@Marc Exactly, jump starter power in your pocket. I note the next generation Biolite now has an integral battery. @Rickybob, what exactly is wrong with Trowvegas????
Houston - the Tegger has landed! I had to go to Swindon but I got one and I am impressed. It is a big old beast and not cheap but it ain't cheap either, if you get my drift. The quality is very good - some solid sintered alloy parts and the plastic casings are sturdy AND it runs on cheapo gas carts - forget about charging phones the downward draft of warm air on the gas cart really does counter the evaporative cooling of the fuel. Not taken it apart yet, but I had a squint up the arse end and I see what looks like a pressure regulator - only seen those on propane stoves before, if so that might further enhance the performance, perhaps even at altitude if you have the strength to lug it up a hill. I predict this will be the 'must have stove' at glasto this year, so expect to see a raft of them cheap on ebay when the mud n' sex fest is over. Is the Tegger the Sigg Firejet for the millennials? I rather think it is.
Well said @Rickybob. Glad you like it. My test of it outdoors today clinched its worth for me - but the windshielding has to be sorted.
just happens I got a ridge monkey kettle for crimbo and the tegger is just the stove to try it out on got a reasonable boil time ( indoors ) the obligatory 123 to give a sense of scale nearly 4lbs with a full gas cart and 15 inches long time to get busy and time for a shot of medicine to steady me mitts wot's that! looks like a flamin' com-pu-ter! found a button on the side of the battery case that lights up the little lighty things the heatsink, fan and motor assembly above that the lithium cell (3.7 volts and 3000mAh) the bottom of the 'hot' plate has a thin layer of soft graphite in the front is the magic sandwich that does the voltage from heat (and cold) stuff - one side is covered in Teflon the other side a thin layer of graphite the valve assembly - not sure what's going on in there, but it looks clever the flat top of the heat sink where the graphite side of the thermo whatsit cell sits looking at the cell edge on - it's about 5mm thick thanks for starting this thread M - it's given me an idea
@Rickybob Brilliant strip-down, it’s saved me a job I was getting around to! What’s your view on the quality of the components? In particular, the fan and fan bearings, since it’s constantly on the go. Can’t wait to hear what that is. John
@Rickybob Well done sir! I do love your descriptions. @presscall I'd imagine the fan would be fine long term. Even the cheap Chinese fans in our computers run for years, ages. I haven't shut my work computer down in 5 years now and it's fans are still plodding along. Even the most enthusiastic user won't put anywhere near that kind of use on their tegstove. I'd wager they'll be in more danger from stray bacon grease and spilled tea than usage and age.
@Marc Very helpful comments about the fan, thank you. You’re right, I hadn’t thought of the computer application. Without the fan to blow the warm air over the gas cart and maintain burner strength the Tegstove would be just another butane stove with diminishing output in use and in cold conditions outdoors. The TEG too needs to match the fan’s life or there’d be a dead fan with no source of electricity. What you said earlier in this thread about TEGs powering equipment in remote monitoring stations suggests an excellent life for those too however. Reassuring. John
Looking at Rickybob's excellent photos, the fan motor looks different than the computer muffin fans. @Rickybob Do you think the fan motor has brushes? @presscall I can comment on the durability of my customer's products, but keep in mind there are TEGs and then there are TEGs. There's also a lot of stuff between the TEG and the fan....
the motor is certainly brushed, but it looks to be good quality the heat sink is a work of art - I am stumped as to how they make it - not extruded as I first thought, it might be a lost wax casting, but it looks expensive I have not seen any component that looks like a 'weak link' overall I am inclined to think it is a good quality product before I put it back together I will smooth off the top of the heatsink - there are a few small bumps and I will think about applying some heat sink compound, but then again the graphite seems to be doing a good job - so why mess with it?
