Pepsi Can Stove upgrade!

“I just to Longs drugs to rent a movie and I saw those huge beer cans and thought they would be cool to try for the pepsi can stove. So I bought two, don't think I'm gonna drink it all. Anyone try to make the stove out of large cans?”

“Pardon me ( I just WENT to...)”

“Is that like one of those Foster beer cans?

Fosters - American for stove.”

“Pepsi can stove upgrade.
1. Place foot over can.
2. Step down.”

“I like beer.”

“If your not gonna drink it all... post it on a new thread so we can all enjoy.
Don't bogart that beer, my friend. Pass it over to me.”

“lol dunadan
couldn't agree more”

“Those beercan stoves DON'T work anyway.”

“Did the larger can have the raised ridge on the bottom like a regular 12 oz or was it flat like the old style tin can? I haven't had a Fosters in a long while but seem to recall them having a welded bottom. You never said it was Fosters, what brand brew?
Have you played with the regular can stoves? Can you compare the performance and report back?”

“1 Bud Ice, and 1 MGD, not Fosters, Fosters looked too big. No I didn't toss it, I drank one last night, got me a little sloppey but das o tay.

The cans are made the same as a regular pepsi one, just bigger.”

“Guinness makes a strong can (thicker Al I think)...and delicious contents! It's my favorite camp beverage!

Mmmmmm...Beer!”

“I really don't see this as an upgrade, maybe just for bigger pots. Make a two burner model, then I'll be impressed.”

“I'm enjoying a Troegs Oatmeal Stout at this moment. Delicious”

“Instead of using high temperature flue tape to seal the can lids together I used Bondo and it works well. It made the stove stronger and probably holds in more heat so the alcohol will boil better. It does add a little more weight, but not enough to matter.”

“I used JB Weld on my pepsi can stove, worked very well. Given all that, I still like the Cat/Tuna can stove better. Guess I could make a monster stove using a small and large coffee can.”

“I never 1) used anything to seal the sides of my can stoves, and 2) never had any problems not having the sides sealed!

Mr. Rock...does the Cat/Tuna stove burn with a Sterno-like flame, or does it shoot out burner-like flames as the beercan stoves do?”

“Sorry Sgt Rock, I know you are the expert on homemade stoves. I didn't mean to step on your terf.........He really is the expert, check out his web page. Very impressive.”

“Hey any of you "alkies" know what the reverence to "blue alcohol" means. I heard it works well to prime white gas stoves in cold weather.”

“I don't consider stoves my turf, I just had a lot of spare time on my hands and was curious. I really didn't belive an alcohol stove could work well until I played with them. After finding out they do work well, I wanted to make the best possible stove I could. I now consider eduacting others to the fact that alcohol stoves work well a part time challenge.

Let me witness:

I used to belive that gas was the only way to go. I owned and used the demon Coleman Fuel for years. I was even contemplating buying one of those Primus Himalaya vari fuels that use almost anything flamable! Say No brothers! I had read the truth and word of alcohol but denied it as lies, and even when I asked others, none could lead me to the truth. One day curiosity got the best of me (or maybe it was sticker shock), so I took the cans from the recycle, low it was easy to do the work, and in the end I was cooking with a stove just as good, nay better than my trusty Peak 1! It cooked well, it simmered (say S-I-M-M-E-R you MSR users), it couldn't break, it didn't require pumping, it never melted down or blew up, it didn't require maintenance, it never changed output when the fuel gets low! Amen brothers and sisters! Do you see the light!?!

As for JB weld, I saw a web site that had a really over built can stove, I think it is the Photon Stove. Anyway, the guy who made it used screws and can lids, JB weld, hardware cloth. It was a real complicated stove. One of the problems I had seen with soda can stoves was an occasional problem with flames leaking out in places where they shouldn't. So I tried the JB weld to seal up any unwanted holes. It worked well, but no reall changes in stove performance. It did make things a little more tidy. I also tried metal flu tape, but the smell of the adhesive burning was bad.”

“Amen!”

“JB Weld...works really well to seal the edges, it prolly does not need to be used to "seal" the stove, but certainly does keep you from cutting the ends of your fingers on the sharp edges of the can as you root around in your pack for the stove.”

