Pocket Rocket Ignition

[Bonzo]

I picked up a “defective” and almost-perfectly-functional PRD today because…well, just because.  Only one problem: the piezo igniter isn’t working.  I think it may be grounding out inside the lower part of the body, because – and someone please correct me if I’m wrong, here – if the wire isn’t supposed to go through the plastic and potentially-insulating tube shown below, then that tube seems kind of useless.  Anyone have an idea or an image of the correct configuration?  I can’t see how the spark wouldn’t short itself, installed as it is.

[Jerry Adams]

The burner head that you unscrewed has a wire hanging down from it.

Position the burner head back on to the body feeding that wire into the plastic tube shown in your photo.  Screw burner head back on.

It should work now.

At least that’s what happened to someone else I was talking to about this.

I think that’s a design defect

[Jerry Adams]

I just looked at mine, what I said isn’t quite correct, let me try again

Unscrew the burner head.

It will have a plastic tube hanging down from it.  Inside that tube is the wire to the ignitor

(In your photo, you can see that tube)

Inside the stove body there’s a wire coming up from the piezo.  It should be pointed up, centered.

Put the burner head back on, with the tube over that wire.  Screw burner head in.

Now it should work.

[Jerry Adams]

In your photo you can see that wire from the piezo and it’s not going into the tube.

You can see the wire going into the tube

Need to work on my lighting a bit, hopefully you can see it well enough

[Jerry Adams]

I think there are many PRDs out there with this defect.  One minute to fix it.

[Bonzo]

Jerry: thanks for the info.  I hadn’t unscrewed the burner head at all; I didn’t even know the head could be unscrewed until you said so.  Pulled it just now, and the issue is clear; the tube and connection wire were totally in the wrong place.  Working like a charm after ten seconds of effort; thanks REI, for the $29 “defective” stove. 🤗

[Jerry Adams]

https://backpackinglight.com/forums/topic/msr-pocket-rocket-deluxe-issues/

Scott B had the same problem

Someone I know from BGT had the same problem

[Bonzo]

In this case, clearly there was no effort made to even identify the issue on the part of the previous owner or the retailer: I’m not kidding when I said that it took ten seconds to fix after you posted your instructions.  It was literally unscrew, look inside, say “Oh… I get it, now” and screw the burner back on with the wire in the correct place.  I didn’t even have enough time to look up a possible fix on another site!

[Jerry Adams]

Just for grins I looked on the msr website.  You’d think there would be a FAQ “my PRD ignitor failed, how do I fix?”

It bothers me that there are all these broken stoves out there that are easily fixed : )

[Bonzo]

Want to hear something funny?  I sent a request for instructions to MSR, just to see what they said.  The immediate auto-response told me that it will take twelve weeks for them to process my help inquiry.

[bradmacmt]

I bought a PRD in 2019. Used it on one overnight trip. I could see the piezo sparking, but it would not ignite in the field, and would only ignite 50% of the time at home in the kitchen under controlled conditions. I didn’t use it in 2020, and sent it back to MSR this past spring. It took 2.5 mos to get back “repaired.” The piezo ignited 50% of the time at home under controlled conditions. I just got back from a three day backpack with it where it failed to ignite 100% of the time.

The PRD is a 100% POS.

If I want a non-Jetboil type stove (heat exchanger), I’ll go with the Soto Windmaster I already have. A far better stove in all respects.

[Jenny A]

My Soto Windmaster is the only stove with a piezo I’ve ever had that has worked every. Single. Time.  At altitude, at home, when slightly damp.  This stove almost has me trusting them!  ;>)

[Marcus]

Another Vote for the Soto windmaster. It’s piezo has never failed me in the year I’ve had it and around 30 days of use.

[jscott]

I’ve always used a pocket rocket. I’ve always lit it with a lighter. Never any issues. Used with a good windscreen, it’s very dependable and efficient for a solo hiker.

