Heaters and Stoves

[Ron Flannery]

Folks,

I have an alcahol stove and a kerosene heater in my CD33. I hate these things because:

1. The stove has to preheat before it works. I put as little alcahol as possible in the cup, and put a tea kettle on it so the four foot flame doesn't damage the boat while it preheats the burner. Of course by the time the alcahol in the cup is burned away, the water is boiling in the kettle! Am I doing something wrong? Is the stove out of whack?

2. The heater has the same cup and preheat arrangement as the stove, but instead of the four foot flame while it preheats, I get billows of sooty smoke which blackens everything it touches. Once the preheat is done and the burner lights properly, there is no smoke and life is warm and cozy. I hate to light the thing though because of the soot, which is very difficult to clean up. Am I doing something wrong? Is the heater out of whack?

I know these things are expensive, and when I was looking for a boat they were (at the time) desirable features, though now I'm not so sure.

Do you have similar experiences, or are there adjustments I could make to these appliances to fix these perceived problems?

Thanks,
Ron Flannery
CD33 Annie Laurie



ron.flannery@home.com

[Larry DeMers]

Ron,

Yup, you need remedial training in the great art of lighting a preheater on these devices ;^)). Don't worry..once you get the technique for your stove, it will work great. For reference, we use our alcohol stove/oven every weekend and have for the past 10 years. There have been some occasions where the flare up is larger than desired, but patience is the real trick here.

Our procedure is to open the valve for the burner about 1/2 turn..listen carefully and you will hear the gurgling of the alcohol as it comes into the burner. After perhaps 3 sec. shut it off completely, and wait about 30 sec. The small wick in the cup (center of the burner itself) should show a wetness on it's surface, but the ring around the burner should not be wet..if it is, then cut back your time for the open valve by 1 sec. and see if that does not get you the results you want. Light the preheater, and let it burn 5 minutes or more before trying to light the burner itself (or you will form carbon in the generator and it will plug up the orifices).

The kerosene heater is an easy one I suspect. That kerosene heater needs to be primed with ALCOHOL Ron, not kerosene. That is the cause of that awful smoke and smell. Use a small squeeze bottle, and squirt some Alcohol into the preheater cup, light it and then let it warm the generator tube well before turning the heater on slowly. It has to be hot for the stove to work the way it should, so *patience* my friend.

Hope this helps. I can tellyou that the reputation that alcohol has gained as a fuel is undeserved. People are not knowledgeable about these burners and think they are the equivalent of their home stove..ain't so. They are closer to the Svea 123R backpacking stoves in that a preheat cycle must be used. Try to use the sounds, smells and reactions of the stove as feedback to your efforts to light it. After a few adjustments to the amount of priming alcohol allowed into the priming cup, you will not have problems anymore.

We also use the prime heat (the little flame) to start the cooking process..and cocoa water for instance, is heated entirely by this flame..and we allow the prime to actually just go out rather than turning on the burner. It does soot up the bttom of the pans after a few years of doing this, but that is cleanable.

Good Luck!

Cheers!


Larry DeMers
s/v DeLaMer
Cape Dory 30

Folks,

I have an alcahol stove and a kerosene heater in my CD33. I hate these things because:

1. The stove has to preheat before it works. I put as little alcahol as possible in the cup, and put a tea kettle on it so the four foot flame doesn't damage the boat while it preheats the burner. Of course by the time the alcahol in the cup is burned away, the water is boiling in the kettle! Am I doing something wrong? Is the stove out of whack?

2. The heater has the same cup and preheat arrangement as the stove, but instead of the four foot flame while it preheats, I get billows of sooty smoke which blackens everything it touches. Once the preheat is done and the burner lights properly, there is no smoke and life is warm and cozy. I hate to light the thing though because of the soot, which is very difficult to clean up. Am I doing something wrong? Is the heater out of whack?

I know these things are expensive, and when I was looking for a boat they were (at the time) desirable features, though now I'm not so sure.

Do you have similar experiences, or are there adjustments I could make to these appliances to fix these perceived problems?

Thanks,
Ron Flannery
CD33 Annie Laurie

demers@sgi.com

[Tom]

Folks,

I have an alcahol stove and a kerosene heater in my CD33. I hate these things because:

1. The stove has to preheat before it works. I put as little alcahol as possible in the cup, and put a tea kettle on it so the four foot flame doesn't damage the boat while it preheats the burner. Of course by the time the alcahol in the cup is burned away, the water is boiling in the kettle! Am I doing something wrong? Is the stove out of whack?

2. The heater has the same cup and preheat arrangement as the stove, but instead of the four foot flame while it preheats, I get billows of sooty smoke which blackens everything it touches. Once the preheat is done and the burner lights properly, there is no smoke and life is warm and cozy. I hate to light the thing though because of the soot, which is very difficult to clean up. Am I doing something wrong? Is the heater out of whack?

I know these things are expensive, and when I was looking for a boat they were (at the time) desirable features, though now I'm not so sure.

Do you have similar experiences, or are there adjustments I could make to these appliances to fix these perceived problems?

Thanks,
Ron Flannery
CD33 Annie Laurie

Ron, Larry sounds like the expert on this, but here's a trick I discovered before I switched to propane. Trying to pre-heat with alcohol is tricky in a seaway when you're jumping around. Sterno is just gelled alcohol. Buy a can of sterno then just reach in with a teaspoon and take out a blob smaller than a marble and put it in the pre-heat pan. It burns cleanly with no soot and disappears when it's burned out. You can start the burner with the flame from it just before it burns up completely.

Another thing that works is to pre-heat with one of those portable propane torches. It only takes about 20 seconds to heat up with that, but you know propane is dangerous on a boat if it isn't in a proper locker that's vented overboard. You don't want to just store it in a drawer or cockpit locker.



