Finally got my old MSR WhisperLite working after 3 years of sitting in the garage

I found a random comment on a forum last week about cleaning the jets on those old stoves with a piece of guitar string. I had my dad's old WhisperLite sitting around since 2019 after it clogged up on a trip to Yosemite. I grabbed a 0.010 inch string from my neighbor's kid and cleaned out the nozzle in about 10 minutes. Fired right up on the first try with no leaks or sputtering. Has anyone else had luck reviving an old stove with weird tricks like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

riverdavis19d ago

Wait, a guitar string? That actually worked?

samflores19d ago

Man that reminds me of this one time my buddy tried to fix his lawnmower with a busted ukulele string because he couldnt find the right part at the hardware store. It actually held up for like two whole summers before it finally snapped. Guitar strings are just tough little buggers, think about how much tension they take every day from just playing chords. So yeah, I could totally see a loose one working in a pinch for some random fix, especially if its an acoustic string those things are surprisingly strong.