Got enough starter gel for a while

[bcarton]

I love people like this.

Conversation with my neighbor and his dad last winter:

Me: Yeah, my stove doesn't have an igniter. It's a gel start stove.
Neighbor's dad: How's that work?
Me: You put a couple handfuls of pellets in the burn pot, add fire starter gel, and light it.
Neighbor's dad: Where do you get the gel?
Me: Tractor Supply, Home Depot, wherever. Some folks use hand sanitizer, it's pretty much the same stuff.

Saturday, my neighbor comes over to say hi. "Here, Dad said to give you this."

 

[bags]

Nice!

 

[BrotherBart]

I tried the stuff and it didn't work worth a darn. Guess I had the wrong brand.

 

[bcarton]

I tried the stuff and it didn't work worth a darn. Guess I had the wrong brand.

Maybe you need to get the stuff that comes in a wooden box with rope handles. It works great!

 

[Pete Zahria]

I tried the stuff and it didn't work worth a darn. Guess I had the wrong brand.

While I have no experience with it, I have checked it out.
I noticed there is a difference in alky percentage... I expect you would want the one with the highest??

Dan

 

[Snowy Rivers]

It's gotta be the rope handles that make the difference

 

[Dr.Faustus]

bbq fluid, alcohol splashed on the pellets, propane torch, mapp gas. it all works just fine. I use this when I don't feel like waiting for the ignitor. like when I really want to go to bed and don't want to stay up to verify the stove lit.

 

[bill3rail]

I tried the stuff and it didn't work worth a darn. Guess I had the wrong brand.

I squirt some on and let it burn a couple minutes before turning the stove on. Seems to work better this way.
It seems too much air flow immediately causes the alcohol to burn only, not letting the pellets start burning.

 

[TStark]

I suggest thin it down with some 91% isopropanol from a dept store. Thats what i do when my bottle of stove gell gets too gooey and thick due to evaporation loss.

 

[funflyer]

I suggest thin it down with some 91% isopropanol from a dept store. Thats what i do when my bottle of stove gell gets too gooey and thick due to evaporation loss.

Thats what I do but I mix it 50/50. I put 1/2 a cup of pellets in a small tupperware container, squirt about 1 oz of the alcohol mix in and put the lid on for about 1 minute so the pellets will soak it up then dump them in the pot, light them and start the stove. I've never had the fire get snuffed out doing it this way unlike the expensive gel which I had to let burn for about 5 minutes before starting the stove.

 

[Peterfield]

You can also pick up a torch lighter from Harbor Freight for $8 and hold the flame on the pellets in the burn pot for a couple of minutes and then close the door and the combustion fan will take it from there.

 

[MSmith66]

Went to the dollar store and seen the had Sterno refill in a squeeze bottle. Bought one, tried it on pellets and it worked great. Bought 6 more.

 

[ducker]

I went with the propane torch route too. The whole notion of having to mix in gel is a pain. I tried it a few times and it seemed to be more annoying to get to start vs. the torch.
I do have a harman bottom feed, perhaps gel works better for those that have the top feeding stoves.

 

[MuchoBueno]

I sometimes start my stove manually just because. I use a little gel from TSC that I got last year and 2 handfuls of pellets. I turn the stove on manual so the blower kicks in and light the gel. I wait a few minutes with the door open them close the door. Fun to be able to start it that way. My son gets a kick out of it.