Chinese "Booster" multi-fuel stove (a brief review)

[spandit]

Stove arrived today, £35 posted from Hong Kong (via eBay). Took 12 days to arrive, which was fair as the listing said it would take 3 weeks. The cardboard box looked like it had been kicked about but the stove is packed in a plastic moulding and was fine.

Had some teething problems initially when I'd mistakenly dismantled the pump valve but once fixed, tried it on kerosene (central heating oil) and unleaded petrol - works very well on both.

After a few pumps, the valve is opened to let a bit of fuel out of the burner nozzle. This is then ignited and burns with a big messy flame to pre-heat the rest of the fuel (it flows through a bar on top of the burner). I modified my alcohol burner windbreak to accommodate the stove:

After a few seconds (this test was on petrol), open the main valve to let the pressurised fuel through. It looks like it's designed to have fuel poured in the litle cup shaped bit above the jet to help with priming. Initially, the burning is sporadic and quite violent but it quickly settles down to a blue roaring flame (quite noisy):

Took about 2 minutes to boil about 500ml of water (enough to fill an enamel mug for some peppermint tea from the garden)

All in all, for the price, seems like a good stove. Not mega light (about 433g according to the box, without the fuel bottle) but reasonably compact.

 

[demographic]

Although I'm possibly oversubscribed in the stove department I quite like the look of those, plus its always nice to have something that runs on the same fuel as your vehicle.

I've had my eye on Optimus Novas for a while but a hundred notes is a bit salty, 35 is far more like it.

 

[ged]

Although I'm possibly oversubscribed in the stove department I quite like the look of those, plus its always nice to have something that runs on the same fuel as your vehicle.

I've had my eye on Optimus Novas for a while but a hundred notes is a bit salty, 35 is far more like it.

My wife and I have several Optimus stoves, including two of the older Novas. Never had any complaint with them. I wouldn't buy one of the newer ones, too many quality issues lately.

I had a new Hiker+ for about 48 hours, then sent it back. Never managed to boil a kettle with it.

If I saw a 40 year old 111, or an old Hiker, in fact almost any of the old stoves in a in a charity shop, I'd buy it without hesitation.

 

[spandit]

I wanted one like this for the stability - having the burner on top of the tank makes things a bit wobbly with uneven ground/big pots etc. Build quality seems quite good but it's made from stainless rather than titanium hence the higher weight

 

[demographic]

My wife and I have several Optimus stoves, including two of the older Novas. Never had any complaint with them. I wouldn't buy one of the newer ones, too many quality issues lately.

I had a new Hiker+ for about 48 hours, then sent it back. Never managed to boil a kettle with it.

If I saw a 40 year old 111, or an old Hiker, in fact almost any of the old stoves in a in a charity shop, I'd buy it without hesitation.

I have an Optimus Climber or 123R as its also called and really like that but you know what stoves are like. You have one and get to liking other neat designs.

 

[m.durston]

i brought one of these stoves around 18 months ago and i cant get enough of it lol good chinese copy of a few stoves and you get a pack of replacement o rings in the box as well.

 

[spandit]

Do you carry yours with the pump in the bottle or separate? You get quite a bit of fuel leaking out if you remove it but how leak proof is the pump?

 

[ged]

Do you carry yours with the pump in the bottle or separate? You get quite a bit of fuel leaking out if you remove it but how leak proof is the pump?

I guess you mean the Chinese copy, but for comparison I never bother taking the pump off the Nova -- in fact I used the Nova's stopper on a different bottle to replace its stopper when it was damaged.

The Optimus pump has a nifty arrangement where you have the bottle (well, pump really) lying on one side for operating, then turn the bottle over to ly on its other side (while the stove is running and the bottle is still up to pressure) to empty the fuel line and stop the stove. The words "ON" and "OFF" are embossed on the appropriate sides of the pump body. It runs half a minute or so at full tilt with it lying on the "OFF" side while it empties the fuel line. Once the line is empty then just air comes out, the stove goes out and the pressure is released. So there's no pressure in the bottle when you're carrying it afterwards. Having said that it's never leaked even if I haven't bothered to release the pressure, except of course there's still a couple of grammes of fuel in the line which will spill if you disconnect it while it's full.

