OK. after reading this old topic... I owned...disowned...now have purchased one of these Muka stoves for the second time...should arrive in a week or two. I've got the Nova and Dragonfly as well after I sold my first Muka. It made me respect that all these stoves are unique and have some subtle and not so subtle engineering compromises that differentiate them. The Muka is an epic stove but not for everyone...of course and no device is perfect. I guess I have discovered this as I have gone along and was too quick to give the Muka the flick. I do think though that a low simmer is difficult with this stove unlike the Nova or the Dragonfly...I know this now and can live with it. The Muka doesn't have to be perfect to be worth owning. It is a pretty cool stove and quite unique.
I will. I have a directory on OneDrive for stove photos. I should get the Muka next week or maybe the following Monday. It takes a while via auspost standard parcels. It has been great having the Dragonfly and the Nova. It was a bit frustrating...I think with 20/20 hindsight, there was probably material inside that took time to get out with the Dragonfly much worse in that regard but blockages happened on both. They are both running well now. The Nova goes well on kerosene and burns very powerfully using alcohol for priming. The Dragonfly I don't like on kerosene as the priming with alcohol takes too long. The Nova primes quickly on the kero. The DF I just use Shellite or unleaded although I will keep to Shellite until I'm sure it is all good. I really like the DF. The pot supports are better than any other similar stove, the Muka included. The fuel line on the DF is a bit short but it is a minor inconvenience. The bottle flip works perfect on the Nova and does work also on the DF if the bottle is not near full but the short line means care must be taken. I couldn't help myself getting another Muka... it is a work of engineering art in typical Japanese fashion and built like a swiss watch. I know it isn't fully field maintainable, even the Nova has a bottle valve that doesn't look like it is serviceable. The DF has a plastic pump, a concept I think is fine but a metal pump is less likely to physically break. I know what to expect as I owned one and probably didn't really give it a fair go. I appreciate maybe that one stove isn't enough...a fringe opinion maybe here on the forum... A few photos here of the Optimus Nova at night doing some toast...it actually isn't hot enough really to do toast using the DF but the Nova on kerosene is a bomb...in a good way. The Muka will do things like toast I am sure even better than the Nova as it is so powerful.
I got rid of my Muka, too much to remember to do to operate it. Good luck using it. I'll keep my FF, DF stoves. Duane
Interesting...although I found it simple stove to operate but it is unique in the way it works. I think most newbies would find the Muka much easier to operate than a DF or Nova or similar. It really requires very little judgement whereas a DF does definitely require a bit of experience and some care to operate well. I should say I am a 'newbie' even though I did have some experience with my Optimus 8R. I found the Muka dead easy to use with almost zero learning curve. The DF though and Nova did take me more time to get to grips and become completely comfortable with it.
Muka II hasn't arrived yet but some shots from Muka I. I brought it biking and camping a few times and used it to make lunch and even an espresso using my manual MiniPresso with pods.
First impressions are well...it produces a large amount more heat than a Nova even on kerosene let alone the Dragonfly. I can boil a litre of water in 3:39 while 7 - 8 minutes is what it would take on the Dragonfly. It is also painless and clean to use. There is some flair on lighting but similar to other stoves. Yes, it takes some more pumping for sure than the Dragonfly and some people won't like the extra pumping but the positive is the ease of lighting and cleanliness. No soot. Cooking I did some porridge and a few cups of tea and some raisin toast...got a few pix. It runs much hotter for making toast too than the Nova which is much hotter (on kero) than the DF. Very quick. You can feel the extra heat it puts out. It isn't all noise and not a lot of power like a Harley...more like a Kawasaki ZX10R...lots of power and just a nice exhaust note. The nicest thing is it is so easy to use and clean...no fiddling and no separate priming steps. It is also very quiet...relatively, it isn't exactly silent but not loud as the Nova or Dragonfly. I will do some more things such as pancakes. I know simmering is not the forte of the Muka though and it can't compete with the DF for simmering. I'm using Shellite at the moment too rather than unleaded although they state unleaded (but not premium) is OK.
