O-rings on whitegas stove not sealing in cold

[Gary_Yngve]

Anyone have any issues with this?

 

This past weekend my stove (MSR Dragonfly) was leaking through the pump. I disassembled and inspected it last night, and didn't see anything wrong with it. It's working fine now (though I didn't test it last night in sub-freezing conditions).

 

Earlier this year the stove was performing just fine in even colder conditions, but maybe the O-rings have aged more.

 

The manual mentions about the O-rings and the cold and suggests placing the pump in your sleeping bag overnight.

I wonder if NASA suggests placing the Space Shuttle in a sleeping bag overnight...

[vanisle]

Was it leaking through the pump or the o-rings? Most people I know over pump the stove

I have the XGK and whisper light. They are both more than 13 years old. I have never had and o-ring leak and i have never changed an o-ring. I doubt its the age thats making your o-rings leak considering my stoves are quite alot older than yours. I have used my stoves for 1000's of days of camping and never had any real troubles

[Mike_G]

I've been using a Peak1 "Featherlight" (which isn't really very light at all) for over a decade now and the o-ring is definitely starting to show some age. I put a bit o' oil on it to supple it up a bit, which helped with those cold weather starts.

 

Also, one thing I always do now is make sure the stove is pumped up and pressurized before I leave home, then after each meal I cook I simply make sure it's repressurized. As long as you do this before it cools down, the old o-ring seals quite well. Once you get it fired up, the whole stove warms up and you can pump it as needed. Not sure if this would work with yours, but beats sleeping with the blasted thing.

[tshimko]

I too have rarely had problems with O-rings on MSR products, although did choose to replace one years ago, it was very old and slightly cracked. I don't specifically recall if it leaked. The stove/pump is almost 20 years old.

 

A few years ago MSR was about to introduce the Simmerlite...with a new pump that had a bayonet type attachment to the bottle, which also included a safety feature that would not allow the user to turn on fuel if the pump was improperly attached. Having the pump improperly attached is a significant cause of stove fires (duh...). Eventually had to scrap the design and revert to the old pump (screw on) system for the Simmerlite, as the O-ring would sometimes take a set under cold conditions and allow fuel to leak past the seal. Sealing geometry in a bayonet link is way different (and more sensitive) than the screw on arrangement, which is almost foolproof. Just to make this crystal clear, the leaky system NEVER made it to the marketplace.

 

Still, I suppose there might be circumstances where an O-ring could take a set under very cold conditions, and if it were removed cold and then replaced cold and maybe not fully tightened, you could have a leak. Do you normally leave the pump in the fuel body, or do you remove it after use? I'd recommend leaving it in the bottle.

 

Did have a Simmerlite pump, which is the same pump as all other MSR liquid fuel stoves with a molding pit or flaw on the sealing surface of the needle valve, which leaked when the bottle was pressurized...discoverd this on the second day of a 3+ week outing. The symptom was that fuel seeped out from the place on the pump that fuel would normally flow from during use. Needless to say this was a serious aggravation as I did not have fuel bottle cap. The MSR engineer that looked at this claimed he saw the molding pit, although my view through the dissecting scope was less conclusive (I'll also admit that my eyesight is not quite as good as it was, one of the joys of getting older). When I took the needle valve apart in the field the first time (this was a brand new stove) there were a lot of gray plastic shavings inside the valve, looked like stuff left over from the process of threading the inside of the valve. I even hoped that by clearing out the crud that I'd have solved the problem (it did not). I wondered of the shavings that were in the valve might not have damaged the sealing surface when the metal needle valve pressed them into that surface.

[AJScott]

I've been using a Peak1 "Featherlight" (which isn't really very light at all) for over a decade now and the o-ring is definitely starting to show some age. I put a bit o' oil on it to supple it up a bit, which helped with those cold weather starts.

 

Also, one thing I always do now is make sure the stove is pumped up and pressurized before I leave home, then after each meal I cook I simply make sure it's repressurized. As long as you do this before it cools down, the old o-ring seals quite well. Once you get it fired up, the whole stove warms up and you can pump it as needed. Not sure if this would work with yours, but beats sleeping with the blasted thing.

 

Thats not a bad idea keeping it pressurized. Oil is the key with the O ring. I have never owned a MSR stove, but have owned two Peak1's, the older one had a leather seal on the pump which required a dab-o-oil regardless of how it was maintained. I like my peak1's, I know they are heavy but I really like them for cold weather, and for their simmering ablities. Anyone else like the Peak1, or are they just too heavy for most? I have never been a fan of the MSR stoves, but I do own a really light canister stove that I use for the warm weather.

[PaulB]

Anyone else like the Peak1, or are they just too heavy for most?

I've had a Peak1 Apex for 8 or so years, and have never had problems with it, either in summer or winter. I'd prefer it if the fuel line detached from the bottle instead of the stove, but otherwise it's fine.

 

Before the Apex, I had a little one burner Coleman with integrated fuel tank, which was indestructable, but heavy.

[knelson]

Another for the Peak 1... for cold weather/snow melting. I carry a featherweight Gaz for the warm weather.

 

I have the "first generation" Peak 1... before MSR sued Coleman for patent infringement and made them change the design. I have a buddy that has a "second generation." Mine always seems to win the "melt a pot of snow" battle - don't know if it's the design or the operator! (Sorry David!) Guess my point is that perhaps the newer Peak 1's don't perform quite as well as the older ones - don't know.

 

Regarding maintenance and o-rings... I've never done zip to it. Nadda. Zilch. Nothin. Works just as good now as it did when it was new.

 

-kurt

[tomtom]

Ahhh, the old lunar lander.

[knelson]

Never realized it, but it does look like that, doesn't it!

 

-kurt

[FatTexan]

My Simmerlite quit sealing on the 3rd day of a trip in Colorado over Spring Break. Temps were teens to low 20's (altitude 11,200). I think part of the problem was me cooking in the vestibule when I had a flare up and put the stove face down in the snow.

 

The stove would not pressurize the next day. I restarted the stove and melted snow for half an hour after the flare up incident. The Simmerlite held pressure and fired up right away on return to TX.

 

Any hints as what field maintenance can be done?