MSR Reactor Stove – stopped letting gas out

[Gregory Stein]

Hi,

 

We are backpacking Israel National Trail. Yesterday after climbing Carmel mount I set a camp in Rakit campsite. I boiled one 2.5L pot on the stove, but while boiling an additional one the stove just simply shut down. I couldn’t lit it anymore. Tried to unscrew the canister and screw it back on, but after opening the valve – I heard no sound of gas. I suppose something wrong with the valve.

Did anyone experience such failure? Is there a way to fix it or should I send it to US for repair?

Thanks!

[Jerry Adams]

Did you try a different canister?

Sometimes the mechanical tolerances are such that the pin doesn’t push down enough on the Lindal valve on the canister.  You could try poking the canister Lindal valve with a sharp object to see if it will work.

Shake the canister to make sure there’s fuel in it.

[Gary Dunckel]

I’ve found that some of my MSR stoves don’t do well with non-MSR canisters. Maybe the stoves’ lindal connectors are different than those of most stoves, and they don’t penetrate deeply to get a proper contact. If you weren’t using an MSR canister when it failed, why not try it again with one of those.

[Gregory Stein]

Well, first, it worked with the local canisters, and there are no MSR canisters here.

I tried several canisters including new ones and neither worked.

Obviously, there is a gas and normally the stove worked with the local canisters, so I don’t suspect the canister.

[Jenny A]

This is a known issue with the Reactor stove.  When the burner thinks it has overheated (whether YOU think it has or not!), it trips a shut-off valve that must be reset at the factory.  You will not be able to light the burner again and will have to ship it back to MSR for repair/replacement.

I had the exact same thing happen with my Reactor, and fortunately had another stove on hand to finish my trip with.  It took several months for a repair from MSR, as they said they were having difficulty getting parts from their supplier.  This was 1-1/2 years ago.  I eventually got the stove back – a new burner! – and have had no issues since.  The WindBurner stove has a field-resettable Thermal Trip Mechanism, unlike the Reactor.

Unfortunately, you will probably have to contact MSR.  Fortunately, they will take care of you.

[David Thomas]

Gregory: So did the stove work again, once it had cooled down?  If not, then it sounds like Jenny’s got the answer.

If the stove DOES work, once it’s cooled down (I’ve had off-brand stove that did that), then 1) that’s a crappy design, 2) it’s not insurmountable in the field if you just heat smaller batches of water, 3) try to get MSR to repair/replace it, and 4) add a 25-gram, $14 BRS-3000T to your kit in the meantime, or maybe just switch (although it’s 1/12 the price, 1/16 the weight and about 1/10 the volume of the Reactor and we ULers are supposed to like smaller, lighter, cheaper options).

The stove I had that tapered off and then shut off while boiling about 1 liter would work again when cool.  Thankfully, I was testing some pots and watching it, and took the stove head off the canister.  If I’d thought, “oh, I must be out of gas” and left the stove attached to the canister, once it cooled, it would have vented all the gas, unburned, which could be hazardous in a tent or near a campfire or in my garage in that case.  I’d theorized that something in the valve assembly caused by different thermal expansion of different metals caused the valve stem to expand and seat the valve against the valve body.  I’m now thinking it could be that, or it could be that the stove vertical stem (which got really, really hot) maybe expanded up enough to lift the plunger up out of the Lindal valve.

[Brad Rogers]

I know someone that had that same thing happen to their Reactor and Jenny is correct, you have to send it to MSR for repair/reset.

[NoCO-Jim]

Sounds like a fine engineered product: “When the burner thinks it has overheated (whether YOU think it has or not!), it trips a shut-off valve that must be reset at the factory. You will not be able to light the burner again and will have to ship it back to MSR for repair/replacement.”

Remind me to buy this bugger the next time I’m in my local outdoor store.

Thanks Jenny A for pointing this out.

[Gregory Stein]

OMG. I’m shocked!

First, guys, thank you all for the valuable information.

How crappy some products may be! I actually invested, I thought, in a good stove for my family backpacking trips. That’s why I have this 2.5L monster. I wanted to backpack with it the upcoming trek in Iceland where winds are crazy. This was my rationale for buying this stove, normally I use just a Ti-Tri with Evernew 1.3L pot when with wife, or just the imusa mug if I’m solo.

