Explorations into Candle Stoves

[Tony Beasley]

Hi Roger,

"I hope the asbestos sheet is safe though?"

It is not asbestos, I will post what it is when I find out.

The burn marks are from brazing.

Tony

[Joshua Mitchell]

FYI, NAGear.com not only has the EtaPower™ Pots for sale but also recently listed the EtaExpress Pot 1.0L

Still 1.0L though… not sure if anyone is ever going to make a heat-exchanger pot of less than that…

[Adam Kilpatrick]

Thanks everyone for the response.
I'll ask a couple of mates who are mechanics if they can score me anything, and if that fails it sounds like I should head into KMart.
I went to Bunnings about 18months ago after JB weld and that 3M silver tape that is uber-heat resistant and they couldn't help me on that front. After contacting 3M (Aus) directly, they sent me a sample of a fibreglass tape which works ok, but sometimes catches on fire momentarily!

Cheers,

Adam

[Monty Montana]

I can't stand the smoke and fumes emitted after a candle is blown out, as it seems to hang in the air forever. Then I noticed that the wick glows long after the flame is gone, and the gasified wax continues to stream off the whole time. I discovered that by touching a bit of the liquified wax to the tip of the wick immediately put an end to the smoke! So I'm thinking that the same technique could be used on the much larger wicks found on these candle stoves, maybe using a small flux aplicator brush. What to do about soot accumulation would be more of a problem for me.

[Franco Darioli]

To eliminate fumes when extinguishing a candle I just wet my thumb and index fingers and put the flame out with them. (try it if you have never done this) So maybe this can be extended to multiple flames by using a cap that has some wet fabric inside or something like that.
Franco

[Mike Pulse]

Ok first let me say I have used candles to cook with before. I learnt to in the military because we used candles to heat up positions in the winter. I added a canteen cup to get something hot to drink. It can be done, carefully. Secondly, I learnt from some of the older guys that if you rub soap on the cooking pot before putting it over the candle, the soot collects on the soap. Than when you clean, wash the soap off and the soot goes away easily. Please use biodegradable soap. Thirdly, if the wax is heated slightly first than used in liguid form it will operate better. How is much like a rocket engine. The wax is placed in an outer container. A inner container it where the liquid wax comes to be burned. Holes in the inner container allow the wax to flow into the center. As the melted wax burns it preheats the outer containter and allows more wax to melt. One problem, keeping the outer container from catching fire. I have some designs, not avaible tonight, but most involve simple sealing air out of the outer container.
Mike

[Mark Hurd]

Mike,

I would love to see your designs when you get around to it. I looked at the 2 chamber idea and saw a prototype on the web from a student at the Univ. of Johannesburg, but the link is broken now. His stove used wax chips in a hopper like area that slowly fed into the melted wax. I'm afraid my experiments were far too rudimentary.

The trick with the soap I remember from my wood fire days, but it somehow didn't occur to me with these stoves.

Thanks for your input and I'm looking forward to any designs you might post.

-Mark

[Joshua Mitchell]

Interesting… I can't wait to see something of the design. that sounds really cool.

[SIMON TEW]

Revisitng the idea of candle stoves, would anyone happen to know the energy density of vaseline/petroleum jelly? Can't seem to find it online. And does it burn any cleaner than wax?

I ran a small test and a tiny amount of vaseline in a beer bottle top, with a small wad of cotton wool smeared with vaseline as both wick and firestarter, lit with a firesteel, burned for a long time and threw off a lot of heat. It didn't seem too sooty either, though there was just the one flame of course. It would seem to beat a candle stove in at least one respect: that of being extremely easy to light with just a firesteel.

With the area of the wad being fairly large in comparison to the size of the bottle top, you get quite a wide flame as well, comparatively speaking, though the height was fairly small – comparable to a normal candle rather than to an alcohol stove. In a normal tealight candle, the flame width is limited by the thin wick, which I would guess reduces the burn rate of the fuel and lengthens the time you wait for a brew.

I'd imagine (with the benefit of ignorance) there's some optimal size of flat, round wick (like part of a cotton make-up removal pad, say) that would increase the amount of vaseline being burned whilst balancing that against the need for the limited supply of air to give clean combustion of the fuel.

Thoughts?

Cheers, Simon

[Rog Tallbloke]

It'll get a lot hotter and burn a lot longer if you throw some twigs on top. ;-)

[SIMON TEW]

Funny guy ;o)

Actually, no need for twigs, because I found this:

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2003/28jan_envirorocket.htm

It could make those tough ascents a bit easier :o)

Not sure I can fit it in my pack though. And the oxygen cylinder might increase the weight a bit :o)

[Author]

Posts