BioLite Camping Stove

[Florida_Tony]

Okay, this thing is cool. Anyone planning on buying one?

[mark9atq]

Looks like there are now 3 competing products to USB charge gadgets from various heat sources
Biolite camp stove
The Power Pot
and the
Hatsuden Nabe (roughly translated as electricity producing pan) which is available now from a US distributor
http://theepicenter.com/power_sources_g ... eries.html

[Polie]

Just got this email from them:


Hi George,
Thanks for your interest and your patience. The CampStove is in manufacture now and will begin shipping to the first customers on our waiting list in early June. The HomeStove is in large trials this year in the developing world, but not yet commercially available.

Thanks again,
Adele

[Polie]

And another:


Your BioLite CampStove is Coming!


Thanks for your pre-order George . We're excited to announce that the BioLite CampStove will begin shipping to our pre-order customers on June 1st, in the order that reservations were received.

Based on your place in the pre-order queue, we expect your stove to ship mid July. To confirm your priority status and ensure that your stove arrives as quickly as possible, please log in and complete your order by
Midnight EST, Tuesday May 15th.


$129

[mark9atq]

Received the same email from Biolite. They say maybe a June delivery maybe because I'd pre-ordered
last year. Higher on the list etc. Not going to get excited until this little tech miracle
is sitting on the ground, with a fire going in it and actually charging the phone.

[ineffableone]

Good to hear that they are updating you guys on when to expect them and keeping you in the loop as to where you are in the list to receive a stove. And thanks for keeping us updated too.

[zombiepreparation]

Will you post here how it works for you two when you get them?

And I was wondering where you get the USB cords to charge the phone with and also where you get the LED light(s)? And do these LED lights charge or are they going only while the BioLite is going? And can you get a lonnnnnng USB cords so nothing spills on the phone, LED light, and whatever else is charging/running if (god forbid) an accident with something cooking happens?

Oh, and the level of noise output of the little charger, what is it called... a geothermo-something?

[Polie]

Will you post here how it works for you two when you get them?

And I was wondering where you get the USB cords to charge the phone with and also where you get the LED light(s)? And do these LED lights charge or are they going only while the BioLite is going? And can you get a lonnnnnng USB cords so nothing spills on the phone, LED light, and whatever else is charging/running if (god forbid) an accident with something cooking happens?

I have the USB cables that came with my phone, the LED lights from a laptop bag I bought, and as for length I would just say be careful and walk around it not over it lol.

[zombiepreparation]

Will you post here how it works for you two when you get them?

And I was wondering where you get the USB cords to charge the phone with and also where you get the LED light(s)? And do these LED lights charge or are they going only while the BioLite is going? And can you get a lonnnnnng USB cords so nothing spills on the phone, LED light, and whatever else is charging/running if (god forbid) an accident with something cooking happens?

I have the USB cables that came with my phone, the LED lights from a laptop bag I bought, and as for length I would just say be careful and walk around it not over it lol.

The LED lights from a laptop bag? I don't think I understand what that means. I do understand abt the USB cable that came with your phone, but then do you get an adapter or something so both phone and LED cables can be used at the same time?

[Polie]

Will you post here how it works for you two when you get them?

And I was wondering where you get the USB cords to charge the phone with and also where you get the LED light(s)? And do these LED lights charge or are they going only while the BioLite is going? And can you get a lonnnnnng USB cords so nothing spills on the phone, LED light, and whatever else is charging/running if (god forbid) an accident with something cooking happens?

I have the USB cables that came with my phone, the LED lights from a laptop bag I bought, and as for length I would just say be careful and walk around it not over it lol.

The LED lights from a laptop bag? I don't think I understand what that means. I do understand abt the USB cable that came with your phone, but then do you get an adapter or something so both phone and LED cables can be used at the same time?

I have a little LED lamp that plugs in VIA usb for your laptop, but it should work on this.

As for more USB ports:


http://www.amazon.com/Connectland-CL-U2 ... 383&sr=8-3

[zombiepreparation]

Nice. And affordable too.

[zombiepreparation]

Rats. I thought of another question just after I clicked 'submit'.

What are you thinking of using the BioLite for? Casual summer use? Do you see it as a prep item for, say buggin in? That has been my thought, well both I mean, for myself. I have done and will continue a lot of casual camping and have done lots of long road-trip car camping and I am definitely interested in its usefulness in disaster prepping, even (god forbid) relocation camping during and after an Event of some kind. I am really interested in how you assess its usefulness for bugging in and keeping its use as subtle as possible during times like that. I am urban and apartment dwelling and I wonder if it would be subtle enough for a bug in in my setting where I might have to keep open fire use unobserved.

[Grocerystore_ninja]

I just put mine on order yesterday as soon as I got the email. Cannot wait puts my buddies jet boil to shame.

[Polie]

Rats. I thought of another question just after I clicked 'submit'.

