Stella Carbide Generator

[TAGCaver]

phill,

I just got ALL my vertical gear about three months ago

Ropewalker system, SMC rack, OR1 harness, Quick attach, and the rest of that good stuff.

How much is he wanting for the 200?

Off to do some caving, let me know about the FISMA

Chris

[TAGCaver]

Kiliian,

I am not exactly familiar with the petzl generator, however it is my understanding that they are similiar in the way they work, except the stella is all stainless steel. I also hear that people have problems about flare ups with the petzl, and have never seen the stella do such a thing, unless they rarely accidentaly hit one of the valves. Check out the website that TUBO posted, it is in ITALY, exactly as the stella, just called something else.

Chris

[Tubo Longo]

The Petzl generator was born with some problems: to my knowledge they have been mostly solved, but meantime it got stuck with some sort of bad name. Also is considered, at least in Italy, an odd generator, because the amount of water it carry is quite small and so you need to refill water way often to burn out all the carbide it carry.
Since the amount of water in the water tank is important to keep up the system under pressure and so to have a brighter light, this means it gives the visual sensation of not making enough light, or worse a poor light.

The Stella (which is the same lamp than the Repetto, just a different marketing name) as well as the MTDE (the same lamp made in aluminum) and the Alp Design (made in plastic) have instead a water tank of the same size of the carbide tank, so somehow easing the problem of the pressure. True is that if you're getting 6 to 10 hrs of light out of the very same charge of carbide (very possible in my own experience), then you'll need anyway to refill the water.

Consider also that the Repetto/Stella is definitely the heaviest at 600gr empty: on the other side, it carry 1/3 more carbide than the MTDE and the Alp Design (350gr vs 270 gr) and 50gr more than the Petzl.

PS the flares up may be given by the thick sponge used in the Petzl: it take some time to soak and then you get an huge release of gas at once.

[TAGCaver]

couldnt have said it better....

So you are saying that the petzl generator problems are fixed?
Is this first hand knowledge?

[Phil Winkler]

Chris, here are pics of the Fisma. Note the brazed on nipples for the gas delivery as well as for a snorkle, if needed. Inside, I also fabricated a tubular center tower (think inverted T) to sit under the water dripper so the water gets delivered to the bottom of the carbide pile rather then on top. This greatly extends the length of time a charge of carbide generates acetylene. 8 hour burn times are not unusual with the right size (3/8 to 1/2 inch) carbide easily available in Europe. Or, it used to be, anyway. The gas tube is reinforced with nylon fiber so it doesn't collapse easily when you lay on it and cut off your flame.

[TAGCaver]

I sent you a private message phil. Let me know!

Chris

[Tubo Longo]

So you are saying that the petzl generator problems are fixed?
Is this first hand knowledge?

Somehow: I never owned a Petzl generator but know some Italian cavers who own it. Also is common knowledge in Europe that Petzl has fixed some of the issues, while other (like the tick sponge) are left to the individual caver to "fix".

Still I keep thinking that the other models are better and give less problems overall. How to say: even at Peztl not all doughnuts come out with a perfect hole, isn't it?

[burrencrawler]

The Stella is one of the best Carbide generators available in the world, buy one here:($79)
http://www.innermountainoutfitters.net/ ... ntryid=503
The old fismas were not stainless steel and eventually rusted around the screw opening (usually as they exloded under pressure). The Petzl generators are renowned for being crap except by those who modified them and made it their goal to understand all their quirks, sorry guys but life's too short, I know how to operate one, but I wont bore with the mods or quirks. The stella has minor faults like for example the water valve does not let in enough air due to the the safety wire that stops it getting lost using up most of the hole thus it works better when the valve is loose or hanging off completely. This can be overcome by putting it into pressurised mode which stops this but then makes the water feed valve over sesnsitive to the flame as a minor twist increases pressure and that increases water feed and that again increases more pressure etc etc. Also the water feed valve cannot be replaced as it will not screw out, so if you damage that screw get a new generator or put up with it getting stiff.They do not sell spare parts for these gens. The Plastic Alpine one is not bad and holds a lot of carbide but the rubber band is needed to stop the acetylene leaking. The other good one was the Ukranian titanium (I still have it) best screw dropper ever, but chamber a bit small, screw and krab holder a bit delicate, If someone could make a hibrid of this and the Stella we would have something that would never need to be modified ever again. Carbide rules.

[Trooly74]

Hi there,
As I know Stella is Italian lamp made by Alp design ( lampada inox ) http://www.alpdesign.it/usa/catalogo.htm, but in rest of Europe it can't have that name, so this is how came to name Stella. You can find it here http://www.expe.fr/catalogue-sport/spel ... _2_93.html. MTDE Cirilo is very good lamp. I'm using it last 13 months, and I'm very satisfied, which I can't say for Petzl Ariane. Cirilo is total copy of Fisma but made of aluminum and it works around 8 hours with one carbide load and two to three water changes. Stella is the best choice if weight is not to big problem. It also works under water.
Greetings from Croatia
Trooly
http://www.speleo-klub-samobor.hr/

[Phil Winkler]

When I caved in Europe many moons ago I used the Fisma for several expeditions after modifying it a bit.

I simply added nipples to the air and water ports and tubing to survive submersion in streams, etc.

I had no idea where it was made. I think my Swiss caver friends recommended it.

[Martin Sluka]

http://www.alpdesign.it/media/djcatalog/262%20Foto%20in%20alta%20definizione.jpg

It is product of Italian company Alp Design. I used this kind (water pump system) of carbide lamp more than 25 years. This principle was used mostly in former Czechoslovakia. The top product was Alustar from Meander: http://web.meander.sk/pages/ealustartext.html but there was serious problem with o-rings in pump. They must be from abrasion resistant material. But originally there were standard o-rings and after short time the pump moving was not between aluminium and rubber, but between two layers of rubber. This was all the problem. So check the carbide lamp from Alp Design and change the o-rings to abrasion resistant ones.