Slow Build in Oz

[MickinOz]

I've been grappling with the myriad of choices for a new stove.


Pros for a butane stove:
Very cheap to buy - I can buy a new single burner butane canister type stove for less than 20 bucks.

The canisters are cheap - a 12 pack of 220g canisters is $16 at Kmart.
The stoves usually run 90 minutes per canister at full throttle.
So 18 hours of burn at less then $1 per hour, or 9 hours for two burners.

Very safe
Least work involved to start cooking - install can and flip lever, rotate knob fully clockwise to ignite.

Cons:
Poor cold weather performance as the boiling point of liquid butane is about -0.5C at atmospheric pressure, and higher due to the pressure in the cylinder
Two burner stoves are very long, and seem to cost more than a propane camping stove
No convenient built in wind screens on any I've seen so far.


I did find a two burner Gasmate stove that looks like a two burner LPG stove, but it is NZ item not usually supplied in Oz, so not sure of legalities.
In any case, it uses the screw on butane canisters that cost as much as propane canisters and aren't all that readily available in my town.

So then I looked at propane/lpg stoves.
My goodness, what a minefield.
Some run at cylinder pressure, some need a regulator.
Can buy a cheapy that comes without windscreens, or a very slightly more expensive one with windscreen.

So, assuming the butane stove is off the table, consider coleman style stoves that use the little 1lb cylinder.

Pros:
Compact and simple
Not very expensive - can find a two burner for the same price as a two burner butane stove.
Can be had with super convenient windshields built in, and couple even have built in toaster.
Options with regard to propane cylinder choices.

Cons:
1 lb propane cylinders (coleman type) are very expensive here. Cheapest I have found is $9 but not here in town.
Lets say I travel to Adelaide often enough to buy at $9 a can.
That works out at $4.50 for the same amount of gas there is in a butane can.
Since I can buy a butane can for $1.25, it was putting me off.
For those who will inevitably say "yes but propane lasts longer," let me just say this - actual energy per unit weight is about the same, +/-3%, for propane and butane. Trust me, I didn't spend all that time in industrial chemistry school for nothing.
I know I'm likely to use less than one can per trip, but still.

However, I like these style of stoves for their other qualities.
I also looked at camp stoves that run off bigger cylinders.

Bigger cylinders pretty much require a mounting system and at least a little plumbing.
Then I'm in the world of mandatory vehicle gas system certification. No thanks.
The refill mobs always look at the date on the cylinder and seldom agree to refill one that is out of date.
No thanks, again.

So today, I went into the local supply party shop, where they have decided to extricate themselves from camping supplies.
I bought their remaining stock (7) of 1lb Coleman cylinders for $5 each. Still double the price of butane, but not too shabby.
This arvo, we are off to the local caravan joint to see what stoves they have.
Hoping they have this one:
https://www.colemanaustralia.com.au/en_ ... es#start=8

It doesn't have a full wind shield system, but it has the extra attraction of the regulator arm screws in the back, not the side.

[edgeau]

I once had a very similar Coleman. Simple and robust. Nothing fancy but very reliable

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[MickinOz]

Inaugural outing. Yongala Pub for NYE.
Where it all began 2 years ago. I rolled out of the tent and said to the missus I was over sleeping on the ground. I guess I coulda got a bigger tent and a camp stretcher, but it seemed cooler to build a trailer.

[tony.latham]

but it seemed cooler to build a trailer.

That IS a fine-looking Bennie, for sure.

But I don't recognize the truck. What is it? An old Tundra maybe?

Tony

[MickinOz]

Thank you. It's a bit plain Jane at present, the missus says it needs graphics.
But I was delighted wirh the function of the cabin area.
I slept very well.
Truck is a 2004 Ford Courier. Might have been sold in the US as a Ranger. Sorta looks like a 3/4 size F150 to my eyes. I described it in the Tow Vehicle thread a couple days ago.
Dawn on New Year's day here. I will get the coffee started soon I guess. Moon and sun both in the sky. This is when Outback South Oz looks at its best.

