It is the fourth day at the lodge, and I wake up a little over 5 o’clock in the morning. It is well like that happens when you go to bed early and customizable exhausted for several days. I think it’s too early to get up, but I’m too awake until I get back to sleep. Instead, I present and doze for an hour, before I get up at 6. The sun is about to follow suit, and I wanted good morning of a beautiful, gyllentrosa light on the hill behind the cabin. It’s early, but it is also quite lovely.
Garmin-clockwise, which is connected to a Garmin Tempe -Temperature, can report that the temperature in the cabin is 15 degrees. Deleted not too bad, but nothing to brag about either. With the rest of the kindling of yesterday’s Camp Tove test I get fast guy in the oven.
And if you read yesterday’s article, you know that after I’d test the power generating turovnen last night, after having experimented with a portable hydrogen reactor which was rather disappointing. No sooner said than done and the test of BioLite Camp Tove come under here.
But check also test Brunton portable hydrogen reactor from yesterday “
and please do read the other articles in the series:
Test: BioLite Camp Tove
BioLite Camp Stove is a relatively compact ride-oven with a built thermoelectric generator, which according to the manufacturer can be used to charge things like LED lights and cell phones. They do not say in plain how long it takes to recharge a phone, but says that “20 minutes of charging will provide 60 minutes of talk time.” And if you are squeezed in power, does not sound so wrong out.
It consists of two units: a generator unit in which the electronics and one magazine which in short is a metal cylinder to burn things in. A fan in generator unit ensures that the electronics do not overheat, while providing fresh air to burn the magazine. Pretty much fresh air seems that, for maximum burn effect will the flames give off as much as 5.5 kW of energy, which according BioLite itself should be enough to boil one liter of water for five minutes. This high impact must also ensure virtually smokeless combustion.
When it is packed together are the size of a round field bottle, and weighs around one kilogram. Not very heavy but not exactly easy either. The advantage of such a system is that I theoretically do not need to bring fuel, but only use the biomass I find to cook.
Need lots of small trees
I have not tested the charging effect on the stove until now, but I have used it to warm food on a couple of trips. What I have found is that the high output makes it eats through faster than I eat Kvikk Lunch. The same high effect also makes it to burn on damp wood, in any case, if the pieces are small enough. I too have such previously boiled water on fresh heather, so it should be possible to manage with the high mountains in summer and autumn, but now in winter it would probably become part digging.
Since I know it’s a dog after at, I make in advance of the test to chop up the wood logs that I need and then some. I do not want to be standing halfway out the experiment and run out of fuel. I found five nice logs, and for a good half hour with the ax and the knife I had a good bosom smithereens.
I have tried to view a thickness similar to a finger, but has also broken off some long tile here and there so I have to kindling. I must admit that a half hour finhogst with an ax and knife is not exactly a pleasure, so a dry spruce with special care and twigs ready to kink step would be preferable. But then there was that with beggars and voters then …
Does poor directly on the phone
Another challenge with BioLite Camp Tove, is that the charging current from the USB connector is relatively weak. According to the manufacturer is “maximum continuous” charging power 2 Watts while it could peak at 4 Watt. Converted with 5 volt voltage, it reveals a steady “march effect” on 5 volts 0.4 amps, with peaks of 0.8 amps. Some electronic equipment, including my iPhone 5s will not charge at such low voltage. This I know very well from previous charging attempts with the small solar panels I have with from Goal Zero. So to get around this, I have decided to not attempt to charge the phone directly, but rather recharge one of power banks that are with which I for the occasion has been emptied of power, so I start from the “bottom”.
I sit up there right after clock 18, and rigs me with a chair, a pair of gloves, two jackets, two caps, two woolen blankets, small trees and turovnen. Now I enjoy the sunset and recharge the battery. I fill the tray with chips and some thin vedbiter, fueling and gives the flame a few seconds to get, before I turn the fan by pressing the “On” button frempå generator unit.
