Remote Fueled Alcohol Stove #2

Hey Dan,
Where can I get one of these?

Oooo. I like it.

I ordered a .5L Platy to use as my IV bag. I picked up some 1/8" silicone tubing and an 1/8" aluminum shaft today.

I'm starting to work on my adjustable stove too :)

Super!!!!, let's have some fun Matthew. Let's fire them up and do some serious cookin = ) Let's watch the water boil!!!!

how do you regulate the amount of fuel going into the stove? or does it just absorb as necessary?

One way is to use a roller valve found on IV infusion kits.

It's the white box in the photo above. The roller pinches the silicone tube at various intervals.

Okay Zelph:

I've got a tricky question with a problem I'm having. My design requires a 90degree bend in the thin aluminum tubing that feeds to the stove.

My 1/8" aluminum tube is pinching on itself when I bend it. I can't bend the tube and keep the passage open at the same time.

I need help on how to properly bend thin 1/8" aluminum tube (from a hobby shop – fragile stuff).

So far my best guess is for me to buy some cable wire to thred into the tube before heating it and bending it. I'm hoping this will allow it to keep it's shape. I could then pull the cable wire out of the tube once the hot metal has hardened. – haven't tried this yet]]

Freeze water in the tube before bending it over some sort of mandrel and the tubing shouldn't collapse.

I believe that with larger tubing they used to fill them with sand, heat, and bend, then take the sand out. Don't know about 1/8" tubing. I suppose you could fill it with talcum powder (talc) and try that. Talc's melting point is 1500 C so you should be able to heat it ok.

-Mark

There is small diameter soft aluminum tubing that readily bends to any shape you want. A half inch radius is no problem.

The stuff I have came with some pressure gauges. I don't have clue what it is called technically or where to get it. Google – soft aluminum tubing coil – to get started.

If you are going to be doing a lot of this, it would be worth the effort to track it down.

Why not just get a tubing bender? They are made specifically for the application and are relatively cheap.

http://secure.hobbyzone.com/catalog/HZ/search/DUB785.html

You won't need one if you can find the soft aluminum.

I just remembered that it may be available as part of the kit that is used to plumb a refrigerator.

Which also suggests that soft copper, readily available, might also work.

This is a great idea. Thanks.

I may try the talc first.

This type of stove should be available soon as the internet passes it around and folks start to produce them.

Bend the tubing by annealing the tube where the bend is to be. Insert a rod into the tube of the proper size, use a crimping tool to crimp/flatten the area to be bent. remove the inner tube and fill aluminum tube with sand. Carefully bend, do a visual while bending, if it looks like it might fail hit t again with a micro torch for a second or two and then retry.

I'll see if I can get a video of the fuel source by Monday. Not enough time in the day to get things done ; )

Hi Matthew

I think I understand the hobby tube bender, but only when used to make a single bend. How does it make those bits with two+ bends?
Or maybe I don't understand it.

Cheers

move the tube…bend again.

boy if I had a picture for everyone of these stoves that fail tonight.

I've started operating in tin trays to minimize flame control. I get an idea, drill it up…the silicone tubing bursts open spilling all of the fuel into the tray, the small fire hazard is contained to a corner of my kitchen.

I'm glad my wife is out of town tonight…

this is messy business.

> move the tube…bend again.

In that case I don't think I quite understand how the bender works. It looks interesting. Can you show a close-up pic of how it works, with a tube in place? Please!

Cheers

Hey Matthew,
I have had to bend some even smaller copper tube lately for my own stove project. The best way I found is to anneal the tube right where you want to bend it, and no where else. Basically I use a micro torch, heat the spot I want to bend to a near glowing red, let it cool on its own…and then bend with a mini tubing bender. Perfect bends..and no sand or talc powder in the process. Dont anneal the whole pipe because then the metal becomes too soft. I can post some pics of some crazy bends if you're interested

Hi Matthew,

I use my fingers, it takes some practice but you can do some very tricky bends with them that are hard to do unless you can make some special bending tools. Below is a picture of some bends that I have done on some difficult to bend hard drawn Stainless Steel hypodermic tube.

Tony

I appreciate all the advice.

Almost set my kitchen on fire this weekend. Turns out plugging a hole at the bottom of a stove with a tube makes the tube a flame thrower once the alcohol vaporizes. Please take a note on this…I hadn't before.

Just to clarify, I do not own the pipe bender. That was the image from the website posted above.

Matthew, one more piece of advice, do your testing outside, no more kitchen for you ; )

I got the video made but the internet is too busy for it to upload.

Ooooo *excited*, I just got my .5L Platy sports bottle in the mail. This is the "PERFECT" sized bladder for my IV fed remote alcohol stove. Best of all, as the alcohol is used, it doesn't require a second vent in the cap to allow air in for neutral pressure. This stove is popp'n.

So now I'm only missing one piece:
I've called every medical supply center in the San Fernando Valley – no one seems to carry the spin wheel shut off valve used on disposable IV kits. Hmmmm, you mean to tell me no one in Los Angeles has diabetes? I don't think so.

Matthew,
I'd be happy to mail you a couple of the regulators if you haven't found a supplier by the end of the week.

WOW, thank you very much. I'll take a stab at it this week and will let you know if nothing comes through. Are you in the LA area?