Woost2 said:
Back from my inaugural travels with my Prius. I like the size and stability of the square butane stove and the first bottle worked OK. I never got it lit again after that one. I tried three of the other bottles I had. All lit with gusto, went out immediately and never lit again. The spark was snapping. Any thoughts on this?
I was at Chisos Basin in Big Bend so ... maybe 5000 feet. Temps into the 30s at night. I mention that because people were saying "oh, it might be too cold/high for butane" but that sounds ridiculous. People backpack with butane. I did try again when I had a day in the 80s and still nada. I intend to buy another bottle and see if it is just bad luck with gas. It was the cheap stuff from the Asian food store. Korean made, I think.
Another issue was that the vaguest puff of a breeze impacted the flame. Which wasn't very robust even when I had one. I tried various wind blocking methods and was able to eventually get soup hot, but jeez ... what a pain. Need to find something that actually does the job blocking wind.
Anyway, had a great first trip and managed without much cooking. Good thing I've never had a coffee jones.
sounds like it might be a faulty piezo igniter.
You can purchase folding metal wind screens to put around the stove.
I bought a dual fuel stove from Gas One, it is wonderful, excellent quality, better than the average lower cost butane stoves. Quality reflected in the pricing which is higher than Coleman and other brands. If the piezo igniter on it ever goes bad I can purchase that one part as a replacement instead of replacing the whole stove.
When you light these stoves you have to turn the gas all the way to high to get them to light, then you can immediately turn the flame down to the level you need. If there is not a lot of fuel left in the can they are unlikely to ignite properly and stay lit.
When you are done cooking with a Gas One and turn the burner knob all the way to off the butane canister will disconnect. That is a terrific safety feature of this company's stove design because you don't have to remember to do that second step of disconnecting the bottle. The next time you use it just push down on the lever on the front to reconnect the cannister and then turn the knob all the way to high, it will ignite and then immediately turn the flame lower to your desired flame height.
If I plan to use it several times that day and the days following that I don't bother to take out the canister and stand it upright. So far I have not noticed any leaking canister issues, but of course I could one day end up with a defective canister.
For longer storage of a partly used bottle and for storing the new, unused bottles I do stand them upright.
One thing to note as the fuel begins to run out the size of the flame will somewhat begin to decrease because there is less pressure inside the canister. At first it is not too noticeable but the you might be suddenly thinking, what the heck, I don't have much of a flame now! A new person to using a butane stove might not be expecting to see the flame size suddenly begin to drop off but that is perfectly normal and not a defect of the stove. It is simply a result of the gas inside of the canister getting low. If it gets too low for what you are cooking change canisters and set the one with just a little gas aside for doing something like making toast or keeping something on a low simmer for a few minutes or even just use it to heat up the room a little until the flame goes completely out. The canister should ALWAYS be completely empty before you dispose of it.
I have purchased gas canisters at an Asian store and did not notice any difference in the quality of the can or the contents or the volume of gas in the can compared to cans I purchased at the Big 5 sporting goods store. But just like many things, sometimes a faulty lot of materials might end up in your shopping cart be it in a store front or an online shopping cart. But the majority of companies go out of their way to replace the item or refund your money unless their policy states no returns or refunds.
