DIY Alcohol Stove Fail

http://www.jureystudio.com/pennystove/waite_instruct.html
The penny will hold back some fuel for priming. It also acts as a pressure regulator. Unfortunately Heiniken doesn't make this can anymore. I've seen some with a small tray to hold fuel for priming.

I'm looking at the Caldera kitchen right now with the windscreen that holds the pot.
http://www.antigravitygear.com/trail-designs-caldera-cone-system.html

I'm a little confused about where the Penny goes and why it isn't lighting without it…

The penny covers the holes on top but still will allow fuel to fill the stove. It holds some of the fuel on top in a little puddle so you can light it and warm /prime the stove. The weight of the penny lets pressure build up inside the stove, but is light enough to allow excess pressure out so the stove won't explode.At least that is how thet explain the penny stove if you google it. seems weird but it works. Look at the photos on the link and it shows how to flatten an area for the penny. It's the first link.

Read up on zenstoves. A priming pan can be anything that you can put under the stove and will hold a few drops of alcohol. Put it under the stove, drop in several drops and light it. The stove needs to be heated up to vaporize the fuel or it won't work. It will take a minute to heat up the stove and once it pre-heats the priming fuel will lick up the sides and light the jets.

http://zenstoves.net/ConstructionBuildaPrimerPan.htm

That makes sense… I tried the penny but could get that to work.. I'll try a priming pan and hopefully it will light…

If you have a surface that won't burn, just pour some alcohol around the stove and light that. That should get the fuel inside the stove warm. Once the fuel is boiling, light the stove if it hasn't already lit itself. No need for a priming pan just to know if the stove will work at all.

I had an Aluminum candle can top and it worked well… The alcohol started boiling much faster then I expected and it only took about 20 secs for my stove to catch. In fact it was burning so hot I started to worry a little and put it out ;o)

Thanks for your help I am going to conduct some test now and figure out how long how much alcohol will last etc…

Having some problems now with the flame going out after 5-10 sec upon setting the pot on top of the stove… I am going to let it burn a little longer before setting it on and see if that helps.

Got it boiling… Had to let it burn for several minutes before I put the pot on it My other open top can stove takes maybe 20-30 secs… weird ;o)

I've had the same problem.

One thing I learned was to give the stove a few seconds for the fuel to heat up once the match was touch it off. You be able to tell when it's burning by holding your hand 6-8 inches above the stove.

Second thing I learned was that my canteen was sitting right on the mouth of the stove and was cutting off the airflow to the stove and the flame snuffed.

With denatured alcohol be very careful as the fumes are toxic.

This wasn't an alcohol stove in the proper sense just something I threw together on the way out the door one morning. It worked.

Are you putting the pot directly onto the stove? That stove isn't really designed to have a pot go directly on top and it will need a potstand. I guess it will work with lots of preheating, but that's kind of a waste. The jets are a little close to the pot, and the pot kinda smothers the flame