UKC

Hello forum people,

I've just gone and bought a Polaris stove, which seems like a great stove for group cooking. After the first use this weekend the fuel line/burner got blocked and needed disassembly and cleaning after only running about 500ml of fuel through it. (Fuel used was B&Q 'Premium' Paraffin/Kerosene)

Does anyone have any experience using this stove (or similar), can you recommend a cheapish clean fuel that won't cause problems like this?

Any tips would be much appreciated!

Run it on gas canisters? Since it's designed for both, they'll definitely be the cleanest fuel by far.

It might just about work on methylated spirits, but since it doesn't seem to list that as a fuel, I'd be very very very cautious about trying it. As in, 'light it with a match on a 10ft stick from behind a brick wall' cautious....

Basic lamp oil from a hardware shop. It's highly purified paraffin, and burns clean.

Yeah that is an option but I went for multi-fuel to reduce waste and hopefully save on fuel in the long run.

I think I read somewhere about methylated spirits rotting seals on the pump. Between that and the explosion factor I'll probably try that last!

Thanks Guy, do you think the B&Q stuff is just crappy impure paraffin?

Have you ever tried the Coleman/white gas fuel?

Make sure you are using the correct fuel nozzle. Most multifuel stoves have different jets for different fuels (white gas/kerosene/petrol/paraffin etc.). These jets have different diameters appropriate to the fuels. 

This might seem obvious but I had this problem and it took me an embarrassingly long time to cotton on...

Meths in an Optimus? It´s unlikely to explode and even more unlikely to work!

Get panel wipe, Coleman Fuel, white gas or just boring petrol. You can also get stuff like Aspen 4 stroke fuel, white spirit etc. To replace kerosene you can use Jet-A fuel.

This table is informative! http://fuel.papo-art.com/

Is this essentially the same as the optimus nova? It looks like it. My nova happily burns paraffin, usually the large pre pac containers from petrol stations, with no issues. Either just bad luck, bad paraffin or there has been an 'improvement' with this new model. 

Anything labelled paraffin will be just that, with varying levels of impurity. Lamp oil is usually sold in 0.5l or 1l bottles and doesn't cost much. I doubt B&Q sell it; you're more likely to find it in one of those old fashioned "we sell a bit of everything" DIY shops on the high street.

Coleman fuel works very well (usually with a different nozzle than for paraffin/lamp oil) if you can find any. It's clean and has a higher calorific value than lamp oil, so should burn hotter, but I've never found the difference to be that significant. I use lamp oil because it's cheaper, I know a shop which always seems to have some in stock and it means I don't have to swap the nozzle on my old Optimus stove.

Don't try to use meths in a pressure stove. It's a recipe for cold food. On overseas trips I have used ordinary petrol, but found it clogged the stove up.

The B&Q stuff was outside next to those tiki lamp things so maybe it was just low grade stuff for the garden. It was only £8 for 4l...

I'll try and find some lamp oil, failing that some coleman fuel.

The Polaris is similar to the Nova, but can run on lpg and just has one nozzle for all fuels.

I use to run my MSR on n-Hexane you can buy it in 5 liter tubs online. I think it's used as car body panel cleaner pre painting, so it evaporates 100% this also means it burns in a very clean manner.

Edit: Brand name 'Tetrosyl Pre-Wipe Degreaser'

I've always used universally available petrol and never had any problems.  Not keen on paraffin; too smelly and lingering.  

Yep, I think that is "panel wipe" referred to above, often a cheaper option than Coleman fuel for petrol stoves, and less cloggy than moder  vehicle petrol (which is not great for seals etc and is about to get worse if/when it becomes E15 in the UK). Panel wipe is maybe £15-18 a gallon at car parts places. I use it on my old Optimus Hunter. 

Panel wipe is Good......Just make sure you get naptha panel wipe

Thanks for the tip. I managed to get hold of some lamp oil so I’ll give that a go, but it sounds like panel wipe is going to be best.

will let you know how I get on.

cheeers!