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Electronic vs Manual Ignition and Shipping Rate to EU?

Inquiry: 

I am very interested in the PowerFlamer 160 but I have some questions, it said something about the electronic ignition not being reliable, does this mean the built-in pilot doesn’t work that well, or does it mean that it’s best to have a manual lighter nearby to light it the first time? What is the difference between the Plus and the non Plus variant?

Is the flat shipping rate to Europe the only costs or do extra customs tax gets added?

Outdoorstirfry: 

Electronic ignition stove does not have a pilot.   Electronic ignition is convenient to ignite the main burner without additional igniter.  However, the ignition flame needs to be turned off after main burner is lit, to protect its electric wire insulation.    Once the electronic ignition fails, you can always use a long nose BBQ igniter to ignite the main burner directly.     

Pilot only exists in our manual ignition stoves.   The main burner of a manual stove is lit by a long nose BBQ igniter first.  Then the pilot can be lit by the main burner and adjusted.   Between dishes, the pilot can stay to help ignite the main burner for subsequent dish cooking.  Pilot flame length can not be long to interfere with the main burner flame.   One issue is that short pilot flame is susceptible to wind. 

For difference between 160 and 160 plus, please read https://outdoorstirfry.com/faq/what-is-the-difference-between-the-powerflamer-160-and-the-powerflamer-160-plus/.   160 plus is new and we are in process of optimizing it.  160 is fully optimized and should provide the better cooking experience at this point of time. 

The flat shipping rate is to cover shipping costs charged by the shipping carrier.  At import time, you will be asked to pay for import duty, VAT and brokerage fee etc.

Inquiry: 

What would you recommend, the manual or electric ignition? I do turn off the burner a bunch of times so a pilot flame would be nice to have. Also, is it treated for rust or is it bare cast iron? 

Outdoorstirfry: 

The stove surface is with paint resistant to high temperature.  However, those paint areas with flame will burn off and left with bare iron. 

If you cook more than 1 dish, pilot is nice to have.   Electronic strike for each dish cooking isn’t that much a hassle either, without needing to find that piece of long nose BBQ igniter.    The last resort is the main burner which can be turned down to low flame between dish cooking in case pilot windblown or electronic ignition failed. 

Inquiry: 

Most of the time when I stir fry, I aim to make about 8-14 portions (fried rice for instance). It takes me about 3-5 batches for this amount, I’m hoping a better burner would fix this. 

Outdoorstirfry: 

More powerful burner should help.  What are you using now?  Maybe a link is helpful for us to understand.

Inquiry: 

Here’s a link to the product, I Don’t know if the site will work since it’s Dutch. https://vuurenrook.nl/en/products/gas-wok-branders-stoves-50491601

Outdoorstirfry: 

Thank for your link.   The stove in your link is about 20kBTU/Hr max in our experience.   This is not a bad stove to use.  

Inquiry: 

Would the stir fry capacity increase with the wok? I don’t mind spending money, but tax and customs feels like I’m getting scammed haha. 

Also, how is the build quality? Are there a lot of (possible) defects? If something were to happen to it while in transit, is this covered by some kind of warranty? 

Outdoorstirfry: 

In theory, you can cook more if the stove is more powerful.   Unfortunately, we can’t do anything to tax and duty etc.  We will send replacement parts if thing is damaged during transit. 

Inquiry: 

Is it possible to get a video of the difference between the electric and manual ignition? Or do you recommend one? 

Outdoorstirfry: 

Please watch https://outdoorstirfry.com/how-to-start-a-powerflamer-propane-160-electronic-ignition-stove-both-ignition-flame-and-main-burner-flame/?v=0b3b97fa6688 for electronic ignition version.   Please watch https://outdoorstirfry.com/how-to-start-a-powerflamer-propane-160-manual-stove-both-pilot-and-main-burner-flames/?v=0b3b97fa6688 for the manual version. 

For long lasting/reliability, we would recommend manual.  For convenience, we would recommend electronic version. 

Inquiry: 

Oh that’s great thanks! I hate to ask this, but, how’s the build quality? I don’t know anyone who owns one of these and I can’t see/feel it in real life. Are there common problems or anything? How long have you been making these and what’s the oldest still working one? 

I apologize for all these questions, I always thoroughly check everything. 

Outdoorstirfry: 

I can’t comment on the quality as different people have different standards.   Also our quality would keep improving as it is the case in our history longer than 20 years.   There are some common problems like https://outdoorstirfry.com/customer-feedbacks/white-on-paint-and-smoke-questions/.   The paint should be the same as your other stove, dark gray.  

Inquiry: 

That’s fair. Do you know of customer that’s been using a 160 for that long as well? Do you sell replacement parts? Is there something that needs replacing within a few years that I can order with it? Are the legs aluminum? 

Is it possible to take the legs of and make a stove for it? Is it stable without the legs?   Once more, thanks for your time and patience

Outdoorstirfry: 

We sell 160 stoves for over 20 years.  Of course, the look of it was dramatically different than it is now.  We are still support those if people want to maintain them.  You can contact us if problem occurs. 

The long legs, if tighten, should provide stable support to the stove.  The long legs are galvanized steel.  They can be detached, and the resulting short leg version can be placed on a table and should be functional fully. 

 

 

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Does electronic ignition stove have a pilot flame?

Customer

One more question: I couldn’t quite tell if the electronic ignition version is the same as the manual other than the igniter. Does it also have a pilot light? So if the igniter fails eventually, will I just have a manual version?

