Jetboil Joule Issue

is the problem the canister?

maybe try a different one? Screw stove on tighter?

The first thing that came to mind is that the ambient temperature might have been too cold for the canister pressure. If the canister pressure was OK, then the stove's fuel tube may not have fully engaged with the lindal valve on the canister.

–B.G.–

Temps were in the 50's and the cans were brand new……..

So you had same problem with 2 canisters?

Must be stove – return it?

Sounds like a blockage in the needle valve or the jet. You will need to strip it down and clean it out. This is very easy to do with the basic minimalist stoves, but not with the Jetboils.

To clean the needle valve on a conventional stove you will need to remove it. This means punching out the pin which blocks you from doing that. The pin is a 'safety' item which, as usual, just makes life more difficult.

However, on any stove with a pressure control valve, like the SOTOs, you cannot clean the valve at all. Tough.

Removing the jet requires a small spanner. Cleaning the hole should be done VERY carefully, with soft wire, NOT a hard steel pin. Do NOT damage the hole!!!

Cheers

Very helpful … I'll do my best to clean it out gingerly.

"spanner"

That sounds like terminology from a royal subject. In the rest of the world, we call that a wrench.

A person told me one time that they needed a monkey spanner. I had to think about it and then figured out that he meant an adjustable wrench or crescent wrench.

–B.G.–

Ed, I think you’ve got your work cut out for you. I just took a look at a Jetboil Joule. If there’s a way to disassemble it to get at the jet, I’m not seeing it. You might consider waiting to hear back from Jetboil.

Here’s a look into the mixing chamber area. The Jet is the brass object in the mixing chamber that can be seen through through the intake ports.

Looking a little closer:

That brass jet that you can see through the intake port is going to be hard to get to. I suppose you could angle a wire in there. A gas jet is going to be typically between 0.35 and 0.5 mm. A wire of 0.33 mm should do it.

HJ
Adventures in Stoving
Hikin Jim’s Blog

A number of $50 or less burner / 2 qt pot combos could have provided hot meals reliably for Eds family. He spent serious coin on the Joule instead.

The unit was brand new. On top of a ruined trip,he should not have to fix their MFG errors,IMHO.

I say send it in to Jetboil. Call their CS dept and get a call tag for shipping it ASAP.

BTW,Ed,
What brand of canisters were you using?

Uh, oh! The terms "Jetboil" and "Customer Service" are mutually exclusive. I didn't realize it'd be compounded by adding Amazon in the mix. Good luck in getting this resolved, Ed.

There are some brands/products I'm a bit sketchy about. If I can, I'll buy them from REI. Otherwise I won't buy them.

REI didn't offer the Joule at first when I bought it, lesson learned. I can't fix the thing or clear it despite my efforts. I emailed their customer service and I've left a voicemail. There is NO physical person to speak to yet. The site says I'd hear back in 48 hours but not so…. Lesson learned. Now I'm going to just let the kids play with fire and alcohol and heat their own water! LOL. I thought I'd go high tech but not so much. The test boil for a group was awesome though.

They were the Jetboil canisters, medium and large sized and then I tried an off brand for giggles, same result. Lesson learned was a small jetboil worked for the group of 10 with almost constant use but very efficiently. Would've save me major pack space as well!

Ed….Send this individual an email with the issue at hand….
Kenneth.Avery@jetboil.com;

Ed,

If something lodges in the jet, it’s not necessarily the stove’s fault. I’ve been running a Joule for a bit over a month now with no problems. Occasional canister jet blockages occur; it’s just something that happens. The thing I perhaps fault Jetboil for is their designing the stove such that it is non-obvious how to clear the jet.

Regarding JB’s customer service, my experience with them is that the 48 hours thing is complete B.S., but they do get back with you after a few weeks.

Regarding canister jet blockages, I’ve encountered three that I can recall right off, one on an Optimus Crux, one on a Hank Roberts Mini Mark III, and one on an MSR RapidFire. If you knew just how many stoves I’ve used over the years, you’d realize that jet blockages on canister stoves are really pretty rare — but they do happen. Again, though it’s not necessarily the stove designer’s fault. Could just be crap in the canister or something got into the threads or something.

The Joule isn’t such a bad thing if you’ve got a group that can make good use of its size. Usually, it’s more efficient to boil a larger quantity of water once rather than a smaller quantities multiple times. Of course, on the other hand, with the Joule all your eggs are in one basket.

HJ
Adventures in Stoving
Hikin Jim’s Blog

Jet boil Joule = inverted cannister use.
Inverted cannister use = a greater likleyhod of cannister particles getting in the valve.
Chinese made Jetboil cannisters = more junk in the cannisters.
So..
Jetboil Joule + Jetboil vannister = a higher likelyhood of valve blockage.???

I wonder if the problem would have occured if the OP had used Korean made cannisters like MSR or Snowpeak from the beginning ?

