Mint, boxed, stove and with a gas cartridge that was unused prior to being emptied and shipped to me in the UK - I refilled it with butane when it reached me The cellophane outer wrapping had already been peeled off the bottom flap of the box when the seller, or maybe someone else, had checked the contents, which was naturally my next step on unpacking the shipping carton Gas cartridge details Stove is certainly pristine Here's that peculiar rubber 'bud' which is spiked by the inlet tube to connect the gas cartridge up to the stove I fired the stove up, but took the precaution of using the windshield and burner from the red Hank Roberts clone in this picture As the instructions warned, initial flaring was to be expected thanks to the liquid (wick fed) fuel feed It settled down to a decent flame though once the burner had heated up One I'll be posting in the 'Frankies, Mods and Hybrids' Forum is how I uprated the HR clone to give a much better flame A couple of clues - a jet with a bigger orifice (left) ... ... and a mixing tube with bored out air inlets John
Reading about the low-temperature capability of the Hank Roberts and Optimus Mousetrap stoves (take the same type of cartridge) in "Stoves for mountaineering" posted by Snowgoose, here ... Stoves for Mountaineering ... I resolved to test its capability myself, but in the absence of low ambient temperatures in England, mid-October, I popped the gas cartridge in my freezer for a couple of hours It got so cold, I'd to take care my fingers didn't freeze to it when I took it out of the freezer and installed it on the stove I really wasn't expecting to get much out of it, but the stove lit effortlessly, a bit subdued at first ... ... but getting much livelier within a couple of minutes, in spite of the gas canister still being cold to the touch How come? It's the wick feed, and the fact that the 'spike' fuel inlet pipe that's inserted into the cartridge's valve transmits conducted heat from the stove to the inside of the catridge. Very clever, and very effective This is performance I've not seen beaten by a butane stove, even with the cartridge inverted and in liquid-feed mode. The Coleman Powermax is a special case because of the high propane content. I've developed a refilling rig for the Hank Roberts gas cartridges (one I'll be featuring in the 'Frankies, Mods and Hybrids' column), so I'm set to enjoy this exceptional stove powered by its original cartridge for some time to come. John
