Jason Boyle
16 years ago
Kathy,
Here is my long awaited LTR for the Primus Eta MF stove. Thanks in advance for any edits.
Html here http://tinyurl.com/p5kb34
Text here
Long Term Report – May 23, 2009
Summary:
As I mentioned previously, I contacted Primus Customer Service and it turns out there was an issue with the fuel delivery tube on the previous stove. They replaced my stove and the new stove worked better, but not great. The system is great for cooking for a group and the multiple fuels makes the stove useful in a multitude of conditions. However, I still have a few durability concerns with this particular stove.
Field Conditions:
I used the stove on a 6 day trip to Uganik Lake, on a remote part of Kodiak Island that is accessible only by floatplane. Temperatures on this trip ranged from 20 F to 65 F (-7 C to 18 C). Elevation was 75 feet (23 m) above sea level and for a majority of the trip the wind was a constant 10 to 20 mph (16 to 32 kmph) with no precipitation experienced. The stove was used outside on the deck of a cabin, in the field, and on a counter inside the cabin.
Report:
I had a rough time with the stove as I outlined in my Field Report so I contacted Primus Customer Service via email. It took them a while to get back to me but they did and confirmed that there was an issue with the stove. Apparently the fuel delivery tube needed to be bent to go over the edge of the burner instead of around the outside of the burner. Primus sent me instructions on how to bend the tube into the correct place, with the assurance that if I broke something they would replace the stove. Apparently they know me well, because in the process of trying to bend the fuel delivery tube, I broke off the priming cup. I contacted Primus customer service again and they shipped me a new stove. This one had the fuel delivery tube routed over the corner of the fuel burner instead of around the burner as with my previous stove.
Once the new stove arrived, I set it up and did several test runs with it and it performed well each time, so I felt comfortable enough to take it on my trip to Uganik Lake where I would be cooking for me and my two trip parthers. We did bring a back up stove just in case the Eta Power MF had issues, but I had much better results on this trip than on my previous trips. The stove worked as advertised. I was able to use it to make multiple meals for the group including quesadillas. I was also impressed with how many times I was able to use the stove on the small fuel bottle that was included with the stove. I was able to cook 16 quesadillas, and heat 4 full pots of water for oatmeal and coffee before needing to refill the bottle. This may not seem like much but quesadillas take forever, I think it took 45 minutes to an hour to make the quesadillas for the group with the stove running constantly the entire time. Once I refilled the bottle I
didn’t need to refill it the rest of the trip, and I was using it to heat water at least twice a day.
Part of my trip included using an inflatable boat with motor to explore the lake. This was a particularly long day and I took the stove with us. After a sunny, but chilly day of exploring I decided I wanted some coffee before heading back to our cabin. I set up the stove on the lee side of the beach which was fairly protected but there was still probably 10 mph (16 kmph) of steady wind. Surprisingly, the wind had a serious effect on the stove’s performance even with the “windscreen” installed. My observation was that the wind was blowing from underneath the stove and causing the burner to flicker. The flame was blue and strong but it took a good 10 minutes to heat two liters (quarts) of water to a boil for coffee. I am quite surprised by the impact the wind had on the stove’s performance, I didn’t expect that.
There are a couple of areas though that I am not as excited about with the stove. One is the burner attachment. The burner snaps into pot support ring. However the connection is very flimsy and the burner would come unsnapped very easily if I adjusted the stove or the fuel bottle. I found this to be very unnerving especially when it happened while the stove was lit. I have tried to adjust the tabs on the pot support ring to hold the burner more tightly, but to no avail. It isn’t necessary to remove the burner from the pot support ring to pack the stove away, so I am unsure why Primus has decided to make them two separate pieces. I would really like to see these two pieces become one single piece. I think it would make the system a bit safer and sturdier. There were several times where I would light the primer cup and then the burner would become unattached from the pot support ring and fall down causing the forest detritus under the
primer cup to catch on fire. This was unnerving especially with the wind at Uganik Lake. The burner set up works fine with LP Gas which doesn’t need to be preheated in the primer cup, but doesn’t have the same performance as white gas in cold weather.
As I mentioned previously the pots were super easy to clean and the non stick coating worked well, even with burnt cheese from the quesadillas. The carrying case also worked well as an insulator. I would routinely cook a meal about three quarters of the time required and put it in the insulator to finish cooking. I could also boil water for hot drinks and by storing the pot in the insulator I was able to drink my first cup of tea and still have hot water for a second cup. This is a great feature and I am surprised that more pot manufacturers haven’t designed custom insulators for their pots. The pot size is a perfect fit for groups. I was able to cook meals for three in the pot with no problem.
In conclusion, the Primus Eta Power MF, is a good concept and performs well. The pots and insulated carrying case are great features and the pot is big enough to cook meals for three people easily. However, I feel the burner assembly needs to be improved for me to continue to use this product with white gas. This concludes my Long Term Report. Thanks to Backpackgeartest.org and Primus for allowing me to participate in this test.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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Here is my long awaited LTR for the Primus Eta MF stove. Thanks in advance for any edits.
