[pct-l] Pop can stove

[sfox@eskimo.com (SFox)]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2001 09:00:58 -0800
From: Scott Henderson <SHenderson@mednet.ucla.edu>
To: sf <sfox@eskimo.com>
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Pop can stove

Steve,

I dropped off pct-l a while back when the political wars were too 
much for me to handle. Be that as it may, a friend sent me your 
recent pct-l post concerning your modifications of my Pepsi stove and 
Photon's stove.

I, too, have modified my stove a bit so that the stove is more 
durable (i.e, resistant to the development of flame leaks) and the 
flame burns a bit cleaner. I haven't posted the changes to 
Troubadour's pcthiker.com site yet because I am also looking for 
aluminum cans with the right diameters to significantly simplify 
stove construction and improve appearance. The cans I seek differ in 
diameter by about 1 mm, thus one can fits over the other without 
having to cut slits in the outer can. Such cans are available in 
Europe but I haven't located similar ones here in the US.

PEPSI STOVE MODIFICATIONS

1. The burner holes are made with a sewing needle 0.025 inch in diameter.

2. The inner cylinder is glued into the circular groove of the top 
section with a thin bead of J-B Weld, a heat resistant epoxy 
available in auto parts stores and hardware stores. Be careful not to 
seal over any of the burner holes. Use toilet paper or paper towels 
and Q-tips to wipe off excess J-B Weld from the inner cylinder.

3. After stove assembly, the slits in the top section and the 
junction between the top and bottom section are covered with a thin 
coat of J-B Weld. Let the J-B Weld cure for 24 hr. File off the high 
spots.

4. With the J-B Weld, the foil tape is now merely cosmetic. However, 
without it or heat resistant paint, the stove is pretty ugly. But 
then again, beauty is in the eye of the beer holder.

Step 2 and 3 can be performed in the same sitting or in two sittings 
separated by at least 6 hr.  Alternatively, Step 2 can be performed 
after Step 3 as follows. With a finger, match stick, or toothpick 
force J-B Weld into the junction between the inner cylinder and the 
lip of the circular groove in the top section. Use toilet paper or 
paper towels and Q-tips to wipe off excess J-B Weld from the inner 
cylinder.


SCOTT'S SIMMERING STOVE

In addition, I have a smaller stove design that has the capability to 
simmer. It doesn't heat (or consume fuel) as rapidly as the Pepsi 
stove or Photon stove but IMHO this can be an advantage unless you 
are trying to melt snow. Further, the diameter of the burner hole 
circle is slightly smaller than the Pepsi stove so the flames don't 
lick around the sides of the pot as much. I am also looking for the 
perfect cans for this stove, but am less likely to find them.

1. Follow the Pepsi Stove instructions with the above modifications. 
In addition, make the top and bottom sections of the stove out of 5+ 
fl oz juice cans (Tree Top apple juice, V-8 juice in the small cans, 
etc.) or Red Bull cans. The top section is 20 mm tall. Make 24 to 28 
burner holes. The bottom section is 30 mm tall. The inner cylinder is 
160 x 35 mm and the slits are 142 mm apart. The air gaps in the inner 
cylinder are 47 mm apart. The inner cylinder can be made out of a 12 
oz can.

For a smaller stove, make the inner cylinder 30 mm wide, the bottom 
section 25 mm tall, and the top section 17 mm tall. This size is 
large enough to make a 2 cup meal (one Lipton dinner) in the summer, 
but the size in the paragraph above is be better for duets or hungry 
solo hikers.

2. The simmer ring is made from the top of an empty V-8 juice can (or 
other 12 oz can made by Ball, Inc). Wiggle the pop top back and forth 
until it falls off. Using a utility knife (or other sharp knife with 
a thin blade) enlarge the pop top hole. Follow the indentation in the 
can top to cut out a parabolic oval shape which almost reaches from 
one side of the top to the other. The shape is like that formed by a 
fan belt stretched between a small and a large diameter pulley. Cans 
made by Ball have this nice indentation to use as a guide. File the 
parabolic oval hole smooth with a half round metal file. Then release 
the can top (thicker aluminum) from the rest of the can by cutting 
the side wall (thinner aluminum) of the can all the way around the 
perimeter about 2-3 cm from the top. From the cut edge of the side 
wall, cut down to within a few mm of the top. Tear the thin side wall 
away from the top and you have a simmer ring, not unlike a miniature 
pie plate.

The simmer ring is typically used after the dinner has come to a 
boil. Place the simmer ring upside down on top of the large central 
hole of the stove. The outside edge of the ring should cover the 
burner holes which forces the alcohol flame to come out the parabolic 
oval hole of the simmer ring. It takes a minute or so for the flame 
to come to a new low flame equilibrium.

Caution, the simmer ring gets too hot to touch with bare fingers. You 
can place or remove the simmer ring with multi-tool pliers or 
alligator clips, or rivet on a mini handle made out of lightweight 
material. The truly handy can add a pivoting cover for the parabolic 
oval hole so that the hole size is adjustable. However, I don't think 
its necessary.

Hope you find this useful. I'll try to get one of these mini stoves 
to the pct kick off via Read Miller. Feel free to post this note to 
pct-l.

Yours,

Scott Henderson