too hot burning mini trangia

[rhall]

Hi
I'm trying to wieght reduce using my trangia.I bought the little stand for the burner and used my trangia bowl on it with al foil lid and wind shield.It was beautifully light and compact.It was ok for a cuppa but for a meal it got really hot and wouldn't suffocate with the simmer ring when finished cooking. Flames going everywhere and no way to get the burner out of the stand.So I had to let it burn out (gald I was not it the tent!). I'm trying to find a safe light weight arrangement to use in a vestibule ( i know we're not meant to cook in a tent but I have been for 20 years, can't cope with sitting out in the rain while cooking) .Any suggestions? Basically it seems to burn too hot after awhile.The other result was that it used lots of fuel.

[alliecat]

Hmm, that doesn't sound good. If the burner didn't go out with the simmer cap on then it must have been leaking somewhere. The seals on trangia burners do wear out eventually and they leak fuel around the top. Sometimes if the burner has been knocked around a bit there can be small leaks too. Metho is very good at finding even tiny gaps to leak through. You can buy just the burner separately if you wanted to replace that. You might even be able to buy just the o-ring seals - I'm not sure. As for the burning too hot issue - it could be that the wick in the burner has broken down and disintegrated. (There's a wick inside the trangia burners - it lasts a long time, but not forever.) Also, if the windshield was not effective, the extra oxygen could have made the stove burn hot, but it seems more likely to me to be a burner on it's last legs.

If you are looking for an alternative lightweight metho burner you could have a look at (my personal favourite) the packafeather stoves. Also check out minibull designs. There are others around too, such as the caldera cone system (see also here) which is probably the most efficient metho burner.

Some people do use gas to cook in their vestibule, so if you wanted to go that route, check out the lightweight gas stoves such as the Snow Peak GST-100 and the (identical?) Kovea stove whose name escapes me.

Good luck!
Alliecat

[corvus]

G'day rhall,
IMHO you cannot go past Gas Burners to save weight ,most Kovea type weigh under 90gm as opposed to your Trangia 110gm ,Sigg Fuel bottle 500ml =113gm 500ml metho =458 gm stove stand dont know as I dont have one say 100gm that comes to 781gm as oppoesd to 90gm gas burner and 335gm of full gas cannister 425 gm give or take
You also have real control with gas and can boil or simmer ,the only downside is the empty gas containers (they can be refilled somewhere in Aus just not here in Tas ) however I believe it is the cleanest fuel to use .
corvus

[rhall]

thanks both of you.
Allicat ,I had no idea the burners can wear out.Mine is 20 years old and 12 of those years it had frequent use. It does extinguish ok in the trangia stove though. I'might just ditch the 200gm lid( I don't fry food) replace it with al foil.Plus ditch one of the 100gm bowls.I'll check out the links too,I've seen the lighter trangias too.
Corvus, my problem with gas is the once use only cylinders.Can they go into recyled rubish in Hobart? Intersting that it's considered a clean fuel,maybe I could convince myself!

[Franco]

When I was experimenting with metho stoves I found out that I could reduce the size of the flame and heat output by adding about 15% of water to the fuel. Some have disputed that however this reminds me of a line from Groucho " do you believe me or your eyes ? "
I gave up on my designs once I tried the Caldera Cone. However that is best for boiling not cooking.
Franco
BTW you can adapt the cone to gas if you have a remote canister stove.
That is if you get the Ti version, might be too hot with the aluminium cone. Keep in mind that with a lot of gas stoves you use about 20% more fuel at full blast compared to half (that is to get the same boil...)



See "Caldera Cone and gas" thread

[Orion]

Cleanest fuel to use in what sense?

The exhaust of either is composed of only CO2 and water provided combustion is complete. One comes from non-renewable fossil fuels, the other... well it depends. Effect on climate change? Also fairly complicated.

Don't know about Hobart but if you have aluminium recycling they ought to accept it. Take a church key to the top of the canister and punch a hole in it to defray fears of explosive gasses.

[Singe]

Personally I've always been an alcohol user - and also use a spirit stove to cook

That said I'm just about converted to gas by discussions here - particularly as I'm trying to cut the fat from my kit...

