Chet
Before you invest any more money in your alcohol stove, you ought to consider replacing ir with a propane stove, which in my opinion is much much safer.As for your problem with pre-heating, you may not really have one. I have a pressurized alcohol stove/oven which is slated for replacement as my first major upgrade. Anyway, here is the procedure I use to light stove: 1). Put pressure in stove, in your case - pump it up, mine has a 12V pump, but same principle. 2). Open burner and count to five, then close burner. 3). Light burner and make sure anything above is 2 to 3 feet away, pucker your butt, hold you breath but dont worry, THIS IN NORMAL for pressurized alcohol stove. 4). I set egg timer for 3 mins. If still lighted open burner for count of 3, then close again. If not lit, still open burner for count of five and close again and relight. 5). Set egg timer for 2 more mins. By this time, the burners ought to be hot enough to vaporize the alcohol. 6) When egg timer 'dings', slowly open burner and you will hear a hissing sound from the vaporized alcohol and the flame should be about right.It will probably scare the hell out of your significant other. Some sailors consider this safer than propane, I certainly dont. Its like setting your boat on fire temporarily just to be able to cook. I got used to it only because it was on the boat when I bought it. GF refuses to light it, but she never had a problem with propane stove/oven on other boat because it worked similar to the one in your house.The only advantage I have found with alcohol is better control in the low heat range as in making rice or grits, yes grits, and thats from a Brooklyn boy. Tony B