[tony.latham]

This is when Outback South Oz looks at its best.

Tony

[MickinOz]

Have made it back home from the shakedown cruise.
Nothing seems to have broken, no seams appear to have split, nothing seems to have fallen off.

Things that worked well:
-The whole sleeping area.
Will never regret taking on the task of widening and lengthening the whole rig enough to go from a double bed mattress (4'6" wide and 6' long) to a full queen mattress (5' wide and 6'6" long)
-Won't regret the TV either.
-The doors are brilliant. It was pretty warm during the day, but we were able to sleep with just the security screen doors closed, and the breeze came in one door and out the other.
Only had sheets and a light comforter - that worked out perfect. I actually slept really well.
-The little 15L fridge proved adequate size - had 8 cans and stubbies in there, and still had room for the eggs, bacon, butter and milk for morning coffee and breakfast.

A few improvements to be done:

-2 burner stove. My son is an electrician, and often installs range hoods for people. This benefits me with off-cuts from the stainless steel covers that go over the range hood exhaust flues. So before we left I knocked up a quick and dirty windscreen/spatter shield for the stove.
It worked fine, but I got vouchers from the caravan and camping store for Christmas, so I'm just waiting on them to restock and I'll grab a 2 burner propane stove with windshields.

- Have to work out a way to make the cookware and tableware more accessible.
I bought a set of enameled gear a few weeks ago, washed it all and put it back in the same box.
There's a coffee pot, 3 quart pot, 4 plates, 4 cups and frypan, which all performed as required, but I don't want to be digging it out all the time, so a system is needed.
Hooks to hang everything is looking good.

-Actually need to install those magnetic catches I bought for the sliding doors on the cabin cupboards.

-May buy a new fridge, something a bit quieter.

-Have to fit the solar panel. We ran the fridge, lights, TV for a short period, charged a phone, and we didn't get anywhere near the low voltage cut-off set in the controller. However, I would prefer to keep as much charge in it as possible.
The trailer is hooked up at home recharging now, I'm keen to see how many amp hours the controller puts back in it. The controller seems to just report remaining capacity just based on terminal voltage, so the numbers can look funny depending how much current is being drawn.

In all though, our first outing was 10 times better than tent camping.
Just as well, I reckon it cost about 20 times the cost of a decent tent and a couple of camp stretchers.

[MickinOz]

The outfit towed very well.
Being a shakedown cruise, I stopped a couple times on the outbound leg of the journey to look for loose bolts, loose wheel nuts, hot/loose bearings, etc.
Found none.
I may live in a very flat state, but we do actually have to cross the tail end of the Flinders Ranges to get there.
Yongala is 512m above sea level, home is 4.

So, believe it or not, there is a few grades that are actually worthy of the name. Note I don't apply the adjective "steep".
The road was busy NYE, so I had to keep the speed up, too.

When I bought the ute, I took my mechanic mate along to help me check it over.
I worried about their reputation - plenty of these little 2.5L turbo diesels crack the head and blow 5th gear.
Mick wasn't really very helpful - he said, "Remember that tray-top one I had? I blew the head and 5th gear in the same trip."

Then he explained that I was unlikely to do what he did - hook on an 18 foot caravan at Coober Pedy and hold it flat in top gear all the way to Cleve.

So I bought it and remembered his advice - keep the cooling system in good condition, never run it above normal temperature, and never tow any appreciable weight in 5th gear.
The engine has to work hard, and 5th is overdrive so there are two gearsets trying to push the shafts apart as you load it up.
So for every grade, I shifted back to 4th (straight through - no gearing), and let her rev out.
All the way to 3200 rpm. ( Max power is 3500 rpm.)

On the way back, it's lots of downhill runs naturally, only a couple of jump-ups where I went back to 4th.

