Cleaning heat exchanger fins of esbit residue

You're not going to hurt the pot or the fins by leaving it in alcohol for a day.

I'd start by putting it in the dishwasher with normal dishwasher detergent. That cleans most everything quite well (guacamole being an exception).

Extra, free tip: Know how to clean your dishwasher? Tang. Dishwashing detergent is alkaline and works great for almost everything, but over time, scale can build up and a mild acid (citric acid in the Tang) takes that off nicely.

I tried using a Olicamp HX pot with esbit and found that there was no performance increase and I was left with a weight penalty which didn't offer any benefit.

My experience has been that Coghlans is tougher to clean off of the pots than Esbit. I'm not sure which pot you are using but if it won't ruin the finish, you may want to try some carburetor cleaner and a brass gun chamber brush.

I don't mind a tiny weight penalty I'm unlikely to manage closely enough (weight of fins vs fuel margin). And I'm not worried about hurting a titanium pot with solvents; just need them to work. What I definitely don't want to do is spend time with small brass brushes and pipe cleaners, or looking at fins that, once gunk encrusted and heat non-transferrable, look like expensive lead anchors, no matter how little they weigh. ;)

Clarity edit: "off-notion" concern is buying an $$ pot and ruining its signal advantage with one use.

Charley,

Again, I had no problem cleaning Esbit residue off with just water and some elbow grease. Coghlans is a bit more difficult but I found that with just water and a mild dish detergent, I was able to get the gunk off but was left with a black stain that doesn't affect its performance. I learned early on that for me, a HX pot and esbit are not a great pair so this hasn't been an ongoing problem for me and not a technique I needed to perfect. I'm glad this works for you.

You still haven't mentioned which pot you are using. If you are really that concerned about it, I'd look at the cleaning instructions that came with the pot or contact the company directly and see what they recommend. Some ti Jetboil pots have had fin problems.

Ian,

I don't have any HX pot yet. Mention here of some you can mail order from China renewed my thinking. I was checking to see if someone said "sure, I use the combo all the time. Effortless and superior." Think I'll keep on keeping my boilware on the smooth and simple side for a while longer.