Jimmer,

Jetboil canisters are made in Korea. As a matter of fact, almost all the major canister brands available near me are made in Korea (all but Coleman which is made in France). The brands available near me are: MSR, Jetboil, Snow Peak, Optimus, and Primus.

I notice the following:
All have the same weight (after adjusting for the fill amounts which vary)
All have the same molding markings on the caps which vary only in color
All are made in Korea
All have the same canister shape
All have the same raised area on the surface of the canister just below the lip of the valve assembly.

What it looks like to me is that the same firm in Korea is making all (except Coleman) the major brands of gas available in my area.

Curious, I asked a contact I have at a major stove manufacturer. He/she basically said “I can’t comment on that.” Now, why would he/she not be able to simply tell me? I mean what’s the big deal, right? It’s no big deal — unless there were some kind of trade agreement/non-disclosure agreement in place. Perhaps stove companies don’t want people to know that all the canisters are basically the same? Obviously, I’m speculating, but it sure looks like the major canister brands are all made by a single manufacturer.

HJ
Adventures in Stoving
Hikin Jim’s Blog

As of a few years ago,my info was that they ( and Primus) had theirs made in China. Just recently I bought some grey Primus power gas cannisters at WM ,and they too were made in Korea..

However, I think the threading may be different. The Jetboil canisters do not thread well / seal well on the MSR Micro Rocket for example.

Interesting, Dave. I’ll have to check that out. I recently just bought a pile of various canisters. I’ll have to try a JB can with a Micro or Pocket Rocket.

HJ
Adventures in Stoving
Hikin Jim’s Blog

I think you're right – all made in same factory in Korea

The bottom of the canister has a different texture. Like a Snow Peak Giga Power from a couple years ago has more of a polished texture. And the top slopes down a little more. Made in Japan.

In Pacific Northwest they sell Max Burton canisters at Fred Meyer's for $3.00 for 8 ounce. They look identical to more expensive ones. They say Made in Korea. They don't idenitfy that they have isobutane, but I'm pretty sure they do because they work in the mid 20s F which wouldn't be the case if they were n-butane.

"However, I think the threading may be different. The Jetboil canisters do not thread well / seal well on the MSR Micro Rocket for example."

Dave has pointed out issues with using a MSR stove on non-MRS canisters. I too have had issues with using a Pocket Rocket with JB or Optimus canisters. I usually have to screw the stove pretty tight to achieve gas flow. So maybe the stove's "valve pin" or whatever it's called is a wee bit shorter than most stoves, and that MSR has designed their canisters to work nicely with their shorter stove pin. Just a thought.

It's kind of a moot point for me anyway, since I have zero respect for the Pocket Rocket. I do like the MSR canisters, and all of my non-MRS stoves work well with them. I'm wondering if MSR uses a different company to make/fill their canisters, or if they have different specs that the same company employs. The bottoms of the MSR canisters are silver-colored, whereas all the other brands are a sort of brass color, and they appear identical (Optimus, JB, Snow Peak, etc.).

Not to be a downer or make you feel bad, but this is precisely why I never considered buying a $200 1 1/2 lb pot/stove that can break and that I can't use over a fire when/ if gas runs out.
I'd have to be attempting Everest to give a Jetboil a try.

The bottom of the canister has a different texture. Like a Snow Peak Giga Power from a couple years ago has more of a polished texture. And the top slopes down a little more. Made in Japan.

Good eye, Jerry. You’re exactly right. Snow Peak was one of the last of the hold outs, but they’ve now moved their production to Korea.

Take a look at the below photo. That’s an old “made in Japan” Snow Peak canister on the left and a new “made in Korea” canister on the right. The shape is subtly different. The canister weight has increased by about 10g. The cap is different. Take a close look at that cap.

Now compare the cap on the new Snow Peak canister to the canisters in the photo below.

Notice how the markings left by the mold on the plastic are all identical between the four brands.

Primus also has the same cap:

I could go on, but suffice it to say that there has been a consolidation in the canister manufacturing realm over the last several years.

In Pacific Northwest they sell Max Burton canisters at Fred Meyer’s for $3.00 for 8 ounce. They look identical to more expensive ones. They say Made in Korea. They don’t idenitfy that they have isobutane, but I’m pretty sure they do because they work in the mid 20s F which wouldn’t be the case if they were n-butane.

Yeah, that’s the great thing about the Pac NW. There’s so many hikers/climbers that they have canisters in the grocery store for dirt cheap prices. The grocery store for crying out loud! :)

Best deal in So. Cal. is $4.45 for 8 ounce Optimus canisters at Sport Chalet. Big Five has 16 oz canisters for $8.00 which is even better, but then you have to carry a big honking canister.

I believe Max Burton is 80/20 butane/propane. An 80/20 mix would work mid-20’s particularly if a user knew the tricks of cold weather canister use.

HJ
Adventures in Stoving
Hikin Jim’s Blog

Now I have another reason to like them..;)

No offense taken Alexander. Some would say that taking 26 kids age 3-13 across 28 miles of island is an approximation of an Everest attempt!