chefisaac

Hello all.

I am screwing around with the trangia stove this morning in the kitchen and noticed the flame is not blue like/ transparaent that I have looked at before in other peopls trangia. This is the first time I have used it, brand new and using denatured alcohol.

Thoughts?

dellwilson

Unless it's puting off soot, I wouldn't worry about it. If you're using methyl alcohol, you should be fine. (I was recently on a tour with a guy that mistakenly bought Coleman fuel instead of alcohol. After one day, he had soot on everything he had. It would have driven me bonkers, but he went the entire week like that.)

imi

I've never thought of trangias flame being pure transparent blue except just at the small holes around the burner... Yellowy, orange, sure.

I'm guessing, but maybe there's some residue from the manufacturing process? In which case it will disappear.

Try different brands of alcohol. Email trangia? I wouldn't worry at all, the fuel is probably burning with the colour it's meant to.

The most beautiful alcohol flame I've ever seen was over a lit glass of Sambuca with a single coffee bean in it... So beautiful that I watched it for too long, then burnt my lips on the hot glass!

robow

As a prophylactic measure, can we just go ahead and lock this thread now? Btw, your flame color is fine.

staehpj1

I've never seen yellow flames like that from any of my alcohol stoves, but I have only used pepsi can stoves of one sort or another. Does it boil water in a normal amount of time? Does it leave soot on the pot? If it puts out enough heat and doesn't blacken the pot I wouldn't worry.

chefisaac

No soot at and boiled around the 4 min mark I believe.

MichaelW

Is it jetting properly? Check and clean the small holes with a pin.

staehpj1

I wouldn't worry then.

Gotte

From what I remember, Trangias need a windshield to lessen the available oxygen. Burning without a windshield will give a yellow flame because the oxygen is free flowing. Used with a standard Trangia windshield (the enclosed tyoe with the holes), will lower the intake of oxgen and give a blue flame.
I spent ages Messing around with home made windshields, and when you finally get the venting right, it does turn the flame blue.

Western Flyer 

Don't worry about it at all. Get a tin of Klean Strip Green denatured ethanol. What ever color you see is the color it is suppose to be. Klean Strip is the purest alcohol on the US market. Unfortunately federal specifications for denatured alcohol are extremely loose. I have pulled the MSDS (material safety data sheets) on various brands of DA and found some to contain less than 25% ethanol, and it is still legal to call such chemical brews denatured alcohol. You can also try Yellow Heet (methanol). It has a bluer and very clean flame. It is not as hot and efficient as ethanol but is is cheap and readily available. I use it on tour any time I can't find DA.

chefisaac

I used that same kind today.

chefisaac

i used their windshield. Perhaps it's because I was under a commercial hood system at work.

chefisaac

Good call out. I'll check but it is brand new.

spinner

I just checked my Chinese knock off Trangia style burner. I use methly hydrate and it burns with a yellowish flame and blue around the burner ports. This was also under the kitchen range hood. Perhaps the colour come from whatever they are using to denature the alcohol.

Anyway, the flame seems normal to me.

Cheers

jimmyhughes

There's just not much that can go wrong with them.
It's prolly the simplest, most functional piece of equipment ever designed.
and sooo expensive too!

Tourist in MSN

I do not use alcohol stoves, but I have used alcohol to prime my kerosene stove. For that I prefer methanol and to get it I buy yellow bottles of heet. What is your alcohol source?

chefisaac

Post number 10.

Gravity Aided

I find that when I use a lower level of alcohol, like isopropyl, it burns with an orange flame . Denatured has no flame that I can see in daytime, or blue at night, using a penny alcohol burner in Coghlan stove.

chefisaac

This morning I was using my trangia to make an omelette but this time I noticed soot on the outside bottom of the pan. Why is this? I am using a good quality fuel (same as in post number 10).

Gravity Aided

I don't know, but a lot of conditions can lead to soot formation, including moisture and maybe humidity levelsin the fuel. Usually, I associate soot with 91% Isoprpyl alcohol .