Anyway, to complicate matters even further - metho is generally provided in a readily recyclable petro-chemical plastic container, while aluminium is one of the most energy-intensive materials there is I don't think it's a biggie though - compared to the typical wasteful lives we lead in Western world, whether we choose alco or gas doesn't register. Put into the context of our day-to-day lives, we're better off spending the mental energy thinking about the packaging on the stuff we buy between Sunday night and Saturday morning... If you think gas is environmentally worse than alcohol but want to cook in the fly - then ride a bike to work on Monday instead of driving and you will be ahead. Going bush for the weekend is so low impact compared to what most people do that I feel almost ridiculous talking about it!

[Orion]

True enough, Singe.

Then again it could be that corvus just meant that it doesn't involve messing about with liquids, no potential for spills, etc.

[juju]

My Trangia is nearly 25 years old (not a lot of use in the middle years, packed away for ten whilst having babies - me, not the Trangia). When I started using it again a friend bought me a new O ring for the burner cap (from BCF) as mine had perished - I didn't realise you could get them. She also got me a new strap (mine had got too close to the heat). While I love the clean soundless cooking of my Trangia, and it''s so fast, and it smells good even, but it could be lighter. I took it overnight last week with one bowl and no frypan and have ideas in my head for an alternative to the stand. I didn't realise they had a wick in the burner either. Only sometimes do I have trouble putting it out, perhaps overfueled. What I do is cover the flame with the simmer ring and push it down with the spondonicles and just blow out any extra leaking flame. They blow out surprisingly easy, like blowing out a candle.

[rhall]

Great to hear all this tahnks..I'm continuing to experiment.I've decided the stabiltiy of it for safety of cooking in the vestibule is worth the weight at this stage.I'm tempted by the new lighter ones but don't want to fork out 100$ considering all I'll be using is one bowl and the shields.Anyone know if you can buy the parts separately?

[juju]

I have seen the smaller parts in BCF (O ring, spondonicles, bowls, burner, lid and simmer lid, strap). I like the look of the mini and at 330g is great compared with the 720g of the 27 (complete). On their site they advertise a Trangia Ultralight and Ultralight Hardanodized which they say will be 20 - 25 percent lighter. I'm not keen to buy another Trangia as another friend has had to return two burners in the same amount of years due to bad workmanship - the crimped edge between the jet holes and the bowl came apart on both. They just don't make things the way they used to. I'm pondering the way to make my own mini stand and go with making the one I've got lighter by leaving the bits I don't need at home. eg I've heard a frozen pie dish makes a good lid for the saucepan instead of taking the frypan.

[rhall]

Thanks Jugu.I havent tried the full mini...it cost allot so I just got the stand,plus the rest of it it had some sort of thight lid which would be tricky to remove when hot and a smallish bowl.
I have a friend successfully using a stand a metalworker fabricated for her years ago (same worker long gone) I imagine it would cost quite allot to pay to be made.She uses and alfoil windshield and lid.
I'm waiting till Xmas now to continue with my experimenting.The separate bit's I'd buy if I could get them light weight are what I call the shields...the upper one with the fold out bowl suuporters and lower one with holes in it for the burner.Bad news about faulty workmanship.

[Rolfe]

I had the same problem with the mini Trangia stand. Would not simmer or go out when capped. You know there is no problem with the stove itself because it works fine on the original stand. If you look at it you will notice that the metho is boiling. My theory is that the mini stand has insufficient airflow past the stove and so after a while the stove reaches the boiling point for the fuel- which I would imagine is fairly low- and once the fuel is boiling, it gasses off the alchohol and the fumes ignite which, in turn, keeps the stove itself at boiling point. Even with the closed simmer ring the fumes still push out. Cutting air holes around and under the stand and raising it off the ground didn't stop the problem. I made a folding stand from a coat hanger and use a disposable baking tray as wind shield which works fine. I have also resisted the move to gas but should probably do it.

[wazzawalkin]

Thanks rhall, for asking this question,

I have also experienced the boiling Metho problem.
I have not used the stove for a while now so my recollection is a bit hazy.

Since it didn’t happen every time I used the stove I am not sure whether this was due to burn time, altitude, with/without windshield or fuel mix (Trangia does suggest adding a little water to the Metho).

I got the Trangia as the local secondary school uses them and I felt it was best for my eldest to use the same fuel and burner at home as on schooltrips.
But as it’s turned out he has always cooked in large groups and not needed the smaller stove.

I look forward to others input on the subject.
Wazza.