Caldera Cone Awesomeness

[USA Duane Hall]

Jon, I live at 3800', had great results with the modified Starlyte with the CC and .6L pot, slower than the 12-10 stove by about a minute, but used a noticable less amount of fuel on Saturday, with the Starlyte's top raised to the level that the 12-10's top was. However, on Sunday, I forgot and did not raise it to the level that the top of the 12-10 stove was and the Modified was faster than the day before and I used colder fuel and water. Boil times were very similar then and fuel usage identical then. My .6L pot was blackened then though. Small things make all the difference.
Duane
PS: air, water and fuel were all around 41-44F.

[Dan Yeruski]

Jon and I are talking stove stuff. We'll figure it out. :-)

[Eric Blumensaadt]

I've used my 12-10 burner with my Sidewinder. It was barely "OK" compared to ESBIT.

Now I use ESBIT tabs in a modified version of the Gram Cracker (it holds in the melted fluid so it can burn as well).

I propose that you try ESBIT with your Caldera Cones. Store the ESBIT tabs in a quart freezer bag (not sandwich bag)or better yet an empty coffee bag. You can cut down the coffee bag to reduce its volume. It will keep in the "fishy" smell of the ESBIT tabs.

[Dan Yeruski]

I agree, coffee bags work best. I agree also when the bag is opened out comes the "fishy" smell.

I don't prefer the little crystals that form on the left over cube when snuffed out. Now if you had a lid to cover the leftovers like that one esbit burner I made a while back.."Esbitmizer" was the name of it, that would be nice. I no longer make those. Not many esbit users out there.

Alcohol has it's down side also.

I prefer wood here in the Midwest. My GOTO fuel. Alcohol is my back-up.

[Jon Leibowitz]

Dan and I did some testing together.

He suggested I add more fuel, which I did and it made a huge difference. Before, adding 1/2 oz…the stove would burn out at about 12 minutes and the water would not be boiling. I don't quite understand the physics behind this, but adding 3/4 oz of fuel, I did indeed get a boil at 9:30ish +- over a three trials.

Still not as quick as some of you are claiming, but it boiled.

Dan was incredibly generous and offered to send me a new stove free of charge to test. One idea that Dan came up with is that the density of the absorbing material might be insufficient in my stove and is letting the fuel vaporize to quickly.

Either way, I just want to give a shout out to Dan and the folks at Zelph. A+ customer service and an all around nice guy.
I gotta say, our hobby may be expensive (and addicting), but the folks running the cottage companies we all love (Joe, Rand, Ron, etc….) are all great people that love helping their customers. It is so rare in today's world.

Thanks!

[Ken Larson]

Is one to assume you did this test as before (NO stakes, ~same water temp & environment) and just added more alcohol?

[William Chilton]

Jon, I've found that altering the distance between stove and pan (with a shim) can have quite an effect on boil time with only a small effect on efficiency. Also, the standard Starlyte will knock about a minute and a half off the boil time (IME) for a small increase in fuel use.

[Jon Leibowitz]

Hey Ken,

Yes, all I did was add more fuel. No stakes for that test. Adding more fuel actually lowered the boiling time by about 3 minutes.

I tried the stakes and they didn't make a difference. Dan confirmed that the height of the pot to the stove and ground is as designed. The base of your pot, with the starlyte should be 2 inches from the ground. This makes it about 1 inch above the stove.

I have a feeling that the wicking material was inadequate in my stove.

[Dan Yeruski]

Heads up to everyone.

I've seen photos of Caldera Cones not sitting flat on the ground or surface they are on when in use. If they are not flat too much air is entering and will cause fuel to be consumed more rapidly. The chimney effect will be greater with cones that are cut out for pot handles.

Make sure your cones are centered over the burners.

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