MSR Pocket Rocket stove

I've just got back from four glorious days in the Lake District marred only by a problem with my MSR Pocket Rocket stove which is five years old and has never before let me down.

It worked fine until the last morning when fuel failed to reach the burner. There was gas in the canister and I'd protected it from frost. On my return home I lit the stove again but still no fuel reached the burner. I then fitted a brand new canister which lit instantly. I fitted the old canister and it, too, ignited.

This suggests that there was an impurity either in the canister or in the stove's nipple which the stronger pressure in the new canister expelled.

Has anyone experienced a similar problem? Is it wise to carry an old-fashioned pricker such as those used on paraffin stoves?

 Hugh a simple thing to ask,did you do a real good tighten of the cylinder when checking?.

 It sometimes happens that after the night boil and a real temp. difference overnight the gap between stove and cylinder valve increases enough to fail to press the valve, later on when temps. increase everything OK again. Another trick is to unscrew the cylinder, turn stove tap FULL on and screw back on, best be outside when you do that cos it,s a bit smelly unless you are quick.

Hi,

I've had a duff gas can before... it looked like the pin was shorter than it should've been so the pocket rockett couldn't screw down enough... Fortunately I was based near a town and could pick up a replacement...

Paul

depends on the size of cannister as well as the length of time its used in one sitting. The smaller the cannister the quicker the resultant drop in temperature as the cannister is used. Basically as the gas exits the cannister it expands and this leads to a cooling effect on the cannister and contents. Eventually the temperature gets low enough to interfere with the flow of gas through the regulator.

Having said that I have seen it happen on big bbq-type gas bottles as well although it did take 90minutes continuous breakfast at 2degC to make it happen...

 MSR  Gas. Blacks Outdoor shops, Mountain& Moor Nottingham shop both stock the red cylinders M&M do mail order. Cheers.

Hugh, I had a similar problem with a Coleman canister fitted to an F1 Lite.

I was actually using the stove indoors so the ambient temperature was not a factor.  the stove was burning fine and then just flamed out for no apparent reason.  The gas had simply stopped flowing - no hissing sound or smell at all, even with the regulator turned up to maximum.  The canister was hot to the touch but not excessively so and the was almost full so pressure should have been fine.

I shook the canister and inverted it a few times and after a few minutes, I turned the gas on, heard it escaping and re-lit the stove.

I've still no idea why it happened but intermittent faults with no apparent cause worry me.  I rely heavily on dehydrated food so a knackered stove makes for a miserable morning / evening.

Jake,

just got back from my first trip out reliant on a canister stove (Coleman F1 Lite like yours).

We used it many times over the weekend, eventually finishing it at lunch on Sunday, and on several of those attempts it conked out mid-cook whilst there was plenty of fuel inside. The stove is new (well second hand bought from an OMer unused) and the canister was a coleman 100. I'd asked my mate to bring along a trangia burner full of meths just in case... and fortunately we didn't have to use it.

This is what I did (not a recommendation... just a comment)

Stove conked out... evidently the valve was open as it was burning perfectly up to this point.

Suspected problem with the canister... closed valve completely.

Waited a minute or so... burner still hot (especially the relatively large mass of metal above the thread for the canister)...

Held it with a piece of cloth & unscrewed the canister completely.

Re-threaded it... opened the valve... heard the hiss of gas & re-lit. No problem thereafter until the next brew! Repeat the process!

This was the first time I'd used canister gas; my 'main' stove is a whisperlite and I've often camped using trangias in the past - occasionally even hexamine blocks. I can't say I'm too impressed. The whole point of this was convenience for a dehydrated meal.

If this happens on a new canister, I shall be not amused. Perhaps I just got unlucky. Perhaps there's a design fault.

Thanks for the tip, John.

Oddly enough, the fault has never recurred, despite several trips in cold conditions and several cartridges' of cooking.

The fault puzzled me at the time as a canister stove is such a simple bit of kit - tube terminating in burner head with a regulator in between.  What can possibly go wrong?

I wondered if it was a heat-expansion effect flowing back down from the burner and causing the canister to self-seal somehow. It seemed to happen after roughly the same amount of time and the outside temps were mostly warm (10C-25C)

John

This happened to me with my pocket rocket, but only when using a coleman gas cartridge.

Never had any problems with it when using other makes of cartridge.

This problem sounds familiar!

We had a problem a few years ago with a new coleman gas cart and our msr windpro. our problem was at Low water on coniston. ended up with a late evening (summer) trudge back down to Coniston afer a long day out.

Anyway, talked to Coleman about it and yes there can be issues with the pin in stove and the depth of the valve. The official answer was not that common, but did not get a true picture because not all duff carts were returned.

His very very unofficial answer was when out in the field was insert a very small gain of stone into the top of the valve thus effectively increasing the pin length.

Interesting thing was we did go through a period of time with similar issues. Amazing the rection in shops when you return the cart as faulty! Now we never use a cart without testing it at home first.

I would,nt even consider the grain of stone idea, that,s the easiest way to a jet blockage as I,ve heard. A possible remedy is to scrape around the rim of the cart. with a knife blade or even a stone,to reduce the depth make sure you clean it very thoroughly before connecting the stove. I always carry a spare jet but have only had need to use one in many years. Cheers.