What are you thinking of using the BioLite for? Casual summer use? Do you see it as a prep item for, say buggin in? That has been my thought, well both I mean, for myself. I have done and will continue a lot of casual camping and have done lots of long road-trip car camping and I am definitely interested in its usefulness in disaster prepping, even (god forbid) relocation camping during and after an Event of some kind. I am really interested in how you assess its usefulness for bugging in and keeping its use as subtle as possible during times like that. I am urban and apartment dwelling and I wonder if it would be subtle enough for a bug in in my setting where I might have to keep open fire use unobserved.

I plan on using it every time I have a chance too. Probably 2-3x's a month. I also live in an apartment, but I will still use this whenever I have the chance lol.

[bruceson74]

i have been waiting for them to be released because have a hiking trip coming up in a few months. was being to wonder if they would get here in time, got the email and ordered. said should be shipped in the first two weeks of June. looking forward to checking it out. i am wondering how it would handle more than one device plug into it with a hub. plan on hooking the o-scope and the fluke up to it with an in line test cord to see how it does. wondering if it will limit the current out or will start to drop voltage if it has to much demand put on it.

[Polie]

Another email:

Hi George,
Thanks for your interest!
Weight: 2.05 pounds/935 grams
Fire Power Output (peak): 3.4 kW [LO mode], 5.5 kW [HI mode]
USB Power Output: 2W @ 5V [max continunous], 4W @ 5V [peak]
Time to boil 1L water: Varies based on strength of fire. With strong fire, 4.5 minutes.

Check out the website for more info:
http://biolitestove.com/campstove/support/

The amps will range form .4-.8amps. That will charge but slowly @ 5w and 2.1amps my phone will charge from completely dead in 45min to fully charged, so I am guessing 3 hours to fully charge. So if you run it 30min 3x's a day, (breakfast, lunch, dinner) you should be fine if you are not using it for navigation, music, ect ect. Now couple it with a small backpack solar panel and your golden for everything!

[bruceson74]

yea Polie
i have been looking at the goalzero unit got one for my little brother before he shiped over sea's. from what he has told me work pretty good. found out i sould have got him the plus model.

[Polie]

The reason I don't want the pot is because that limits you to a single cooking vessel vs being able to cook or warm up anything. I prefer the ability to just feed it sticks and enjoy the warmth or toast marshmallows

[mark9atq]

The BioLite camp stove operating manual can be downloaded here

http://biolitestove.com/Media/CampStove ... Manual.pdf

Surprised to find out it has an internal lithium ion battery but does not say how big (amp/hr wise).
Guessing its an off the shelf cell phone battery.

Instructions simplified - take new stove out of box and USB plug it into your computer to USB charge
the stoves internal lithium ion battery for up to 2 hrs. Do not make a fire in it until the Orange LED stops flashing and
goes to solid Orange.

After that you are good to start a wood fire in it, and push the button once to start the fan,
when the Orange LED changes to Green (stove hot and making power) you can then start to charge gadgets. 400mA available at 5volts.

If hungry, cooking noodles etc can begin immediately after the fire is lit. Hah!

The stove only has one button which starts the fan and toggles the fan speed between low and high speed air blown
into the fire box once its spinning. Also holding this button down for a few seconds will shut the fan off to stop draining
the lithium ion battery when you've let the fire burn out because you are done cooking/ gadget charging.

The fan will come back on automatically if the TEG module needs more cooling due to you turned it off too soon.

They also said not to get the stoves detachable electronics module wet so be sure to waterproof bag it if you need to swim across
any rivers. The fire box on the other hand is dishwasher safe!

[masayako]

Will be delivered Jun 1-15 for my order... Can't wait..

[zombiepreparation]

I am getting excited waiting for all your deliveries and your accounts of it!

What does it mean that it has a lithium ion battery? Do you think the BioLite will keep it charged when it starts working? Do you think it will eventually need to be replaced? What would that kind of replacement cost? Does this mean the BioLite is not a self sustaining unit?

[masayako]

Who knows. I ain't gonna sweat about it. It's a gadget.

[mark9atq]

I am getting excited waiting for all your deliveries and your accounts of it!

What does it mean that it has a lithium ion battery? Do you think the BioLite will keep it charged when it starts working? Do you think it will eventually need to be replaced? What would that kind of replacement cost? Does this mean the BioLite is not a self sustaining unit?

1. It means the Biolite designers deemed a battery was needed for 2 things: to run the fan for the short time before the TEG heats up and starts
making electricity and two as a buffer between the TEG and any gadget being charged to keep the charge protocols from being
violated. We've all seen the old smoke and flame videos of early Lithium-ion battery charging gone wrong because of various
shortcuts taken by the manufacturers. These days you have to practically drive a nail thru a lithium-ion to make it cry uncle.

2. yes they said the fire will keep the Lithium-ion internal battery charged after the initial new out of box USB charging episode.

3. replacement probably needed sometime just like cellphones. Y.M.W.V.

4. replacement lithium-ion cell phone batteries can he bought online for $10.

5. Self sustaining is a myth. Everything wears out and needs maintenance other than (maybe) electrons orbiting atoms.

[Kd0fke]

for a detailed view on how it was made
http://www.google.com/patents?id=alDOAAAAEBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=US20100083946&hl=en&sa=X&ei=vYrDT-j-PMLi2AWH0c1Y&ved=0CDgQ6AEwAA