At what altitude do isobutane stoves start to have trouble ?

[Shrek]

Reason I ask is that my Primus ETA express seemed to take a lot longer than I remember it taking to boil water. I was at @ 7800' and I'd never tried to use it above 7000' before. It worked but it didn't seem to put out the heat .

 

[Stid2677]

Reason I ask is that my Primus ETA express seemed to take a lot longer than I remember it taking to boil water. I was at @ 7800' and I'd never tried to use it above 7000' before. It worked but it didn't seem to put out the heat .

ISO don't like being cold, performance is greatly reduced when temps start getting below freezing. Try keeping your fuel warm.

 

[Shrek]

Thanks stid2677. I'll toss it into the sleeping bag with me at night.

 

[William Hanson (live2hunt)]

Also shake the canister well before using or it will get progressively less efficient in cold. I had no problem with mine at 11500 as long as it was warm.

 

[Sawtoothsteve]

Don't know that physics, but my experience is that temperature has more impact than altitude. I used Jitboil ti at 9000 feet in September with no issues. Have used canister succusfully up to just under 13,000. I have also had issues at less than 5,000 when in single digit temps.

 

[Stid2677]

Saw this photo and thought it was a good idea, have never tried it and can't remember who had the idea, but might be worth a try.

 

[William Hanson (live2hunt)]

Saw this photo and thought it was a good idea, have never tried it and can't remember who had the idea, but might be worth a try.

Is the theory that the copper wire will heat the canister from the burning flame?

 

[Elkfitness]

That's what I would say based on that pic.

 

[Violent Hippie]

I have used my snow peak gigapower a dozen or so times from 10k-14k with no problems.

 

[topher89]

I have used my snow peak gigapower a dozen or so times from 10k-14k with no problems.

Agreed. Summer backpacking above 12k doesn't seem to affect my stove. Cold temps, no matter what the elevation, slows my stove down

 

[William Hanson (live2hunt)]

I don't think the copper wire would work. Heat rises and once you have the stove going the problem is over in my experience, unless you are cooking for a long time.

 

[Where's Bruce?]

No problems at high elevation if i keep the cannister warm...that means in the sleeping bag at night and a inside black sack in the sun during the day.

 

[Backpack Hunter]

As mentioned its more a matter of temp than altitude. Used my stove today at 11,400 with no problems.

 

[mtnwrunner]

As others have said, try and keep the canisters warm and I always shake mine when it gets cold. Works great then.

Randy

 

[Jackelope]

From the www.

High-altitude cooking is the opposite of pressure cooking in that the boiling point of water is lower at higher altitudes due to the decreased air pressure. This may require an increase in cooking times or temperature and alterations of recipe ingredients. For home cooking, this effect becomes relevant at altitudes above approximately 2000 feet (600 m). At that altitude, water boils at approximately 208 °F (98 °C) and adjustments sometimes need to be made to compensate for the reduced air pressure/water boiling point.

Based on the standard sea-level atmospheric pressure (courtesy, NOAA):

Altitude, ftBoiling point of water, °F
0' (0m)212 °F (100 °C)
500' (152m)211.1 °F (99.5 °C)
1,000' (305m)210.2 °F (99 °C)
2,000' (610m)208.4 °F (98 °C)
5,000' (1524m)203 °F (95 °C)
6,000' (1829m)201.1 °F (94 °C)
8,000' (2438m)197.4 °F (91.9 °C)
10,000' (3048m)193.6 °F (89.8 °C)
12,000' (3658m)189.8 °F (87.6 °C)
14,000' (4267m)185.9 °F (85.5 °C)
Source: NASA[1]

How about that egg we want to cook on top of a high mountain, say at 10,000 feet?

We now know that the water will boil at a lower temperature on top of the mountain at lets say, 185 degrees Fahrenheit. To hard-boil an egg at sea level takes say, five minutes at 212 degrees Fahrenheit.

Now, there is a very good law in chemistry that states "You cannot get something for nothing" (the left-hand value of an equation must equal the right-hand value). Time multiplied by temperature equals a hardboiled egg. That is to say, 212 times 5 equals a hardboiled egg.

If the temperature of the boiling water on the mountaintop is 185 degrees Fahrenheit, then the time taken to cook the egg will have to INCREASE to get our hardboiled egg. Our equation to equal a hardboiled egg cannot change. (185 times extended time equals hardboiled egg.) It is no different to cooking a piece of steak or cooking the potatoes. You can cook at a low temperature for a long time, or a high temperature for a short time.

It is time and temperature that does the cooking. It has nothing to do with whether the water is boiling. That is only a physical phenomenon that you can see. You have to measure for temperature and time, as these are the two factors that determine when the egg is hardboiled.

 

[Ruskin]

Real life. I have a soto that I used this past elk hunt. Worked like I champ and the temp was 32 at 9 am. Nearest weather said 18' as a low. We did cook inside the tent which probably raised the temp. Which leads me to think that at 32 it works fine.

 

[Darren Best]

Yes heat rises, but the copper wire is highly conductive and it will warm the canister.

 

[Darren Best]

Temperature is what give the little gas canisters their pressure, once the temp falls, this function slows down or ceases to work.

A few ways around this problem are to keep your canister warm, use a winter blend of fuel such as MSR IsoPro or use a remote feed stove and invert the canister to use liquid feed.

You can also sit the canister in a bowl of water and instead of drawing the energy from the fuel when it boils, it draws it from the water, thus maintaining a more constant temp for the fuel.

The wire mod posted above will also work, but take care with something like this, do not allow the canister to get too warm that you can't touch it. Having a canister burst while the stove is lit will ruin your day.

Boiling point of Butane at sea level is 30F, IsoButane is 11F and IsoPro is about 0F.

Altitude actually works in your favor because it lowers the boiling point of the fuel. But once you fire up that stove and start using it, the temp of the fuel is going to start dropping, when a liquid boils it makes the liquid portion colder because of energy transfer, this is why the canister is cold when you pick it up after you are done.