Copper coil jet stove: video of boil test.

[Roger Caffin]

since canisters were not widely available in much of the ADK’s…mainly larger stores. However over the past 5 years, this has changed. Even the typical general store stocks a few, nowdays.
That’s what we found in Europe too. At first all we could find were the unsafe Bleuet canisters, but then we started to find the Campingaz ones, and the last few trips have seen the screw-thread design becoming more widely available. The rules change – everywhere.

Cheers

[Colin Krusor]

Dan, I think the door might be open now in politics for a certain kind of rhetoric that I think you’ve mastered. You should consider a run.

Rog, I’m not sure that I have a little jar in the right size in any of the plastics I had in mind, but your experiment interested me in this stove design. If I find any little vessels or materials that seem especially useful for it, I’ll send you a note.

[Sam Farrington]

Loop hikes in northern NH, north of the National Forest, frequently run through lands that are not posted, but camping is forbidden by town ordinances. This does not always keep hunters from spending the night out, and if a hiker does get caught by weather or mishap having to camp out, total stealth is the rule. So gas canisters are the thing, unless you are an alkie of course. But I think this thread might give the town fathers some indigestion.

Which reminds me of the well known lawyer, Jack Welch, of Rutland VT in his early days.
He is reputed to have defended a client charged with arson by placing a container of gasoline (petrol) in front of the jury box, and tossing lit matches into it to demonstrate that the fire could not possibly have been started in the manner posed by the prosecution. In this way, Jack was said to have deterred the jury from sending his client “on a one way trip to Palookaville.”

Finally, one of the heavy leather-like gloves used in steel mills (when we had steel mills) have served well in operating a woodstove all winter. Saved me on several occasions. They might be a helpful accessory for stovers.

[David Thomas]

“Finally, one of the heavy leather-like gloves used in steel mills”

+1.  I’m always recommending or gifting welder’s gloves to wood-stove owners.  $5/pair at Harbor Freight.  You can pick a burning log with them on, move it around, push coals here and there. . .

[DAN-Y]

Back in the day when when the Scandinavian countries were under communist siege, the small stealth fire was perfected. Towns people left the cities to take refuge into the woods.Small stacks of twigs, top lit were the fire of choice. The roar of the mighty canisters :

[Roger Caffin]

He is reputed to have defended a client charged with arson by placing a container of gasoline (petrol) in front of the jury box, and tossing lit matches into it to demonstrate that the fire could not possibly have been started in the manner posed by the prosecution. In this way, Jack was said to have deterred the jury from sending his client “on a one way trip to Palookaville.”

Oh yeah????
I think he cheated. This is a standard demo by the fire brigade here in Oz, and it only takes ONE match to set the whole tray alight.
Now, kero or diesel – they never light up that way.

It’s not that I have little faith: I have great faith in what gasoline can/will do.

Hum … however, there IS a way to game the system. You buy your gallon of petrol and leave the UNcapped container in the sun for a few days. The volatiles, like propane (yes, there often propane in gasoline) will evaporate off, leaving something closer to diesel. Unethical cheating.
This is why old fuel which has been stored in plastic containers for a year or so is useless when you try to start a small two-stroke. Starting relies heavily on the volatiles. How do I know????

Cheers

[DAN-Y]

At the end of Rog’s video he gives a little puff and the stove goes out. The burner is highly susceptible to “flame liftoff” Tell us Rog how easily the flame can be put out. That’s why Roger’s and Dan’s  stove has the metal shroud around the coil :-)

Now for the cork and rubber stopper, who can tell us what they are for?  (not for putting the flame out)

[Shewie]

Rog has escaped to the  mountains for a few days ..

http://www.trek-lite.com/index.php?threads/dales-or-lakes-this-weekend.3085/

[DAN-Y]

Shewie, ask him if he brought along his coil stove for a field test :-)

[Shewie]

Will do

Unless he’s gone up in a ball of flames

[DAN-Y]

Oh,,,,tell him to give it the same treatment as the pink backpack, better safe than sorry ;-)

[Roger Caffin]

At the end of Rog’s video he gives a little puff and the stove goes out. The burner is highly susceptible to “flame liftoff”
Alcohol flame – much less fierce compared to white spirit flame. But yes, that is what the shroud is for.

cork and rubber stopper, who can tell us what they are for?
NO rubber stoppers! Only cork.
The cork is also used to stop the stove from leaking fuel out the jet while being transported. I found it safer to drain the tank first.

I never said this was a wonderful design; just an old one which does work. Mine was never all that powerful though.

Cheers

[DAN-Y]

That is correct, cork is old school, rubber is much better if it is the correct size to fit securely over the holes to prevent fuel leakage.(In the photo I provided there is a rubber stopper) Yes, the shroud is to protect flame. This type of stove is great for one time DIY stove tinkering as I have found out ;-) It has it’s problems and dangers. Tell us more Roger, if you please.

