Question for burner to buy and fit into Trangia

[wincel]

Hi all, I have a question that hopefully doesn't start a war hehe ... Basically we are amateurish backpackers/campers and we've had a Trangia 25/5 with just the ethanol/spirit burner now for some time. Now after two experiences (one in sudden snow, the other in some pretty deserted area in Death Valley) we decided that has to change. We need something that can boil a liter of water in under 30 minutes and that can simmer food too.

So I did a lot research for the last days and read that a Hiker with the Ultima Naltio page information would turn our Trangia into a really nice stove. Turns out the Hiker is pretty unavailable over here in US and shipping from Germany for used ones cost the same as if one would buy a new Hiker + readily available in US.

Now I read that the Hiker + has a Nova burner that is pretty loud, correct?
And in US gas is way more easily available as fuel. So from there on I found the Primus Omnifuel which is said to be pretty good too. On ebay a guy is selling Optimus Nova-Trangia adapters (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200598433337) which someone else in another forum wrote works well with the Primus Omnifuel. Can someone confirm that?

There is another guy on ebay offering silencer caps for the Primus Omnifuel (http://cgi.ebay.com/BernieDawg-Sile...848?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2563222c18) which someone reviewed as working very well (http://adventuresinstoving.blogspot.com/2011/03/stove-of-week-primus-omnifuel.html). Can someone confirm that?

The guy from Ultima Naltio is supposed to sell a fuel hose adapter for the Primus Omnifuel but he has nothing on offer at ebay anymore. Does anyone know if he still produces these pieces? Or is there an alternative source? I send him an email on ebay asking but haven't gotten any reply yet.

Do I need a Nova pump if I have the Primus Omnifuel even? What is the difference between both and do both work with the 1 liter bottles?

And last but not least ... probably a stupid question but since I'm used only to spirit so far ... Priming is necessary if one burns liquid fuels and that means I put some spirit or the fuel itself on top of the burner? Is there something else I can use, maybe something non-liquid? I read a lot of people complain about this spilling over? And ... where does one buy kerosene or what else do you recommend as fuel?

Thanks a lot!

 

[wincel]

Here is the report of the guy fitting the Primus Omnifuel into the Trangia: http://hikinghq.net/forum/showpost.php?p=12806&postcount=5

 

[wincel]

Here is the report for the guy who mounted the Omnifuel into the Trangia: http://hikinghq.net/forum/showpost.php?p=12806&postcount=5

 

[wincel]

(sorry for double post, that default forum view with newest on top confused me and I seem unable to delete my own posts)

 

[born2roam]

Good pics.

I too modified my Trangia and Primus Omnifuel to use them together. Now I can use alcohol, whitegas, lpg, kersone, parafine and just a regular wood fire with the pots too ;-)

So no need for a Nova pump if you have an omnifuel. No experience with the silencer cap. I use the bottle that comes with the Omnifuel (0.6 ltr iirc). Afaik no need for a fuel hose adapter, no problems with priming and I still haven't finished my bottle of Coleman fuel or last LPG gas cannister.

Since you already have a Trangia, buy the omnifuel and maybe even the omnifuel adapter. I managed to use mine without the adapter but it is nicer/cleaner and probably easier WITH as shown on the pics.

Grtz Johan

 

[myotis]

The easiest solution is just to buy the Trangia multifuel burner and then you know it will all fit and you don't need to faff about with adaptors and possibly needing to cut holes in your Trangia. Not as versatile in that you can't then use it as a stand alone burner, but then again with the Trangia Triangle or the Clickstand you can still easily use it as a compact stand alone stove.

If you go down the route of buying the Trangia multifuel burner, its worth while searching out the the X2 which is based on the Primus Omnifuel, rather than the original which is based on the Optimus Nova. The X2 will let you burn canister gas as well as liquid fuels.

The BernieDawg caps work well, but they are a big lump of metal to preheat and make the stove more difficult to light. With parafin (kerosene) it makes it very difficult to light and with Aspen (Coleman or similar) slightly more difficult. With the standard flame spreader, the Omnifuel with parafin or Aspen almost lights itself. If you are new to lighting liquid fuel stoves, I would learn to light one with the standard flame spreader.

The noise of the Omnifuel isnt that bad, and certainly quieter than some of my gas stoves, which you normally think of as being a quiet option. I've never heard a Nova but I understand its louder than the omnifuel.

