Page 1 of 1

vac pot fuel?

PostPosted: Wed Jul 29, 2009 4:22 pm
by Johnmac
Some friends at work bought me a Cona III as a leaving present. :D

It's great, I've used it once with some Harrar and it produced that clean taste taste that I associate with vac pot.

I used meths in the spirit burner but am worried that I should have bought 'white spirit' instead. What do others use?

PostPosted: Wed Jul 29, 2009 7:43 pm
by al_bongo
You are right with the meths aka denatured alcohol as the fuel.

White spirit is for cleaning paint brushes, as far as I know it's not intended for fuel.

PostPosted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 3:40 am
by Jasonscheltus
I got one of these for my cona -

http://www.espressoparts.com/cgi-bin/ep ... rch_id=114

There are cheaper ones I've seen around, (maybe floating on ebay uk??) but i like the chrome and it fit's under the bowl perfectly.

PostPosted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 8:28 am
by dsc
Hi guys,

I think small burners might be available at tourist stores, especially the ones that stock camping equipment.

Regards,
dsc.

PostPosted: Sat Aug 01, 2009 11:11 am
by Steve
I know that Maplins online were doing a great butane burner a couple of months ago

PostPosted: Sun Aug 02, 2009 9:15 pm
by Skippy
In the interests of science ive tried burning white spirt in a meths stove before. I dont recommend it! It belches out enormous amounts of foul smelling black smoke.

PostPosted: Thu Aug 27, 2009 10:57 pm
by Johnmac
Thanks for the replies. I'll stick with the meths, messing around with flammable liquids and old glass sounds dodgy. I wondered about this because a few years ago a friend of mine was using something other than meths and claimed that it was better because it didn't burn as hot and it didn't leave a residue on the glass like meths. I've found that you have quite good control of the heat simply by shortening the length of the wick.

PostPosted: Tue Sep 08, 2009 8:31 am
by zix
I use a fondue set burner. My Cona glass burner broke... but the fondue burner is much more effective, and built for burning meths. No wick, instead a large opening and holes on the side, much like a Trangia burner.
Even better would be to use a gas burner. Will try later this autumn.

PostPosted: Wed Oct 21, 2009 8:07 pm
by easylife
Bit late in the day to reply - but

If the Cona III is one of the tabletop models, you may find that the self contained butane burners - like the very nice one that Maplins sell - won't fit underneath.

I've had a tabletop cona for a few years and it won't fit under that, and I bought a brand new one as a present a couple of weeks ago and that seems to be indentical.

I tend not to use the liquid meths burner these days - instead have taken to using a chafing fuel thingie - you know the tin with gel alcohol in it that you use under chafing dishes to keep them warm or in some camping stoves.

They are very cheap - I get mine from the local Makro at about 80p each, or you can buy them from camping stores I guess. They last for ages and ages and don't seem to have the classic meths smell that some folk don't like, although I'm alright with that.

The flame is a little wider, and I think there's a bit more heat output, but not enough to overwhelm the brewing stage - it burbles away very nicely. Also, they burn very cleanly - no soot on the glass.

Definitely worth a try.

PostPosted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 10:02 am
by lastcoyote
Steve wrote:I know that Maplins online were doing a great butane burner a couple of months ago


indeed. i've just received my one from maplins today as my other one died the other day. this one from maplins is quality and the same one that is being sold on sweet maria's site and espressparts. comes with a stand as well. and a neat holder for when refilling it from a butane canister.

also it's only 17.99 at the moment which is a bargain i think. 20.98 with delivery. while stocks last apparently..so hurry! :)

http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?moduleno=228605

as has been said though these are too high to go under the cona tabletop models. they are perfect for the older straight stand, round bottomed cona's though. and yama's..