What needs fixing on your dragonfly? My dragonfly would match your Soto and thats really the maximum heat you can get through the bottom of a pot
Objectively...no...the DF isn't nearly as powerful. It is just a fact, not unless you maybe put a bigger jet in it than the supplied DG. Not that I trust All documentation but according to MSR and Soto, it is at least 50% more powerful. The Muka even puts out more heat than the Nova running on kerosene and that is noticeably hotter than the DF. I have run the Dragonfly on kerosene and shellite/unleaded so that is two different jets and the DF has been cleaned a number of times. My Dragonfly runs really well. The Muka should put out similar power to the MSR XGK. There are advantages to the Dragonfly such as the pot supports being bigger and better with better support for the burner on soft ground and the simmer on the Dragonfly is superior. I have the stoves, at times, running side by side so I can see, feel and measure the differences. This morning I just boiled up water for tea and it would have been half the boil time of the Dragonfly...very very fast. I would say the Nova and Dragonfly running on shellite are about the same.
I just update this thread as things happen. One thing that hasn't happened are blockages. My earlier Muka that I sold never blocked either. It is nice to know that it just goes. I am finding the heat output really useful. I can boil in half the time and things like toast in the wire toast rack illustrated earlier in the thread is turning out to be particularly useful for raisin bread that I have trouble doing in a normal toaster due to the width and the fact that it can be messy. The Muka really does shine here as the toast pretty well browns quickly before your eyes. The Nova on kerosene also does a good job of toast but not as quickly as the Muka. The Muka heat output is in a league of its own. I know it can do bacon and eggs and porridge. I don't expect it to challenge the DragonFly or Nova for low simmer but it does everything else so well and it is also ultra compact. The other marvel really is just how clean the burner is...spotless and I have used it a fair bit the past week. It is also relatively quiet. I love other touches like the high quality pump with a solid metal pump handle with a great grip. It is just impeccably well engineered. The extra pumping is definitely a con next to the DF but I don't let the pressure out. I just run the flame out on 'Air' and then to 'Stop' as soon as the flame is out and in this way, I just need to top up the pressure before the next use. The line from the burner to the pump has the lovely push connectors that are of similar quality to those on the Optimus Nova...in other words 'brilliant'. I love the dial and general ease of use too. The connector for the fuel line also have rubber caps just like the Nova and I think that these are important. On the DF rather than providing these covers they have an additional inline filter at the bottle end of the fuel line which is simple but I'd prefer covers. Another point I had with the Dragonfly is that it doesn't empty the bottle but leaves about 100mls behind. I will have to test this again but I had this happen then I read it on a forum that another user of the Dragonfly found the same thing. Not a showstopper but the Muka and my Optimus Nova will run the bottle almost to dry with very little fuel left after burn out. It is a nice feeling to know that the Muka is always ready to put in my pack as the fuel line is so easy to keep clear of fuel with the 'Air' function. I feel spoilt for choice with the MSR Dragonfly, the Optimus Nova and the Soto Muka but they are all quite different. I'd say with kerosene I'd much prefer running the Nova but on petrol the Dragonfly has an edge. If I want maximum power the Muka rules.
