Priming Alcohol Stoves

"Priming" is a practiced technique to know close for alcohol stove users.

What is Priming?
Priming is a form of a oestrus earlier the heat.  Basically, when y'all "prime" an alcohol stove, y'all oestrus the stove thence that the stove volition move at normal operating temperature together with business office properly.

Take a await at this stove.  This is a unopen jet (pressurized) type alcohol stove.
A unopen jet type alcohol stove.
Notice that flames are coming out of the "jets" simply about the rim of the stove.  Pressure within the stove causes vaporized alcohol to stream out of the jets .  What pressurizes the stove internally?  Heat.  If y'all oestrus alcohol, it vaporizes, together with that vapor pressurizes the stove.  In enterprise for this stove to move properly, the alcohol has to move hot plenty to vaporize.  How arrive at y'all instruct the alcohol hot?  You prime number the stove.

Generally the most effective means to oestrus the alcohol within a stove is to lite a lav underneath it.  Here's some other unopen jet stove.  Notice the pocket-sized pan I've placed underneath the stove.  Do y'all come across the blueish flames coming out of the pan nether the stove?  I'm priming the stove.
An alcohol stove beingness primed.  Note blueish flames coming from the priming pan.
To prime number the stove, I house alcohol inwards the priming pan.  I lite the alcohol inwards the priming pan on fire.  I allow the alcohol burn downward a bit, together with and thence equally the stove heats, vaporized alcohol starts coming out of the jets.  Sometimes, the alcohol coming out of the jets volition ignite without farther intervention.  Sometimes y'all receive got to lite the alcohol coming out of the jets.

Now, amongst some stoves, y'all pretty much ever receive got to prime number them to instruct them to work.  The ii stoves inwards the inwards a higher house photos are similar that.  They actually don't move until they instruct hot plenty to vaporize the alcohol, together with they actually don't instruct hot plenty to vaporize the alcohol unless y'all prime number them.

Other stoves don't commonly demand priming.  Take a await at the 3 stoves inwards the photograph below.  These stoves are opened upwardly jet (semi-pressurized) stoves.  They volition generally lite correct upwardly if y'all lite them inwards their see opening.
Some opened upwardly jet type alcohol stoves.   This type of stove mostly doesn't demand priming.
Cold Weather Considerations
Now, notice that I said that opened upwardly jet type alcohol stoves generally don't demand priming.  When it gets cold, y'all may demand to prime number a stove that doesn't commonly demand priming.  Now, if you've got a picayune pan that your burner volition fit into, together with thence that inwards my visit is optimal.  I role the lid from a tin of tea that y'all saw inwards the priming photograph above.  If your stove has a cap, similar a Trangia burner, together with thence y'all tin laid the stove on the cap (remove the "O" band first!) together with role that to prime.  In my experience, using an object smaller inwards diameter than the burner does non move real well.  It's ameliorate to role a pan that your burner volition fit into.
Left:  H5N1 Trangia burner onrush move yesteryear of its ain lid (with the "O" band removed!), gear upwardly for priming.  Right:  H5N1 pocket-sized pan that the burner volition fit into.  The pocket-sized pan is a much ameliorate option for priming.
Preference Considerations
I mostly prefer opened upwardly jet type burners over unopen jet type burners.  That's my preference.  It's non similar a stove that requires priming is automatically a bad stove.  I simply detect that it's harder to set fuel into a unopen jet burner, together with to me priming is a flake of a hassle.  I haven't constitute that stoves that require priming are ameliorate than stoves that don't, thence why become to the hassle of priming?  An opened upwardly jet burner is slow fuel together with slow to fire.  You simply dump fuel into the broad opening together with nail a check or flick your Bic.  Works for me, together with that inwards full general is my preference.  If a actually peachy stove came along that required priming, I'd move interested inwards it, but individual would receive got to telephone telephone it to my attention. Stoves that require priming aren't an surface area I'm actively looking into.

Efficiency Considerations
Generally, priming is inefficient.  You're using fuel to oestrus the stove rather than to oestrus your dinner.  With a stove that requires no priming, 100% of the oestrus produced tin become into the cooking.  Generally.  Now, of course of written report the bottom describe of efficiency is how much fuel does it accept to achieve a given cooking task, e.g. boiling ii cups/500ml of water.
For example:
Stove "A" requires priming but tin boil ii cups of H2O amongst 0.5 fl. oz/15ml of alcohol.
Stove "B" does non require priming but takes 0.75 fl. oz/22ml to boil the same ii cups of water.
Since stove "A" tin achieve the same describe of piece of occupation amongst less fuel, stove "A" is clearly to a greater extent than efficient than stove "B," priming or no priming.  The total of cooking y'all tin arrive at amongst a given total of fuel is the bottom describe of efficiency. 

Still, equally a practical matter, I receive got constitute that stoves that require priming are typically less efficient than stoves that arrive at non require priming.  Absent to a greater extent than precise data, I would select a stove that does non require priming if I were looking for an efficient stove.

HJ

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