DIY – HAMZ Starlyte Alcohol Stove

[Steve Schweitzer]

First off, mucho magna cudos to Zelph for the incredible alcohol stove designs at Zelph Stoves. Those designs were inspiration for the stove I now use regularly in the high country.

I live at 4,800 feet and regularly hike to 12,000 or higher here in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. Now, I am not a scientist, but alcohol stoves DO perform less efficiently at higher altitudes, burning more fuel to boil water compared to lower altitudes, even though the water boil temp is less, around 192F at 11,000 feet. (the reduced oxygen levels has something to do with it!)

So, I've tinkered with dozens of alcohol stove designs and permutations to minimize fuel consumption and minimize the 2-cup water boil time. I have long been a fan of pressurized alcohol stoves, but have found the wicking types, like the Zelph Starlyte alcohol stove, work well and are far more easy to construct, using less parts, etc.

So, after 2 years of tinkering, I decided to make a YouTube video of my design, the HAMZ Starlyte, optimized for higher altitude performance. I’d like to think I am the originator of this design, but I’m sure there are some other really smart tinkerers out there that have blazed this trail before me – I just haven’t found the info on their designs yet.

Hope y’all find the video useful. If you build one, your observations and feedback are quite welcomed.

High-Altitude Modified Zelph Starlyte alcohol stove –
The HAMZ Starlyte alcohol stove: https://youtu.be/wTbAVPdwzqQ

.fotofisher.

[Jon Fong / Flat Cat Gear]

" Now, I am not a scientist, but alcohol stoves DO perform less efficiently at higher altitudes, burning more fuel to boil water compared to lower altitudes"

I am not sure where you get your data from but this has not been my experience. At higher elevations, the air density is lower but the oxygen/nitrogen ratio remains about the same. At higher altitudes, I have noticed the actual burn rate slows down a bit and the efficiency remains pretty stable. I have done these test up to about 14,000 feet and usually have my temperature gauge, stopwatch as well as my barometric pressure gauge to to measure the test conditions.

My 2 cents

[Steve Schweitzer]

…good insight…again, I am not a scientist, just a high-altitude junkie that sees older alcohol stove designs perform less efficiently at higher altitudes.

curious: What stove design do you use? what fuel? how much fuel to burn 2-cups of water?

.fotofisher.

[Jon Fong / Flat Cat Gear]

Set up your PM and I'll contact you directly

[Steve Schweitzer]

…must be some really secret stuff! :)

[todd]

Not secret, but he runs a VERY smart cottage business in this area!

[Angus A.]

Who? Jon? Never heard of him j/k LOL!

[Don A.]

It's easy enough to find out about a member without going through the CIA. Just click on their name next to their post.

[Ronald Stokley]

I’ve tried to follow all instructions but it seems the seven ports are too small at .03 diameter and stove does not “bloom”. I used a 3/8″ ID Grommet; could this be part of the problem?

[Kevin Beeden]

0.03″, or 0.8 mm should be fine; it’s what I settled on for the stoves I make.

Failing to bloom is due to the stove not heating itself enough to produce sufficient pressure to force vapour through the jets. I’ve not made a HAMZ stove (or even looked at its construction), but I know that reducing the opening diameter of a ‘trangia style’ burner will prevent it blooming, as it prevents enough oxygen getting into the fuel. I use restricted openings on my conic inner wall red bull burners, also with a ring of jets around the inner ring of the dimple, and a central opening in the dimple.

With a wicking stove, the wick encourages evaporation, and brings the fuel up to the opening, so I expect a smaller opening would be adequate. But, if the original design uses a 1/2″ opening, and you’ve used a 3/8″ opening, it may just tip it over the edge.

[edit] I notice the video uses a pool of fuel around the burner to prime it. That certainly helps, but isn’t always sensible, unless you use a priming pan. I always start my boil times from lighting; otherwise, you’re wasting fuel in the priming phase. And, as lightweight backpackers, we always try to minimise the fuel we need to carry…

[Kevin Beeden]

Okay, I’ve just watched the video. Nice work. But I have a few suggestions/questions.

What purpose does the grommet serve, other than to tidy up the ragged hole? Tidy holes can be drilled using a flat wood bit, rather than a twist drill bit. Or using a pair of dividers and scoring a circle.

What purpose do the glass fibre and steel mesh serve, other than to retain the glass wool? It seems a bit OTT.

An easier construction method might be to pack the materials into the top half, and then insert into the lower half. You’d need the glass wool to stand proud of the opening of the top half, to ensure it fills the lower half. This might be tricky is you then have to encourage it into the lower half, with JB weld around the rim…

I’ve never used anything other than an interference fit to fasten the two halves together; no JB weld, no flue tape. I used to do the crinkling of the inner, but now just open the outer up slightly, and then carefully mate the two. I use an inner can height that just brings the shoulder of the base to meet the top of the outer wall.

I’ve used a similar angled jet, but done by inserting a thumb tack, and then twisting. Bending the metal, rather than simply having an angled hole, improves the jet angle; the metal is so thin that a simple angled hole doesn’t bend the jet much.

The techniques I use are shown here:

http://www.outdoorsmagic.com/gear-features/make-your-own-meths-burner/6227.html

 

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