trangia SVEA burner comparison with coke can burner

[NONNIE357]

Nice Video

[rabidmongoose51]

I did a similar comparison with my own trangia and a double wall beer can stove. I had similar results but you forgot to mention one important difference. The Trangia takes longer but consumes half the fuel to boil the same amount of water. This means you would only need to carry half the weight in fuel to boil the same amount of water. Depending on how much water to intend to boil, the Trangia could save you weight even though the stove itself is heavier.

[Bravo21]

I have a Trangia stove from way back, but I now use a Penny stove I built from Heinni cans. The heinni can design allows the stoves to have a simmer ring, weigh 1/3rd of what the Svea/Trangia stoves do, are durable (Mine has a couple hundred uses) efficient and user friendly. The Svea is a decent stove, but there is better tech available, cheaper, and you have a satisfaction factor because you made it yourself.

[kc8ntp]

@Bravo21 you are so right. I use the Penny stoves and if configured right, they will burn a lot longer than these open designs. I am getting 57-minutes from 75ml of denatured alcohol; and this is without a simmer-ring. It will boil 3-cups of water in 8-minutes -- I am at 7100' ASL. I am building another Penny stove as I type this, which it is going to be a bit smaller -- around 45ml of fuel max -- and I am going to make a simmer-ring for it. This one should work great for a couple days out.

[Bravo21]

@kc8ntp Yes, Penny stoves just work better than most any you can buy. I suggest getting a couple six packs of the Heinni cans as soon as you can, if you can still find them. They are discontinuing the old design with the rings (They may have stopped making them already, not sure). The can shape of the Heinni cans is ideal for the Penny Stove, and is thicker than the others too.

Lol, you have me thinking...I'm gonna see if I can find a couple six packs today. Hope I can still find them.

[rcvanau]

Wow! Thanks, for the pseudo science no doubt prompted by a quick wiki search. I appreciate all that. I'll pass it on immediately to the design staff. The sweet spot for the trangia/svea is about 1.80 inches from the top of the burner. In the blue flame. The hottest portion is where the cooking surface is placed in our design. Perhaps they can change for you. I didn't make all this money by not knowing a bit about the design I created. Cheers.

[elastoplastscavenger]

@rcvanau your first comment: "you know nothing, i know everything"

my comment: "meh, i know something, i think they are similar for these reasons but different sizes"

your comment: "im a sarcastic asshole"

not pseudo science, i learned that in high school, not wikipedia. Im not an idiot, im an engineer.

you certainly didnt "make all this money" using charisma. Did you design this type of burner? im not sure from your first comment if you meant Trangia was yours or you based your design on it

[rcvanau]

The trangia/svea burners are more effecient than your coke can. Burning the fuel faster and producing a higher flame does not mean it produces more heat. The blue flame is what you are looking for, not a high yellow flame. You clearly don't understand fire or physics. I own a company that produces camping stoves and burners similar to this. Trangia was our model.

[elastoplastscavenger]

@rcvanau both burners produce flames that are largely yellow. The proportion of yellow to blue flame is also very similar in both burners, just the coke can burner has a larger flame and burns the fuel in a shorter time therefore is more powerfull.

It is an exothermic reaction: 2 CH3OH + 3 O2 → 2 CO2 + 4 H2O. Since the methanol is vaporised into the atmosphere, all the burners of this type will be similar, just some have more holes to let the gas out and have a lower thermal mass so are faster.

[totaldla]

The SVEA Swedish Military burners are not a good backpacking stove. The commercial Trangia burner, (dimensionally different) is the superior choice. Superior to the pop can stoves as well. Good video! Matches my test results as well. Swedish Military stuff looks good, as it has never been used, but it is sub-standard (because it has never been used and refined).

[jebus419]

thanks for the video.. you just saved me about $12... i think ill go with the pop cans instead of ebay.

[SillyBoyBlue83]

i think the swedish trangia is great though the burner was rubbish. I just use the one i got with my normal trangia

[meatabuse]

Penny stoves being difficult to get prime when windy is a non-issue. Being that you will be using some form of shield anyway to actually do any cooking you may as well use it to assist you lighting the stove, or waste fuel if you prefer.

Using an inflammable wicking material like fiberglass is essential. While a material that will burn or char like cotton will not result in a catastrophic failure burning material will contaminate the expanding gases and reduce fuel efficiency.

[elastoplastscavenger]

@meatabuse wind shields do not stop the wind, just reduce it - even the trangia and pop can stoves are difficult to light in a wind shield with a decent breeze. Penny pop can stoves are just horrible in comparrison.

the wick does not burn so a flamable material can be used. once the alcohol starts evaporating which is almost imediately, the vapour displaces the air in the burner. Burning only takes place outside the can where the oxygen is available.

