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pulled my whisperlite out the cupboard (dont much take a stove with me these days) last night. - last time i used it i had a few issues
the tank has lamp oil in it ... which i believe is further refined parafin (which it should run on no??) - i also remember having issues with purple coloured meths in nz - but its not supposed to run on that .... although i manage to cook beans on it 😉
what its doing is basically not preheating the fuel and resulting in too much fluid coming through putting out the flames. so
prime it
light it
then when it comes to turning it on , all i get is a ball of mildly warm yellow flames instead of the hot blue jets i get with white gas. even if i prime it 5 times it still gives the same result. IIRC with the meths - soon as i chucked the meths in the bin and put in some white gas she ran beautifully !
anyone had similar ?
Ive tried cleaning it and even changing the jets over. any other ideas ?
got some white gas being purchased today for me to check if its fuel or user/stove error.
failing that ill be stuck with the crap to cook on camping gaz for next week 🙁
[url= http://media.cascadedesigns.com/pdf/msr_whisperlite_manual_en.pdf ]Instructions[/url] suggest user error - bad fuel will probably fubar it though running Coleman fuel through it might just give it a good clear out. I'd be concerned though that you've degraded the seals in the pump mechanism.
Take it to bits then light it. When you're getting the orange flames, bang it off the ground and see what happens. Worked for mine.
stuart - mines the whisperlite international multifuel - which MSR report to burn petrol , diesel and many other things - one would have thought lamp oil would burn ....
**** it might just lamp in some petrol and be done - least ill have no issues getting that on the west coast !
I had something similar happen to one of mine a few years back - more than the 'temperamental' performance that is fairly common when using them in not ideal conditions/perfect fuels (where you have to constantly clean and rebuild them). Basically it simply would not take, regardless of the amount of preheating we did. Ended up cooking for the best part of a week using a modified 150g food tin/lid and a pebble, which was a reasonable success, though not ideal fuel efficiency when you're in the arctic and have several days to last out.
When I got back I tried to contact MSR repeatedly about it, whose customer service was pathetic. Eventually contacted the UK distributor, sent it in, got a new replacement within 48 hours with a decent explanation and apologies. Apparently it was a problem within the fuel line itself, so repeated stripping, cleaning etc. wouldn't solve it.
I should say that I have used MSR multifuel stoves in some pretty demanding conditions previously and whilst they aren't perfect I've not found anything significantly better with the same range of applications. Whilst MSR's response was virtually non-existent, the UK guy was great, and has made me stick with them until I hear of anything better.
ok that sounds fair basyckel. Will batter in some fresh fuel(petrol) tonight and give it ago
as im convinced im doing everything right and im positive that it should burn lamp oil ....
ive had it down to componants to clean it all thoughrally with compressed air n all that !
I'd post up the UK guy's details, but I can't find them in my emails and it was a few years so may have changed. It was someone down south (Derbyshire??) IIRC. Well worth contacting if you have an extended trip coming up.
i dont , its just a week on the west coast leaving tonight. Just much prefer the "flat" cooking style of the MSR when im on uneven ground - that and its smaller than a gas can + stove in my bag as the fuel goes in the bottle cage !
Ill try it tonight - if it fails me ill take the other , if it works and fails me in the field its not the end of the world as the other couple are taking a trangia - its hard to **** that up !
Might be the jet on it. IIRC, my whisperlite came with a second jet for burning heavier fuels (paraffin, diesel etc) that you had to switch over. Worth a quick check, at least
last trip i swapped them over countless times before reluctantly admitting defeat and going on a quest to find other fuel - couldnt find much in kilchoan so ended up using the lamp fuel to light a fire quickly and cooked my pasta on that !
It does burn lamp oil, I've had some through mine. I think the jet for diesel/heavier fuel is stamped 'K' (Kerosene?).
Have you waggled your wire in the fuel line and shaked your shaker jet to get rid of grot? Lamp oil is mucky stuff and it's probably choked it with soot.
I striped it right down - changed fuel to diesel . Still failed . Tried petrol - still failed It flows throigh and it jets up but likes to just turn into a yellow puff ball rather than blue jets !
Piece of ****ing shite .
Ive stripped it down completely cleaned EVERYTHING . Utter turd of a stove !
Will speak to importers when i get back . Dont feel i can trust it now- really shouldnt need to carry a back up stove !
Not going to blue flame could also be a pressure issue rather than fuel. Check the seals maybe?
Assuming it used to work ok, it's got to either be clogging, damage or user error. From experience fitting the correct jet is critical, and I thought the 'k' jet allowed parafin/kerosene but not diesel? Priming on parafin always took ages too, lots of orangey fire to get enough heat in. Might be worth trying it without the shaker needle in case its all gunged up. I've a spare generator tube and pump (plus a whole functioning stove!) in macclesfield / runcorn should you be near enough to try swapping components in/out? Might even be a spare jet somewhere.
*slight hijack*
Does anyone have any top tips for maintaining the pump? Despite correct (or so I thought) lubrication of the pump cup, mine won't do more than 2 strokes before the rubber bit falls off inside the cylinder. Extremely annoying, especially half way through a week long trip...
From my experience with MSR-GK (been using one since 1980), DO NOT use diesel, possibly the worst fuel you could ever use. Try taking apart and really cleaning the fuel tube, 26 years ago after using paraffin for years the performance of my stove dropped off drastically, tuned out to be a build up of carbon in the fuel tube as it entered the bottom of the jet.
After persisting - i got it to boil a pot of water propperly
Next night i tried again ..... Fail
Useless thing needs rebuilding before every used ****ing great !!
Fuel is getting through its jetting no bother just doesnt seem to be igniting in the right area
I have found that midges dont like diesel fumes though so it at least served a purpose !!!
Ring up the UK MSR man, he'll see you right.
It's not useless, it's broken - anything can break at some point. Just chalk it down to experience.
I've had petrol, white spirit and paraffin in mine (not advertised as multi-fuel) and it's been fine.
Sounds like it's not vapourising the fuel. So either it's too thick, or the tube's not getting hot enough, or both. It could be that the fuel's moving through the tube too fast - you are using the K nozzle aren't you?