Recommend me a disposal cylinder stove

It sounds like most inverted canister stoves will eventually get clogged with waxes.

I’m not sure how often this occurs in actual practice, but it probably is a good idea to be prepared. A cleaning wire (a “pricker” in the old days) isn’t a bad idea to have along whether you have an upright or an inverted canister stove. Yes, I have seen jet clogs on an upright, though they are reasonably rare.

HJ
Adventures In Stoving
Hikin’ Jim’s Blog

or, if you're using inverted, make sure you can disassemble the valve and clean it out

Hi gary

> so we're stuck with wax-gunk no matter what. Shouldn't dirt be rare or non-existant
> with quality canisters?
No, and Yes.
I have had instant block-up with a Chinese canister. I have burnt through many Powermax and screw-thread Campingaz canisters with no problems. The word is QUALITY.

> Now I need to learn how to clean the wax from the clogged jet in the dark with gloves on.
Probably a good idea. But use a headlamp to find the bits on the white handkerchief you spread out FIRST as a working surface. (And yes, you CAN do it with gloves on. Just don't melt the gloves by starting to work too early.)

'Prickers' – exactly. The Optimus 8R and the Whisperlite International had them built-in. Stuff happens.

Cheers

or, if you’re using inverted, make sure you can disassemble the valve and clean it out

Jerry,

It’s not so much the valve. That should not be a problem. It’s the jet where the blockage would normally occur.

HJ
Adventures in Stoving
Hikin Jim’s Blog

Hi Jim

Funnily enough, it is the tip of the valve where the waxes collect – or maybe I should say condense. They don't get to the jet. So being able to get the needle valve out may be crucial to reliable operation. A great pity so many stoves pin the needle valve in so you cannot clean it. Me, I ALWAYS knock that pin out as soon as I get the stove (if I can). If the design of the stove is such that I cannot clean the needle, I don't take it on long or winter trips: it's not worth the risk.

Why the pin on the needle? To stop novices winding the valve right out when the valve or the jet is blocked. 'Need to open the valve a bit more to get some gas …' I can understand the logic on both sides.

However, quality stoves don't use a pin: they use a sort of nut, and sometimes the mfr provides a little spanner to undo it. That's good engineering.

Cheers

Interesting! I’ve never had a stove gum up at the valve, although what you’re describing makes sense. I’ve had several gas stoves (as well as liquid fueled) get clogged at the jet — which is why companies used to issue prickers with their stoves.

I once worked on an MSR RapidFire (basically, a Whisperlite converted to canister gas) for what seemed like hours. I’d prick the jet, it’d run for a minute, then it would clog again. Normally, a quick prick with a wire, and you’re done. I was baffled. Finally, I took the whole jet out. There was a tube like structure leading up to the orifice. I cleaned out that tube; there was a lot of carbon build up in there (at least that’s what it looked like). Why there would be carbon build up on a gas stove I cannot stay. This was at a Sierra Club gathering. I was quite proud when I got the thing working properly and handed it back to it’s owner. I hate to lose to a stove, you know. lol.

HJ
Adventures in Stoving
Hikin Jim’s Blog

I've tried to get valve of Pocket Rocket apart but gave up eventually.

But I use upright because I never go below 25 F or 20 F.

I could try to take Soto apart but that might be unwise – multiple parts in regulator.

Years ago Whisperlight clogged but I eventually got it apart, cleaned, and back together working again. More difficult with just a multi-tool,

> I'd prick the jet, it'd run for a minute, then it would clog again.
Yeah, all you were doing was poking the dirt back inside the jet. Rarely/never works for long: the dirt just blows back up to the jet.

> that tube; there was a lot of carbon build up in there … Why there would be carbon
> build up on a gas stove I cannot say.
My guess would be that the 'carbon' was from waxes in the fuel which had been charred by the glowing red heat and lack of oxygen inside the tube. A bit like charred fat in a frying pan. Possibly helped along by a little bit of dust mixed in. I've seen that.

I once boiled some water over on a Coleman Peak Apex II stove, and thermally shocked the preheat tube. Instant and total blockage, even with the inbuilt pricker function. All the char on the inside of the preheat tube had been dislodged and was piling up at the jet. The pricker could not get through the blockage! I could not fix it in the field – and that was on a snow trip. We had cold dinner and came home. I had to strip the preheat tube out, remove the long fine control wire from inside it, and really clean it out – using pipe cleaners and an ultrasonic bath. It was restored, but a lot of char came out.

Cheers