jetboil issues?

hello all-- i'm considering picking up a jetboil and curious if anyone on here has had any issues with their's. if you wouldn't mind including your model that would be swell.

thanks!
mc

Wrote this review on amazon a while back:

I just got back from my first winter mountaineering trip with the jetboil sol stove & sumo pot. I had very high expectations after some trips with friend's normal sized jetboil stoves. While the stove/pot combination melted snow to a boil fairly quickly, about the same as another in my party's reactor, there were significant design issues which made operation difficult and messy.

*The igniter did not work - it was 20 degrees and no wind, not exactly 'extreme' conditions.

*The lid does not snap on securely with even a little bit of snow in the channel area where the pot snaps in. This wouldn't be a big deal if it was easy to clear, or snow rarely gets in this channel - but it was dark, and the snow had melted enough to be clear. This caused the lid to seem to be secure, but leak while pouring - a dribble down the pot which always seemed to get on my feet/legs.

*The handle on the pot does not work. With the normal size jetboil pot, you can put your hand through the handle and around the pot - but this one is too big to do that. I have big hands too - I wear XL gloves, and have trouble grasping the pot. Also complicating holding the pot is the neoprene sleeve is to stretchy its awkward to pick up the whole stove/pot assembly.

Anyways, I was using the MSR reactor and the sumo/sol side by side melting snow, and the MSR was way better. The reactor melted snow faster, but the jetboil brought water from liquid to a boil faster. However I could just pick up the reactor pot by the handle to pour melted water out, instead of having to pick up the whole awkward jetboil assembly and spill on my feet, as a dribble of water always came down from under the lid.

I've gone thru 3 jetboils in a realativ short time. I started with the classic PCS. This worked fine until a winter camping trip for skiing. Since it wasn't a true 4 season stove I kept it thru the summer.. but still had boiling issues in cold nights. I sold it on ebay and purchased the jetboil SOL rated for 4 season use. It arrived in time for last summer... so I have not tested its ability to boil in cold temps (depsite its rating I am very hesitant considering I've already been there and have a classic wishperlite. I haven't found any reviews yet on the SOL boil time in cold temps so...)

Jetboil SOL:
it worked much better on cold summer/fall mornings, there is an improvement in cold temp boil time but I still haven't tested it in cold winter camping conditions. Used it a lot last summer backpacking. The handle is useless and the lid did not seal... more on that in a minute. Then on a trip, the piezoelectric ligniter stopped working... melted. I don't know how that happened, the stove worked with a lighter. I returned the stove to REI and traded for a new one... I've only had the new one a few months and have used on one backpacking trip no problems.

They improved the lid greatly. it seals and I notice it looks beefier in that area, the handle still sucks.

One thing about the SOL is the stove portion has a lot of play in relation to the canister portion. This gets magnified with a full pot, plus canister stoves are tallish anyways. I've never had anything spill or fall over even using the extra pot stabilizer for other cookware but it just seems too flimsy enough to keep an eye on.

thanks for the replies. i already have a newish msr (forget the model) that perhaps will suffice then...

I've had the old standard jetboil for a few years (not sure on the model) and like it a lot. It's been reliable for me and I like the small size. The one weakness for most butane stoves is that the expansion of fuel during operation is an endothermic process that sucks the heat out of the canister, causing performance to drop the longer you operate the stove. This is particularly an issue during cold weather and can be addressed by setting the canister in a plate/bowl of warm water during operation. I also bring a small square of closed cell foam pad to insulate the plate of warm water from the snow. Using this approach you can operate the stove at very low temperatures with no loss of performance.

I've tried the classic and the Sol. The classic in winter camping was a pain if you didn't keep the fuel warm it put out very little heat. The Sol I tried this summer on a bike trip was a mess. First the igniter failed then it just had a melt down. Luckily I was paying attention and caught the mess before an explosion could accrue.