Immediately it is quite much smoke and only a little fire, and no charging effect. Bucket! I troubleshoot, replace the battery with less power demanding headphones I have, but no difference. And so I spread about right to think something bad that this does not work, before the light frempå turovnen changes to green and the fan insert second gear.
And now I can promise that it will speed things up. The flames are 10 to 20 centimeters from the oven, and the light of the second battery my certify that I have charge current! IT’S ALIVE !! I know the childish, primitive joy I always get to fire up a successful campfire. And not just any fire, but a fan-fired, electricity-generating campfire with pungent flame!
High feed
But the feeling of being Universe lord is short-lived, for Camp Tove-one does not many minutes before it burned through the first batch of small trees. Another problem is that the wood I have with too long. The heating magazine is no deeper than a pint box will pop up to it, and several of vedbitene I hoped would burn down and work a little for me, breaks only by the middle and fall out. Thermodynamics is perhaps on my side, but gravity working against me.
It is also not accommodate thick vedbiter that may be working a bit. Even the finger thick vedbitene the image becomes too thick if I have more than one or two. After the flames have threatened to extinguish both once and twice, I have found that I have to fill in with pencil thin vedbiter approximately every two minutes. It is thus less “ sit to enjoy like flames and sunset ,” and more “ stand bent and feed the furnace and whittle thinner at .”
Conclusion: it works, but there is much work
After almost exactly one hour I let the flames quench. I know that there are quite exactly one hour, because I have looked at the clock about every minute the last half hour, since I have been incredibly cold toes and just waiting to be able to walk into the cabin again. I estimate that I have used about half of the wood I brought; That’s two to three logs, depending on how big the logs are.
Although the oven burner incredibly clean (very little smoke, as promised) will collect some ash to the floor, and after half an hour was enough that went out over the air circulation. Six times kept the flames to die out for me, until I saved them again with everything from småflis the cardboard pieces. Note for next time: 90 percent of the wood should not be thicker than a pencil.
In order for the generator unit will not be too hot, ensures the stove itself to keep the fan going for as long as needed. When it turns off after a few minutes, is not firing tray warmer than that I can lift it with bare hands. To avoid problems with condensation, I test the battery immediately. It has after all been there in some minus degrees for one hour. Now the plan is to leave my cell discharge quote system overnight, and charge it with extra battery, to see how much power I have collected that way. A test that is perhaps more practical than scientific – but when you stand on the mountain and need power to your phone the theory say what it wants, it is the practice that matters.
Well, all this was thus yesterday and while I wrote this phone has been charging an extra battery was empty. The result: One hour charge from a BioLite Camp Tove gave an empty spare battery enough power to charge an iPhone 5s from 0 to 29%!
After have been bent in one hour and about frozen toes of me, the first reaction is that I’m a little disappointed. But on reflection, it might not be so wrong. Had I kept you going for three hours, I would surely have enough power to fill the phone to 90%. And if the idea was to charge which is less energy intensive than the mobile phone, such as a smaller MP3 player, GPS clock, it would practical outcomes been greater.
In order for weight gain should not go up outweigh the, you should probably also add up to make food at this, at least if you are going on a camping trip. Then you need the not bring gas or methylated spirit. But it requires a lot of “care”, you must have access to at of some kind, it can not be used indoors and can not charge gadgets while you walk. It does not give enough power to make it convenient to leave BioLite Camp Tove solely nurture such a smartphone on a longer trip, and in any case not a tablet. But it can generate electricity even when the sun is up, and if one is two pieces that fit in it, so that one for example, gather wood while the other fits the flames, being it a little easier. And who said anything less, such as GPS clock or an MP3 player, would go fine.
But now I go home
It looks set to be another sunny day, and solar panels worked so nice that I clearly could have been here even several days. But everything in moderation. Cabin Life has its charm, and as a change from the somewhat more noisy, open-plan office in the city, it has been wonderful. To start your day with a morning of skiing, fresh mountain air is wonderful invigorating and when I then entered the cabin again to work, I need not have any morning coffee to wake up. And after several long afternoon walks up and down the hills I know not missed by the fitness center either.
But I had done it again, and what I had done differently?
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