Amazing Mini Kerosene Stove

[grumdrig]

Yes the inner sleeve is filled with wick from the point were you show the primer wick and downward. A kerosun/alladin type heater has a circular wick with an open area up through the center and hangs down into the fuel resevoir.

This stove is still under developement and do not have any for sale. It's a very interesting stove to watch under low light. It has more odor than a commercial heater My clothes wreak of kero odor when I work on the stove. I'm constantly looking for off the shelf containers that would work well to make this stove marketable. Kerosene stores well for a long periode of time unlike many other stove fuels.

As you can see, not many were interested in this type of stove for backpacking or any other use. I have made several for my own use and family members for emergency use. I have two 30 gallon drums of kero for emergency use and also 3 full cords of wood. Oops56 is working on an interesting stove for emergency use. Hopefully he'll be completing it soon and will share it with us.

Hope this was a help to you. As you experiment and have questions send me a PM and we can talk.

Okay - thanks for the info, Zelph. Think I understand it.

I guess the potstand is essential to priming? I assume the heat conducts down to the wick that way.

Even typing the work "kerosene" too many times starts to stink up the room...

I got interested in this stove because I got interested in the idea of veggie oil as fuel when I realized it had higher energy content per unit mass than alcohol, and would be dual use (since it's also very weight-efficient fuel for the hungry backpacker). And I thought maybe this stove could be used in some form for veggie oil.

I did run into a hybrid veggie oil stove of oops' out on YouTube somewhere, and you have one that's kind of a muli-wick candle. I made one that has about one or two hundred wicks - the frayed edge of fiberglass cloth, rolled up, with spacing. It's reasonably fuel-efficient, a little slow (probably 15 min or so to boil) but pumps out soot like crazy.

I've got some other ideas to try so you'll hear about them after thanksgiving when I get back to town & back to the lab.

[grumdrig]

This stove is still under developement and do not have any for sale.

Oh - and to clarify, I meant I don't want to buy an Aladdin heater - I'd be happy to buy your mini-kero if you ever start selling them!

[zelph]

I guess the potstand is essential to priming? I assume the heat conducts down to the wick that way.

Even typing the work "kerosene" too many times starts to stink up the room...

I got interested in this stove because I got interested in the idea of veggie oil as fuel when I realized it had higher energy content per unit mass than alcohol, and would be dual use (since it's also very weight-efficient fuel for the hungry backpacker). And I thought maybe this stove could be used in some form for veggie oil.

The pot stand is not essential to priming. I just like one piece stoves

I tried one of these stoves with olive oil, extra virgin It's harder to light. It has it's own particular odor also maybe it was not virgin olive oil.

The multi wick stove that you refer to i think was the Vegetarian Stove. While working on that stove I found out that there is no oxygen in the center of the stove to sustain any wicks that are positioned within the outer ring of wicks. (did i say that right? ) It brings to mind the "dual flame stove" A design of that type in conjunction with the Veggie Stove would make it better to increase heat with a smaller diameter stove.

When working with wicks, they need to have the least amount exposed up above the rim of the holder. This pertains to working with kerosene and veggie oils and also candles. Candles need their wicks trimmed to burn clean and efficient. Kerosene lanterns need their wicks trimmed also and also be as close to the wick holder as possible to burn clean. Low odor mineral spirits is the fuel of choice for lanterns and mini-kerosene backpacker stoves. It burns the cleanest (that I have found in my research).

Have fun on your new adventure. Thanks for renewing my interest in this stove. I'll get one out later this evening and fire it up

[Ridgerunner]

It has it's own particular odor also maybe it was not virgin olive oil.

I'm not even going to ask what you meant by that comment

[DarenN]

particular odor. maybe was not virgin, olive oil.

I'm not even going to ask what you meant by that comment

Popeye is totally pissed off about this.

[zelph]

particular odor. maybe was not virgin, olive oil.

I'm not even going to ask what you meant by that comment

Popeye is totally pissed off about this.

Oops, I should have seen that coming, sorry Popeye

[grumdrig]

Did you measure the fuel consumption of this stove, Zelph? I'm supposing it would be pretty good.

[zelph]

Did you measure the fuel consumption of this stove, Zelph? I'm supposing it would be pretty good.

I have not tested it's consumption. It has a 1 inch diameter wick that provides the fuel. Kero has quite a few btus in it. Hot burning stuff.

How are you coming along with your kero stove? Does it burn hot and consume alot?

[grumdrig]

Did you measure the fuel consumption of this stove, Zelph? I'm supposing it would be pretty good.

I have not tested it's consumption. It has a 1 inch diameter wick that provides the fuel. Kero has quite a few btus in it. Hot burning stuff.

How are you coming along with your kero stove? Does it burn hot and consume alot?

Not far. Been out of town, and/or gathering supplies. I have a couple ideas to work on.

The one I'm most engaged in is to adapt a Babington burner to backpacking purposes - that is, with a much smaller flame. If you're not familiar with the Babington, you take a brass sphere (e.g. a doorknob) and pipe compressed air inside it, with a very small hole to make an air jet. Then you flow oil or other fuel onto it so that it forms a very thin film over the whole sphere, causing a mist to emerge from the air jet, which you burn.

The key to scaling down, I think, is a smaller hole. But the normally used hole is already mighty small - 0.01". I've got a few 0.005" or so bits, which are unimaginably fragile, and just tried to drill a hole with a dremel drill press, but i learned my dremel isn't even close to spinning true to center. Maybe my cordless is tight enough (it is better) but I have my doubts. So until I can figure out how to drill a hole, I'm stymied.

[DarenN]

Grumdrig;
for very small drill bits i always go manual. a jewlers drill (push type), or for really small bits, a pin vise and turn it by hand. it can take 15 minutes or more to drill through 1/16 of an inch. be patient and don't push the drill bit too hard. clear the chips out of the hole frequently.

Daren........