I have a brand new xgk ex. I took it on a 4 day trip into the sierras. After 3 days of cooking meals the dam jet clogs!! I on purpose took unleaded fuel with me from a gas station to see how it will perform. So much for the reliability -- seems more like amarketing scheme more than anything else -- "when your life depends on it, blah blah blah ..." Anyone else had a similar experience? Should I just use white gas? And so much for the fat generator tube --- what good is the fat tube when the bottleneck is the little hole in the jet that gets clogged?? After the clogging, I cleaned the stove and it burned like ajet engine, only to stop after 1 hour from more clogs .... I feel like taking the stove and tossing it through REI's window ---- Extremely disappointed... any advice?
I do not own an XGK EX but do own an old XGK. I only run it on clean kerosene (using the correct jet size). You'd be better off running it on Coleman fuel as gasoline HAS additives which may gunk up the jet hole in time. Some members have had the same problem running on gasoline for extended use and should be only a last recourse if CG or kerosene is unavailable. Even brass stoves require maintenance pricking/cleaning the jet even with the use of recommended fuel. Since your not satisfied with it, just return it and get your money back rather than getting cited for damage to property and a misdemeanor.
Thanks RonPH ---- that's some clever advertizing they use. With coleman fuel, they can claim all the reliability but then so can the regular Whisperlite. I bought the cheapest unleaded gas. Maybe if I had bought Supreme Unleaded, the results might be different? Anyway, experimentally, MSR's GOD stove, failed miserably in the sierras with regular gasoline. I can only imagine how they keep these stoves going on Everest and other mountains in 3rd world nations.... The problem is that coleman fuel is $10/gallon. I was trying to save some $$ by using reglar gas... thanks,
Well, MSR never claimed it as a GOD (of stoves) although some use it only as a figure of speech. The EX as far as cost is concerned is on the high end. Why would you want to use crappy gasoline on it. Its just like you bought a brand new MASSERATI sports car and buying el cheapo gas for it rather than the "premium" gas. A few $$$ more will save you some headaches buddy. Then again, you learn from your own experience. And Matukat may have a point there.
that has been my experience with MSR in general, models aside. A buddy and I both got dragonfly stoves, mine clogged the generator body ( permanantly ) and his was used on petrol, his burner bell shattered. We managed to coble together both stoves into one... kinda working stove. That's what he's using now. It's the detergents in the fuel. "gasoline stoves" from back in the day are also not advised for using modern petrol. Thank god for coleman fuel.
The only reason I took gasoline with me was for experimentation and see how it works with unleaded gas. I mean, I don't wanna keep it as a dainty darling --- also MSR advertizes it as the multifuel stove so I wanted to see how well that works --- I amgladI did the experimentation and got my own results --- Now had I been on Denali and this shit would have happened, then I would be frozen pretty fast!!
I'd use only Coleman fuel, but I also hate the advertising for more types of fuel. If bought at REI, they will take it back. Duane
I have never burned unleaded fuel in anything except my car. I think that is what Nature intended. Use Coleman fuel and quit complaining.
My advice for the difficult problem presented here would be to no longer use pump petrol. Inasmuch as in all my years here at CCS I've never read anything good about pump petrol in stoves, I'm neither surprised nor indignant, whatever the maker's "literature" might say.
Dear Sir, I have wondered what your actual experience level with stoves has been, since you did not see fit to share that information with us when you first joined us here at CCS. After reading what you have had to say after your abuse of the MSR X-GK EX in the Sierra recently, I now know that you are either a rank amateur, with little to NO real experience with stoves, and especially the X-GK, or, with all respect you have coming to you, you are a fool. It’s one, or the other, Sir. Any true outdoorsman, or woman, who is genuinely interested in stoves, what makes them tick, and how to keep them running as designed, would NEVER have done what you claim to have done on your just –completed trip to the Sierra Nevada. OK, let’s talk about your myriad mistakes, shall we? Assuming you’re actually still reading this, and wish to learn from your own mistakes, here we go: First and foremost, NO multi-fuel stove, not the X-GK, nor any other, was designed to purposely burn US unleaded gasoline as a steady diet, PERIOD! All multi-fuel stoves were actually designed to give the user a choice of fuels to use in a true emergency situation, when NO other, cleaner burning fuel is available. Second, IF you were going to use unleaded gasoline by choice, which I’ve already told you was a very poor and uninformed decision, then any rational, sensible, and experienced outdoorsman, would have experimented at home with that stove and that fuel BEFORE using it in a situation that might prove unsafe or dangerous. Third, IF you would have asked about using unleaded gasoline in ANY stove, any number of long-time CCS members from here in the US would have warned you against setting out with such an unproved stove/fuel combination. But, being an “x-gk god”, you obviously thought you knew better than to actually ask serious and deeply experienced stove folks for an informed recommendation on that. Bad decision, and one that only an amateur, rank newbie, or fool would have made. Fourth, and last, IF you