Acquired at the CCS/CPL Newark meet. Awaiting stowing in the car for the journey home … The box graphics. The Sterno fuel can graphics. Turned wooden pot lid and ‘speed’ control knobs. Three grooves, or identations, in the can locate it in the stove frame and add to the rigidity of the assembly. Components stowed in the pot. Assembled. Reading the Wickipedia entry for Sterno … … I wonder if the use of it to get drunk on prompted this warning on the can? I’ll try a modern gel fuel in the stove and will report back on whether the ‘Speed’ attachment lives up to its name. John
Cool stove. I'm very curious about how the "heat intensifier" is supposed to work - when you try out the stove with new fuel, can you post a flame shot of the intensifier in action? It looks like a cylinder that sits about 1/2" below the pot and extends down into the sterno can a ways.
Very interesting. I see with a search that just a couple of these have shown up before here at CCS. Sterno is endemic in the US but mostly as chafing dish fuel. The Sterno stoves I've seen myself are the collapsible stamped steel type. Nifty thing.
I've got the same thing with a different pot. Got the kit because the pot looked good, and they are. Back in the 80's I used Sterno a lot BPing.
Very interesting. The first stove I used backpacking in the mid-70s was a folding Sterno stove, not nearly as nice as this one you have. I was extremely jealous of some friends that had the Svea 123.
Simplicity itself, although the wooden knobs add a touch of refinement! Interestingly Sterno is now ethanol based for the UK market at least, I imagine it is now denatured with a non-toxic bitterant like relative newcomer Fire Dragon, and all UK Meths and bioethanol. Gelling agents have quite possibly changed too since this stove was produced, but I doubt any of the compositional changes will have much of an impact on the real-world performance of a slow and steady stove...
John (@presscall ), I wonder if there is some confusion over "Cafing gel." One is a fuel, and the other is a type of moisturiser. As the fuel type comes in tins very similar to "Sterno" and may have been used in stoves where the branded "Sterno" was no longer available. Si
@Big Si Well, Si, there’s the stuff that burns less hot sold as hand sanitizer (isopropyl alcohol) and the fuel sold for food warmers with ethanol as the main ingredient. I’m willing to accept that the latter is up to the level of the methanol-based ‘classic’ Sterno. Sterno’s probably been reformulated these days to substitute ethanol for methanol. Here’s what I’ll be trying out with the ‘heat intensifier’, ethanol gel. John
Having done a reasonably rigorous test with and without the ‘heat intensifier’, using a measured amount of water at the same temperature each time, the same quantity of fuel each time and having ensured that the burner returned to room temperature in between burns. Firstly, since I didn’t want the distinctive graphics of the ‘Canned Heat’ label to be scorched or lost, I soaked it with tepid water and carefully removed it, preserved to re-attach to the fuel can eventually when I’ve played with the outfit some more. So, two measures of two fluid ounces went in the pot each time. Without the heat intensifier, it took eight minutes for the water to reach a rolling boil. With the heat intensifier, it halved the boil time. The burn was noticeably livelier. I believe it’s down to the chimney effect of the ‘intensifier’, increasing the air flow to the fuel. Visually, not much to see in daylight because of the characteristic of alcohol flames, but I’ll wait until nightfall to capture the appearance of combustion with and without the device.
Thanks for doing the experiment! Did the chimney stick down and touch the sterno, or was there an air gap? Sounds like the latter. If it doubles the heat output - which is pretty good, considering - I wonder why more sterno stoves don't do something like that?
@PWDolkas Yes, there’s an air gap, you can clearly see it here … Why don’t we see the attachment today? I can only suppose it’s because Sterno’s primary business model focuses on keeping food warm and not minimising a time for water to boil, when any number of lightweight isobutane stoves can outperform their ‘heat intensifier’ add-on. Light fell somewhat, so here’s the Sterno without the attachment … … and with it It seems appropriate to conclude with Tommy Johnson performing Canned Heat Blues …
I’m glad you dug that up, John. I was going to mention the band, Canned Heat, named after the song, and it’s reference to Sterno, but restrained myself… Tony
So I'm guessing the chimney works by channeling the air in from the sides to the center, where it mixes with vaporized alcohol from the sterno? Once the chimney gets hot, all the combustion would take place in the chimney (or just at the exit): What's the gap between the top of the chimney an the pot bottom? 1/2"?
