Thanks, dcarch.

Do either of your use butane? The Iwatani only uses butane. Others like the Gas One can use Propane.

Ever use yours on a breezy day? The iwatani has a bit of a wind screen, but it might not do much in a 15 mph variable wind.

This question may have prevented a home disaster. I went to a seldom-used area of my basement to pull out my butane stove and found a water leak. Could have gotten far worse.

(Dcarch - is it normal for old copper tubing (circa 1965) to randomly develop pinhole leaks in the middle of a run? This is the second in a few months, never had this happen before.)

Anyway back to the stove. Here it is in front of a window A/C with fan on high blowing directly on it.

I think it would still work well in a light/moderate breeze. Should be pretty easy to set something up to buffer it if needed.

FOAS, yow! Glad you caught that leak. I don't suppose you'd like to bake up some homemade blueberry muffins in that rust coated tin. For breakfast we had "Jordan Marsh Blueberry Muffins" -- the recipe is online. Delicious!

Thanks FOAS for snapping the photo and going to all the work of setting up your butane stove next to the AC unit. Very helpful!

Interesting about the pinhole leaks in the Cu pipe. Is it where there are metal brackets supporting it? Any other metal touching it (I'm thinking of that electrolysis (?) phenomenon. Do you have mineral rich water? Maybe the copper pipe was from China ;) That's got to be maddening.

No portable fuel cooktop but I have a duel electric one that I bought a few years ago. I have propane to my stove and not paying attention to how much I had I ran it empty. Called and the delivery wait time was two weeks. Yikes. This one works great. I use it outside for the occasional fried treat like donuts or catfish. I'm impressed how well and how hot it gets. I bet the fuel type is even better.

"petalique

Do either of your use butane? The Iwatani only uses butane. Others like the Gas One can use Propane."

I think they all use butane for this type of portable stove.

FOAS, pinhole leaks can be caused by many reasons.In your case, most likely the following:

1. Not likely, I assume your are in NY area. Bad water supply (too much chlorine).

2. Water velocity too high. Water can be corrosive at high speed. For instance, they use high pressure water to cut metal.

3. petalique may be correct. Whenever two dissimilar metal is in water, one will be a sacrificial metal. Many location plumbing codes require isolation when copper pipe is married to, say black iron pipe, insulation is required to decouple the two metals.

For temporary repair, go to HD and buy a few hose clamps. Cut a piece of rubber hose and clamp it on.

For permanent repair, ask the plumber to use type "L" pipe.

dcarch

Thanks guys. I had asked the water company about water hardness after BB&B tried to blame that on Keurig failure, and they said no. At another time I bought a TDS tester to see if I should be adding salt to my dishwasher, registers low (under 100) but I’ve since seen that’s not a good test for hardness. No hangers or anything in the immediate area, in fact the first leak was right in the middle of a roughly 6’ unsupported run. The plumber (me) will replace the section later today. He (I) always uses L. :)

Now back to portable stoves. I’m happy to have one. Bought it for power outages but also use it outdoors for things like steaming lobster which smell up the house even with range hood on. And since I have an electric cooktop I’ll also use it for things like charring peppers. 20-something bucks well spent.

We used to use one of those camping. Great cheap little stoves but useless in the wind. But, you can always move it to a more sheltered spot.

I have one and use it for camping and for other uses mentioned here. Outside, it's a b!tch to light when it is windy, forget about it. High wind blows it out. We have a metal windscreen that we use with it. Any other times, it's a joy although there is waste and cost associated with the fuel cartridges. We use ours as a backup for our white gas stove, for when we just want to fast heat up water or are in a hurry with just one pot needed. Sure is easier to light and get going than the white gas, but the white gas has less resource waste associated with it. I have also used it as an easy take along when I have had to do cooking demos. You can get away with using it if there is good ventilation.

although there is waste and cost associated with the fuel cartridges.

Yes, to the waste, but you can get the cartridges for as little as $1 each at dollar stores and Asian markets. I have one for post-hurricane use, but mostly use the grill instead.

Thanks to everyone. I may wait. Our electricity goes out about 8 times a year. We've got grills outside (not hot enough for a wok) and a wood stove inside (for winter). I recently spotted one of those high poof propane wok burners for little cash, but I've not yet inboxed it. That is definitely an outdoor only cooker.

The brand I'm looking at (above) looks like it's one of the better made units, but also costs more. Think of all the lobster and clams I can buy with that money. It is probably made in a tariff country.

Ease of portability is why I got mine, so if you don't have that need, probably could use other options.