Simplicity Stove design..

[realityguy]

I'm not sure..maybe with all the stoves out there someone has made/used these before..

Okay..I wanted something simple,sturdy,easy to put together,not too big,not too small, and work well..it does!I picked up a couple respirator cartridges which just happened to fit a standard canned vegetable steel can like a glove.
The pictures attached are pretty self explanitory as how to make it with one of the #56 cartridges(bought in pairs!),cut the can just below the rings where the black tape is in the picture and just shove it in there!I didn't even JB weld it but it could/should be(just a little leak is all).I took one coat hanger,cut three lengths of wire about 8" and use the pot itself to mark the size of the potstand...making a backbend to set it in the predrilled holes.
It needs about an ounce of alcohol to get going,pour it in,roll the thing around,even upside down to spead the fuel,and light it upside down.
Boils 16oz of water in about 8 minutes in a heinie can and an EV pot in about 6minutes after the flame gets going somewhat(takes a little bit but the flame spreads better with the pot on it.Without the pot,the flame is about 6-8" high.Without the controller(below),the flames just barely wrap beyond the bottom of a 6" pot
For boiling in a hein can..I added a flame controller of a hein top with holes around the perimeter that rests on the potstand and hangs about a 1/4" off the stove all the way around.That helped a lot.
The outside steel looks good(I haven't done anything to it!),it fits in the flame controller and would fit totally in a hein pot with a couple rings taken off the pot.Maximum diameter of the top edge of the cartridge is 3".The height of the stove with the potstand is 2-1/2".The stove portion itself is 1-1/4".Weight is 55 grams.
I tried 1-1/2 ounces of alcohol and it burned for over 15 minutes.I imaigne the capacity could be 2 to 2-1/2 ounces.
The inner cartridge is some kind of fiberglass or something that appears to be rolled around in there,about 1" high and it doesn't show any sign at all of damage after burning a half hour.I think I found the stove I've been searching for!
Thanks Zelph(and the rest for other ideas) for coming up with the starlyte which is the inspiration of what I really needed to look for in a style of stove for my purposes!
I'll get some more pictures up..dang batteries are all dead and charging.

[zelph]

Coolaroney!!!! Nice job and great thinking.

Try pouring the fuel just around the outer perimeter of the stove and then light it. Flame patterns always want to follow the outer perimeter of containers such as your cartridge.

It has been found that a fuel absorbing material will not be consumed very fast when covered with a flame proof material such as what covers the cartridge. If it were stuffed with cotton you would probably see the same results. The cotton would not be consumed especially if the flame goes out before all of the vapor is consumed.

[Irvingdog]

Nice craftsmanship on the wire-bending.

[realityguy]

Nice craftsmanship on the wire-bending.

I see you didn't look too closely did you The only pliers I had handy were those 90 degree things and the small cutters..Hey,it was a ten minute stove!..but I cheated and used Wiss snips to cut the can at the bottom ring.I could see it being really simple to make one with a swiss army knife/pliers on the trail if needed,if you had the cartridge..No holes to drill,just a can to cut,and wire to bend and cut.The cartridge would be used for measurements for the screen,don't even need a ruler or anything separate to measure with!
I tried 3/4 ounce of alcohol but I think it needs more to get a good burn going.One ounce will do it and get a decent flame pattern and boil.As I said,I initially put in 3/4(but didn't roll it around..then added more until I had 1-1/2OZ..It wanted to burn forever with that.I stopped the stopwatch at about 12 minutes or so and the stove just kept going.
I was surprised it did as well as it did without any real effort involved.I might add a 24 hein 1/2 can for a windscreen(to the ground) with holes drilled around the bottom and a couple holes around the top..which could be stored right on the hein pot,just slipped on the bottom.I used about a 2" top angled ring with a couple rows of holes(one full paperpunch and one row of halfs on the top edge) to control the flames better on the hein pot.That could be a sufficient windscreen because it covers about a 1/4" over the top of the stove itself resting on the potstand,Heine pot sat on top.That helped a lot.

