newbie pepsi can stove help

[tom57]

hey, just made this and was wondering if it looked right, the flame i mean. i does burn out of the burner jets but they all join above the middle in one big yellow flame. sorry no image but can someone post an image of what its supposed to look like.
any comments would help

 

[Shambling Shaman]

Try this, but sounds like you didnot but the fule holes in,

http://wings.interfree.it/html/Pepsi.html

http://wings.interfree.it/html/main.html

 

[tom57]

followed the seconds site instructions perfectly. could it be that the holes on the outer rim could be too big?

 

[Shambling Shaman]

The wall in the middle should have some holes near the bottom to allow the meths in to the gap this is where the meths will turn to vapor

 

[tom57]

i did that aswell, ill have a play with it, thanks for your help.

 

[bikething]

i does burn out of the burner jets but they all join above the middle in one big yellow flame.

is that with just the burner?? - try putting a pot of water over it - say about 15mm above - and see if you get the 'gas ring' effect then ??

 

[SimonM]

"Proper" Trangia burners do that if there is no pan above. As Bikething says put a pan over it and see how you get on!

It should look something (!) like this....

If that does not help try this plan...
http://www.pcthiker.com/pages/gear/pepsistove.shtml

... it is the plan that I always use and has not let me down yet!

Hope that helps.

Simon

 

[bikething]

here's a photo of a trangia burner I dug up - burner is on the left with no pot over it.

(photo taken from one of Martyns threads )

 

[hiho]

putting them together is my down fall

 

[tom57]

thanks i think its right then. ill try boil some water over it today. my tool box is very limited so could someone please post intructions on how to build a very simple pot stand to go with the stove
thanks for the help

 

[match]

thanks i think its right then. ill try boil some water over it today. my tool box is very limited so could someone please post intructions on how to build a very simple pot stand to go with the stove
thanks for the help

There's another thread on here about how to make a simple pot stand from some hinges:

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=26692

With my pepsi stove, when first lit the meths burns all over the place, but the pot I put on completely covers the central hole. This extinguishes the large central flame, but leaves the side 'jets' burning happily.

 

[tom57]

do you use a stand then, or just place your pot ontop

 

[SimonM]

Why not make a "Hobo stove" like Waylands? It acts as a pot support & windbreak (you will definately need a windbreak with this type of stove!), you can see how to make one here ...

http://www.ravenlore.co.uk/html/cooking_kit.html

...and see my model with the pepsi can stove inside, in the picture above!

 

[match]

do you use a stand then, or just place your pot ontop

I just stuff the pot straight on the top most of the time - I've used a 14cm zebra billy in the past, as its stable enough and about the right amount for the stove to heat. anything that was bigger and would need a stand would probably also need more fuel than my little stove can carry.

 

[tom57]

thanks, ill try that. i also found an old nato hexy burner stand and it looks the perfect height so will have a go with that to.

 

[bosknurft]

tom57, I recently built a Penny stove, which is a can stove of an even simpler design than the one you made. (And it is very easy to make, too. Even I could do it)

It does burn with five fairly bright blue jets, regardless of whether there's a pot on top.

Yellow flame indicates mostly incomplete combustion, meaning that the alcohol burns at a fairly low temperature, which is also why the flames are larger. It simply takes a longer time for the flame to combust completely.

The cause is a lack of oxygen, but that does not provide a clear reason why your Pepsi can stove doesn't provide enough of it. It could be as simple as the exhaust holes being too small (mine has five, each about 2mm in diameter), the ambient temperature being too low so the alcohol doesn't boil (and you should be able to hear a distinct boiling sound), which means performance should improve after a few minutes, or the spirits you used having insufficient alcohol content. Or a combination of all these factors.

I want to encourage you to keep experimenting. It is both possible and desirable for a soda can stove to burn 'blue', and a little experimentation should help you hit the mark.

 

[dufus934]

tom,

I'm new here, but I've been making these type stoves for awhile. A few things that you might want to check out are your fuel type (denatured is best because it burns cleanest which means that you get the most fuel used. yellow flames are unburned fuel sometimes), jetting (lining up and evenly spacing your holes for the flame to come out of is important.), and oxygen (if you can't get enough oxygen to the flames, they won't burn right. Also, make sure that you are priming the stove right. What kind of soda can stove is it?

God Bless,
Kyle

 

[tom57]

sorry taken so long to reply but kind of forgot about this thread. i think i perfected the stove. i made a low wire mesh ring as a stand that holds pots etc about 1cm above the flames and when it gets going i get a nice ring of blue flame using meths. i also put 32 holes around the rim with a pin. takes about 10 mins to boil 1/2 a litre f water in a crusader cup with no lid, thanks for the help everyone

 

[jean baptiste]

hi
i use a pepsi can stove, there is a tutorial here http://www.randonner-leger.org/wiki/doku.php?id=p3rs
in french but verry simple to use, and i boiled a half liter of water in 6 minutes

 

[Mungo]

I made this one last night - super simple and it works very well:
http://www.boblog.org/at/cobrastove.htm
Cheers,
Mungo