Of my 55 or so stoves (a modest group compared to many), I'd say 7 or 8 are petrol burners. All the rest are kerosene. I use a Svea 123 with Sigg set on most backpack trip; a petrol burner, of course. And 9 times out of 10 I bring a keroburner, too. The 00 and a Svea 121 are regulars.
Kero doesn't soot, unless of course you are using it as a pre-heat medium. I've never used kero to pre-heat a stove, in fact I won't even use methyl hydrate because it has so much water in it it's not really hot enough usually. I use what we call denatured alcohol. Denatured alcohol is made up of 90% Ethyl, with 10% methyl added to keep people from ripping off the gov't tax services by drinking it, the methyl poisons you, "take that you tax cheaters". Stan
I prime with denatured alcohol as well. I was also referring to soot on pots and pans. I guess a bit of dishwasher soap may help with it.
If you don't preheat sufficiently or if the tank is overfilled, liquid kerosene will come out of the jet when you start pumping, and that will soot. There might be some sooting if the jet is worn. Burning diesel instead of kerosene may also soot (though apparently some stoves do fine with some diesel). Otherwise, there should be no appreciable sooting. ....Arch
I'd agree with Arch....if you are getting soot on the bottoms of your pots and pans, you've got an over rich situation. Too much fuel or too little air supply or both. The same sort of thing happens to a big old antique diesel. Work it too hard and the fuel delivery system exceeds the air delivery and you get lots of black smoke. (quoting my '49 Lister CS who hates being in that situation and complains bitterly). Stan
About to try Kero for the first time, sorry to all for changing the subject of my original question. Do I need to let the tank on my Optimus Hiker + dry out completely after I empty it ? It has white gas right now. I don't think so but thought I'd ask