[Roger Caffin]

Hi Dan

The reason for using cork rather than rubber, at least with gasoline, is that the copper tube gets very (VERY) hot, and rubber tends to melt. What a gooey mess. True, cork might char a bit, but a thin layer of charred cork still functions just fine. So in practice I just jam the cork into the loop, blocking fuel flow and extinguishing the flame, and then quickly loosen the tank cap to release the pressure.

Caveat: if I loosen the cap and then tighten it back up, the pressure quickly builds up again. The tank and fuel is after all still hot. If I leave the cap loose while the whole stove cools down, I lose some fuel (especially the volatiles) and I MUST remember to do the cap up before packing the stove away (else trouble).

It is what it is.

Cheers

[DAN-Y]

That is correct, the stove is very unfriendly. The cork had to be replaced in modern stoves because of the safety factor. The synthetic plug has to be able to seal the jets to prevent fuel leakage. We don’t want any chance for error. The stove has to be cooled down before using the plug if the plug is not heat resistant. The DIY’selfer has to be aware of these safety concerns. Rog will be able to take this info back to the UK and share with his cronies. Roger you know the ins and outs of your stove and can MAKE it work. Your cork is old school ;-) The novice needs to know all do’s and do not’s.

[David Thomas]

“when you try to start a small two-stroke. Starting relies heavily on the volatiles. ”

1. so drain the chainsaw in the fall, keep it in a warm space and add fresh gasoline when you need it.  or (my approach):
2. Keep the chainsaw in a cool space with gasoline in it. When you wake up and find that a 50-foot spruce has fallen across the driveway, move the chainsaw into the utility room which is 80F.  Fix breakfast, have a cup of tea, and change into your chainsawing clothes.  Pull-start the now warm chainsaw as soon as you step outside.

[Roger Caffin]

Hi David

Option 1: what we have to do here in Oz.

Option 2: great in a cold climate, but not so good in a hot (HOT, not ‘warm’) climate.
Two reasons: the first is that the fuel in the fuel tank loses the volatiles when the temp for several weeks get above 35 C. The second is that when the temp sits above 35 C for that long, you can even lose the less volatile components of the gasoline, and are left with oil in the carbi and especially in the jets. Then you have to clean that out.

Yeah, seriously. We drain the carbi on all small two-strokes if they are going to be left for more than a few days, during our summer time. I have tried using something like “Start-Yer-Bastard”, but even that does not always clear out the jets. (SYB: a pressure-pack of ether or something similar but less dangerous, sold here in Oz for this purpose.)

I did try storing gasoline in a legal plastic (nylon) jerry-can, but it lost the volatiles through the wall over time. So I went out and bought 3 steel army jerry-cans for the gasoline and diesel we keep on the farm. And two-stroke mix is now stored in another steel container rather than in an ex-oil 1 gallon bottle.

Actually, it seems to be summer when we need the chain saw most. We get torrential rains and strong winds then, which leads to:

Photo taken from verandah.

Cheers

[DAN-Y]

Fill the chainsaw with denatured alcohol and it will always be ready for a quick start :-)

[DAN-Y]

“Crocodile Dundee” uses “Everclear” in his 2 cycle Husqvarna to cut the heads off the crocs he kills with his knife….now that’s a knife!

http://img.pandawhale.com/post-40588-thats-not-a-knife-thats-a-knoi-BoIl.gif

[Jerry Adams]

I just plug in my electric chainsaw.  Starts every time.

[Rog Tallbloke]

Colin:  If I find any little vessels or materials that seem especially useful for it, I’ll send you a note.

Thanks Colin.

[David Thomas]

Jerry: I really like my electric Stihl.  Torquey, quiet, and yeah, EVERY TIME I pull that trigger, IT STARTS.  If I can reach it with 100-150 feet of extension cord and it’s less than 5″ in diameter, I go for the electric.

Roger: I pump a lot of gasoline out of the ground in my day job but most of it has been there for decades.  I was on one spill 3 days after it happened and did what I always pondered: poured it in my Corolla’s gas tank.  50:50 with pump gasoline* and I think I put some “gas-line antifreeze” (100% alcohol for dissolving water into the gasoline) in each tank.  It ran fine.  And for another 10 years.  To 496,000 km.  And still ran but my wife made me get rid of it.

*In some ways, that gasoline was arguably “fresher” than from the filling station since it was from a pipeline.  It was coming from the refinery and hadn’t even gotten to the tank farm, then the tanker truck, then under ground tanks for dispensing to retail customers.

[Roger Caffin]

Hi David

Yes, I too have an electric chainsaw – along with three gasoline versions. And I too have LONG extension leads! (Several of them – >100 m, with good current ratings.) In fact, most of the tree in post ‘488 was chopped up with it.

Funny thing is, when I go to a farm implement distributor or chain saw outlet, they all uniformly sneer at the electric chain saws. I am not sure why: maybe because they are not loud and macho enough, or maybe because they are not selling them. Mind you, none of them have any objection at all to the sort of electric power saw used by builders on house frames – and the motors on both are the same!

Cheers
PS: I hope you filtered the stuff before it went into the Corolla tank!

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