MSR Whisperlite Internationale

[Wild One]

I thought about posting this in the Product Review section, but that's pretty much a ghost town. Mods: If it needs to be moved, move er down.

So, my wife bought me this stove 2 years ago round Christmas time and I've used it a few times since (probably less than 10, sadly). I've always burned white gas in it and the second time I used it, I could not get any kind of pressure out of it. The stove would just simmer even when turned up full blast with a VERY pressurized canister. I messed with it for a while, then decided to just take it back and get a different one. I did, without problem and the second one seemed to work well for the next couple times out. I ALWAYS clean it up as good as I can before putting it away.

Well, a couple months ago we had the aftermath from Hurricane Ike hit OH and we lost power for about a week. Naturally I wasn't too worried b/c I had my stove. When I got it out and fired it up, again I got nothing! No pressure what so ever. I certainly couldn't cook on it. After I got mad and tore the whole thing apart, cleaned every little piece and put it back together it fired up and ran great.

Now this is supposed to be one of MSR's better stoves and MSR claims to be THE brand for lightweight backpacking stoves. I'm sorely disappointed in mine, but both my brothers and my dad have MSR stoves and haven't ever had probs with them.

My question is: anyone else have issues with efficiency. Also, please note that the O rings are in perfect condition and the cansiter would pressurize just fine every time. I'm assuming there was a fuel residue build up inside the fuel line assembly or the jet inside the stove, but that is just my guess. Anyone else have problems with their MSR stoves?

[denaliguide]

it is most likely the jet that has a clog. the newer models have the "shaker jet". turn the sotve upside down and shake it. if not you can disassemble the burner and take the jet out. poke it with a fine wire and reassemble. takes all of about 5 minutes.

the whisperlite is a very field maintainable stove and should give you years of service. ive had mine so long i can't remember when i got it.

clogs happen more often than you might think. old fuel, dirt, different fuel additives, whether you burn any of the other of the multi-fuels, whatever. its to be expected.

[CarpeyBiggs]

it is most likely the jet that has a clog. the newer models have the "shaker jet". turn the sotve upside down and shake it. if not you can disassemble the burner and take the jet out. poke it with a fine wire and reassemble. takes all of about 5 minutes.

the whisperlite is a very field maintainable stove and should give you years of service. ive had mine so long i can't remember when i got it.

clogs happen more often than you might think. old fuel, dirt, different fuel additives, whether you burn any of the other of the multi-fuels, whatever. its to be expected.

Well said.

[Wild One]

Thanks Denali, bout what I figured.

Guess I just figured that my dad had used his for years, a ton, and never had any of those problems. But then again, it wouldn't take much to clog up that little teeny, tiny jet.

Guess my faith is a little restored then.
thnx

[Brian in SLC]

it is most likely the jet that has a clog. the newer models have the "shaker jet". turn the sotve upside down and shake it. if not you can disassemble the burner and take the jet out. poke it with a fine wire and reassemble. takes all of about 5 minutes.

the whisperlite is a very field maintainable stove and should give you years of service. ive had mine so long i can't remember when i got it.

Another trick I've done to clean a jet is to remove it, heat it up with a lighter, and drop it into cold water. Seems to "crack" out the deposits.

I've had great luck with the whisperlite models I've used. Many many days (100's) on them. I've seen guides in AK nest three together at once for more horsepower and large pot group cooking.

Have switched recently to a simmerlite, mostly for space, wind resistanace and lower profile (a touch more stable). But, have never had an issue with a whisperlite (given a well maintained stove, to be sure).

Another thing a friend does to prevent carbon build up is to not allow the flame to slowly flicker and die out, but, when turning off the stove, blow the flame out immediatly. Anytime you burn anything but white hot (ie, if you can see an orange colored flame) you're probably sooting and way more important, you're bringing on CO, which can be really bad in an enclosed space (ie, like the tent your not supposed to be cooking in).

Cheers,

-Brian in SLC

[Scott P]

My experience is that the stove works great if you have fresh white gas source, but is more problematic than some other stoves with kerosene or without fresh white gas/gasoline and tends to clog easier than other stoves I've had.

Earlier models of the Whisperlight also used to have a problem with the O-ring freezing, but I've heard it hasn't been a problem for several years.

[moabfool]

I shelved my Whisperlight and got a Dragonfly. I'm much happer with the Dragonfly. It's much more reliable, uses far less fuel, has really good flame adjustability (which the Whisperlight definitely does not have), and works on anything liquid that burns. Unleaded gas, Coleman fuel, naptha, JP5, Kerosene, distilled spirits (in a pinch), paint thinner, anything. The real drawbacks are that it's kinda bulky and sounds like a jet airplane on takeoff. I share the following since fuel economy is the major concern on longer trips. I took it for a week to Yellowstone. I packed a quart of fuel and used less than half of it. I provided the heat for three people and that included quite a bit of simmering.

If all you're doing is heating water for backing meals you could save weight by picking up the MSR Pocket Rocket. My buddy carries on just about everywhere we go. Thread the stove on a fuel canister and in a couple minutes you have boiling water for oatmeal, your favorite hot beverage, or to pour in pre-packaged backing meals. From what I've read it simmers well too, but we've never used that feature.

MSR Dragonfly

MSR Pocket Rocket

If you want to go really simple, I have another buddy that uses a denatured alcohol stove. No pressure parts, no adjustability, basically no maintenance. It's not as fast as a pressure stove, but we had boiling water for our oatmeal. He got it because it was dirt cheap and the fuel was easy to come by. Look here, I found one that is adjustable and comes with a cook set, all for $30.

Trangia Mini Trania 28-T

[Brian in SLC]

I shelved my Whisperlight and got a Dragonfly. I'm much happer with the Dragonfly.

Your experience is exactly the opposite of mine. I've had three Dragonflys, and, sent back the first two because they just didn't work.

Glad that they must have fixed the problems with them.

Comments about the Dragonfly from a stove guru friend of mine posted below.

-Brian in SLC

Bill sez:

A couple people mentioned the MSR Dragonfly - I have found this stove requires much too much maintenance. The heavier components of stove fuel build up far too rapidly on the threads of the "simmer" valve. An acquaintance of mine had one fail completely on a trans-Greenland ski tour. Luckily, they had an XG/K along, which they used for the last half of the trip. Even after getting back home, they had problems getting the stove to work properly, despite a major overhaul. I have had no serious problems with mine, but I rarely use it and clean it after every 10 or so hours of usage. Several people I know have given up on theirs because of the need for so much maintenance.

A note on maintenance - a good criterion for when to do a major cleaning is to check the boil time. The boil time for 1 liter of water, starting at 70F (20C is close enough) is about 3 min for a well-maintained XG/K or Whisperlite, 3:15 for an MFS or Omni, and 3:30 for a Dragonfly. If your boil time gets to more than 50 percent longer than the baseline for your stove, it is time to do a major cleaning. Do not count on the clever little shaker jet (or magnetic needle in the Optimus recent models) avoiding all maintenance. The wire cable in the XGK, Whisperlite, MFS, Dragonfly, etc, has to have the lacquer buildup cleaned off every so often (if you have a Coleman Peak 1, you will just have to buy and replace the whole generator tube assembly). You also need to separate the waffle plates and clean the carbon buildup from them on stoves like the Whisperlite every once in a while if you want efficient heating.