TomCambria@mindspring.com

[john vigor]

Ron: Two additional little tips from someone who's been playing with Primus stoves and alcohol burners for decades.

Use a small plastic squeeze bottle of alcohol to prime both your stove and your cabin heater. You can judge the amount of alcohol much more precisely, and it won't flare up and burn forever.

Second, fill your kerosene burner's priming ring with a small coil of fiberglass "cord," the gasket used to seal the doors of wood-burning stoves. You'll find it at Ace Hardwace or any decent hardware store. It won't burn, but it holds the alcohol in one place and stops it sloshing on your nice cushions and setting fire to the cabin.

Incidentally, you can prime your kerosene heater with a rag (or fiberglass gasket) soaked in kerosene in an emergency, but it takes much longer and is much sootier, as you discovered. Denatured alcohol is the proper stuff for priming, though gin leaves a nice smell, if you can afford it.

Cheers,

John Vigor
CD25D "Jabula"



jvig@whidbey.net

[larry mace]

Ron,
If you use the stove/oven alot I would consider switching to propane which is much easier to use. Our propane tank is a margas container which makes it safe to store in the locker and fits very easily in the port locker of the 33 along wiht 4 batteries. As far as kerosine heaters go we have a wallis wich runs off 12volts and is very good-no priming and electronic start with no smoke or kerosine smell. I am not sure if they make the model any more but it works great after 20 years. I know this probably does not help your current situation but if you decide to replace them ti may help.

Larry M
CD33 dolce

Folks,

I have an alcahol stove and a kerosene heater in my CD33. I hate these things because:

1. The stove has to preheat before it works. I put as little alcahol as possible in the cup, and put a tea kettle on it so the four foot flame doesn't damage the boat while it preheats the burner. Of course by the time the alcahol in the cup is burned away, the water is boiling in the kettle! Am I doing something wrong? Is the stove out of whack?

2. The heater has the same cup and preheat arrangement as the stove, but instead of the four foot flame while it preheats, I get billows of sooty smoke which blackens everything it touches. Once the preheat is done and the burner lights properly, there is no smoke and life is warm and cozy. I hate to light the thing though because of the soot, which is very difficult to clean up. Am I doing something wrong? Is the heater out of whack?

I know these things are expensive, and when I was looking for a boat they were (at the time) desirable features, though now I'm not so sure.

Do you have similar experiences, or are there adjustments I could make to these appliances to fix these perceived problems?

Thanks,
Ron Flannery
CD33 Annie Laurie

lmace@gt.com

[Ken Cave]

You haven,t told us what type of heater you are using-which would be of great help in solving your problem.

I have just purchased a Force Ten heater for my DCD28, and they tell me in the directions only to use the best grade of kerosene possible.

A gallon is a little expensive, but I figure it will last me a season!

Ken Cave
Dragon Tale #227



bcave@whidbey.net

[Michael Stephano]

I use a propane torch to quickly heat the burner (kerosene). No sloshing an alcohol filled bowl in a sea way and its nice to have a torch on board in the tool box any way.



mundo@visi.net

[Ron Flannery]

Thanks everyone. Great response, and very helpful.

Ron

Folks,

I have an alcahol stove and a kerosene heater in my CD33. I hate these things because:

1. The stove has to preheat before it works. I put as little alcahol as possible in the cup, and put a tea kettle on it so the four foot flame doesn't damage the boat while it preheats the burner. Of course by the time the alcahol in the cup is burned away, the water is boiling in the kettle! Am I doing something wrong? Is the stove out of whack?

2. The heater has the same cup and preheat arrangement as the stove, but instead of the four foot flame while it preheats, I get billows of sooty smoke which blackens everything it touches. Once the preheat is done and the burner lights properly, there is no smoke and life is warm and cozy. I hate to light the thing though because of the soot, which is very difficult to clean up. Am I doing something wrong? Is the heater out of whack?

I know these things are expensive, and when I was looking for a boat they were (at the time) desirable features, though now I'm not so sure.

Do you have similar experiences, or are there adjustments I could make to these appliances to fix these perceived problems?

Thanks,
Ron Flannery
CD33 Annie Laurie

ron.flannery@home.com

[Jim Alexander]

The stove is great once you learn how to light it without burning up the boat. I put 5-8 lbs of pressure in the tank. Open one of the forward burners till I hear a noise. Turn off the burner and light; toward the valve. Wait till the vaporisor heats; 2 minutes; then give it a little from the valve to see if it is ready to take it. If not, call the fire department. : Thanks everyone. Great response, and very helpful.

Ron

Folks,

I have an alcahol stove and a kerosene heater in my CD33. I hate these things because:

1. The stove has to preheat before it works. I put as little alcahol as possible in the cup, and put a tea kettle on it so the four foot flame doesn't damage the boat while it preheats the burner. Of course by the time the alcahol in the cup is burned away, the water is boiling in the kettle! Am I doing something wrong? Is the stove out of whack?

2. The heater has the same cup and preheat arrangement as the stove, but instead of the four foot flame while it preheats, I get billows of sooty smoke which blackens everything it touches. Once the preheat is done and the burner lights properly, there is no smoke and life is warm and cozy. I hate to light the thing though because of the soot, which is very difficult to clean up. Am I doing something wrong? Is the heater out of whack?

I know these things are expensive, and when I was looking for a boat they were (at the time) desirable features, though now I'm not so sure.

Do you have similar experiences, or are there adjustments I could make to these appliances to fix these perceived problems?

Thanks,
Ron Flannery
CD33 Annie Laurie

jimalex@earthlink.net