Denatured alcohol and Svea 123

Hi all:

I just bought a new Svea 123r and thought I'd try an experiment with it.

The first time I filled it I tried burning 150 proof everclear. The stove boiled off the alcohol and separated the water. The stove never lit.

I emptied it and let is sit a few days, and tried lighting it again, this time with denatured alcohol.

It's acting like it "wants" to ignite, and it did start, but then began sputtering and extinguished itself.

So I'm wondering if perhaps there is some residual water in the wick.

The stove should burn denatured, right?

My guess is that I may have to take the thing apart and either dry the wick or replace it.

Any other suggestions?

Thanks in advance...

 

only naptha/Coleman fuel

 

nexo,

Is that the setting sun or did the safety relief valve pop open on your tank?

perhaps it is a good thing that the jet is too small to give proper air/fuel mixture with alcohol. If this was allowed to cook there is no telling what high pressure the alcohol could have created in your tank.

As L_A said, Coleman fuel/White gas only.

please read this manual

http://katadynch.vs31.snowflakehost...oad/optimus/Downloads/Manual_Optimus_Svea.pdf

you will learn to love this little stove as you become more familiar with it.

AR

 

nexo,

Alcohol, in whatever form is no good for a a Svea. It will burn:
-Coleman fuel
-Naphtha (hardware stove)
-Sunnyside stove fuel
-Crown stove fuel
-MSR super fuel

Avoid unleaded automotive gasoline except in an emergency.

HJ

 

Alcohol is not volatile enough and would require a much bigger jet. You might get it to run with a few non reversable mods but it will never run on a cold day unless you have the mini pump.
Its not worth the effort. Naptha is cheaper and designed for the stove as is

 

Thanks for all the help and great replies. This is my first Svea, and it's good to know what I can/can't burn in it and what's is possible.

My last stove was a WhisperLite and it came with two jets...one for kero and one for white gas.

It doesn't sound like it's worth getting an extra jet for the Svea and widening the jet so other fuels can be burned...

 

There's a lot more to it than just jet size. It's just plain not designed for alcohol.

HJ

 

But once you come to grips with it, I bet it turns into your 'go-to' stove. This isn't uncommon. Now you get to sort a pot n pan set for it.

 

Ditto!
Have fun, be safe

 

For the sake of satisfying my curiosity, what does one do when traveling in countries where white gas isn't available?

Is there anything else the svea 123 can burn, besides unleaded gas, which is suggested only as a last reserve?...

 

Tell me what fuel is available in your destination country, and I'll tell you which stove to take. If fuel availability is a problem, a multi-fuel stove is the answer. The Svea 123 (and its cousins) are specially designed for white gas, including its variants such as Coleman Fuel, Naphta, Panel-Wipe, Aspen 4T (and probably some more names for the same thing).

Yonadav

 

A bit more heavier than the 123 is the Optimus 111T truly multi fuel stove uses gasoline, coleman fuel, kerosene, alcohol. I would suggest that one if weight is not a consideration.

Ron

 

Thanks for the advice. I should have read this thread first! Picked ups Svea on the side of the road. A guy a few streets over was cleaning out his garage. I have a Trangia, and filled my Svea with dented alcohol but it just sputtered. Well, I have a can of white gas so after I clean it out I'll give it a go.

 

It may sputter for a while yet, until all the alcohol is forced up out of the wick.

....Arch

 

I bought a fleabay deal cheap for a 123r. When it arrived it would not light so a fettle ensued,
only to find it had alcohol in the wick. I let it dry out and inspected for a burnt top end, there was none.
For insurance all passages verified clean and functioning as were the seals. Reassembly and ignition produced
the blue flower with the purple center that I find quite beautiful as it shimmers.

 

Ok, what more to it is there besides jet size? A spirit pan to preheat the burner? A different burner head to maintain more heat in the burner assembly so that the alcohol preheats before it hits the jet? Prepressurizing with a pump? None of that seems particularly prohibitive, so what else is there to it, beyond that? Not trying to be a smart-a**, I am just trying to learn, because I have a 123r, I don't have another liquid fuel stove and I want to be able to run the 123r on alcohol. Thanks for any further insight.

 

Oxygen. The Optimus 111, triple fuel stoves w/silent burner require a restrictor to use denatured alcohol with a bigger jet of course.
Duane

 

What does the restrictor do? How does it improve the stove's function when using alcohol?

 

Air restriction.

 

It reduces the ratio of air (oxygen) that mixes with the fuel. Alcohol as a fuel needs a higher mass flow rate to match the heat output as well. White gas/gasoline is 14.7:1 for stoichmetric combustion, ethanol is 9:1 and methanol is 6.5:1.