Dissatisfied with what was commercially available at the time, the author has been working on the design of a lightweight winter canister stove since 2007. (OK, OK, a bit obsessive, but so what?) Several novel features were required of the design, in the interests of versatility, functionality and safety. These features are explained in Part 1. In this Part 2 the finer technical details about how the features might be implemented are addressed: all the choices which are possible. In Part 3 the final stove will be presented.
The stove is broken up into five major sections, illustrated here with a recent commercial stove (Fire Maple FMS-118). The sections are the canister connector with on/off valve (a flow control needle valve here), the hose with its connections, the stove body with the heat exchanger and control valve (which is not present here at all), and the burner column and burner head. Some of these will get a light treatment, while others will get more detail. Finally, the fifth component is the combination of pot support and stove legs. This tends to be complex and depends on other factors.
ARTICLE OUTLINE
- Introduction
- Canister Connector
- Screw Thread
- Coleman Powermax
- Campingaz Easy-Clic
- Inherent Problem between Systems
- Hose
- Hose Connectors
- Hose Volume
- Stove Body
- Pre-Heat Section
- Valving
- On/Off Valve
- Needle Valve
- Burner Design
- Commercial Burners
- Pot Supports
- Stove Leg Design
- Ancillary
- Part 3
# WORDS: 7140
# PHOTOS: 30
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Discussion
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Companion forum thread to:
The Evolution of a Winter Stove – Part 2
A 4oz external feed canister stove is a great idea! (I've been out hiking for a couple weeks…just catching up.) Skittering can be a problem, but, mostly when setting the stove up. I never found it to be a major problem once things were going.
While no help with the "skittering," the legs could be made much stiffer by adding a corrugation or bend to the material. Or simply adding a 2-4mm bend in the edges, or, simply cupping the parts with a press. CNC milling of the legs might be the downfall here, since a stamped leg system would supply the necessary bends (about 1mm) along the entire perimiter of the leg piece, both sides. I agree that Al is probably a better choice, provided you don't let it sit near the flame. As an alternative, I would suggest a simple conical section as a stand, though this would increase the size.
The vortex burners look real good, but not easily made in a home shop. Again, the burner could use the bottom of the pan (as with the Fire Maple) lightening the entire burner assembly.
Anyway, this is some good work. I appreciate the amount of effort you put into these. Thanks, Roger!
Hi James
> a simple conical section as a stand, though this would increase the size.
It does increase the packed size, hugely. I had to give that one away early.
> The vortex burners look real good, but not easily made in a home shop.
All true!
Forming Ti tubing for the burner chamber is hard work: it is best done hot. That becomes a one-by-one job – slow.
The hardest bit to make was actually the splash plate – the arms on the plate in particular. I tried spot welding wire arms on a disk, but the long-term reliability was just not good enough. A wire EDM to make a die and a fast press might have been a solution, but I have neither. A pity, as the design does have merit.
Cheers
"The hardest bit to make was actually the splash plate – the arms on the plate in particular."
That sounds very tricky. As I recall, the splash plate has some sort of big dimple in the center to get the fuel mixture splashing correctly. Also, it needs to be a critical distance from the fuel jet. If you had wobbly arms on it, it would be a mess. However, if you get it tuned just right, the roar tells you that it is just right.
–B.G.–
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