Leaky Coke Can Stove

[Wook]

Tonight I wanted to see how little effort one can put into one of those coke can stoves and still get a working product.

Last time I did it I carefully measured everything and sealed all the gaps with heat proof putty. The end result worked, but it was somewhat leaky and wasn't great for the effort I put in. It could not be filled all the way up like a Trangia without spewing meths everywhere.

Tonight I cut up a Dr. Pepper can without measuring. The whole thing was stuck together with metal tape and the holes hastily punched with an auger. Total build time <20 minutes.

If filled all the way up, the end result leaks. A lot. Just as well I test these things in the garden. It was quite dramatic.

Although I found that if you only fill it to say the bottom 5 mm (below the leak), it is actually a pretty darn good stove.

So all in all I didn't see a difference between my "not really trying stove" and my "trying to do it right" stove. That maybe says more about my skill at making these things than the concept, though. In any case the end product was something that worked, albeit needing to be used with care.

 

[Shewie]

Taking a cylindrical object and filling it with flammable liquid is always going to get the job done, the Fancy Feast is a good example.

Half the fun is fettling around in the workshop with empty drinks cans, aerosol tins and teeny weeny drill bits

 

[ex-member BareThrills]

ive always found its all about making sure you properly stretch one of the halves so it fits like a glove. done correctly you dont even need a sealant. if you do want to use a sealant, you can get 1200c rated silicate on ebay. its bomb proof.

there is some good info on zenstoves.net about making a dilator to stretch your cans

 

[Wook]

If I'm honest I've often suspected the level of effort required to make the "perfect" coke can stove was not really worth it given that you can get something 80% as good for 5% of the effort.

With less than half a cm of fuel in the bottom there would be no difference between what I just made and a "proper" one. I made this as an experiment to see where on the cost/benefit curve these things fit in terms of effort to make them vs what you get. At least for me (who isn't the most technically minded person), there is no discernible benefit to spending hours trying to do everything perfectly.

But I'd go so far as to say even my half assed one is too complicated for my liking.

I am somewhat tempted to make one of those Fancy Feasts Shewie. I like simple. Simple is good.

 

[ex-member BareThrills]

depends what you mean by proper . This is an animal. Almost as good as a pressure stove

 

[Shewie]

ive always found its all about making sure you properly stretch one of the halves so it fits like a glove. done correctly you dont even need a sealant. if you do want to use a sealant, you can get 1200c rated silicate on ebay. its bomb proof.

I discovered that a Pepsi can is slightly narrower than a Coke can and they slide together like they were meant to be stoves

 

[ebt.]

Dont do it, it becomes a bloody obsession.

Poundstretcher/poundland sell those mini (0.5L) camping bottles, which can be pretty quickly turned into a pressurised burner.

Funnily enough they work very well with a certain 1L sized pot.......

Paul, that looks remarkably like the ones that japanese guy makes, with a wick inside the pipe coils?

 

[shaggystu]

I discovered that a Pepsi can is slightly narrower than a Coke can and they slide together like they were meant to be stoves

i don't know if it's still the case but strongbow and guiness cans used to be the same, a meths burner and a poor mans black velvet in one

cheers

stuart