I just bought one of those Kni-co packer stoves with the water tank option. I did my 1st burn tonight out in the open air and the water only got to 150 degrees. The instructions said to keep the tank full at all times as not to cause damage to it. I'm concerned that this won't boil off the bugs in the water or get it hot enough to make my pour over coffee? Any advice, much appreciated...

Were you using stove pipe and a damper or just burning the stove alone? If you were just burning the stove it is pretty tuff to get the stove really cooking. with a stove pipe and damper(adjusted well!) your temps should be well above 150. I have the same stove and I can get it glowing red hot by adjusting the damper and air intake.

Hi Catfish,

I was practicing with everything attached, but I was being cautious about how hot I was making it because the flames were coming out of the stove pipe as well as getting the stove pipe glowing red, so I cooled it back down by closing down the air coming in and out of the stove with the damper and air intake on the door.

I'd like to get that water boiling in the take for at least 5 mins, without causing damage to the stove.

that stove is built to take pretty high temps, Flames comming out of your stove pipe is pretty normal. do not be afraid to get it going pretty good to build up a nice coal base, then damper it down. the water tank may take an hour or so to heat up.

I would never try boiling water in the tank, even if the manufacturer said it was ok to do.
To me, the tank is there to either keep water hot (like water that has been boiled on top of the stove, and then poured into the tank), melt snow (have a bucket of snow handy to keep shoveling into the tank) or just to heat water for washing up, preheat for boiling etc.
When you try to boil water on one side of the stove, the other side of the stove is super hot because there is nothing to immediately absorb the heat. Also, if you are heating so hard that flames are shooting from the stack, then imo, it's time to cut back. One can boil plenty of water on top of the stove without overheating it.

I'm not familiar with that particular stove, but be careful if it has a gasket for the faucet...if you don't keep water above that level you could melt it and end up with water all over your tent.

I'm going to try it again tonight and preheat in the tank and pour into tea pot to heat the rest of the way. I was going to use lake water but maybe the snow makes more sense...

I got my tent back from the upholstery shop today with the new stove jack installed. I fired it up in the tent and put 2 quarts of water in the water tank heated it up and transferred it to a tea kettle to make my coffee. This seamed like a lot of work, and I could have just put the tea pot on the stove. I'm wishing now I would have gotten 2 side tables and no water tank. Maybe it will come in handy to melt the snow, instead of me using lake water.

i would not boil water in the tank because it can build a lot of pressure. There is really no need to boil the water anyway to make it safe to drink. If you can get it to 145 or 150 and keep it there for 6 minutes it will pasteurize the water and make it safe. Good luck with your new stove I hope it works out for you.

hey, I assume you are still planning on setting up on the ice so make sure you bring something to put under your stove to insulate it from the ice. otherwise you will have a massive amount of water under your tent and your stove will slowly sink into the ice. I lay down 2 wind shield heat reflectors for your car http://img.dxcdn.com/productimages/sku_111914_1.jpg they are pretty cheap 5$ or so. also reflectix work as well. it will save you lots of wet pain in the ass time.

what dates are you planning on being up there? I will be up there in bog lake from the 7th- the 12th of Feb. maybe I will see ya around Ely!

Hi Catfish, thanks for the tip I just bought 2. I will be up at Wind Lake on the 4th and packing up and heading out on the 9th. You'll be Landing the trophy when I'm in Ely, but it would be nice to meet you someday. I love this winter camping fishing stuff, it's all new to me and I think it's awesome that we can be comfortable in such a wonderful harsh environment.
Bill

Catfish, my tent also has a floor in it an I got one of those stove hearths for under the stove, along with those heat shields I should be good..

quote GreatBigCubsFan: "Catfish, my tent also has a floor in it an I got one of those stove hearths for under the stove, along with those heat shields I should be good.."

Sweet! Just checking. I hope you have a great trip! I also will be up in March otherwise we can meet up next year. stay warm and be safe.