ETF Stove (I know, another alcohol stove)

Posted by: Spherical Cow

ETF Stove (I know, another alcohol stove) - 04/22/11 12:54 PM

Well, I'm new to lightweight backpacking, and this forum (see post count)... but I thought I could contribute my version of an alcohol stove.

It's basically one of many variants of the soda can stove, with one added feature I call enhanced thermal feedback (ETF), which is simply 3 loops of wire that touch the flames and transfer additional heat to the fuel. Here's a pic and video :



Posted by: Paulo

Re: ETF Stove (I know, another alcohol stove) - 04/22/11 11:59 PM

Thanks for the photo. Have you compared this with the same design minus the wire coil? What are the differences in the priming time and boil time?

Thanks again!
Posted by: phat

Re: ETF Stove (I know, another alcohol stove) - 04/23/11 12:08 AM

speaking from experience - that's an awesome idea.. most of the stoves I've used where I angle the flame inward instead of out hitting the rim, it takes forever to prime the stove and get it going.. that actually might work!..
Posted by: Spherical Cow

Re: ETF Stove (I know, another alcohol stove) - 04/23/11 05:11 PM

Regarding comparing the stoves... yes, I originally simply pointed the holes inward because I use a narrow pot. Like the post above stated, this doesn't work. The flames are too confined, and they cannot sufficiently heat the fuel (the heat has a longer path to reach the fuel). This is what inspired me to add the wires. The same stove without the wire takes nearly 9 minutes to heat 2 cups of water... this stove can do it in under 5. Prime time with several drops of fuel is ~20s.

It's really simple to add the wires to the soda can design, which aren't really coils, but more of a "C" shape that I bend to fit. I plan to put a how-to online soon, but if you have ever made a can stove, you can easily make this.

This stove isn't any better than most stoves in terms of boil time, but it's the first alcohol stove I've manage to make with short boil times for NARROW pots.
Posted by: billstephenson

Re: ETF Stove (I know, another alcohol stove) - 04/23/11 05:16 PM

I agree, that's a very interesting twist.

It looks like it should reduce the time to prime the stove and maybe even make it burn hotter.

Makes me wonder how it would affect a Cat stove if you did the same kind of thing...
Posted by: james__12345

Re: ETF Stove (I know, another alcohol stove) - 04/24/11 01:56 AM

What are you using to pressurize the stove? It looks to be some type of screw, but I cant really tell.
Posted by: Spherical Cow

Re: ETF Stove (I know, another alcohol stove) - 04/24/11 09:26 AM

Originally Posted By james__12345
What are you using to pressurize the stove? It looks to be some type of screw, but I cant really tell.


It's a wingnut with a small machine screw in it... but it is not screwed into the hole; the hole is big enough that the screw just sits in the hole. I was using a coin, but the pressure was high enough to make the coin rattle, so I use this. Also, this is magnetic, so I store it in the little orange gripper that came with my GSI Minimalist cookset (the gripper has a magnet molded into it).