It surprised me too. I thought adding the carbon felt would cause it to bloom quicker, even if it didn't add anything to the burn time. I was prepared to go buy a bunch of carbon felt. I even tested it after I'd made the video to be sure it wasn't just some fluke. It was just as bad the other times I fired it up. Carbon felt may add value to some other configuration of alcohol stove but not to the ones I make. Thanks, aksalaman 4ever!
I think the felt one got hotter a little later because of the thermal mass so it took the alcohol longer to heat up but once it did it took off and burned fuel faster. Would like to see boil test so the center flame goes out when burner in bloom.
Hey Fatwood Labs, I'm going to do some more testing. Maybe make the carbon felt shorter. I have to get another grease pot so I have duplicate pots to test boiling water. Stay tuned.
Mine worked super with carbon felt, 40 ml of ethanol lasted above 45 minutes and the carbon felt light up the jets without priming becouse i have the original nature hike
Unless the heat output is measured for each stove is tested , it is impossible to know which will boil water quicker, which is what is really important. If the carbon felt boils 500ml. of water in 3 minutes & the standard takes 6.5 minutes which is more efficient? That's what's important.
Carbon felt would be best used for a wick type burner. Your alcohol stoves are vapor type burners. What carbon felt would do for a vapor type is to place the carbon felt on the cold ground and the stove on top. Carbon felt is an insulator. Another use for carbon felt would be to make a ring around a vapor stove and use that as a wicking preheater in the cold weather.
Hi! Perhaps someone has posted an idea like mine. I have used my stove for about 23 yes now. It uses what I call a a double wall reservoir. Basically like yours but an inter, second wall about an 1/8th inch smaller radius. Betweenthe walls I used a thin wick made from home insulation. It primes quickly. When you hike the AT or other long trails fuel weight and availability are big factors. I use yellow cans of Heet carried in enough 6 oz. Med bottles.Using the fuel in two 12oz Coke caps I can enjoy a cup of coffee and if I use a home made cozy. I can also cook 1/2 package of Zaterans red bean and rice in about 20 min. Howard Lyons
I did do quite a bit more with it offline. The advantage is that it soaks up the alcohol and minimizes the danger of spilling. There's not much difference in actual burning.
Old love to see a test with water in pots does the carbon felt boils faster? Will the water and pot tame the carbon felt stove? Don t give up yet. Need boil test
I think the fuel was absorbed and with no liquid surface to burn on the inside reservoir all the fuel was doing was gassing off and jetting at every orifice. The gas being jetted at the weep holes and wherever it could escape around the base of the inner wall really rocked.I was sure we would experience liftoff, atmosphere was probably way to dense.My calculations show that if you put the room under a slight vacuum and reduce the gravity by 1/2 G it should boil 2 cups of water in 3.7 seconds while only burning .9oz of fuel. I really enjoy your videos.
I made an aluminium can alcohol stove of a slightly different design and stuffed it with kevlar wicking. It burns beautifully and about 30ml of mentholated spirits burns for about 15 minutes. I'm going to make one of your design and do a couple of trials "original" like yours and the other using some kevlar wicking like the one I made before.
If you look closely at the slits at the bottom of the inner wall of the White Box alcohol stove, you can see what appears to be a very thin metal mesh. Granted that would not soak up any alcohol, but I have wondered if it increases the efficiency of the White Box alcohol stove in some way. Another experiment for you to try some day should you be so inclined. :-)
Awesome, no carbon felt for mine either! Thank you for sharing my friend, and I have got to say, your stoves they like look like something from those futuristic movies, so freaking beautiful. Cheers.
I think the carbon fiber stove shows that carbon fiber does a poorer job of wicking fuel and because of that, more fuel burns from the bowl than from the tip of the wick. When the bowl is empty, it continues to burn the little bit of fuel that did go up the wick. However, with that said, it would be interesting to see what would happen if you blocked the bowl completely so it couldn't burn fuel from the bowl and could only burn from the top of the wick. 1) Would the carbon fiber burn longer? 2) Would it be hotter or cooler or the same as the unmodified stove? Seems to me, using carbon fiber might cause the stove to burn slower, and a bit cooler.
