Too-Cool Stove Cures Getting the Most out of Your Canister Stove
By Keith Morton, GORP Gear Expert
How do you keep stove performance hot when canisters go cold?
Gas canisters get colder than their surroundings during use. They can cool down to the point where the fuel no longer evaporates fast enough in the canister to feed the burner adequately. (It's the same principle as when alcohol evaporating on your arm before an injection causes cooling).
The canister of the Primus Himalayan Multifuel can be inverted to allow a liquid feed to the burner and prevent evaporative cooling of the canister
The effect is at its worst when a canister is nearly empty — there is not much liquid left for the cooling effect to cool, consequently its temperature drops rapidly to the point where the flame goes out.
Here are cures for"Too-Cool Canisters":
Use larger size canisters whenever possible.
Heat smaller quantities of water and allow a pause between them for the canister to re-warm — don't burn the stove continuously for a long period.
Use"remote burner" stoves that feed the fuel as a liquid from the canister through a flexible pipe to the burner. No evaporation is occurring in the canister to cool it down — it takes place in a "preheater" or "generator" tube that passes through the burner. Peak 1 Xtreme and the Primus Himalayan Multifuel with its canister inverted work this way.
Use canisters containing iso-butane instead of regular ("normal" butane, n-butane) because iso-butane continues to change to gas at lower temperatures than n-butane. A percentage (10-30%) of propane mixed with the butane further improves performance (propane continues to change to gas at much lower temperatures than does iso-butane). However, because the propane leaves the canister faster than the butane, the percentage of propane diminishes as the canister empties.
Use full canisters when high output is needed, use up nearly empty ones for simmering. This is not necessary with the Primus Himalayan Multifuel if the canister is used inverted, and the Peak 1 Xtreme. Their canisters do not cool and they produce high performance to the last drop.
Keep canisters warm. People hankering for hydration have been known to do desperate things to heat their gas canisters to hasten a life-giving hot brew. I won't elaborate on these in print for liability reasons! However, warming the canisters in an occupied sleeping bag or stuffed down your shirt or pants is a help, though canisters that are nearly empty will very quickly cool down again in use. Primus instructions describe placing the canister in a shallow container of cold water, which prevents the contents cooling below 320F.
from Away.com
Powered by Trip.com
