Mini Bull Designs Elite & Stealth

[Matthew L.]

Has anyone tried the Elite or Stealth from Mini Bull Designs? They look great with their small size and light weight. I was wondering how they would compare in fuel efficiency and boil times to each other. Do you think my MSR Titan Kettle would be too big for them? Thanks a lot for the help.

[jacob thompson]

I have my minibull stoves coming to me from a friend in the states. I also use an MSR kettle. I dont think it will be too big for them. In some of his promotional shots he shows a titan kettle on the stove and it looks fine. he also shows a larger pot in some of his videos. I saw tinny put up a post here the other day so maybe he might reply himself.

[John austin]

This MSR 0.85 LTR pot is perfect for the stealth and the elite stoves

[paul johnson]

just in case anyone is interested:

just noticed today on the MBD site, Tinny’s latest creation that aroused interest in another Thread a few weeks ago. yes,…it’s his SST. not sure, how long its been there for sale.

MBD SST alc. stove

[Tom Clark]

I have the Mini Bull Stealth, and have tried it a few times, but haven’t gotten the hang of it. You are supposed to form the supplied foil muffin cup liner around the base of the stove, and then pour a few drops of alcohol (3-5) between the stove and the liner. You add the usual ~1 oz. of alcohol to the top of the stove, where it trickles inside.

My trouble is getting it primed and started. A few drops (as suggested) in the muffin cup doesn’t seem to be enough to get the stove going even in mild conditions. Instead, it takes quite a lot of alcohol to get the main flame to catch. The foil muffin cup has taken a beating at the high heat. Part of that abuse is because I don’t always get the cup at just the right distance from the stove. However, additional adjustment during the priming portion, just causes the priming fuel to leak further under the stove, where it seems less efficient.

Can anyone tell me what’s going wrong?

I haven’t tried it lately since I am in the process of moving, and I haven’t asked the manufacturer about my problem, so it could very well be a silly mistake on my part, with no flaw in the design or manufacture.

[Vick Hines]

Paul,
Don’t do this in the house unless you take extreme care: Put the burner on a cookie sheet, keep the fuel across the room, charge the burner from a *separate* fuel measure so the fuel supply is never near the burner.

Now. First, the most common problem with side-burners like the Stealth is putting the pot on top too soon. It cools the burner before it is sufficiently primed. Give the burner a few more seconds with both the primer and burner fuel lit. The burner has to build up enough heat to keep vaporizing the fuel. Once that happens, it will keep going with a steady, long-lasting (9 minutes for a 1 oz charge) burn.

Second, try priming it a little more. Double the priming charge. DO NOT ADD PRIMING FUEL TO A BURNING SYSTEM!! Let it cool to the touch before trying again. See the initial cautions.

A corollary to ‘Second’ is that in cooler weather or in any wind, you will have to increase the priming charge.

Third, have faith. That puppy is a good burner once you learn to use it.

Those are the general principles, However, I’m not clear on your statement, “I don’t always get the cup at just the right distance from the stove.” That could be the problem. Set the burner right in the cup. Don’t worry about fuel getting under the burner; that only slows the primer burn down and makes it last longer. That’s OK.

[paul johnson]

Vick,

appreciate you taking the time to post your excellent info. however, is it ‘Paul’ or ‘Thomas’ you mean to be addressin’?

for my part. i have no problem with the MBD stoves that i own. also, when i get a new stove, for any type of fuel, i go out on the deck to the gas grill. open the grill top. place the stove on the grill & learn to operate it there. don’t trust myself to do this in the house. well, maybe if hard pressed, i would do it in the kitchen sink – but, not on the counter top. i’m a klutz and a schlamazel (i.e., a schlemiel with bad luck. just in case you don’t know, a schlemiel is the the klutz who trips and spills his hot soup. a schlamazel is the guy he spills it on! – that’s your fun with Yiddish lesson for the day – when i was growing up, my mother called me both.

you’re absolutely right about putting the pot on too soon. i learned this by trial and error some time ago when i was attempting to make a stove. shortly thereafter, i learned of MBD, and thought why bother. i’m about 50 stove building generations behind Tinny, so for just a few bucks i could get a real stove – one that actually worked, unlike my first (and last) attempt to build a stove. mine was only good for answering the age old question “is this alcohol or water?” (as if there isn’t a better way to ans. that ques – like, with my nose). you could use my “stove” to find out. pour some in & try to light it. if it lit, it was alcohol – but don’t try to cook anything on it. just about the time the 1oz of alcohol was burning off, the stove was preheated sufficiently to allow a pot to be placed upon it.

Thomas,

there are at least two good videos of Tinny showing how to properly operate two of his stoves (one video is of a stove with a priming tray). it has a good view of the “blossom”. don’t put the pot on until it “blossoms”. post back if you can’t find it & i’ll try to locate it for you. i FTP’d all of Tinny’s videos to my HD some time ago, so i didn’t “bookmark” the webpage.

[Tom Clark]

Vick & Paul,
I have used Tin Man’s Pepsi can stove without much problem, so I understand the need to allow the stove to heat up and ignite the main flame from the vapors generated by the priming heat. My problem is that the main flame doesn’t seem to catch. I’ve watched the video before, but maybe I should watch it again.

My comment about the having the “pot too close” refers to its proximity to the foil muffin liner. Do you flare it out, or keep it close to the can? Is that liner supposed to function as a wind break, or just hold the priming alcohol and direct the priming flame toward the can to heat it up?
Thanks,
Tom

[Vick Hines]

T;
I flare the priming cup enough to catch my bad aim when I load the burner. ALSO, when using muffin cups, I cut them down. reducing the side walls to 1/2 inch — otherwise, they interfere with air flow to the burner.

Usually, I don’t use muffin cups at all, but 1) cut disks from oven liner and crimp the edges up to form a shallow cup that can be folded to fit inside whatever pot I’m using; 2) cut disks of aluminum foil – ditto.
V

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