[realityguy]

More testing...Unfortunately I have crappy rechargable batteries that keep dying so pictures will have to wait..I'll see if one came out okay..
Heine pot boil at 9-1/2minutes(small start flame) but my heine can flame controller was having a meltdown..need to make another out of stainless and one that doesn't support the pot also.
1oz alcohol burned out at 14 to 14-1/2 minutes.
I ran a 1-1/2OZ set... that was the boil with the EV pot at 6min-45 seconds,put on the heine at 7 min point and was getting bubbles on the bottom well when it went out at 16min-20 seconds,plenty hot(water was too hot to handle)for a second pot on the same 1-1/2OZ so I can cook with the first and set a second one on while eating for cleanup/coffee,whatever.I know if I use the EV pot it would work fine for two boils for the 1-1/2 OZ(I may scrap the heinepot idea..)I'll have to test a larger quantity of water,say 1 quart..Most of my hiking will be 3 day stuff so just carry a 12 ounce heet bottle for fuel should be plenty... 2 hot meals a day=3ouncesx3(or less)=only 9 ounces.

[zelph]

It looks as if this stove is going to work really nice for you. I just love it when things fall in place and work well

Simplicity!!!!!------KISSimplity, that's what we like to see. (and you don't have to prime it )

[realityguy]

I'm going to play with it some more..maybe some stainless shim material on for a windscreen and flame director for more heat/flame control in the right places combined with an open potstand in the middle for use of some kind of a simmer device/ring when needed..I've got a second cartridge for my 75 cents so I can play with that one.. After the meltdown of the Heine ring..aluminum in the flame there is out of the question...
OR.. I'm thinking a simmer implement could be just some stainless shim plate that just slides across between the legs of a potstand and cuts out the flame in the middle portion,making two smaller flames on each edge.Lots of options.
I'll figure something out..and keep it simple,sturdy, and compact.

[hoz]

So what's in the cartridges? Activated Charcoal?

[realityguy]

So what's in the cartridges? Activated Charcoal?

To me it looks like rolled up fiberglass on edge..say 7/8" high and just stuck in there..must be something else.I should have looked at the other one,but ended up cutting the bottom off another can and wedging it in there for more testing.
I made up this can..and a quickie simmer ring affair to try them out to see what kind of length I can get for a burn:


The simmer ring didn't work worth a d*mn..just spread the flames out the side more and around it..HOWEVER..the CAN itself worked like a charm!1-1/2OZ alcohol burned for 34+ minutes with the 16OZ water(EV pot) just to steaming,never did boil!Besides that,I do get a nice storage unit out of a peanut can with a plastic lid that is about 1/4" extra across and the same height so the original potstand fits inside on the stove.(Peanut can with two rows of 1/4" holes..16 eyeball-estimated holes with a paper punch.The sharpie line was made with the burner inside,just above the top of it for the lower rows,upper just under the lip)
I'm still having problems getting the thing lit unless I use 1-1/2oz,then it's not a problem..I don't think 1oz is worth messing with.The other problem now would be to get a boil outside the simmer can,then moving a hot stove into the can for simmering for the duration of the alcohol burn..maybe some pliers grabbing the potstand or one of the squeeze handles for pots that I might use anyway and no handles on the pots due to storage problems.I've got a couple of those separate aluminum handles already and picked up a couple more stainless lightweight pots without handles(in that other picture for "RR drool" ).Gotta check my lid supply for one that fits those pots..Hmm..I might have to go thrift store shopping today.

[realityguy]

Sorry...That first line of the last post should have said I should have looked "at the other end of the cartridge" to see if there are more layers in there other than the one vertical one.The cartridge number is given.I might run by HD and see if I can find more there the same number(as given in the first post).They are entirely made out of aluminum,and have screw-in threads for the masks on the bottom half.
The cartridges can probably be pried out of the steel can but might get dented in the process,and DO fit that snug.This second one,I used a block of wood and tapped it around the edge to get it in there..I left a tiny edge of the first ring of the steel can and that was enough to lock it in place in the can.