Html here http://tinyurl.com/p5kb34
Text here
Long Term Report – May 23, 2009
Summary:
As I mentioned previously, I contacted Primus Customer Service and it turns out there was an issue with the fuel delivery tube on the previous stove. They replaced my stove and the new stove worked better, but not great. The system is great for cooking for a group and the multiple fuels makes the stove useful in a multitude of conditions. However, I still have a few durability concerns with this particular stove.
Field Conditions:
I used the stove on a 6 day trip to Uganik Lake, on a remote part of Kodiak Island that is accessible only by floatplane. Temperatures on this trip ranged from 20 F to 65 F (-7 C to 18 C). Elevation was 75 feet (23 m) above sea level and for a majority of the trip the wind was a constant 10 to 20 mph (16 to 32 kmph) with no precipitation experienced. The stove was used outside on the deck of a cabin, in the field, and on a counter inside the cabin.
Report:
I had a rough time with the stove as I outlined in my Field Report so I contacted Primus Customer Service via email. It took them a while to get back to me but they did and confirmed that there was an issue with the stove. Apparently the fuel delivery tube needed to be bent to go over the edge of the burner instead of around the outside of the burner. Primus sent me instructions on how to bend the tube into the correct place, with the assurance that if I broke something they would replace the stove. Apparently they know me well, because in the process of trying to bend the fuel delivery tube, I broke off the priming cup. I contacted Primus customer service again and they shipped me a new stove. This one had the fuel delivery tube routed over the corner of the fuel burner instead of around the burner as with my previous stove.
Once the new stove arrived, I set it up and did several test runs with it and it performed well each time, so I felt comfortable enough to take it on my trip to Uganik Lake where I would be cooking for me and my two trip parthers. We did bring a back up stove just in case the Eta Power MF had issues, but I had much better results on this trip than on my previous trips. The stove worked as advertised. I was able to use it to make multiple meals for the group including quesadillas. I was also impressed with how many times I was able to use the stove on the small fuel bottle that was included with the stove. I was able to cook 16 quesadillas, and heat 4 full pots of water for oatmeal and coffee before needing to refill the bottle. This may not seem like much but quesadillas take forever, I think it took 45 minutes to an hour to make the quesadillas for the group with the stove running constantly the entire time. Once I refilled the bottle I
didn’t need to refill it the rest of the trip, and I was using it to heat water at least twice a day.
Part of my trip included using an inflatable boat with motor to explore the lake. This was a particularly long day and I took the stove with us. After a sunny, but chilly day of exploring I decided I wanted some coffee before heading back to our cabin. I set up the stove on the lee side of the beach which was fairly protected but there was still probably 10 mph (16 kmph) of steady wind. Surprisingly, the wind had a serious effect on the stove’s performance even with the “windscreen” installed. My observation was that the wind was blowing from underneath the stove and causing the burner to flicker. The flame was blue and strong but it took a good 10 minutes to heat two liters (quarts) of water to a boil for coffee. I am quite surprised by the impact the wind had on the stove’s performance, I didn’t expect that.
There are a couple of areas though that I am not as excited about with the stove. One is the burner attachment. The burner snaps into pot support ring. However the connection is very flimsy and the burner would come unsnapped very easily if I adjusted the stove or the fuel bottle. I found this to be very unnerving especially when it happened while the stove was lit. I have tried to adjust the tabs on the pot support ring to hold the burner more tightly, but to no avail. It isn’t necessary to remove the burner from the pot support ring to pack the stove away, so I am unsure why Primus has decided to make them two separate pieces. I would really like to see these two pieces become one single piece. I think it would make the system a bit safer and sturdier. There were several times where I would light the primer cup and then the burner would become unattached from the pot support ring and fall down causing the forest detritus under the
primer cup to catch on fire. This was unnerving especially with the wind at Uganik Lake. The burner set up works fine with LP Gas which doesn’t need to be preheated in the primer cup, but doesn’t have the same performance as white gas in cold weather.
As I mentioned previously the pots were super easy to clean and the non stick coating worked well, even with burnt cheese from the quesadillas. The carrying case also worked well as an insulator. I would routinely cook a meal about three quarters of the time required and put it in the insulator to finish cooking. I could also boil water for hot drinks and by storing the pot in the insulator I was able to drink my first cup of tea and still have hot water for a second cup. This is a great feature and I am surprised that more pot manufacturers haven’t designed custom insulators for their pots. The pot size is a perfect fit for groups. I was able to cook meals for three in the pot with no problem.
In conclusion, the Primus Eta Power MF, is a good concept and performs well. The pots and insulated carrying case are great features and the pot is big enough to cook meals for three people easily. However, I feel the burner assembly needs to be improved for me to continue to use this product with white gas. This concludes my Long Term Report. Thanks to Backpackgeartest.org and Primus for allowing me to participate in this test.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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