Is there any testing anyone would like me to do on the Muka? I know it doesn't simmer low like the Nova or DragonFly so I haven't tested it so far say simmering a small pot of noodles...I just know it doesn't go low enough...in fact even the Nova only just simmers low enough although a small pot on any stove is the simmer challenge. The Muka can do a steak or a fry up well enough. It's super power though is just the huge amount of heat it can output plus the totally clean combustion as it doesn't require priming in the same way.
hi all, i do a lot of motorcycle camping and so like petrol stoves, easier and cheaper to buy fuel and if i run short of petrol in the bike i've usually got a 10-30?km more range if i transfer from the stove's fuel bottle to the bike's tank. years ago i used a sigg firejet (fireball) and it ran very well until it started blocking so you'd be in and out of the jet, eventually killing the special base washer recently bought a new soto stormbreaker and i love how hot + clean it burns. you've got to realise that while americans may joke that "cleanliness is next to godliness", for the japanese it's no joke....and all the complexity of the soto petrol stoves and pumps is completely acceptable to the japanese because it's CLEAN anyway, i recently
hi all, a muka experience i do a lot of motorcycle camping and so like petrol stoves, easier and cheaper to buy fuel and if i run short of petrol in the bike i've usually got 10-30?km more range if i use the petrol in the stove's fuel bottle years ago i used a sigg firejet (fireball) and it ran very well until it started regularly blocking so i'd often need to be in and out of the jet, eventually killing the hard to get special soft base washer.......i was climbing a lot at the time to switched to much faster and less hassle gas cans back into long distance bike touring so recently bought a new soto stormbreaker, with spare bottle, and i love how hot + clean it burns. you've got to realise that while americans may joke that "cleanliness is next to godliness", for the japanese it's no joke....and all the complexity of the soto petrol stoves and pumps is completely acceptable to the japanese because it's CLEAN anyway, also bought a cheap used muka that apparently only needed the lower pick-up hose on the pump had an old broken old msr pump so used the hose from that added fuel and pumped it all up only to find fuel leaking from; the pumps's control knob, the pressure tit so using the stormbreaker's new pump tried again, but this time fuel leaked from the fuel line generator join:o( this was annoying because of the 3 items, bottle, burner and pump, only the bottle could be used and i already had a spare... so it all went into the 'too hard box' a bit later i was on aliexpress looking for some NBR nitrile sigg/msr bottle cap o-rings and for about the same price saw a small box of nbr o-rings that ranged from tiny up to the fuel bottle cap size i needed, so i bought that they've arrived and today and even though the small o-rings don't seem exactly the same size, swapping the 3 generator join o-rings for new seems to have cured the generator/fuel line leak but pumping up the stormbreaker pump and turning the control knob to start didn't result in an fuel gas being released at the burner after some disassembly a wad of unburnt carbon was found between a small mesh filter and the jet end of the generator tube so now at least i have a smaller, lighter burner to carry instead of the stormbreaker i think blockages of the muka generator are common as it seems part of their spare parts kit, but i don't mind cleaning it out between big bike trips will try a flame photo in the dark will eventually also see if the small o-rings will fix the muka pump leaks
The generators are a consumable rated for 20L of fuel by Soto but if you can keep it running, as you have done, then why not. You can buy the generators separately too and they are less than half the cost of a new burner and pump unit. I like the Muka. It does run like a bomb (hot and it has never blocked on me) and it runs well on unleaded...so far, which other stoves don't. Unleaded can foul the orifice on stoves where the orifice is exposed and I think it happens when the flame sits on the orifice sometimes and then carbons up badly which requires cleaning. The Muka burns fine on unleaded and it is 1/6 the cost of Shellite. I use the Shellite for the MSR Dragonfly. I run kerosene in my Optimus Nova which I wouldn't use unleaded petrol in either.
the burn after the next trip will take the generator off again and maybe pull the mesh filter out, while stopping the soot from getting to the jet is good, it's not much use if it collects it in an inaccessible corner until blocked with the generator mesh out the soot should build instead on the easy accessible back of the jet mesh
Interesting. Thanks for that. I guess it will eventually block if I use it enough. The burn looks good.
just back from a bike camping trip to a remote valley in nz the re-o-ringed muka generator worked well with the stormbreaker pump now will have to try and fix the leaks in the muka pump with new o-rings
I think some people just like to have fun with gadgets...like the person who took that Muka pump apart. It is almost cheating just ordering a new stove.