“good info, folks: I think I will make and try one. What the heck, I thought I would use ever-clear 190 proof, Dual use - stove fuel - great drink when added to your fav powered drink mix. A little goes a long way. see ya on the trail or at AA”

“Budder made us 2 stoves to try out for our hike and we were impressed to say the least. Bill has now been playing with more just to see if he could get the burn time longer. he put insulation in between the cans and the liner and has burn time now to 15 mins on 2 capfulls of fuel. we still havent gotten full rolling boil though. but deffinatly small bubbles and hot enough for coffee. got any suggestions?”

“MOM: use all the old standards, windscreen, pot top, paint the pot black, leave just 1/4" or less between the pot and the windscreen......”

“Wow Mom, interesting addition to the stove...much more fuel efficient.

The inner liner creates a carburator effect, heating up the liquid fuel and turning it to vapor inside that chamber. Sounds like the insulation is cutting down on the volatization, subsequently extending burn time. The burner stove I sent will bring water to a boil rather fast, I believe this is because it uses up fuel faster, and puts out a more intense burn (more btu's) than that of a sterno-like flame.

Anyways, I try not to bring my water to a rolling boil..just too hot. If you're only heating up water for soup, coffee, hot chocolate, etc., water heated to those "small bubbles" is good enough.”

“My MSR windscreen is tall enough to cover the sides of my stove and pot, and the round AL heat reflector (MSR also gives with the side windscreen) makes a great lid. Fully enclosing (practically) the pot will heat the water a he!! of alot faster than if the pot weren't covered.”

“I made a few cat stoves and pepsi can stoves over the last few weeks and tested them on day hikes. I like the pepsi can stove better because the flame burns much more evenly. I heated up some soup on the cat stove and the erratic flame scorched the soup on the side of the pot and I had to scrub the hell out of it to clean it. The flame always rolls up the side of the pot even with a windscreen and in my opinion seems to waste heat. Also I didn't like the smell of burning fiberglass when the stove burned off it's fuel. I got it to simmer pretty good, but it's more hassle than it's worth. I made a mask to fit over half the holes of the pepsi can stove and it's simmers nicely and is more user friendly. The cat stove went into my recycle bin.”

“omigawd! it's sarge!”

“No it ain't Rad. I didn't know what you meant until I read your mail. BTW, does SuperTroll know anything about hammocks?”

“darn!”

“Buddur, I agree about stopping at the bubbles. Many times now I only use one capfull to get to that point, roilling boil is too hot and I just have to wait for water to cool back down to drink coffee or tea, so why waste the fuel.

Rich, how well does the simmer system work, and how does it work exactly. I am interested in making a simmer system for my pepsi can stove. Does the simmer ring also extend the burn time of the alcohol, or is it as inefficient fuel wise as a MSR with a simmer plate. Also, how well does your pepsi stove work in colder weather? One of the benifits I found to the cat stove was the preheating the air jacket does wich aids in cooking in colder weather.”

“SGT Rock, To make a simmer mask for the pepsi can stove just cut out the bottom of a pepsi can about one inch up, now cut the bottom in half carefully with tin snips. Try not to deform the profile of the lip otherwise you won't get a tight fit over the burner holes. When you cut the bottom of the can leave a 2 inch strip of the side of the can to be folded up and used as a handle for the mask. If the mask doesn't fit tightly alcohol vapors will escape and ignite around the side of the stove. The mask must be put on after the stove is primed and flames are coming out the burner holes. If you put it on first the stove will be difficult to light. My testing here with the air temp at 25 degrees and a cold stove and using 1/2 oz. of HEET brand fuel showed the stove burned 10 minutes and 20 seconds. Without the mask it burned 6 minutes 45 seconds with the same amount of fuel. I think it works pretty well and you can probably vary the simmer times by making different size masks although I haven't tried that yet. The coldest temps I've used it in were the mid twenties and it work good for simple cooking. I've used it on day hikes so far and not any overnight winter trips. For that I use an MSR Firefly white gas stove because I need the high output to melt snow and ice for water. I wouldn't want to do that with the pepsi can stove. Buddur says he has used his down to 10 degrees and it worked good. For solo cooking with simple meals the alcohol stoves seem to work pretty well, but for winter backpacking I like the higher output of white gas.”