I saw a video of a guy who filled the alcohol stove with Perlite which can be found in the garden section then add alcohol and light. I bought the perlite not made by miracle grow because I thought maybe it had added ingredients. Perlite is almost weightless and does not burn. It was better than just straight burning alcohol with nothing in the stove. I haven’t tested burn times with and without perlite
I think how big the center flame is means nothing when there is a pot on the stove. Do the test with a pot on and I believe you will see the jets on the wick stove have bigger flames and a faster boil time than the other stove. Plus the all-around biggest advantage with carbon wick stoves is their ability to light in freezing temps. How it works when you actually use it as a stove, its boil times, and how it performs in cold temps are the tests that matter. IMO
I agree with you, Terry. I do have the follow-up video to this one, but I didn't test boil times or cold temp use. I think those deserve another video and more experiments. Thanks for the ideas!
Felt offers up a higher rate of vapor wicking/hotter flame. Modify the burner throttle top to half curret O.D. and retest. Smaller/hotter flame should extend life of same vilume + hotter flame temps
Good eye, David! I didn't notice until you mentioned it. It was coming out of the bowl, it was boiling so hard. Sorry I haven't commented on your recent video, I was busy with this!
I think with the light pink flame tips on the carbon felt, you likely did see impurities being burned away. That tells me you were using cheaper carbon felt, not the 100% pure carbon felt. That makes a HUGE difference.
I just wanted to say hello I am new to your Channel and I'm going to attempt to make one of your alcohol stoves although I probably won't get it half right we will see LOL thank you and God bless you
Spilled a bit pre-burn on CF side. Then CF spit unburnt fuel early. Agree it's too much felt, too high and that a pot covering the center might be better. Is this the final stove version? Because jets pointing outward aren't usable irl. Irl pots are too skinny for outward-facing jets. Carbon felt is surprisingly heavy and must provide value for its weight. Prefer designs without felt if possible?
So a faster burn rate may just mean that the carbon fiber wick heater just burns hotter, so it puts out more heat in a shorter period of time--which isn't a bad thing if you need a higher heating rate--assuming that there isn't unburned fuel still trapped in the felt--which there probably isn't. The reddish color may also be that some amount of carbon was actually consumed in the process--carbon can burn, you know.
I would have cut the carbon felt shorter so that it would not be blocking your jet holes. You should also set a pot on the stove to snuff out the center flame. The biggest benefit of the carbon felt is that it keeps your fuel from spilling if your stove gets knocked over.
Vaporizer vs wick? 2 different processing, wicks works on capillary properties the vaporizer does not.... If the wick was left as an open ring then it would probably burn faster because it would use more fuel for having larger area than the holes in the vaporizer burner on the left .... carbon felt is good for thicker fuels like oil, cotton even napkin rolls are good for for oils too.... thanks X3 for sharing your video .... I felt like I was doing it or having fun as an assistant to Tim... hey one of my ex wives gave me one great gift that I still have it hanging on my wall after 2 more marriages ..... either I am not good for marriages or they are not or write here your or.... it reads "the world would be better if there were more people like you" and I think that if we didnt have patents everyone would improve faster on original ideas and the world would share more of what it is good for all not just some .....
Honestly, I was surprised at the test. I thought the felt would out last the original one for sure. Thanks for the videos Tim.
It surprised me too. I thought adding the carbon felt would cause it to bloom quicker, even if it didn't add anything to the burn time. I was prepared to go buy a bunch of carbon felt. I even tested it after I'd made the video to be sure it wasn't just some fluke. It was just as bad the other times I fired it up. Carbon felt may add value to some other configuration of alcohol stove but not to the ones I make. Thanks, aksalaman 4ever!
I think the felt one got hotter a little later because of the thermal mass so it took the alcohol longer to heat up but once it did it took off and burned fuel faster. Would like to see boil test so the center flame goes out when burner in bloom.
Hey Fatwood Labs, I'm going to do some more testing. Maybe make the carbon felt shorter. I have to get another grease pot so I have duplicate pots to test boiling water. Stay tuned.
Mine worked super with carbon felt, 40 ml of ethanol lasted above 45 minutes and the carbon felt light up the jets without priming becouse i have the original nature hike
Unless the heat output is measured for each stove is tested , it is impossible to know which will boil water quicker, which is what is really important. If the carbon felt boils 500ml. of water in 3 minutes & the standard takes 6.5 minutes which is more efficient? That's what's important.
Carbon felt would be best used for a wick type burner.
Your alcohol stoves are vapor type burners.
