home made stoves

[brian]

Just use an ordinary pair of scissors. The give the most control and the most precise cut. FIrst find something of the hight u want ur cans to be cut at. For example, 2 CD cases for great if u need to cut the can at .5". NExt, take a blade of some sort and lay it on top of that object. Use it to scribe a line on the can exactly the height u want, then take the scissors and cut about an inch above that. Get the top half off, then work your way down to the line. Happy stove making!

[Max]

I used a box cutter to make a rough cut then I just used scissors to make the final cut. The cans are very thin and cut pretty easy. I put a piece of black tape around the bottom to mark the right height and use that as a guide for cutting.

[tlbj6142]

Thanks. The tape thing is a great idea.

[tlbj6142]

I just completed my first Ion Stove. It took about an hour to make.

I ran a bit of fuel (Wal-Mart denatured alcohol) through it in the dark. Seems like most of the flame is coming from the center and not from the jets. Though at times I did see a noticable flame out of the jet holes.

I suspect one (or a combination) of three things might be the cause.

[list=1][*]Jet Hole location[*]Fuel wall insert location[*]Amount of Insulation[/list=1]

This picture of a jet hole will help to explain the issues.

Due to the way the bottom the can is shaped, if I put the hole on the top ridge, I run the risk having the fuel wall insert bisecting the hole (you can see the top edge of the wall through the hole). So, should I move the holes outward a bit. Maybe where the black dot is located in the picture?

I could also make the insert a bit shorter in length which would make its diameter narrower thereby preventing the bisecting issue.

I also think I may not have used enough insulation. If I used more, it might help to push the wall toward the center of the container.

Any suggestions?

[brian]

Do u only have 1 jet hole?? YOu need many, and they need to be MUCh thinner. About 1mm in diameter is good. And you need about 20 of them. It looks like u only have 1 hole from the picture. That is incorrect. Try making it without the insulation. It should work just the same, and for starting out, you eliminate 1 more variable that could mess up operation.

Brian

[tlbj6142]

Nope. I got 6 holes just like the instructions say. The picture just shows one of them. Also, the holes are quite small. A 1.2mm flathead screw driver just fits into them. And the paperclip (per instructions) is a tight fit. I guess I could make them a bit smaller and just use the 1mm flathead.

I think, too, that I might need to make more, or larger, notches at the base of the insert. The way the insert sits down into the bottom of the can it sort of restricts the flow. Just a thought.

Regarding one step at a time approach. I don't see how I can do that. If I tried to take my current stove apart I'd probably distroy it in the process. But since it doens't appear to work, I guess I have nothing to lose.

[Max]

I would move the holes out a bit like your thinking. I think thats where the instructions say to put them.

[tlbj6142]

Last night I ripped apart my first stove and made another "top". This time I put the jet holes out a bit farther along the edge (where the black dot is located in this picture). This worked quite well. Unfortunatley, I tore part of the can while smashing the two pieced together, so I'll need to build another.

A few questions about the stove mechanics...

I pour the fuel into the center and light it. Seems like the "path to least resistence" for the fuel is to just sit and burn in the center. What makes it "want" to go up the walls and out the jets?

I have yet to put a pot on the stand while it is lit. But it still seems like quite a bit of flame comes out of the center of the stove throughout the entire burn. Is this normal? Or after the priming period should just the jets be in use?

[Max]

Does your can have the curved bottom? The Welches Grape juice cans and the V-8 cans do.

[tlbj6142]

Are you asking does the center of the bottom of the can "dome up"? If so, yes.

But what I think may be happening is that the inner wall sits down in this grove right up against the lower edges of the dome. This might restrict the flow if fuel into the outer chamber. Maybe I need to add, or enlarge, the notches in the bottom of the inner wall to resolve that issue.

[chris]

This is the process I went through with a lot of stove designs. Note that stoves which use insulation need a "seasonning" period before they reach good performance. That is, burn a couple of ounces of fuel before you try another design.

I never could make stoves similar to the Ion work. I just couldn't get the parts to fit together well enough. But, it is a good exercise to go through. When you have some time, cut the bottom third of a beer can off, put a little insulation in it (about 1/3 of what you might use as toliet paper), and your stove is done. I've noticed little difference in the performance of this type of stove and double wall types like the Ion. Double wall types are generally more efficient, open burner ones usually a bit faster.

[tlbj6142]

I think I might have a good Ion (4th top, same bottom and inner wall). Last night it burned through ~18ml twice without a pot. BTW, the bottle cap method for measuring is very messy process.

On the 2nd burn at about the 4th minute the stove "popped" and 20 seconds later it did it again and actualy blew out 2 of the 6 jets.

Any ideas what that means? Maybe too much pressure and not enough ports?

I didn't ream out the ports with the paperclip this time. I stopped with the 1mm flathead screw driver. The large paperclip has a slightly larger diameter (maybe 1.1 mm). I also added two larger triangles in the bottom of the inner wall to help get the fuel between the walls quicker.

Also, the jets make for a wide flame. Which leads to lost heat, unless you have a 10" pot. Next time I might make the ports a bit more virticle than my current version.

[Rambler]

Thru-hiker.com stove has holes on the side (24 or two staggered rows of 12 holes. With a prime cap attached below, only a small amount of uel will get this stove going with the pot resting right on top of the stove itself, no other support other than the stove is needed. It took about 6 min. to get 2 cups of water boinling but stove burned hot more that 15 min. on less than an oz. of fuel. Unofficial results on my homemade attempt. Scroll down:.5 oz. V-8