Wallas 87D stove/oven on a CD36?

[Russell]

I am about fed up with the Seaward stove/oven on my boat. It does work, but really isnt up for the task of daily use all year long (and its very difficult to clean). So I am looking at alternatives, most full time cruisers seem happiest with Force 10 stoves (all others seem less then pleased with their Seawards, Enos, etc..). But if swapping out, I thought about looking at moving away from Propane, hence the Wallas unit. But I havnt met anyone who has one (perhaps that says something there).

Has anyone put one of these on their CD36? The depth dimension seems like it might be a bit tight, but room to spare on other dimensions. Also, the ducting, with the low freeboard of a CD36, the overboard hull vent seems unlikely to be happy exiting the hull in the galley, I am guessing a run all the way to the transom is in order here. Would love to hear anyones experience with these stoves/ovens, CD36 or otherwise. The marketing material sure makes them sound good, but there is always a catch.

[Evergreen]

I have always been interested in the idea of having a single, safe, and readily available fuel on a vessel. Please keep us up to date as you learn more about the Wallas stove/ovens.

[Jim Davis]

Russell

When Sandy and I bought Isa Lei her previous owners had been burning diesel and kerosene in lamps. It wasn't a strong aroma, but it was there. Took quite a while to get rid of it. Smell had permeated the curtains and cushions. It was like being in a place with a "kerosun space heater. Also most diesel/kero stoves need alcohol for pre heating.

Just a thought.

We now use real parifin in the one oil lamp still on board and Sandy is happy with her Eno stove.

[Russell]

Russell

When Sandy and I bought Isa Lei her previous owners had been burning diesel and kerosene in lamps. It wasn't a strong aroma, but it was there. Took quite a while to get rid of it. Smell had permeated the curtains and cushions. It was like being in a place with a "kerosun space heater. Also most diesel/kero stoves need alcohol for pre heating.

The wallas system is "closed", no smell should be present anywhere except the exhaust out the stern of the boat. The preheat is done with glow plugs, not alcohol.

I burn kerosene lamps anyways (when not in the tropics) and the smell does not bother me.

[Evergreen]

Russell:

This Wallas stove is sounding better all the time.

I noticed on the site that the unit can be used as a heater also.

I was curious about two things:
1) Would it not be better to vent up since heat rises?
2) Will you have to have a fuel pump for the stove?

Best wishes, Philip & Sharon

[Rob Bageant]

Hi,

I installed the Wallas 85 in my Cape Dory 28.

The unit, when it works as advertised, is fantastic.

The combustion chamber is sealed. Air is drawn from the cabin and exhausted overboard. This airflow is wonderful for drying out the boat and keeping moisture at bay. Considering most other sources of cooking heat not only produce water (diesel does not) but also vent the water vapor inside the boat, this is a huge plus.

Also on the plus side, unlike the Dickinson stoves, you don't need to wait forever and a day for the stove to heat up. It comes up quite quickly.

I also bought the ingenious blower lid which converts the stove into a cabin heater. I'm also very pleased with this unit. Others who have used Wallas stoves have bought the Ecofan wood stove fan. It generates its own power (via sterling engine) from the heat of the stove reducing your dependency on your battery bank.

I did say reducing the need for your battery.

The Wallas stove needs electricity to run. Its draw is light, except on startup. On startup, rather than lighting alcohol to heat the burn chamber, the Wallas stove uses a glowplug. For those of you who travel remotely, having your cook stove system linked to your electronics may not be an option. For those of us who stay closer to civilization, it's probably a reasonable trade off.

Ok, after all those nice things I've said, I don't know if I would buy this unit again.

First, although advertised as 'sealed combustion' I can always smell mine when it first lights. Wallas says that that cannot happen. Having the luxury of living in Seattle, the only place in North America to have these stoves serviced, I tied my boat up to their dock and had their tech go over my install for an entire day. He found no leak and said that he could not smell the fumes I complained of.

My stove overheats. Luckily it will shut itself down, but I have to be careful how I set it when I go to sleep or I wake up freezing cold.

But the worst thing that happened was one winter trip I woke up ill to the smell of unburned, vaporized diesel filling the cabin. I had to turn of the stove (of course) and open every port and hatch to clear the air. It wasn't that cold that night, only 30 degrees. We shivered our way through to morning and then sailed home with no heat source for ourselves or our food.

Wallas rebuilt my stove free of charge and said that they have never heard of such a thing happening before. They have a great reputation for reliability.

But, my rebuilt stove smells even more of diesel when I first start it. After I run it for 10 minutes, the smell goes away.

I called Wallas to troubleshoot it. They said I must have a leak in my exhaust system. Maybe if I take my boat back to them the tech will find it this time? I admire their willingness to spend time on my boat, but not their inability to find the source of the leak. Their tech said that he spends to much time around burning diesel to smell such a small amount of smoke.

I am heading up the Inside Passage this summer. Yes, I will carry a spare stove.

I have mixed feelings about Wallas and the service I've received, but I love the stove. I just want one I can depend on. I've never heard of anyone else having these troubles.

Finally, The exhaust run cannot exceed 10' and any excess bending in the run will cause the stove to overheat more readily, even one that works properly.

I took Wallas advice and ran my exhaust back toward the stern and then over the side under the rail. That was a very poor choice on a CD 28. I will have to revent out the side of the cabin top. The transom is too far away, so I have no choice but to drill yet another hole in my boat and vent higher. As it stands now, I have to plug my exhaust and double check the exhaust after sailing to be sure no water is in the line.

I hope this is helpful...

[Cathy Monaghan]

If you decide to stay with propane, our CD32 came with a Tasco propane stove/oven combo (Taunton Stove Company). We like it and it works well. It's the 2-burner version, but they come with 3-burners too.

http://www.tauntonstove.com/

But have you seen the Broadwater Marine stoves? I think they are the best.

http://www.maxcoindustries.com/broadwater/

I don't know what size you need, but there's one listed on Craig's List:

http://providence.craigslist.org/boa/604789048.html


Cathy
CD32 Realization, #3
Rahway, NJ
Raritan Bay

[Len]

I have a broadwater stove aboard and it is 8 years old now. I have not a single complaint with it. I see no reason why it could not be used daily/ year round (although I have not done so myself). I saw the craig list ad and the price is very reasonable, if it is as claimed.

The idea of having a single fuel aboard has always been attractive to me. It is one reason I gave up my gas powered dinghy for a row boat. Several years ago I had the idea of starting a business which manufactured small diesel engines suitable for use as an outboard. My reasoning was that sailors already had the fuel and starting would be easy- I often hand cranked by YANMAR GM 1. The major problem was weight of the unit (and starting the business of course.)

It seems the boat industry is going a different way. Diesel generators to electric motor propulsion and battery charging. Why does everything devolve to electricity? If the market was big enough I know we would have diesel heaters, stoves ,engines, lights and outboards that do not smell (i.e. see the new auto diesels).

[Tom Keevil]

We were interested in this stove, but changed our mind after talking with someone who had one. It seems that you cannot independently adjust the two burners. One is always hotter than the other, but they go up and down together. That makes it impossible to have one pot on a high boil while the other is on a simmer. At least that is what we understood. We have no actual experience with it.

[Rob Bageant]

Actually, you can simmer one pot and put the other on boil.


The combustion chamber is under the left-hand "burner" of the ceramic cook top.

The exhaust then moves to the right through the heat exchanger giving you a gradient of heat that decreases from left to right.

So the left burner is always hottest and the right cooler.

Yes, the one knob changes the temperature of the whole unit.

rob