Kerosene as replacement for gel fire starter--

[steamguy]

I used to have an Austroflamm Integra, and it had no self-igniter. It wasn't long before I got fed up with the exorbitant price for the starter and tried all the methods named above.

• Kerosene is quick, but can flash out at you. Needless to say I took that as a sign from God and didn't try gasoline!!
• Same with barbecue starter. Keep in mind both of these methods generate greasy soot which is not so good for the insides of pellet stoves.
• Gel hand sanitizer wasn't available then, so I tried rubbing alcohol. Not enough heat for long enough to get a fire going. The combustion draft would dry it out and snuff it before it would take off.
• Tried breaking up fire-starter cubes, those worked pretty good, but were a PITA to handle, plus I always had to make sure I cut up enough that my wife could start a fire. Plus they really gum up a pair of garden shears.
• The local feed store sells something that looks like fir shavings; those work good but are just as expensive as the alcohol napalm.

Then I discovered how well the torch works. Takes 30 seconds of bending over with the torch, ease the door shut, and in 2 minutes you have a blasting fire. AND it works every time.

Hope that helps.

 

[IHATEPROPANE]

I used the propane torch method .....turn stove on so fumes get sucked out....30 Mississippi's and good to go. Seems like 30 seconds with a torch is less time than getting kerosene, soaking the pellets, pouring them in the burn pot, then lighting. And probably safer and cheaper

 

[sandpipe]

Just an update on my kerosene experiments-- It was finally cold enough to get a fire started so I put about 20 kerosene soaked pellets on top of the cup of pellets in the burn pot and easily lit it, closed the door, waited about 20 seconds and then started up the Invincible. The fire seemed to build up better than when I use gel. A second time I made a fire with the kerosene pellets but I mixed the pellets in with the dry pellets in the pot. This did not work well at all.

I will definitely give the torch technique a try at some point soon. Everyone seems to swear by its ease.

All in all I am happy with kerosene as a starter so far. I have about 5 gallons I use in a garage heater so it's virtually free compared to $8 for a bottle of gel.

 

[Pellet-King]

tried hand sanitizer few times, wouldnt light

 

[rayttt]

tried hand sanitizer few times, wouldnt light

You have to find one that has at least 63% alcohol.
GermX works.
Not sure what other brands work.

I have a small bottle of another brand I tried and it works also..Dont have that one in front of me to see the brand.


I have the torch and it works well...it just takes too long for my lazy ass.
I put 5 squirts of GermX into my stove and light it an close the door/start stove in about 6 or 7 seconds..
Much quicker than the torch.

 

[P61 PelletPig]

Torch. Tried and true.

 

[briansol]

Make friends with a local restaurant that does a lot of buffets. they probably throw away sterno's that are under 50% full or so.... you can get a spoon and make your own bucket of fire starter.

 

[jlupi]

yes you can use it. big thread for such a mundane topic

 

[briansol]

manuals say you shouldn't. at least mine does.