Does the Chinese version have that same arrangement?

On another theme, can you turn the flame down low on the Chinese version? The Optimus is very good for that.

 

[Nonsuch]

I had one of these. Worked well enough and a bargain. Didn't like the look of the fuel line though - I would have preferred something more substantial. Gave it to my nephew in the end.

 

[spandit]

Fuel line seems fine on mine - stainless braided

Turning off the stove is a weak point, I suppose but I could always turn the bottle upside down to empty the fuel line.

Flame does go quite low, I'll have a play later today

 

[jonajuna]

I had one of these. Worked well enough and a bargain. Didn't like the look of the fuel line though - I would have preferred something more substantial. Gave it to my nephew in the end.

i guess you dont like your nephew much then?

 

[Beardy]

Is that a Meta cookset you've fitted it in? Relatively straightforward to modify it to fit, or not?

Very tempted to go for one of these Chinese stoves, I want to give a multi fuel a try and £35 is a lot better a price to dip my toe in the water than what most makes go for!

 

[spandit]

It's a cheap set I bought years ago - looks very similar to the Asaklitt ones from Clas Ohlson (which are only £10). The windshield has holes in it and I've just cut the aluminium rim so I can slide the hose in. In theory I could just unscrew the hose from the stove and feed it through but that would be a faff.

 

[BillyBlade]

Mine finaly arrived yesterday, and it got a good trialing today. Very impressive for the money. Will be getting stored in the back of the 4x4 as part of my emergency kit when its not getting field use.

 

[spandit]

That took a while! Glad you like it - mine saw service this weekend briefly. Looking forward to trying it in the snow later this month...

 

[BillyBlade]

That took a while! Glad you like it - mine saw service this weekend briefly. Looking forward to trying it in the snow later this month...

So I'm not the only one who's expecting snow then It's pretty well made piece of kit, I was really surprised. They've went for a decent guage of stainless and it's put together nicely, and considering my wife slates me as 'OCD with an engineering degree' thats praise indeed from me

Looking at the long range forecast earlier, I think late October is when it's going to get more than a bit silly.

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Bit of a long term update. Stove has now been used over 100 times since I received it (yes I am sad enough to log it on my phone when out) and continues to function like a dream. All burns have been on unleaded petrol. It's a bit black and sooty, but fires up first touch every time, and all seals etc are in as new condition, ditto the stainless braided hose.

For £35, this one's a winner.

Hope this helps, and big thanks to Rik for pointing me in the direction of it in the first place

 

[Big Stu 12]

I have been looking at these as well, it says that deisel can be used as well, has anyone tryed deisel in one yet as if its ok , then better then carrying around an other fuel, I want it to go in the back of my Disco, and come out for cuppa's when I am out and about.

 

[BillyBlade]

I've run it on diesel just to see if it could. It's dirty, smokey, and a bit nasty, but it does run on it and it lights off a zippo flame easily enough. If you can thin it down even just a little bit with meths or petrol, it makes a huge difference though.

The good news is that the stove itself cleans up a treat in a dishwasher.

Sorry dear

 

[Big Stu 12]

Thats good, I may well be putting one in the back of the Disco for them well needed cuppa's, while out in the middle of no where, thank you for the answer.

 

[ZEbbEDY]

was doing some maintenance on mine yest (didn't snap the jet this time) as had used it a lot since I got it but couldnt find where the wee black rubber o-rings go, could get the bottom of the pump unscrewed with the spring and check valve in it but the bit just above that was stuck solid and didn't have any pliers on me... where do the black rings go? also is it alright to store the pump inside the bottle with fuel in it as I've not got the stopper, its not gonna eat away at it or anything?