Empty, the beast returns at least 10km/L going to Adelaide. That's 24 mpg US, or or 28 mpg Imperial.
The road to Adelaide is quite flat, only a couple of steep pulls.
So, pulling the trailer on more noticeably undulating ground, I got 8.3 km/L.
That's about 20mpg US or 23mpg Imperial.
I'm pretty happy with that. I can probably better it when the road isn't busy.

[MickinOz]

A couple of pics.
I've been on the square for 3 months or so. But I thought I'd break the drought in honour of the first voyage. So I rolled back to the campsite from the pub as sober as a judge, and promptly chickened out.
So today, I decided to have a little sip before breakfast, it being rather chilly as the sun poked its head above the horizon.
Never has a nip of Galway Pipe been so disappointing.
Turns out I still don't like drinking before lunch.

Pipe NYD.JPG (98.89 KiB) Viewed 2373 times

Washing up after breakfast.

washing up after breakfast NYD.JPG (74.43 KiB) Viewed 2372 times

Ready to go home.

Ready to leave NYD.JPG (91.78 KiB) Viewed 2371 times

[MickinOz]

My charge controller says it has put 21 amp hours into the battery, and is showing the battery at 100%.
It's not yet doing the slow flashing charge light that says it is "floating" the battery, and is still running 2 amps in, but I'd expect to see that in the next couple of hours.

I estimated our usage at 24 Ah for the trip, based on what I measured the fridge usage at, so it's all looking good.
I think the system is sized right for our needs.

[edgeau]

Congratulations on the maiden voyage!

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[MickinOz]

Thanks Edge.
I was pretty happy. Really comfortable sleep.
I've just been out in the shed staring at the galley thinking about ways to improve the functionality.
I may convert the stove slide to a drawer, it'd fit all the plates and cutlery I reckon.
No rush though, a few more trips might help.

[MickinOz]

Today I decided to fill in a couple hours checking out the weekend garage sales.
Actually end up buying some stuff.
Pretty happy with the compact 2 burner Primus stove for $5. After cleaning it, I took it around to my mother's and hooked up her little propane bottle.
Turned it on and sprayed all the joints with soapy water. No bubbles, so I took the risk and lit the burners. Worked perfectly.

Also scored a brand new old stock manual sink pump for a caravan, a serviceable set of jumper leads, and a fold down leg and bracket from a convertible caravan dinette table/bunk set up.
Lost track of the spending spree. It was either $11 total or $13.
Fun, though.

Primus.JPG (77.83 KiB) Viewed 2172 times

goodies.JPG (88.06 KiB) Viewed 2172 times

Ah, Primus.
Great song lyrics
"When asked if he ever felt remorse while sitting up in that pen,
He said, "Hell no, you know a thief's a thief and I'd shoot that F@(Ker again."

[MickinOz]

Took the missus to the Smoke for another doctor's appointment today.
Picked up this nifty little gadget for $12.98

Adapter valve.JPG (43.16 KiB) Viewed 2048 times

So now the heritage listed vintage primus stove runs on a Coleman bottle.

It lives.JPG (73.73 KiB) Viewed 2048 times

[MickinOz]

About 5 pages ago, Swoody126 suggested that a fool proof way to guard against shutting the stove slide with the burners still running was to have it all set up so that the gas supply has to be disconnected before the slide can be closed.
Being pretty keen on using a butane stove at that time, I sorta just filed that away.
However, flexibility is key when building a 'drop, things evolve along the way, and I've come full circle. We are right back where he said.
The ancient primus stove sure floats my boat, and on New Years Day, I found even in the middle of an Aussie summer it can be chilly enough to test the butane stove.
Today I got around to actually installing the stove.
I got some UPVC DWV pipe, glued on a floor flange, drilled it for mounting screws and painted it black.
Screwed to the drawer slide at the rear, it holds the 1lb Coleman bottle upright. At the same time, you just can't slide the drawer shut while the bottle is installed.
It's behind the heat/windshield/lid of the stove - I'm not expecting excessive heat.

Bottle holder.JPG (78.73 KiB) Viewed 1958 times