What carbon felt would do for a vapor type is to place the carbon felt on the cold ground and the stove on top.
Carbon felt is an insulator.
Another use for carbon felt would be to make a ring around a vapor stove and use that as a wicking preheater in the cold weather.
Yeah, wax or vegetable oil would need something like carbon felt.
Hi!
Perhaps someone has posted an idea like mine.
I have used my stove for about 23 yes now.
It uses what I call a a double wall reservoir. Basically like yours but an inter, second wall about an 1/8th inch smaller radius. Betweenthe walls I used a thin wick made from home insulation.
It primes quickly. When you hike the AT or other long trails fuel weight and availability are big factors.
I use yellow cans of Heet carried in enough 6 oz. Med bottles.Using the fuel in two 12oz Coke caps I can enjoy a cup of coffee and if I use a home made cozy. I can also cook 1/2 package of Zaterans red bean and rice in about 20 min.
Howard Lyons
Hey Howard, those all sound like good ideas! I like the idea of measuring with capfuls.
INTERESTING. Sure thought the felt would have slowed it down. hmmm. I wonder if the water boiling time would be faster? Thanks.
I did do quite a bit more with it offline. The advantage is that it soaks up the alcohol and minimizes the danger of spilling. There's not much difference in actual burning.
Old love to see a test with water in pots does the carbon felt boils faster? Will the water and pot tame the carbon felt stove? Don t give up yet. Need boil test
Thanks, Ron. I'll do some more testing and video it.
@@timcanthejigman7932 Did you do the boil test?
I think the fuel was absorbed and with no liquid surface to burn on the inside reservoir all the fuel was doing was gassing off and jetting at every orifice. The gas being jetted at the weep holes and wherever it could escape around the base of the inner wall really rocked.I was sure we would experience liftoff, atmosphere was probably way to dense.My calculations show that if you put the room under a slight vacuum and reduce the gravity by 1/2 G it should boil 2 cups of water in 3.7 seconds while only burning .9oz of fuel. I really enjoy your videos.
LOL. I was kind of concerned about liftoff myself! Glad I thought to use that sheet pan under it.
I made an aluminium can alcohol stove of a slightly different design and stuffed it with kevlar wicking. It burns beautifully and about 30ml of mentholated spirits burns for about 15 minutes. I'm going to make one of your design and do a couple of trials "original" like yours and the other using some kevlar wicking like the one I made before.
Hey, Stuffby Woody, glad to hear about it! I'll be even more anxious to hear the results of your testing with my design. Thanks!
Very interesting. It changes my thoughts on build quite a bit.
If you look closely at the slits at the bottom of the inner wall of the White Box alcohol stove, you can see what appears to be a very thin metal mesh. Granted that would not soak up any alcohol, but I have wondered if it increases the efficiency of the White Box alcohol stove in some way. Another experiment for you to try some day should you be so inclined. :-)
Awesome, no carbon felt for mine either!
Thank you for sharing my friend, and I have got to say, your stoves they like look like something from those futuristic movies, so freaking beautiful. Cheers.
Agnos, my friend, I'm going to do some more experimenting. I want to do my due diligence. We'll see what happens.
@@timcanthejigman7932 Keep us posted. Cheers!
I think the carbon fiber stove shows that carbon fiber does a poorer job of wicking fuel and because of that, more fuel burns from the bowl than from the tip of the wick. When the bowl is empty, it continues to burn the little bit of fuel that did go up the wick.
However, with that said, it would be interesting to see what would happen if you blocked the bowl completely so it couldn't burn fuel from the bowl and could only burn from the top of the wick. 1) Would the carbon fiber burn longer? 2) Would it be hotter or cooler or the same as the unmodified stove? Seems to me, using carbon fiber might cause the stove to burn slower, and a bit cooler.
I saw a video of a guy who filled the alcohol stove with Perlite which can be found in the garden section then add alcohol and light. I bought the perlite not made by miracle grow because I thought maybe it had added ingredients. Perlite is almost weightless and does not burn. It was better than just straight burning alcohol with nothing in the stove. I haven’t tested burn times with and without perlite
I'd like to see a carbon felt wick in Crisco.
