Mt Whitney Zone
Posted By: Madbutcher Stove explosion warning - 08/12/19 09:05 PM
This past weekend the MSR stove we were using exploded. It was its third night of similar use on this trip. We had cooked two batches of fish on a small frying pan and then had water heating in a pot. We had a large heavy duty foil ring/tube like a Lincoln hat around the stove to protect from wind and maximize heat. The bottom of the gas canister delaminated and shot the stove and pot of water into the air and shredded the foil ring. It was as loud as a 30-06 being fired and caused temporary deafness for two of us who wear working right next to it. We got very lucky no one got hurt. Careful with your backwoods improvements to gear. Tried to put pictures on here but not sure if it worked [img]https://www.zenfolio.com/karl8188/e2/p185921524[/img]






Posted By: Jonathan C Re: Stove explosion warning - 08/13/19 05:47 AM
Wow, scary. Sounds like your windscreen was too strong and caused the canister to heat up too much. You need to be extremely careful with windscreens because of this. Need to strike the right balance of protection and airflow and should check the temp of the canister by hand to be sure. See here for examples:

https://adventuresinstoving.blogspot.com/2011/08/windscreens.html
Posted By: Steve C Re: Stove explosion warning - 08/13/19 03:35 PM
I received the pictures, and added them to Madbutcher's post.

That is one incredible situation! Sure glad nobody got hurt!!!
Posted By: bobpickering Re: Stove explosion warning - 08/13/19 04:01 PM
The windscreen in the photo looks a lot like the one that comes with the MSR WhisperLite. With the WhisperLite, the fuel bottle is outside the foil windscreen. If the stove sits directly on the fuel canister, the fuel is inside the foil windscreen, where it can overheat. The instructions that came with my Snow Peak Giga Power stove said not to use that kind of windscreen because of possible overheating. What did MSR say about using a foil windscreen with your stove?
Posted By: Steve C Re: Stove explosion warning - 08/13/19 04:39 PM
This looks like the brass neck of the stove overheated -- just below the burner. The explosion blew the burner into the bottom of the pot, and blew the bottom of the stove downward into the canister. Weird!!!
Posted By: Madbutcher Re: Stove explosion warning - 08/13/19 04:53 PM
The stove is not mine but might be a MSR SUPERFLY. It was brought by a person with multiple stoves and he may have mixed systems. Looking at those instructions online, it says not to use a windscreen and "If you expose the fuel canister to high heat, the canister will explode..." My hope was to inform people of a real event and put it in the back of stove users minds. Often I scan the directions to get started and figure out my own procedures. Years later you don't remember those warnings in the manual you looked at once.
Posted By: Madbutcher Re: Stove explosion warning - 08/13/19 04:56 PM
We think the explosion happened when the bottom of the fuel canister delaminated from pressure. Think of the rolled lip on the ends on a soup can.
Posted By: Steve C Re: Stove explosion warning - 08/13/19 07:59 PM
Originally Posted By: Madbutcher
We think the explosion happened when the bottom of the fuel canister delaminated from pressure. Think of the rolled lip on the ends on a soup can.


The picture doesn't show it, but is the bottom of the canister blown out? Any additional pictures available?

How far did the parts scatter in the explosion?
Posted By: bobpickering Re: Stove explosion warning - 08/13/19 08:12 PM
Originally Posted By: Madbutcher
Years later you don't remember those warnings in the manual you looked at once.

If you don’t have the manual handy, you could always read the outside of the canister. Mine all say “EXTREMELY FLAMMABLE, CONTENTS UNDER PRESSURE” and “CONTAINER MAY EXPLODE IF HEATED”. Your photo shows one of those warnings on your canister. You might also remember the warning that comes with the windscreen: “This windscreen should not be used with canister-style stoves on which the stove burner sits directly atop the fuel canister.” But even if it’s too dark to read any of the warnings, does it really make sense to enclose a flame and a canister of flammable gas inside a heat shield?
Posted By: Madbutcher Re: Stove explosion warning - 08/13/19 10:23 PM
I don't have a picture but the bottom/flat disk did blow off into the ground and deform into a shallow cup shape. We think the pot that was 3/4 full of water went up at least 10 feet but everything happened in an instant.

Bob, you must be one of those guys that even reads the fine print and all this is oblivious info after the fact. Just trying to make the warnings a little more real for people. Like seeing your Uncle talking from a cancer kazoo out of the hole in his throat rather than reading the warning on the cigarette pack. I think you have climbed them all, had many more successful trips then I and shared great info for all us lurkers, so I do appreciate your input on this and I could use some help with my Monsanto lawsuit...
Posted By: Steve C Re: Stove explosion warning - 08/14/19 02:36 AM
When I was a kid on a small farm, we burned our trash in an open fire. One day, I found a pint-sized rusty can of insecticide -- probably had DDT in it, still containing some of its contents.

I placed the can in the middle of the fire, and got back a reasonable distance. Several minutes later, it did just what Madbutchers' stove did. Only it blew about 50 feet into the air.

Ah those young and crazy days. grin
Posted By: LubkenCanyon Re: Stove explosion warning - 08/14/19 02:40 PM
Started with White gas under pressure, moved to Bluet and other cannister-fueled stoves including the last Pocket Rocket. Finally didn't want to see the light like you experienced (sorry) and abandoned them all for a very simple white box alcohol stove.

I can boil 2 liters of water in about 8.5 minutes with 1.5 oz of alcohol in a stove that weighs 26 grams and is lit by a spark from a foolproof firestarter.

I get to use a windscreen (the caldera) that completely encloses the stove and also acts as a pot holder for my titanium pot. The hotter it gets inside the windscreen, the faster the water boils. Of course, care must be taken to prevent spilling the alcohol while lit.
Posted By: LubkenCanyon Re: Stove explosion warning - 08/15/19 05:48 PM
sorry...one liter of water in 8.5 minutes wink
© WhitneyZone Message Board