[Bonzo]

I’ll happily bench a Pocket Rocket Deluxe against a Windmaster if someone can find me one for $30. 🙂

[S Long]

Honest question here; aren’t you guys carrying a means to start a fire anyway? A mini bic, matches, striker, whatever. If not, you should be (IMHO). If so, why bother with piezo? It reduces weight, complexity, and a potential failure point to not have piezo. I guess it just isn’t that important a convenience for me to care about (coming from a guy who uses a striker with his alcohol setup 99% of the time outside of winter).

[bradmacmt]

Honest question here; aren’t you guys carrying a means to start a fire anyway? A mini bic, matches, striker, whatever. If not, you should be (IMHO). If so, why bother with piezo? It reduces weight, complexity, and a potential failure point to not have piezo. I guess it just isn’t that important a convenience for me to care about (coming from a guy who uses a striker with his alcohol setup 99% of the time outside of winter).

Can’t answer for anyone else, but I have several lighters stashed in my pack, including a minibic with my cook-kit. My old Jetboil Sol’s (Ti and Al) ignite every time with the piezo. The MSR never ignites, even after being returned to MSR where it was “fixed.”

The point is, something that is mfg’d and designed to work should.

[Jerry Adams]

I used a Windmaster maybe 300 days and the peiezo worked every time

I used a PRD maybe 60 days and one time the piezo didn’t work, then it started working again

I switched back to the windmaster and it’s worked good for maybe 60 days

I always have a lighter so it doesn’t matter that much.  It’s a little convenient to put my pot and windscreen on, then light it with piezo.  With a lighter it’s a little difficult to get it in there with the pot and windscreen on.

I got both of them for free for testing them.

The windmaster has this defect.  The pot supports are mounted to the stove right where the flame burns the hottest, so after maybe 300 nights the pot support started to erode.  At some point it would have failed but I just switched to the other pot support that came with the stove, which is a little thicker so better able to survive the flame.  I don’t care if the piezo fails, but if the pot support fails the stove becomes almost unusable.  (Except I’d figure out something for the rest of the trip)

[Jerry Adams]

If I hadn’t got the windmaster and PRD free, I would have probably stuck with my original pocket rocket.

[jscott]

My rule of thumb is to avoid features that complicate design and can fail if a simpler, fail proof design works well. I light the PR and then place to pot on top with the pot gripper, peering to see if it’s balanced. (I think…maybe I balance it first and then light. Can’t recall!)

[Paul S]

I have a pocket rocket deluxe. The Piezo looks correct as per descriptions above, but yet, it often does not work. I also have the Soto Windmaster, it always works, and, the 4-arm pot-supports work better with my 1.3 liter “Evernew” TI pot compared to the three shorter pot support arms of the PRD.

[George F]

This is a great community!   Thanks for the info.  It was an easy fix.

[Bonzo]

I always have a lighter so I wasn’t terribly concerned with the igniter working or not working; I just wanted to fix it if the fix was simple…and it was (thanks again, Jerry).  If the ignition fails at any point I won’t be very upset; piezo  igniters are not 100% reliable, so I don’t expect them to work the first time, every time.  Not working at all is a different story, of course, but I haven’t seen many outright-defective piezo igniters.  I have a suspicion that MSR might have a simple quality-control issue in play, here…and although that might be solvable by doing nothing more than doing the ten-second fix (and maybe adding a bit of dielectric grease) I agree that we honestly shouldn’t have to be regularly making repairs, right out of the box.

[David Sugeno]

Should that tube be more or less straight?  My piezo has stopped working.  I unscrewed the burner head as described, and the tube is bent, shown in the photo below.  There is a pretty bad kink in the tube, so I don’t know if they wire in the piezo is able to make actual contact with the wire to the burner head.  When I try refeeding the wire, I can usually get the piezo to spark once or twice, then it stops.  This seems very odd.  Disappointing, given the reputation of MSR.  I’m pretty sure I bought the PR Deluxe on the recommendation of a PBL podcast indicating that this stove has a more reliable and durable piezo than most competitors.

 

[Bonzo]

Yeah, that ain’t gonna work.  Having just been through this: that tube needs to be straight so that the two wires that meet inside the tube actually meet.  As it is, it looks like the head wire has pushed and kinked the tube, so they’re likely not making any kind of contact.

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