When I bought my adaptors from Ultima Naltio, there were none on ebay, but I got a rapid reply from him, but that was a few years ago. But why do you need an adaptor, those adaptors were to allow modern Optimus Nova and Primus Omnifuels to work with Optimus 111 burners. You won't need this if you buy a new Nova or Omnifuel. Only the Optimus adaptor that you have alrady found on ebay or if you buy the official Trangia Multifuel burner, you won't need any adaptors.

The nova and omnifuel pump will work with the same 300ml. 600ml and 1litre fuel bottles.

Priming isn't really a problem, you actually put the priming fluid (meths) in the cup under the burner, and while you can overfill the cup, or indeed miss the cup all together, spilling isn't much of an issue.

I can't help you with where to buy kerosene, but the omnifuel will run well on colemans fuel, which unlike the UK where it sells for silly money, (which is why we tend to use Aspen 4t or Panel wipe) Colemans is cheap and readily available in the US, or so I understand.

Here is a link to a recent post of mine showing my Omnifuel/Trangia/Omnidawg set up
http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=71546&p=876070#post876070

Finally, have you fully explored making best use of the Trangia with the spirit burner, you can preheat the burner in cold weather and sit the stove on a bit of insulating mat to stop the cold from the ground slowing down the burn, also be careful about cold winds cooling down your pan. I have wrapped some insulating material around the upper windsheild in very cold windy conditions, which has helped reduce heat loss from the pan through the windsheild. And, with a bit of practice with the simmer ring you should be able to get a reasonable simmer. Or a bit of steel mesh as heat diffuser between the pot and the burner is an option.

I hope I have understood all the questions you asked.

Graham

 

[rik_uk3]

30 minutes to boil a litre of water is wrong, should be much quicker than that. What alcohol are you using? Rubbing alcohol is too weak you need something like HEET which is easy to find in the states and works well and will simmer well with the simmer ring.

However, I've mounted various of burner in a Trangia and they are superb. You don't need an expensive kit, a small purpose built one works just fine. This will work on various stoves
http://www.venturesport.co.uk/venturesport_product.asp?parseid=11670 you can get them in the states I'm told, about 10 bucks.

The omnifuel is a super stove and the conversion only takes a minute so I would not recommend the purpose built Trangia burner. The purpose built caps by Bernie work well but as others said they take a lot more pre-heating, but they are very well engineered, I don't mind noise so mine is in a draw.

 

[wincel]

Thanks a lot all for the information and insight. I guess with that new knowledge we'll stick to the Omnifuel and try to get the adapter for the Trangia then.

rik_uk3: We bought "denatured alcohol" as that was the only one I could find here after searching for a loooong time (REI, Military surplus etc.). Tons of Coleman and other gas things though. Never heard about HEET before, was difficult enough to understand what the translation of "Spiritus" would be which we used in Germany for it.
Since we've been three adult hungry people for the last trip and will be for the trip to Yosemite too I'm not too fond of repeating the exercise from last time. Even if there is stronger alcohol we've decided for the "Now something serious please" option.

 

[wincel]

Btw: According to that one there is not much difference between Heet and Denatured Alcohol?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOLoLx5lF6U
The problem in Death Valley was that it was extremely windy, altitude was around 7000 feet and we had small pots that would hold only 500ml. So getting the stew done from freeze dried was a pain.

 

[Ch@rlie]

Just as a point of info, most likely too late now... If you purchased a new Trangia, the yellow plastic bag that the actual burner comes supplied in, has all the translations of the type of fuel you can buy from each country printed on it. I was going to scan and post it here from the one my daughter has tio return to college, but it apears they have thrown it away! typical...

another interesting point I have just recalled... http://zenstoves.net/Stoves.htm on this page is a rundown of all the fuels and info ect. just keep scrolling down you'l see it.

 

[wincel]

Thanks Charlie. Yes we still have the yellow bag. Maybe one should look at the small blackish symbols on it one day.
I have another question as I just ordered the Omnifuel now and the adapter for the Trangia: Since Coleman is so cheap here, how do I use the Coleman bottles with the Omnifuel, do they just screw in or do I need something else? Anyone knows. Before the stuff arrives I can't check unfortunately.

 

[myotis]

the Trangia: Since Coleman is so cheap here, how do I use the Coleman bottles with the Omnifuel, do they just screw in or do I need something else? Anyone knows. Before the stuff arrives I can't check unfortunately.

The Omnifuel should hopefully come with a 600ml fuel bottle that you fill from the coleman bottle.

You need to use the proper fuel bottles to withstand the pressure when you pump up the stove (these are made by Primus, Optimus and MSR, and probably others I don't know about)

If your omnifuel isn't coming with a fuel bottle, then you will need to buy one.

Graham