Better WhisperLite Startup

 After years of using a Coleman Peak 1 Expedition liquid fuel stove the connector finally failed.  It was an amazing stove, good at any elevation and any temperature, just turn on the fuel and light the burner, it would burn until the cannister was completely empty.  And you could enclose the burner for maximum efficiency.  It was a huge improvement over my previous gas stove which featured poor performance at altitude and in the cold, there was always gas left in the cannister when it would no longer light, and you couldn't enclose it for fear of overheating the cannister.  In any case I could no longer buy fuel for the Peak 1 and I was almost through the large stock of cannisters I had.  So I didn't want to go back to a gas stove and got an MSR WhisperLite Universal which runs on gas or different liquid fuels.  It came with 3 different jets, with the gas jet installed, so I ran a couple gas cannisters through it, but quickly remembered why I didn't like gas ... although the cannister is isolated from the burner on a stand that places it upside down, allowing for a windscreen, the performance is still poor and the cannister doesn't last very long.  So I configured it for liquid fuel (white gas) ... it was a huge improvement, but immediately I was confronted with the necessity to preheat the generator loop, which involves running some fuel into the priming cup and igniting a monstrous orange flame for a couple minutes until the burner heats up and starts burning with a blue flame ... at that point I was really missing my Peak 1.  So I thought about it awhile and realized that all that rather scary procedure was in essence to heat up the generator loop.  So here's my startup method, a huge improvement I think, much simpler, tidier, and less scary.

<> Shake the stove so you can hear the shaker needle moving

<> Pressurize the fuel bottle with 5 pump strokes if the bottle is full ... I have a couple 325 ml fuel bottles and generally refill them after each use ... an hour of run time uses less than 50% of a 325 ml bottle so I would expect to get 2 hours on a bottle if I didn't refill it.

<> Preheat the entire generator loop with a butane torch for about 90 seconds.  I use an Iroda PT-200 … it's small, light, efficient, a great little torch, it will burn an hour or more on a fill up, and the torch should last years.  With a bigger torch mounted on a propane cannister it will take about 45 seconds of preheating.  

<> Open control valve about 1/4 turn and ignite the burner itself (NOT the priming cup) with the torch ... within a few seconds it will ignite with a blue flame.

<> Regarding butane, I've just recently learned the secret to trouble free use of a butane torch.  NEVER use less than triple refined butane.  Ronson butane that you commonly find is single refined, contains impurities which will plug up a torch and kill it.  I'm currently using NuFlame Ultra Platinum Butane, which is refined 7 times, available at Canadian Tire.  And also purge the torch every time before refilling by pressing the valve to purge any remaining air and butane.  Refill with the butane cannister upside down and the torch refill valve facing up.

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