did consciously choose to do the unwise thing, and burn US unleaded gas in the X-GK, or ANY OTHER STOVE, you should have been dismantling and cleaning your stove every single day of your trip, to keep it running with such a poor, additive-laden fuel as US unleaded gas!! HAD you done that, you would have found that the X-GK would have done just fine in taking care of you when using such a noxious and dangerous fuel. But, you obviously did not take care of that elemental and easy servicing, and so your stove gave up on you, just as you did on it! I, for one, can never take you seriously, Sir, as you have been tested, weighed, and found seriously wanting in knowledge, experience, and wisdom in the wilderness. I believe that you are, in actuality, a figment of your own imagination, with a huge dose of Walter Middy tossed into the mix. I would advise you to sell off your outdoor gear, stoves included, then to stay home and watch National Geographic on the "idiot box", as you are quite apparently not up to the requirements of being out in the wilderness and making wise decisions about how to go about it. I would further recommend that anyone reading my comments should weigh the facts in all this, and see if what I've said doesn't ring true. I believe it won't take more than a few moments contemplation to see this fellow for what he really is, which is a troll, pretender, and pot-stirring trouble-maker. NOTE to Mods: Please do not delete my comments on this situation, as I honestly believe that they may help some new person to learn that NOT to do when using the X-GK, or any other stove. I posted this, not to bust this fellow's chops, but rather as a public service for our CCS readers, and to stand up for the true facts about using unleaded gas in the X-GK, or any other stove. US unleaded gas is horribly dangerous as a stove fuel, and WILL CLOG UP YOUR STOVE, should you fellow the lead of "x-gk is god". Thank you, and may God protect us from the inexperienced, and unwise, in all things. Take care, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc (who is wise enough to know BS when he reads such tripe as the fellow has tried to pass off as "fact" here at CCS!)
I have all kinds of stoves clogged from cheap unleaded that I didn't do. I buy 'em and they come that way. Doesn't matter what stove it is either. I've found that if you use unleaded in any MSR stove, you have to clean it there on the spot right after that use. Coleman suitcases that I find that are completely clogged have the characteristic white dust from unleaded packed from tank to jet tip even in the Dual Fuel versions. I've received 5 or 6 XGKs and a couple of Enders 9061s in the same condition. I won't tell you about all the lanterns that I've acquired in the same condition. Don't let the advertising fool you!!! Buy the super unleaded if you have to use it, but otherwise use CF or Kerosene, those will burn nice and clean for a lot longer between cleanings! DragonFly on CF and/or Kerosene, ~20 hours and going strong. If you do use unleaded, like I said before, clean the stove right after use, or you won't be using it for very long. I had an M-1950 that I test burned for several months on unleaded. It stopped working after about 10 tankfuls. I cleaned it up and it went right back to working fine again. Happens to the best equipment. My 2 cents worth is don't use unleaded unless you have to in a survival situation, and then clean it after each use. Have I said that enough times??!! sam
The XGK EX is a multi-fuel stove but the manual clearly states that use of fuels other than white gas "lead to rapid stove clogging, requiring more frequent jet and fuel line cleanings." I always ask to see the manual or download it before I buy technical equipment so I can scan it to find likely limitations of use or complexity of maintenance. More important than that, as Doc Mark indicated, is to test equipment thoroughly to learn its quirks before depending on it.
The road to outdoor nirvana is lined with the bodies of well meaning egomaniacs who thought they could outsmart mother nature with cool gear. Mike
Hey, Guys, Thanks for jumping in on this topic. The misinformation put out by "x-gk is god" simply cannot stand without correction. His thoughts are wrong, his methods non-existent, and his incorrect conclusions need to be set straight, which we have all joined together to do here. Good on you all! Randy, you crack me up, Lad! Of COURSE it's "Mitty"! I wrote it that way when trying to quickly type out my thoughts for this thread, but my computer did not like that, and preferred, instead, the double-D spelling. When will I learn NOT to trust what my computer tells me in that type of stuff??!! In truth, I never use anything like "spellcheck", and probably make more than my share of mistakes in that, either from outright misspelling a word, or bungling the typing! Hey, I learned to type in the Army, when 22 words per minute was all it took to get past the course and become an "official US Army Clerk/Typist"! I'll bet the standards are a bit higher these days!! Thanks for the grin, Randy. Much appreciated! Take care, All, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc
I hate to belabor the bad idea... but... Here goes; Has anyone tried using a good dash of "HEET" denatured alcohol in a stove tank of pump gas to see if it helped reduce the clogging and gumming up? I'm not advocating the use of the gasoline fuel, just wondering if there might be a chance that if you had to use pump gas, you would get better results. XGKisgod- I still think you should change that name! Really, if there were a stove you had to assign the moniker of a deity to it would probably be this one: I'm no expert, but... "Even a man who knows nothing knows something if he knows that he knows nothing"
