Alcohol Stove Confusion

Scott,

There's definitely something wrong. Hard to say what though with so little to go on. I've achieved better results than you're reporting with the bottom of a soda can stuffed with fiberglass insulation. I've also used the more conventional pressurized soda can stoves. Typically they generate around 350 watts which will bring a half liter 0f 20C water to a boil in about 8 minutes.

I can't say that I've ever used Heet. In fact, I've used Kleenstrip denatured alcohol exclusively. Not by choice. It's what happens to be available at the hardware store. I think this brand is a half and half mix of methanol and ethanol.

What about ambient temperature? Some (but not all) users report poor performance in cold weather. If you can post photo's of your stoves in operation that might help.

I don't know what temperature your water started at, but as you can see from my numbers, 7 minutes to 190 F isn't out of line. Are you sure you're measuring a full ounce?

Anyway, what I like about alcohol stoves: extremely light. Safe, clean fuel. If you spill it, it goes away by itself leaving little or no residue. That's especially nice if it leaks in your pack.

What I don't like: One of the slower ways to cook. Low energy content of the fuel offsets the lightness advantage. If I'm going for more than a day, I cook on my wood stove and don't worry about running out of fuel.

'HEET' can mean anything. Can you be more precise?

Cheers

I bet it's Iso Heet
Franco

Franco assumes correctly. It's Iso-Heet (the stuff in the yellow bottle that usually goes in your gas tank). Have people been getting better results from denatured alcohol?

For environment specifics, I've been using 2 cups of tap water at about 70 degrees and the stove is being used indoors so temp and wind aren't a factor.

I did, however, change one piece of my equation. Instead of using my pot, I tried a cooking pan that is much wider. I think this has something to do with it. The burners have a much wider area to heat up thus giving the water a larger surface area to receive the heat from the flame.

Once I changed to a bigger pot, I got better results. Just using a fancy feat stove, 1 ounce of Iso-Heet, and 2 cups of room temp water, I got a good boil at 8 minutes.

As I understand it, the "standard" for boil time is to use a lid on the pot, use 2 cups of room temperature 68/70 degree water, get to 205 to 210 degrees (a hard-rolling boil), and use a windscreen (even indoors it helps to concentrate the heat on the pot).

My experience with 2 different stove setups on my kitchen counter (1)Trangia with Clikstand (2) Caldera Cone (.9 liter Evernew) with their standard stove each got me to full boil in 6 to 6.5 minutes with water at 55 degrees to start.

Scott, what kind of pot are you using?
Also- Heet in the yellow bottle is 99% Methanol, Iso-Heet comes in the red bottle and is Isopropyl.

It is my understanding (someone correct me if I'm wrong), that Methanol burns hotter then both Denatured and Isoprpoyl.

> It's Iso-Heet (the stuff in the yellow bottle

YUK! ! ! (if isopropanol)

Isopropanol will give you a splitting headache if used for any length of time. It gives off some real toxic nasties. It is a lousy fuel.

Opinions differ as to which of ethanol and methanol are the best. At this stage I will point out that methanol is toxic to humans if drunk, and has a lower energy content. Guess which alcohol I prefer?

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In the course of the next few months you all can expect to see a couple of good technical articles on the performance of all three alcohol fuels. Tony B and I have been working hard.
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Cheers

ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY TO GET WATER TO BOIL!!!!!

Did you have a lid on the pot? alcohol stoves require the use of a lid…