Fancy feast - not working.

[Buster80]

Hi

So unable to find a fancy feast tin in the UK i used a small tin from aldi that contained tuna and sauce.

Tin is steel rather than aluminum if that makes a difference.

Punched one row of holes as that's all was I able to do with the puny paper puncher I have, so maybe 16 total holes.

Put meths in light it,all good,wait 30 secs put Stanley pot on stove goes out,no jets coming out the side.

I was hoping this would be a simple meths stove to make but I'm missing something obviously.

Any thoughts

Buster

 

[IC_Rafe]

Don't put it right on the top, and add more/bigger holes. Fire needs oxygen to burn. If that can't get in, you won't get the jets. Also might need to have it heat up a bit more. My coke can (ok, monster can but doesn't matter) stove, needs a while to prime a little and get the jets burning. I however think the main problem will be the size of the holes.

 

[Buster80]

I used a 6mm hole punch as per the instructions online but I'll try and widen them.

Tried it with Stanley and a canteen cup with the canteen cup obviously having room for air to flow in from the top and it still went out,so maybe your right the holes need to be bigger.

Cheers

Buster

 

[weekender]

You can get the cat tin from Tesco


Sent from somewhere in a galaxy far far away...

 

[Buster80]

So dremel out and another row of holes and finally got jets it heated my water but no boil.

I'll check tesco for the tin,think aluminium would be easier to punch through, might need to invest in a better punch as well.

Buster.

 

[Buster80]

Got the proper tin from waitrose on my way home,two rows of holes and 30ml of meths and I got a rolling boil.

Buying the proper drill bit and found the template for the holes so may neaten things up a bit,currently some jets are more pronounced than others.

Buster.

 

[PDA1]

Gtting a super cat to bloom as you plce the pot on the stove is a black art, and becomes almost impossible in freezing weather. Ease of use and wider temperature range can be achieved by adding a wick to the stove. It/they go around the outside of the stove,and the ends of the wicks are stuffed through the holes and hang down to the base of the stove, immersed in the alcohol. Here'sa picture:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/124693832@N02/14211331932/in/photostream/

the wick can be any kind of string. The one in the phot uses a stripof felt cut from a plumber's mat. That has a greater surface area than most pieces of string, so burns alcohol much quicker than a single piece of thin tring. That improves boil time but increases fuel consumption. The other advantage is that you don't have to wait for the alcohol to get hot/ boil before pitting the pan on the stove, just place the pot on, them light the wick. This also works in freezing temperatures, which cannot be said for a standard super cat (I call it a wicked super cat). wick stove sare always easier and less finnicky to use than low pressure jet alcohol stoves.

Antherverygood wick alcohol stove is the so called FancyFeast (or Feest) invented by Zelph ( http://www.woodgaz-stove.com/fancee-feest.php) DIY info here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tg12QnFS6w

I also like the so called capillary action stoves( the other two in the photograph), which bloom in seconds and which I find aesthetically elegant. They are also very easy to make, and in a pinch, can be made with a can from the wayside and a SAK in about ten minutes.

Hiram Cook has some useful videos on Wicked Super Cat stoves, Capillary Action stoves, and Fancy Feast stoves(different sizes, wick materials etc.). Probably the best overview of various stoves, especially alcohol stoves,is this site by Zelph: http://zenstoves.net/

 

[PDA1]

p.s.
DIY alcohol stoves made from free recycled materials can become an obsession. Be careful