My MSR XGK is from 1989. I was just cleaning it up and refurbishing the parts. Has anyone tried the longer shaker jets in place of the older short non-shaker jets despite MSR's warning: "These Jets are NOT retrofittable or interchangeable with otherXGK models [that pre-date 10/1994]"?
Maybe not enough space for it, jet different shape? Why do you want to do this? I've never had trouble with mine from '89. Routine maintenance is all. Duane
I finally found my answer. This makes perfect sense. It's a 22 year old post from an obsolete forum "sporttoday.org"! http://sporttoday.org/37_af3abe362573de3a_1.htm Here's the post: "MSR XGK's Shaker's and Pan Wires by william hun » Thu, 30 Mar 1995 00:28:15 If you have an older MSR XGK stove and have been cursing the pot stability because of a bent frame, get the newly designed wires from a MSR dealer and stick them in. They are a great improvement over the old 4 swivel wire system. You simply remove all four of the old swivel wire and then push in the new 2 wire system when you use the stove. They retail for $6.00. Also, if you want ease and speed of jet cleaning, you should get the new shaker jets. These jets have a little weighted wire that cleans the jet from the inside when you shake the stove up and down. You can even do this with the stove running. Even though MSR says absolutely "DO NOT DO THIS" you can put the new shaker jets in the older XGK stoves. The problem with doing this it that if you pull the fuel line wire out you must either remove the shaker jet first and reinstall after the wire or hold the stove upside down while removing and reinstalling the wire. The newer stoves are redesign so that the shaker weight can not fall down into the wire cavity. If the weight does fall in, then you can not cram the wire all the way back in, unless you invert the stove so the shaker falls back into the jet. Also you may damage the shaker or get it stuck in the wire cavity if you let it fall down in there. Anyway, I'm not recommending you do this, but I have done this with mine and it works fine. The new repair kit with the shaker jets and all sorts of other parts retails for $12.00. Of course for $80.00 you could just by a new MSR XGK II with all the new good stuff. Willie" Thank you Willie! I'll try and get back to you as to how it works. Hikerduane, I've used my XGX on many mountaineering trips in countries like Pakistan, Morocco, Bolivia, etc. where dirty fuel including kerosene, gasoline, diesel and/or a combo of those requires constant fiddling with the pricker wires and jet cleaning. This would not be a concern if I just used clean, modern, reliable white gas. I'm a big fan of the shaker jet because as soon as I upgraded my old pre-shaker jet Whisperlite fuel line to a newer shaker-jet compatible Whisperlite fuel line, the difference has been night and day. The shaker jet function has been a lifesaver. My XGK stove is a working stove whose duty is to melt snow at high altitude and keep me alive. If I posted a pic of my old trusty pre-shaker XGK, some of you collectors with your showroom quality specimens would be aghast. It's been tossed in and crushed innumerous expedition sleds and backpacks, the malleable metal bent and deformed and bent back into shape (yet the fuel tube has always remained unscathed). It wobbles in it's base as the holding pin was likely ripped out by me in my early 20s with a pair of pliers while ignorantly trying to gain access to it's innards, or crudely operated on in glacial basecamps with no tools in a fit of frustration to get it working again (this movement likely prevent the fuel tube from getting stressed when crushed in a climbing pack). The useless sparker was removed ages ago (but I still have it!) and the fuel line is held to the stove housing with a piece of twisted bailing wire. The old plastic yellow and black pump is partly melted from a fuel leak from a faulty o-ring, before I realized such maintenance was crucial in preventing such malfunctions. Yet the pump still works superbly today (and the metal plunger shaft is reassuringly solid compared to it's flimsy plastic gray/black and present-day duraseal successors). Now that I'm more mechanically inclined, methodical, and patient, I'm able to troubleshoot and fix things with precision that was absent in my youth. This forum has been a surprising find and amazingly educational! I'll report back when I test out the new jets. PS: When I climbed Denali 17 years ago I took two Whisperlites with two pumps instead of the XGK and they worked fine.
Thank you for the additional info. I have a few shiny stoves, a couple shelf queens and quite a few ratty or disreputable stoves and even more in working condition. I've never had the money to climb Denali, went to Alaska 7 or 8 years ago for a bush pilot bp trip. Not rich enough to tour Europe. Enjoy. Duane
