New Starlyte Gold stove

tom

Thru Hiker
I mostly use threadless alu containers these days (a hard to find size in between speedster small and standard for my 450ml mug-pot) and they also stick - I think its residue build-up from the non-alcohol percentage in the bottle (seems worse with some products). A little brush up with a soft abrasive sponge or ultrafine wet sandpaper will clean this quickly.
 

Whiteburn

Thru Hiker
Aluminium & Aluminium Oxide (the inert film on the surface either clear or coloured) are both attacked by ethanol & methanol (liquid & vapour), accelerated when hot, leading to corrosion of the threads.
I've experienced one stuck lid after leaving a MYO stove 1/2 full for a couple of weeks & had to resort to cutting the lid with a pen knife. IME having a good seal on the lid (disc cut for a cheap silicone baking dish) & lightly greasing the threads with 'copper slip' increases the life at least 10 fold. Plus now I'll burn off/ vent any residual fuel if the stove is being sored for any length of time.
 

Paiolo

Backpacker
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I also like to build DIY screw-top alcohol stoves but I am plagued by the thread binding problem you described.
At the moment I can't understand if it is caused by aluminium "rust" or by some denaturant salt that deposits after alcohol burned.

Just wondering why there is no Kojin stove user that complaints about this problem: perhaps the green paint protects it from rust, or perhaps yellow heet usually used as stove fuel by US people doesn't have any salt dissolved into it (it is a car fuel additive so this is realistic)

In the first case, could the black-painted aluminium tins be free from thread binding problem?
https://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?catId=0&initiative_id=SB_20200523153837&isPremium=y&SearchText=black aluminium tin

Hf139a1a5bffe475ebd153a5f544d63d0s.jpg_480x480q90.jpg

(there are also golden and pink versions but it seems to me it is only a less durable anodization and not a real paint)
 

Whiteburn

Thru Hiker
Generally the coating on most aluminium goods is not a paint but a coloured aluminium oxide film i.e. anodising. Painting aluminium is a pain needing good surface preparation & a specific primer
Aluminium oxide (& anodised coatings) is very stable in a lot of conditions BUT ethanol & methanol (HEET), both liquid & vapour, will attack both aluminium oxide & the base aluminium material creating the powdery corrosion product.
To protect the threads from corroding you could coat the threads in a paint or stop the ethanol getting there. I chose the easy way, minimising the ethanol contact by using a resilient silicone gasket in the lid (so does the Kojin I believe) & in addition choose to burn out the stove after each trip. Tins are cheap so 'making' new one every year or so doesn't hurt & the gasket/ wadding can be re-used.
 

Whiteburn

Thru Hiker
How do you build the silicone gasket in the lid?
Buy the cheapest silicone baking tray you can find, thin & flimsy is best, I got a 20cm one from Poundland in the UK.
Take the cardboard gasket out of the lid & use it as a template to cut a replacement; scalpel or craft knife
Punch a small hole in the centre, paper punch, stops the gasket being sucked down into the stove as it cools down breaking the seal.
 

Paiolo

Backpacker
But if the gasket isn't perfectly round it won't be leak-proof: do you use something like a compasses-scalpel to get a perfect cut?
 

Jim_Parkin

Ultralighter
Generally the coating on most aluminium goods is not a paint but a coloured aluminium oxide film i.e. anodising. Painting aluminium is a pain needing good surface preparation & a specific primer
Aluminium oxide (& anodised coatings) is very stable in a lot of conditions BUT ethanol & methanol (HEET), both liquid & vapour, will attack both aluminium oxide & the base aluminium material creating the powdery corrosion product.
To protect the threads from corroding you could coat the threads in a paint or stop the ethanol getting there. I chose the easy way, minimising the ethanol contact by using a resilient silicone gasket in the lid (so does the Kojin I believe) & in addition choose to burn out the stove after each trip. Tins are cheap so 'making' new one every year or so doesn't hurt & the gasket/ wadding can be re-used.
Which is why I understand Trangias are made of brass, and supplied with a plastic bag to protect the tins.
 

Mole

Thru Hiker
Regarding wick material.

I was looking on ebay for ceramic wool/fibre

And noticed this "Rigidising" Spray.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/252383741539

"An Application Rate Of One Litre Per 5 Square Feet (0.46 M2) Of Ceramic Fiber Surface Will Render A Hard Surface Without Completely Rigidizing The Interior Of The Ceramic Fiber Body."


Wonder if this is what Trail Designs use on their Kojin wicks to get that different surface texture?
 
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