Quote: Originally posted by Bob61 on 02/5/2018
New to me too but the video was recorded in June 2014.
Many camping stoves in my opinion are quite dangerous. I used to have something like the one shown below which is an accident waiting to happen when you have a pan of boiling liquid balanced on top of it, and the one I had the gas canister couldn't be removed or sealed until it was empty.
Oh yeah, 2014. .. So as ours may well have it then,I can dig my extra large frying pan from out of the cupboard now.......joke!
You are correct about all types of gas stoves having an inherent "issue" of one sort or another...
We had(probably still have, somewhere?)my Dad's 1970s single Campingaz stove(similar style to the image you posted)- top heavy and unstable and with "pierce-able" , non-sealing canisters....
If everyone who is now using a "suitcase" stove, was still using them, then I dare say that we'd be hearing about a lot more "issues"...
Of cause, none of which excuses poor quality or possibly faulty and dangerous items being foisted onto the unsuspecting public.
Quote: Originally posted by Bob61 on 02/5/2018
New to me too but the video was recorded in June 2014.
Many camping stoves in my opinion are quite dangerous. I used to have something like the one shown below which is an accident waiting to happen when you have a pan of boiling liquid balanced on top of it,
Easily solved by a canister stand. Any backpacker could tell you that.
That's true Ewen C.....but if a stove is deemed to need an additional stand in order to make it stable, then surely that stand should be included with the stove?...
We(or rather my Dad) had a clip on stand which fit his old 1970s Campingaz stoves I mentioned up thread, but as it opened out flat, into a cross, it was still wonky on anything other than a perfectly flat surface.
(When I "adopted" them, I drilled holes in the feet so it could be pegged)
Well I looked at the instructions for my 10 year old green Pyramid F4440 suitcase stove.
This has the interlock to prevent connecting the gas while the pan stand is not flipped correctly and also specifies the over pressure disconnect if the gas cylinder overheats so I assume this must have been standard for a long time.
I've used it over the last decade for casual camping, cooking while I've rebuilt 3 different kitchens, supporting barbecues and most recently to boil water in my shed (for nice tea) and for cooking stinky fish outside. It's usually lit for less than a minute in a very large shed so no ventilation concerns.
It's been faultless in the years I've owned it, however after taking a close look at it today, it will be having a close encounter with a large hammer, then recycled.
A close look at where the gas can fits shows two 'O' ring seals. One around the nozzle of the can which is depressed and one around the 10mm or so housing the can nozzle is in. The larger of these seals has a chunk missing, most likely from age and 10 years of can installation and removal.
This makes it a risk for escaping gas and uncontrolled flame as there is no pressure reduction at the canister outlet.
Interestingly, the instructions say use outside or in a well ventilated area with minimum ventilation of 5M^3 per hour. It also says keep away from flammable items, 20cm from wall and 1 meter from ceiling when operating the device.
Most of the 'use outdoors' instructions are due to the significant risk of carbon monoxide poisoning in a confined space and it's much easier for companies to say 'use outdoors only' than to try and explain where it can be used.
No gas appliance should be able to burn uncontrollably due to predictable failure or foreseeable human error as the risk of clothing ignition is significant even in the great outdoors.
A good prompt from Joshi Bear, if I hadn't read this post a few days ago, I wouldn't have been thinking about it and wouldn't have looked at the seals on my elderly stove today. I've checked them before and they have always been fine. (still no hissing)
If you've had one of these stoves for a while, and used it without incident then it's still worth checking the gas can interface as a lot of butane can escape from these cans very quickly in the wrong circumstance. What can I say... misspent youth and all that
Quote: Originally posted by pepe63 on 02/5/2018
That's true Ewen C.....but if a stove is deemed to need an additional stand in order to make it stable, then surely that stand should be included with the stove?...
We(or rather my Dad) had a clip on stand which fit his old 1970s Campingaz stoves I mentioned up thread, but as it opened out flat, into a cross, it was still wonky on anything other than a perfectly flat surface.
(When I "adopted" them, I drilled holes in the feet so it could be pegged)
The screw in jetboil type stoves have been used all over the world in all types of extremes and on all types of surfaces and most users wouldn't be using a massive pot or pan on them to overbalance as they wouldn't be carrying such a large thing in the first place. They aren't exactly meant for car camping even though the bluet was originally marketed as a picnic stove.
Suitcase stoves are stable but are also more likely to have users using large pans with the danger of overheat. They aren't going to be carried up a mountain but used in a car camping situation. In such a situation a two burner stove running off a gas cylinder is probably safer or a stove like the primus njord. Unfortunately the njord is expensive to run.
I do use the butane canisters on my multifuel and my trangia gas insert in the summer as they are dirt cheap. I am, however, very aware of the construction of these cans and their flaws so check the connector/adapter and the orientation of the canister.
At the end of the day, any stove is user beware. Take the correct precautions and the user should be OK.
Hi .... I've had the same problem this summer with this type of gas burner, mine is a seal problem. Twice the gas compartment has caught fire after 3 mins, not large 4-6" flame out of the top vent hole(and I always trip off the lever after use). Anyway I just tripped off the lever, and waited, then tried again (in a hurry (eggs half cooked)) with no further leakage while cooking that meal!.
But it convinced me to order a small backpacker stove/hose/adaptor (still have about 10 of the canisters left over), I think the briefcase cooker is prone to mechanical stress.
Note: Both events was outside a authentic soldiers canvas tent, my other cooker is a 4berth Caravan. The egg was in a micro size frying pan from AL.I and Li.l , hot water in a 10cm Zebra billypot, far quicker than heating the mass of a metal camp kettle.
Quote: Originally posted by elrond on 21/10/2019
Hi .... I've had the same problem this summer with this type of gas burner, mine is a seal problem. Twice the gas compartment has caught fire after 3 mins, not large 4-6" flame out of the top vent hole(and I always trip off the lever after use). Anyway I just tripped off the lever, and waited, then tried again (in a hurry (eggs half cooked)) with no further leakage while cooking that meal!.
So, "Twice the gas compartment...caught fire..", and you just left it a few minutes before just relighting the thing again?..
I would say you are bl**dy lucky it didn't go bang!!
Once is bad enough....but to carry on using it again, after it had "caught fire"..???
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Topic: Exploding Gas Stove
.. So as ours may well have it then,I can dig my extra large frying pan from out of the cupboard now.......joke!
