MSR Windpro II spitting sound?

Perhaps convert its canister attachment so it can be inverted for better cold weather use.

You’ll also need a special stand as well to hold the inverted canister in place.

That is why I got this stove, designed for that.  Evidently no one uses one.

Duane

I also have a Windpro II, Duane. I’ve just played around with it on my patio (elevation 5440′) in cold conditions. I haven’t noticed a hissing or spitting sound at all. Why don’t you try it with a new fuel canister and see what happens. I suppose that it’s possible that the previous owner let some dust or gunk get into the fuel line. I don’t know how that could be cleaned at home, but I expect that MSR can do that for you.

The Windpro II is essentially a modified Simmerlite…a WG stove. One of the biggest problems with the older Simmerlite was spitting and flaring when turning the thing up from a lower setting. In my analysis, it appears that the preheat tube is not close enough to the flame when on low to heat the preheat tube enough. Raw fuel can get through the rather large fuel tube to the head causing this. Why? I believe the fuel can puddle (under some circumstances of pressure/volume) under the head where it transitions down to feeding the jet.

With canister gas, this is not expected, though. I would suggest you remove the jet for a good cleaning. Many canisters have gunk in/on them and can lead to a plugged up jet. I suspect it could be a build up of metal particles/wax/oils from inverted operation. Also, if the stove ever gets wet, it can hold water under the head. This will superheat and seem to spit and sputter for a couple minutes…you’ve seen small drops dance around a pan…

Thank you guys for the replies.  I’ve emptied a couple near empty canisters already, but had thought maybe something in the line, but it does the spitting sound when increasing or decreasing flame.  Got this used, was in nice shape, mostly wondering if others had issues with theres.  Will take it apart, maybe just a bit of debris of some sort in the line.  Just puzzles me over spitting sound when changing  volume.

Duane

‘Spitting’ usually means that bits of liquid fuel are reaching the jet. That usually means the ‘pre-heat’ section, whatever it is, is not hot enough. In all of this, remember that n-butane boils at 0 C, so parts of the stove would have to be quite cold for any liquid to get through.

This certainly applies to when you are increasing the flame. It means the pre-heat section is not hot enough to cope with the increased flow of liquid fuel. That would surprise me a bit as the original design could cope with white gas. Maybe the lining of the preheat tube is utterly filthy, and thermally insulating? Dunno.

If you get spitting when reducing the flame … blimey. I have never seen that. If this really is happening, I can only suggest a complete strip-down and thorough clean.

My Winter Stoves do not have preheat tubes over the top. They rely on conduction from the flame down to the end of the hose. This does mean they need a brief warm-up before the canister is inverted, although it is possible to start one of them purely on liquid feed. (eg with a PowerMax canister.) This is done slowly.

Cheers

I would agree about spitting sound likely from liquid fuel making it to the jet.  Some preheat in vapor mode before inverting.  What surprises me is the spitting sound when turning flame down.  I’ll have to tear it down and see if anything is in there.

Duane

Tried to take the stove apart.  Burner is sandwiched between a small bolt at top and bottom.  So what I see, parts may have to be bent to access the jet.  I noticed what may be a bushing/insert where the bolts go, maybe that is to allow parts to move without binding?  I ran the stove for a little while in my cold garage.  Stove and a different canister were brought out from my cool spare bedroom/gear storage room.  Ran with much less spitting sound, I did let it run slower for at least a minute in canister upright mode before placing in inverted position.   A pot on it might have helped to reflect heat back to the generator loop.  I was mostly asking how this stove ran for others, I don’t always go UL or lighter on my numerous bp trips, mostly one nighters with my dog.  I collect stoves, usually bringing one other stove and the MSR Windpro II when going to a dry camp since I have to pack water and want something more compact, or even a MicroRocket or GS-100.

Duane

parts may have to be bent to access the jet.
Absolutely NOT!
Remember: the stove was assembled by an unskilled worker at fairly high speed, somewhere in Asia. It is advertised as being easy to strip down for maintenance. I don’t have a model II so I can’t say exactly how to disassemble.

Cheers
EDIT: I assumed Asia: this may not be so. The box for the V1 does say ‘made in USA’. I will stand by the ‘unskilled worker’ bit.

I thought MSR stoves were made in Seattle?

Duane I have one, never noticed spitting.  I was quiet because you know way more than me but if you were just seeing if it happened to others, I can say it hasn’t happened to me.

Edit:   Heeey!   I resemble that remark

I think those bushing things are whats holding things up, would have to be drilled out maybe.  I’ll leave as is.  If it bugs me enough, I can contact MSR.  I’m using up old partial canisters, but can’t see how that would matter.  Not my go to stove,  but has been handy for some of my Fall trips.  That and over a dozen free canisters.

Duane

I don’t have a WindPro II, but I do have a WindPro I.

The MSR instructions say the stove does not need maintenance, which has got to be a complete lie. You get a dirty canister, and you WILL need to clean the jet.
The doco also claims it is the lightest remote canister stove in existence, which is also a lie since it is more than double the weight of my remote canister winter stoves (~90 g). Oh well, marketing.

To clean the jet:
Remove top and bottom brass bolts
Spring the bottom pivot slightly off the base of the column
Jiggle/spring the big burner past the preheat tube and out sideways
Spring the jet support out of the burner column
Remove the jet, clean
Reassemble in reverse order

You may find it easier to reassemble if you unclip the preheat tube from the support leg first. Getting the clip back on the leg ain’t easy though! I imagine the assembly worker has a couple of steel hooks to do this with.

Supplementary reassembly notes:
Make sure you clip the preheat tube to the fixed leg, not to one of the rotating legs.
Do not tighten the top and bottom bolts onto the bushes: leave them slightly (fractionally) loose – otherwise you will have a lot of trouble rotating the legs.

Note: ‘spring’ does not mean ‘bend’. Stay within the elastic limits. But be prepared to lean on the bits slightly.

While MSR claim ease of use and zero maintenance, I must say that the disassembly for cleaning is not something I would want to do in failing light with freezing hands. Reassembly is equally tricky imho. That said, hunger and desperation are wonderful motivators.

Cheers

Thank you Roger.  Been working on some other lanterns stoves.  Will take a stab at this again, didnt want to mess the order the supports are in.  Another 100 year old stove in the mail today.

Duane