MSR Reactor Stove

I bought an MSR Reactor stove earlier this year and love it. I've got a question related to a problem that others may also have also:

When I fire up the stove and put the pot on it with water, initially it makes a really high pitched whine/whistle/vibration (almost like a microphone screech) for about 10 seconds. I'm not sure exactly what the sound is, but I've tried to hold the pot steady to stop any vibration and it doesn't seem to make a difference. Other than this I love the stove.

I use the stove to make hot chocolate/freeze dried meals in the deer stand, it is whisper quiet once it gets past this initial warm up, but it needs to be quiet "always".

Any ideas on how to stop the sound? It doesn't do it every single time, but almost.

Thank ya'll

NitroSteel

Houston, we have lift off!:)

I've really not seen too many "real" stoves that don't make noise at least at some point.
For the deer stand you might want to resort to a homebrew alcohol stove or esbit tabs to avoid
any noise, and keep the reactor for non-deer-stand type uses where a little noise won't
bother you.

I tried it at the house yesterday morning before going out. The noise is much like that of a microphone screaching and it is for more like 2 seconds. In the deer stand apparently it just SEEMS like 10 seconds, or maybe it actually was the other morning. But I'm sure now that it is not a vibration, because I held it from vibrating. It must just be the whistling of the air going through the jet swirls on the bottom, apparently it stops once they heat up to a certain point, just a hypothesis that I am unable to be sure of...

The stove is awesome though. Anyone else notice this noise? I wonder if it depends on which brand of gas you use?

I've contacted the head of engineering at Cascade Designs and hopefully he'll get back to me on it. Personally, I haven't heard this in my pots, or, rather, haven't 'noticed' it. I agree with phat that most stoves make some kind of noise (screeching, whistling, poping, etc.) at some point during the boiling process. My guess is that it's the metal fins heating up which does cause the molecules in the metal to vibrate which, in turn, has the potential to make a specific, short, 'screeching' noise. In the case of the Gen 2 Reactor (laser-welded fins vs. forged fins of the 1st generation pot), the fins are much thinner and are welded on which could cause some vibration and noise (no concern of durability I assure you). The newer pot is much lighter and is as durable and efficient as the older pot.

I'll play with mine and see if it makes any sound as it heats up. I'll let you know of my results. I'll also fill you in if I hear anything from Cascade Designs.

I just got this from Drew (lead stove designer):

"Hi Jason,

Yes we have sen this on a very small number of stoves. Basically the wire mesh that makes the dome on the top of the burner sometimes has a lose wire at the edge where it is sandwiched into the burner assembly. If you look at the top these are spot welded in several places but not around the whole perimeter. Well, in one of the spots around the perimeter where not welded a wire is vibrating at warm up and making that high pitch noise. There is no danger or anything wrong with the stove, just an annoying sound."

There is a possibility of replacement if it is too annoying. You can contact Cascade Designs directly here.

Hope this helps...

I talked to the folks at MSR today and he told me exactly what you said. I'm going to try to adjust some of the "loose ends" and see if I can get the noise to stop, if not, I've got an RA number to send it in.

Thank you again for your help.

NitroSteel

Don't waste too much effort - if you've never done an MSR RA, just send it in, sit back and enjoy.. the best thing about buying MSR gear is how they stand behind it.