Outdoorstirfry

None of electronic ignition stoves has a pilot light.   The electronic ignition tip can NOT serve as a pilot light.   The ignition flame needs to be turned off after the main burner flame is lit.   Turning off the ignition flame is necessary to protect burning of the ignition wire.  Once the electronic ignition fails, you can use a long nose BBQ ignitor to ignite the main burner directly.   Between cooking dishes, you can turn down the main burner flame to preserve fuel.  

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pilot light question

Inquiry: 

Hello. Does the PowerFlamer Propane 160 with electric ignition allow for pilot light? If so, can the pilot light remain on while cooking if you need to turn the main burner off and then back on? Thank you

Outdoorstirfry: 

Pilot flame feature is only present on our manual stoves.  Electronic ignition flame on any electronic ignition stove needs to be shut off after main burner is lit to protect the ignition wire insulation. 

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Any plan to add manual ignition option with 6B burner?

Inquiry: 

I’d honestly prefer a manual ignition over anything electronic that may fail over time but the redditor’s review on the improvements with the 6B burner vs the 5B has me contemplating on the IEI version. Are there any plans on 6B with manual ignition?

Outdoorstirfry

There are a few reasons why we don’t offer manual option on the 6B burner.

  1. 6B burner is not designed to mount a manual valve.
  2. When the electronic ignition fails, the main burner can still be lit by a long nose BBQ igniter.
  3. Without pilot, the main burner can be turned down to minimum flame, thanks to the feature of continuous flame adjustment of our stoves.   This minimum flame, although higher than a pilot flame, should not consume much fuel either.  
  4. Main burner is optimal for blue flame combustion.  This leaves out possible yellow flame issue from any pilot flame. 

In a nutshell, 6B burner can be treated as a manual one after the electronic ignition fails. 

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Questions on PF13L160EI

Inquiry

Hello, I’m looking to purchase, but have a few questions.

    1) The PF13L160EI, is there any other difference between this and the manual ignition, besides the ignition? Has the electronic ignition gotten better? I read some of ur archived info, and it seems the electric ignition isn’t too reliable, and I think it’s like $50 more!

    2) what PSI is the regulator? 0-?

    3) on the electric and manual, does it now come with the braided hose screwing onto the burner? I do NOT want one that is secured with the tension strap.

    4) do you warranty the burner? If so, for how long?

    Thank you for your time.

Outdoorstirfry:

  1. the main difference between PF13L160EI and PF13L160 is the electronic ignition. Electronic ignition eventually will fail due to weather and aging of components.  So it eventually will be used as a manual one.   The electronic ignition component is much more expensive and we want to discourage it.
  2. 0-30PSI.
  3. Both stoves have stainless braided hose. However inside it is still a rubber type.  The braided stainless protect the rubber hose from environment.  The PF13L160EI still has one end of the hose secured by worm type clamp.  If you don’t like this, your choice should be PF13L160.  
  4. You can return the product if not used within 60 days of purchase. Once used we support it whole-heartily but without promise.   We reserve our right to serve our customer the best way we see it.   
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Choosing between electronic and manual ignition

Inquiry

I’m excited to purchase one of your wok burners. I’ve done a lot of research and settled on your company.

I was hoping you could help clarify about the electronic ignition. In some of your reader questions and FAQs you mention the electronic ignition can sometimes fail. I was hoping to get a sense of whether it is worth going with the electronic ignition or just using a BBQ lighter with the manual.

I have never used an outdoor BBQ, but I am a passionate cook who has used 25K BTU stoves indoors. I recently moved to a home with outdoor space and am planning to use the powerflamer.

As a beginner, does it make sense to get the electronic start or just use the manual?

Outdoorstirfry

We would suggest to go with manual ignition with a long nose BBQ igniter.   In this way you don’t have to deal with the electronic ignition systems that subject to weather.   An electronic ignition head can become unreliable after a couple years.   After that you will default to use a long nose BBQ igniter anyway.

Hope we answer your question.  If not, please ask further. 

Inquiry

This is really helpful! Thanks.

Would that be the PF13L160 if I am going for the highest BTUs and the long legs?

And is that the model you sell on Amazon?

Thanks again!

Outdoorstirfry

PF13L160 it is.  We sell this on amazon as well.    You should get a better price + shipping  from our web site.

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Outdoor wok stove questions.

Inquiry:

I’m interested in an outdoor wok stove, and I’m trying to decide which model to buy.  I have a few questions:
  • Would you recommend the electronic ignition or the manual ignition?  Is the electronic ignition reliable?  Would you consider electronic ignition to be safer than manual, or vice versa?
  • Is the 160 KBTU model the latest model and the 130 KBTU an older model?  Is there a reason to choose one over the other?
  • When will the 160 KBTU models be available?
Cheers.
Outoorstirfry:
Electronic ignition usually will fail in a couple years or so as the wire ages in an outdoor environment.   It will become intermittent at first.   We can’t guarantee that electronic ignition be reliable to ignite.  We always recommend to have a manual long nose BBQ igniter handy nearby.   Both electronic and manual stoves are safe.
We develop the 160 KBTU stove later than the 130 one.   We would choose the 160 one as it is more powerful and feature rich.
The estimate for 160 KBTU stove availability is June.   We have some pre-orders already.  Those will be fulfilled first.  And we have not decided for their price as we were hit by the imposed tariff.