“I agree about winter hiking, I haven't figured out how to make any stove perfore really well in cold, but gas performs the best in those temps.

I'm not sure I understand the mask, do you only end up using 1/2 the can? or do you use both halves of the can bottom?”

“I tried to make a simmer cap for my pepsi can stove, but it just made the alcohol come out in crazy places. needless to say I tossed the idea. But if you have succeded, please post some details... Thanks

I'm working on that second can of Beer right now. I'll probably make the monster tomorrow.”

“You use 1/2 of the bottom part of the can. You want to cover up half of the burner holes with the mask and it must fit tightly to work right other wise like thin air says the flames will come out in crazy places. If it's made right it will snap on top of the burner to cover up half the holes. It works on the same principle as the trangia simmer ring. If you can't get a really tight fit you can place a small stone on top of the mask to weigh it down so it really covers up the holes. I haven't had to resort to that, but if vapors leak out you can. When making the mask you may have to contort the mask after it's cut to get a snap fit. You must use the same brand of can that you made the stove out of.”

“Ok, I see what you mean now. What I did was take anouther can bottom and cut 1/2 the holes in it and place it ontop of the stove. It never fit snug enough. Also the alcohol jeted out of any crack it could find.

I'm gonna go try that right now. My class just got canceled so I'm going to make that larger stove too. I'll let you all know how it works later.

ThinAir”

“WOW, it actually worked. Thankyou RichB. I actually found that if I covered 2/3 of the holes that it worked better. When I cut off 1/2 with the above method eventually the stove got hot enough to where it was ineffective. with 2/3 covered I had a nice slow even flame. Now I'm convinced that the Pepsi can stove is gonna be my solo trip stove of choice.

ThinAir.

Still working on the monster”

“Cool, I'll have to make some different size masks and see how they work in the field cooking various foods.”

“I made the Beer can stove. It's more of a novelty item but it looks cool. Its just the pepsi can one only bigger”

“Is it worth using or so large that the flames would shoot out around the outside of the pot?”

“It's a super torch, ya wouldn't need it unless your pot was kitchen size which you wouldn't need on the trail anyway. I would actually like a smaller size than the pepsi can stove, so if anyone knows of any cans that are smaller versions of pepsi cans, please let me know.

ThinAir”

“Fabulous thread y'all, thanx! These look better than the Esbit Pocket Stove. The Esbits are OK, but I'm not totally satisfied with them. Look forward to making one'a these Pepsi Can stoves.”

“Hey naked ape, there are great instructions on how to build one at

WWW.PCTHIKER.COM

I think you have to click on the gear section. They have instructions on how to build a cat can stove too. The insturctions are good except that you have to make the center ring about 5-8 mm wider than it tells you to. good luck, and have fun.

ThinAir”

“I was very impressed with Buddur's equipment on the Catskill hike...not to mention the skill with which he used it. It was ignited easily enough and did the job well, even in the subzero temps.
of course, I am referring to the beer can stove. heh heh heh
;op

Seriously though- that was the first time I had seen one of those homemade stoves in action. After trying to follow a few of the threads here that had discussed it, I had sort of lost track and given up, but those things are cool! Seeing is believing.
I want one!”

“You'll get yours AmyG(hint, hint...I did promise you some!)...if I can ever get my hands on some Al cans! Shows you how much canned beer I drink!”

“Thanx for the connection ThinAir, hey Budder, did ya get your intrux from StRock's webpage, or from summers else??”

“thinair - for smaller cans try the V-8 juice cans. There are some that are 6 or 8 oz. I made one from them but it barely held enough fuel for a boil. If I make another I'll go a little taller.”

“Sterno on a stick, great idea.”

“Mr. Ape. I got my instructions from looking at an AT thru-hiker's stove last year...first time I ever even saw a homemade stove. Gave it a good lookin' over two or three times, and made one as soon as I got home. Did a crapload of experimenting with different hole configurations to figure the best flame/burn. Made a buttload of them since. And used them alot, not just on backpacking trips but also on just about every dayhike I did this winter. I got the system wired. I dig 'em!

btw AmyG, yers are in the mail...in about an hour!”