Burner looks like a Jetboil burner: https://jetboil.johnsonoutdoors.com/stoves-systems/mightymo-cooking-system
I am obliged to post a warning regarding potential fuel leaks from the teg stove the problem is with the valve design in the centre of the plastic fuel knob is a small round cover pressed into place prising out the cover will reveal the head of a phillips set screw which retains the plastic knob on to valve spindle should you look you may well find that the screw is not fully tightened and it left the factory that way! why so? simply put fully tightening the screw will pull the valve spindle out of it's seat causing fuel to flow to the burner I was recently handed a teg stove where turning the valve to the off position made no difference to the flow of fuel and the burner continued to run the only way to use the stove was to fit the fuel can and immediately light the burner - and to extinguish the flame the fuel can had to be removed NOT AN IDEAL ARRANGEMENT! I took the valve apart and I must report that the valve design is not satisfactory the fuel valve is a tapered bung which sits in a polymer seat and is pressed in by a helical spring compressed by the retaining collar the bung is drilled to permit the flow of fuel when required SHOULD THE RETAINING COLLAR LOOSEN THE VALVE SEAL WILL BE LOST AND FUEL WILL FLOW TO THE BURNER - REGARDLESS OF THE VALVE POSITION!! the fuel leak can vary from the faintest whiff of butane to the example described above I would warn anyone who uses a teg stove to be wary of this potential problem and not to keep a fuel can in the stove when it is not in use! I have not had a problem with my own stove and it may be an issue with machining tolerances - but the retaining screw is loose on that one so it is a problem known to the manufacturer! I must say I am not impressed with the valve design
Holy crap! Indeed, thank you for the warning! You may well have just saved someone from sending their shed into orbit.
Well observed Rickybob, you prompted me to have a look for myself. I don’t see that it ever should though. It’s a threaded cap in a threaded hole and the spring tension that presses the taper of the valve against the O-ring seal seat acts as a thread lock. Even so, it would have to unthread completely to release the spring tension and cause the valve to break the gas seal. That last photo shows the lubricated O-ring seal and in the case of the example of the stove that wouldn’t shut off my first thought would be to check on its condition and if in doubt replace it. I tried to reproduce the situation you described Rickybob of tightening up the control knob retaining screw completely but it didn’t lift the valve off the seat and open the valve in fact. Here’s the valve/knob assembly. Assembled. I think there may be another reason for the retaining screw being left not completely tightened up. When I did, although it didn’t lift the valve off the O-ring, breaking the gas-tight seal, it did cause the control knob to bind on the stove housing on the mating surfaces I’m pointing to with a screwdriver here. I smeared a bit of silicone grease on those surfaces and left the screw slightly unscrewed, then pressed the plastic cover cap back in place. The Tegstove instructions say, I interpret that as recognition that the O-ring seal could potentially fail in such circumstances. Unlike conventional butane/isobutane stove valves the Tegstove shut-off isn’t done by a brass conical tip screwing into a brass valve seat, creating a positive shut-off. It’s solely about that O-ring seal against taper of the the sprung-loaded valve spindle. John
I noticed issues with the supplied propane burner as well. but as I am going to convert my TegStove to Kero/paraffin, I didn't think them so major. However, the burner I got from Canada (China, rather) has very little latitude. An eighth turn brings it from a sedate simmer to a raging welding flame (I'm not kidding.) The propane burner is thrown in as an afterthought -- the whole arrangement is less than optimal, but it's a freebie, and I think most members of this forum have enough sense to to 1) pour cold piss out of their own boot and 2) arrive at a solution that won't burn the tent down. The basic design of the TegStove is quite elegant and stripped-down. From reading the PDF documentation, the original intent of this design was for some type of alcohol stove.
I believe the helical spring is the cause of the problem in normal use the spring can act like a clutch - applying a torsional force to the retaining collar and slowly unscrewing it with the retaining collar backed out one turn and the retaining screw over tight the conical face of the bung will no longer seal against the seat of the valve and fuel will leak through the valve to the burner the faulty stove described above now works fine - with the retaining collar tightened up and the retaining screw loose the valve is sealing as it should - enough at least to shut the burner down a thin walled 14mm socket should reach the retaining collar allowing it to be checked for tightness without dismantling the stove the real fault here is the lack of a thread on the valve spindle to provide a positive sealing force at the valve face now I am done - getting out before I 'evaporate'
You’re right @Rickybob and I hadn’t entirely grasped what was happening in that the O-ring seal prevents leakage out of the valve, but of course it’s the fit between the spindle taper and the matching polymer tapered valve core that prevents gas getting to the burner when the control’s set to ‘off’.