[meatabuse]

@elastoplastscavenger I never said anything about stopping the wind. The point is I would build a windshield to light a wood fire in windy conditions so building one to light a penny stove doesn't seem unreasonable. Yes; the self-priming nature of open top stoves make them easier to light, that was never refuted but as far as making Penny Stoves "worthless" is a statement I find somewhat disengenuous.

I've recycled wicking material from different used stoves. Material does burn inside them.

[elastoplastscavenger]

@meatabuse penny stoves are so difficult to light i fail to see why you would bother if you knew of the existance of the open top variety. the extra effort in construction is negligable once you have the tools infront of you, compared to the pain of lighting over the life of the burner.

fibreglass is the better material but less available - the cloth i use is only lightly charred round the top after several litres of fuel has been burnt so in my experience cloth is adequate.

[meatabuse]

@elastoplastscavenger I'm not digging at you, but I really don't find penny's difficult to light. I reckon this is an issue more based on the situation. I live in the tropics, so the factors of temperature and wind are in my favor to begin with. I prefer the penny stove because my preferred method of lighting is usually a disposable lighter. Having built both designs I'm inclined to prefer using a priming pan than put my hand in the center of the stove. This is a non issue with a flint or match.

[meatabuse]

@elastoplastscavenger The second reason is that a penny stove with a fully wicked body doesn't spill it's contents when tipped over. In the Jungle or while cragging it can be hard to find a good place to set up and the risk factor for tipping can be high (sometimes I don't even set up a pot stand). If you tip an open top the results are predictable. Again this is not a knock, I'm just making the case for Pennies.

[teb0atoz]

I am not sure how you determined the pop can stove gave out more heat. A measure of heat is the therm aka BTU and you did not measure this. I guess it was just your assumption that the pop can stove gave more heat. How long does it take each stove to boil a give amount of water. The yellow flame is less effencient then the blue flame.

cheers

[elastoplastscavenger]

@teb0atoz both reacted the same amount of fuel in the test but the pop can did it in a much shorter time hence has a higher power output, i was incorrect in stating it gave more heat. Both stoves produced yellow flames.

[Jollyprez]

Trangia is not very expensive, and will last forever. Simmer ring makes it actually usable. Also, you can stop the Trangia when you're done, and save fuel. THAT makes it cheaper to run, and therefore cheaper in the long-run. Trangias are about $10 - coke can, if you buy them are $3? $4?

[elastoplastscavenger]

@Jollyprez i partially agree with you on some of the points. the simmer ring makes it simerable. I can stop the pop can by covering it. i measure the fuel carefully so little is wasted.

however saying the pop can stove costs $4 is like saying a shoe box costs $150.

[Jollyprez]

@elastoplastscavenger The $3 or $4 I mentioned is straight from ebay. Please don't forget the mailing charges. If you make it yourself, you should take into account how much time and effort goes into that production. I'm not trying to give you a hard time, just point out that one needs to take the entire opportunity costs into account.

[elastoplastscavenger]

@Jollyprez ahhh - now i understand. i got the wrong end of the stick there.

[ahoyhoy79]

i wanna see these pop can stoves vs burning meths in a cup w/ no holes.

i reckon they will be neck'n'neck as theyre both going thru incomplete combustion. ie sooty yellow flame

[elastoplastscavenger]

@ahoyhoy79

not as good - i have tried it. the internal wick allows the fuel to evaporate faster. also the meths in a cup is easy to blow out and greatly affected by wind whereas the pop can stove is not

[ahoyhoy79]

@elastoplastscavenger fair enough. keep up the good work!

[skipstah70]

no offense buddy, but they are both going to put out relatively the same amount of heat.. because they are using the same amount of energy (fuel). Just because the can burns faster and brighter definitely does not make it better.. you want a quick and consistent blue flame.. which is what the trangia is giving you. That can only good for boiling water, making pop corn.. or burning food! LOL

[meetcha2nite]

I want 2 c the "STAND TEST" which 1 will hold the weight of a 200lb man? a coke can? LOL...

[elastoplastscavenger]

i had never really considered that - im sure i would if i carried out the test by mistake on the coke can when i was trying to cook.

[sztajmesnyc]

You wrong.

Yellow flame is BAD flame, you need blue flame to get more heat.