I think how big the center flame is means nothing when there is a pot on the stove. Do the test with a pot on and I believe you will see the jets on the wick stove have bigger flames and a faster boil time than the other stove. Plus the all-around biggest advantage with carbon wick stoves is their ability to light in freezing temps. How it works when you actually use it as a stove, its boil times, and how it performs in cold temps are the tests that matter. IMO
I agree with you, Terry. I do have the follow-up video to this one, but I didn't test boil times or cold temp use. I think those deserve another video and more experiments. Thanks for the ideas!
Felt offers up a higher rate of vapor wicking/hotter flame. Modify the burner throttle top to half curret O.D. and retest. Smaller/hotter flame should extend life of same vilume + hotter flame temps
Where was those fuel spatters coming from at 3:10? the fuel boiling furiously in the bowl? or out of the jets?
Good eye, David! I didn't notice until you mentioned it. It was coming out of the bowl, it was boiling so hard. Sorry I haven't commented on your recent video, I was busy with this!
I think with the light pink flame tips on the carbon felt, you likely did see impurities being burned away. That tells me you were using cheaper carbon felt, not the 100% pure carbon felt. That makes a HUGE difference.
It could very well have been because of the cheap carbon felt from Harbor Freight.
I just wanted to say hello I am new to your Channel and I'm going to attempt to make one of your alcohol stoves although I probably won't get it half right we will see LOL thank you and God bless you
Thanks, Onetime Outdoors DJ! Good luck with your build. Let me know if you need more instruction. Maybe we'll see it on your channel?
Spilled a bit pre-burn on CF side. Then CF spit unburnt fuel early. Agree it's too much felt, too high and that a pot covering the center might be better. Is this the final stove version? Because jets pointing outward aren't usable irl. Irl pots are too skinny for outward-facing jets. Carbon felt is surprisingly heavy and must provide value for its weight. Prefer designs without felt if possible?
Thanks, Tom. Check out my later video "Alcohol Stove Carbon Felt Redeemed" for an update.
glad I saw this test
Be sure to watch the video I made right after this one.
I wonder how the boil times compare to each other
If memory serves from back when I was experimenting with that, there wasn't much difference.
@@timcanthejigman7932 thanks for responding. I wondered if the carbon felt one put off more heat compared to “regular”
Please give it a "real-world" test, putting a pot on the stove will extinguish the reservoir flame.
That makes sense to me, James. Look for that additional video soon.
So a faster burn rate may just mean that the carbon fiber wick heater just burns hotter, so it puts out more heat in a shorter period of time--which isn't a bad thing if you need a higher heating rate--assuming that there isn't unburned fuel still trapped in the felt--which there probably isn't.
The reddish color may also be that some amount of carbon was actually consumed in the process--carbon can burn, you know.
Wish you did this test actually boiling water
I googled car on felt and found a few kinds. Which one exactly do you use?
The welder's blanket from Harbor Freight.
@@timcanthejigman7932 I totally forgot the b in carbon,
@@vickim8710 I was able to figure it out. :)
thanks now got the inner ,,,, seen mixed things here
I have quite a few videos on alcohol stoves.
alcohol stoves don't need a wick.. try it with kerosene burners
I would have cut the carbon felt shorter so that it would not be blocking your jet holes. You should also set a pot on the stove to snuff out the center flame.
The biggest benefit of the carbon felt is that it keeps your fuel from spilling if your stove gets knocked over.
Great ideas! You didn't happen to watch the video I did after this one, did you?
@@timcanthejigman7932 Just past the bottom of my screen. Should have scrolled farther. Sorry I missed that.
Absolutely agree with you on the carbon felt containing the alcohol, just like a fuel cell in a race car.
Thanks!
Vaporizer vs wick? 2 different processing, wicks works on capillary properties the vaporizer does not.... If the wick was left as an open ring then it would probably burn faster because it would use more fuel for having larger area than the holes in the vaporizer burner on the left .... carbon felt is good for thicker fuels like oil, cotton even napkin rolls are good for for oils too.... thanks X3 for sharing your video .... I felt like I was doing it or having fun as an assistant to Tim... hey one of my ex wives gave me one great gift that I still have it hanging on my wall after 2 more marriages ..... either I am not good for marriages or they are not or write here your or.... it reads "the world would be better if there were more people like you" and I think that if we didnt have patents everyone would improve faster on original ideas and the world would share more of what it is good for all not just some .....
I could probably use an assistant!
You struggled with that ipad didn't you lad
It was fighting me!