Liquid gas stoves – how/if to clean

Dry paper towel?

It will get off any soot that could get on your hands

That's what I did back in the bad old days when I had singed eyebrows…

> priming leaves quite a mess on the stove itself
True. But if you use a tiny amount of metho for priming, carried in a small Nalgene dropper bottle, this problem is greatly reduced. Works very well with kero, and even better with white gas.

Cleaning – stiff brush maybe.

Cheers

Thanks Roger – I've seen some videos advocating alcohol to prime for this reason.

And I know I sound like a ninny – I bought a used stove knowing it would be, well used. But it would be nice to start off without quite as much residue…

this sort of behavior is part of what has been great about camping/hiking as I've had to get used to things I never thought this urban/suburban guy would ever enjoy…

It might be useful to know what kind of a stove you are using. Also, you would want to get an Owner's Manual so you can perform all the required maintenance.

You pump up the stove.

Then open the valve and let a little white gas accumulate in the indented area.

Then you light it, carefully keeping your eyebrows away from where the flame will be.

Especially if it's already warm – then the fuel evaporates more and forms an explosive cloud.

Let it burn for a while to heat up the little pre-heat tube and the burner. Just before this priming flame goes out, turn the valve back on and it should start burning normally. Maybe it's not quite hot enough and doesn't vaporize very good right at the beginning.

At least that's what I did with MSR – I think it was a Whisperlight International and a previous version also.

Maybe that explains why it singed my eyebrows…

When you're all done and it's cooled, take a dry paper towel and wipe the soot off places you might touch or might rub against something else.

Then open the valve and let a little white gas accumulate in the indented area.

Then you light it, carefully keeping your eyebrows away from where the flame will be.

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If I remember correctly, the instructions say a flame the size of a soccer ball is normal. So, yes keep your head away :)

Svea 123s are much easier. I just add a little fuel to the priming indentation with an eye dropper. Much smaller flame.