The following are photos of my Vulcano. I thought this thing would be difficult to fix, but it's a lot simpler to work on than my Desca was. But, it's also a little more complicated. In typical German fashion, it appears to be over-engineered, but when you look at it, it isn't! That's what makes it simple!!! It needed the tank to be cleaned out, and a little paint. Otherwise, it works great! I only paid $24.94 for it on EBay!!! Best $25 bucks I've ever spent!!!
I really like alcohol/meths/spirit stoves. They get hotter than one might first expect. The only problem is the cost of fuel. Somehow it seems higher per cup of finished coffee than Kero would be, but i have no laboratory data to base that on. My old, not yet fully fettled Punker single burner will perk a pot of coffee faster than my rather pricey, modern, glass top stove at home. piper
piper you are correct the alcohol stoves sure pump out the heat. I have a few myself and I enjoy the clean burning of them too. No fumes. I do believe its more pricey to burn the alcohol than white gas or say kero. Kero being the least expensive and white gas being next. No hard numbers but I believe it to be true.
I've accumulated several alcohol stoves. I have two turm backpack stoves, a Punker single, a Norma 26 and a Phoebus, that is it's big brother, two Swedish surplus mess kits with the Trangia burners, and a Trangia 28 I found at a garage sale for USD$2.. I take the Punker on Mt. Man Rendezvous' even though it's not period correct because I'm old, stove up and can be a wee bit cranky until I've had some coffee in the morning and more often than not a cup of herb tea or a bowl of soup before beddy bye. Alco stoves are dead quiet, emit no appreciable light thus keeping the Dog Soldiers off my case. I'd hate to have to kill or maim a couple of 'em just because they were trying to be helpful. The local Gendarmerie might not be all that sympathetic either. Gerry
I've noticed with this Vulcano, there's a discernible hiss when it's burning. But, my 2 Descas are quieter (unless you can hear the gurgling whilst they're burning...). But, when compared to either of my Svea 123s, these things are silent! Both have pros and cons, which is why I have both types... redundancy is a good thing!