Thank you again, I sent the stove to MSR today.

Now, this puts the Reactor as unreliable. And I have no idea what to do. Should I switch to another stove (holy crap I invested in this junk more than $300! with two pots)? Or should I just toss a Pocket Rocket as a backup?

Greg.

[BlackHatGuy]

“Now, this puts the Reactor as unreliable. And I have no idea what to do. Should I switch to another stove (holy crap I invested in this junk more than $300! with two pots)? Or should I just toss a Pocket Rocket as a backup?”

It’s a tough question when it comes to the Reactor. I’ve had one for years, and it’s never failed me. I take it less and less these days, but still use it on occasion, especially in colder weather. Certainly this malfunction has happened to others, but I’m not sure how widespread it is.

Personally, I think I’d take a pocket rocket deluxe as a backup for the time being (the deluxe is pretty much a soto windmaster, does a bit better in wind than a regular pocket rocket. It’s my main canister stove at the moment). If the Reactor crapped out on me again, I’d shelve it for good.

[Gary Dunckel]

After Jenny A. told me about her misfortune while in YNP, I vowed to never take my 1 L. Reactor backpacking. I only use it when truck camping when I have other stoves that I can use as backups. The MSR Windboiler, with its ability to be reset in the field, would be a better solution to function in windy conditions. However, I don’t like the fact that it has a tall, narrow profile – perhaps a bit tipsy in high winds?

Edit: I too have overheated a Reactor, but it was my own fault. I tried to modify it so that I could use a MSR Titan kettle with it. It looked good for the first 4-5 boils, and then it just went bung. I made the mistake of telling my REI cashier buddy what I did when I returned it, the word spread throughout the store, and the MSR rep found out and openly ridiculed me at one of the staff meetings. I’m sure that the Cascade Designs people must cringe when I contact them about something else something now…

[David Thomas]

“Should I switch to another stove (holy crap I invested in this junk more than $300! with two pots)? Or should I just toss a Pocket Rocket as a backup?”

To quote myself from a few posts up:
Add a 25-gram, $14 BRS-3000T to your kit.

It’s not the best in the wind, and Hikn’Jim managed to warp the pot supports on his, but it’s been my go-to stove for 5? 6? years now and I hand them out to friends like candy at Halloween – it’s the lightest, smallest option there is (some people carry lighters that are bigger/heavier!).  Even if you have a cansiter stove you prefer, a second stove is great on a group trip and the redundancy is very reassuring on a snow-camping or super remote (Aleutians, Yukon River. . .) trip.

Oops, $17 now with free Amazon Prime shipping.  When I starting acquiring them, they were $11.

If you want much of the wind resistance of the MSR Reactor, get a $39 HX pot and the BRS-3000T burner will fit up inside the HX fins and shroud and be much better in the wind, more fuel efficient, and faster to boil a pint of water.  $17+$39 = $58 which is $180 cheaper (and lighter) than the $239.95 MSR Reactor “System”.  That’s my most mode of using the BRS-3000T – even though I know I could save weight on short trips with a non-HX pot, I like the speed and fuel savings.  More hot water means more tea and an occasionally hot shower on the trail.

Could you return the Reactor?  REI still has a 1-year satisfaction guarantee, right?  I wouldn’t be satisfied with a stove that crapped out on me like that.

[Jenny A]

Interesting comments on the reliability of the Reactor.  Most people seem not to ever have any problems with it;  mine worked for several years before having the shutoff valve trip.  I’m just glad I was car camping and had a backup stove along (ironically a JetBoil, which the Reactor replaced because of the JetBoil’s tendency to blow out in higher winds.  I also used up a tent and broke a fishing rod on that trip, good times).  While any stove can fail, I wouldn’t put the Reactor on par with the XGK or Dragonfly or even the Whisperlites.

I don’t take the Reactor backpacking any more, have moved on to a Soto Windmaster, but it wouldn’t kill me  to eat cold rehydrated meals and skip my hot coffee if necessary should the stove fail.  I also carry several days’ worth of reserves around my middle should I not be able to eat at all….  Not THAT is being prepared!

[Ken Larson]

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