[elastoplastscavenger]

the fuel is all reacted in the flame so no matter the colour of the flame the same calorific value is burnt. Maybe the bluer flame of the trangia SVEA burner is hotter than the yellower flame of the coke can stove but the coke can stove flame is much bigger.

[cplsteel]

The size of the flame is not the same as how efficient it is. The comparison would have been much more effective if it was timed on how long it took to boil 1L of water.

[elastoplastscavenger]

the size of the flame is a fairly good indication of the power of the burner (given that they are very similar designs and similar diameters). The rate at fuel is consumed is also a good indication of power output. With these in mind, and from experience, the coke can burner is faster to boil a liter.

the coke stove also consumes less fuel to boil a liter of water since less heat is radiated and convected by the pot during the shorter time duration.

power to the people.

[Swazooli]

I went outside with my kid last year and used the military surplus vs two diff. soda can burners, they all heated the same temperature water in almost the same exact amount of time. Trangia is cool because of the cap. You could build a simmer ring for either, (mine did not come with simmer ring) I need to make one soon, just to have. My buddy in TX cooks every morning on a alk stove, that is pure simplicity. They all work about the same, with same fuel. I enjoyed builkding though

swaz

[WorldStove]

Wonderful comparison vid and even better responses to the comments below. I too agree that even though I like the trangia, you are right, making your stove yourself has a lot of plusses

[uberbiscuit]

cool vid, my trangia works a treat in all conditions but the simmer ring seems to kill the heat output far to much so i dont bother with it, gonna give the coke can a whirl now tho lol

[SgtDrDeath]

Important to clean the holes in the Trangia burner to maintain optimum heat/fuel economy.

I have used it in -32C and it works fine.

Just a nice rugged equipment, bit slow thou, do not forget the lid once cooking.

[PhouFoo]

trangia stove costs like 10$... id rather spend that money instead of wasting many hours on building one out of a can.

[elastoplastscavenger]

fair point but:

its not just the time and money - this saves me fuel, weight and time cooking

they are more than $10 most places

it wasnt a waste of time, i enjoyed the creativity and feeling of accomplishment

it didnt take "many hours" - like 90 minutes, while watching TV, to make one that sucked then make one that was ace based on what i had learned from the one that sucked.

id rather cook a nice meal myself than buy a ready made one for like $3. or fix my own car than get it done for me.

[mazadan]

it took me 15 mins from start to finish to make the coke can stove, i still use the trangia as i have had that stove for 30 years.

[oldeafcoot]

Your results match my results. The soda can stove has an edge in heat output and fast warmup. The Trangia burns longer. Both are good cookers and serve pretty much the same use. Both are good to boil a couple of cups of water or warm up some prepared food. Both are good to cook for one or two people and for short trips. For larger groups of people or for trips of over a week you need something with more heat output and longer burn time. I use both my pop can stove and Trangia a lot.

[990plm]

Just remember that in this video you are using a SVEA burner not a Trangia. The SVEA burner is not nearly as fast or efficient as a Trangia.

[elastoplastscavenger]

i thought the swedish military SVEA was made by trangia but i guess not...thanks for the info.

[CRAFTYCARPER84]

it is mate, i own 2 sveas both with trangia stamped on the caps

[NJPurling]

I also water the alcohol for my Trangia. About 10% water. It solved the sooting problem, which it looks like you would also have.

[elastoplastscavenger]

yeh, but i dont mind the sooting...im not after a good looking stove! i figure adding water reduces the power output too.

[cobalt120]

Hi.

A trick for the soda can stove is when you are building it to place a rolled strip of fiberglass pink insulation along the bottom inside (outer wall) of the soda can stove. Then when you pour in the fuel the insulation acts are a wick pulling in air as well and optimizing the fuel. Heats much hotter and burns less fuel.

This also means you can make the soda can stove a little taller if you choose so,

Enjoy.

[sxdxfan]

what is the green thing on the bottom of the trangia stove??? the tortoise and the hare fast vs slow

[elastoplastscavenger]

i had some felt left over from a fancy dress costume so i stuck it round the side and bottom to speed up the warm up in the wind. It also lets you pick the burner up when it's hot and keeps it warm for ages. I tried sticking it to the coke can stove too but it burst into flames!

i like the tortoise and hare analogy!

[NCHiker1970]

Love it! I am still hooked on my Trangia, its a more useful stove then most penny stoves. Excluding the weight ofcourse, but for quality who cares!

[lebammabel]

Do both stoves have equal number of jets and size of jets?

[elastoplastscavenger]

no. they have different numbers and sizes. which is a big factor in the differing performances. im not dissing the trangia, more saying they have different design intents. I carry and use both.