I will probably catch the "make your own burner" bug after this.
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It's addictive! You'll wind up buying all kinds of stuff you don't even drink just for the container. The best aluminum bottles I've found so far are energy drink bottles. Have fun!
 
karlhungusjr said:
sounds like the center screw isn't sealing.
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I tried it with some fuel in a pickle jar lid and it worked better. At least it would start. I do think the screw being loose is the problem also. It is a threaded rivet that spins around in its hole. I'm going to seal it tight with some jb or something and see what happens. Thanks again guys.
 
barnes3126 said:
I have a few of those penny stoves. The only way I can get them primed is to set them in a metal jar lid. You put a little alcohol in the jar lid and let the burning fuel in the jar lid heat the stove enough to bloom.


Of course, the best alcohol stove is in the background of the photo.
Click to expand...

trangia?
or old swed?
 
I would be hesitant to burn a homemade stove from someone I don't really know. They're so easy to make, if you're interested, that you should just make one yourself. Playing with denatured alcohol has its risks, and when you throw pressure into the mix, it can get really dangerous. Let me know if you want me to send you plans for the simplest penny alcohol stove I've built (several) and used myself. Personally, I've moved on to the Trangia because I like the fact that I can snuff it out and store the unused fuel in the stove.
 
pzampino said:
I would be hesitant to burn a homemade stove from someone I don't really know. They're so easy to make, if you're interested, that you should just make one yourself. Playing with denatured alcohol has its risks, and when you throw pressure into the mix, it can get really dangerous. Let me know if you want me to send you plans for the simplest penny alcohol stove I've built (several) and used myself. Personally, I've moved on to the Trangia because I like the fact that I can snuff it out and store the unused fuel in the stove.
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Thanks. Nah, I'm a trangia man myself. That was what my brother ordered from the guy. He Just threw in the hand made burner for some reason. We were just curious to get it to burn. I like the trangia because it is harder for me to destroy than the pop cans, and you can store fuel in it.

Though, I am wondering how the original trangia wind screens will affect the efficiency of the burner. I've seen some guys on youtube do some pretty technical stuff with that set up. I saw where Hiram Cook baked bread and muffins with a mess kit. I tried it and it worked great.

What I have now is just the burner, cheap folding wood stove, gsi pots and mess kit for baking. I have yet to try the gsi pots for baking. It all works great, but I wonder if an original trangia wind screen would work better.
 
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