Hillerange/Seaward alcohol stove.

[Matt Cawthorne]

This is a follow-up to a previous post on fixing the hillerange stove that came in some CD's in the 80's. Firstly thanks to Dave and Larry. I called Seaward and they told me that they had gone back into supporting the older line of alcohol stoves. Their service line was very helpful and told me not to touch the packing nut. Just unscrew the needle until it comes all of the way out. The body can then be separated from the metering part. The supply lines on the larger stove are all soldered together so it is not easy to remove an individual metering body to work on it. The service person told me not to buy new parts, just clean them with carburator cleaner.

The upper nut on the front covers a spring and generator rod assembly. The service folks told me to remove the nut and the rod/spring could just slide out. If it did not slide out the trick is to heat the outer tube with a propane torch and tap on it. Since I did not want to take the stove out mid-season the work had to happen in place. 2 of the 4 generator rods were stuck in there really tight. Not wanting to use a propane torch in the midst of all of that leaking alcohol I was in a pinch. I pulled on the springs on two of the generators and deformed them. In the end I drilled the end of the rod, tapped the hole and used a slide hammer to remove the two generator rods. Cleaning them was the trick to getting the stove operating properly again. Now for the bad part. The springs have to sit in the threads of the generator rod. If the spring crosses the top of even one thread the unit will jam and you may not be able to get the burner to work at all. In addition to this if the nut (that caps the tube that the generator sits in) pushes the rod and crossed spring in you will have a bear of a time getting it back out. Since I bent two springs getting those generator rods out it was really tough to get it reassembled. In the end I did and the stove works like new. I called Seaward and ordered a few replacement rods and springs in case this ever has to happen again. The parts (including wicking, packing, rod and spring) cost around 10 dollars per burner. I would recommend buying the replacements rather than cleaning because they were not easy to clean even with the carb cleaner. Needles are not available for purchase.

Matt



mcawthor@bellatlantic.net

[D. Stump, Hanalei]

Captain Cawthorne,

Thanks and a glass of wine with you for the excellent information. I am sure a lot of us will be glad to know that Seaward is again supporting the older stoves. And your description of how to clean/replace the generator is excellent. Thank you, WHAT a web site this is....

Dave Stump

[Larry DeMers]

That is really great news then. Any feel for how deeply they will go into the support for the line? New burners? new valve control assemblies?
For future reference, would you have their phone number handy Matt?

Thanks for uncovering this..

Larry DeMers
s/v DeLaMer
CD30

This is a follow-up to a previous post on fixing the hillerange stove that came in some CD's in the 80's. Firstly thanks to Dave and Larry. I called Seaward and they told me that they had gone back into supporting the older line of alcohol stoves. Their service line was very helpful and told me not to touch the packing nut. Just unscrew the needle until it comes all of the way out. The body can then be separated from the metering part. The supply lines on the larger stove are all soldered together so it is not easy to remove an individual metering body to work on it. The service person told me not to buy new parts, just clean them with carburator cleaner.

The upper nut on the front covers a spring and generator rod assembly. The service folks told me to remove the nut and the rod/spring could just slide out. If it did not slide out the trick is to heat the outer tube with a propane torch and tap on it. Since I did not want to take the stove out mid-season the work had to happen in place. 2 of the 4 generator rods were stuck in there really tight. Not wanting to use a propane torch in the midst of all of that leaking alcohol I was in a pinch. I pulled on the springs on two of the generators and deformed them. In the end I drilled the end of the rod, tapped the hole and used a slide hammer to remove the two generator rods. Cleaning them was the trick to getting the stove operating properly again. Now for the bad part. The springs have to sit in the threads of the generator rod. If the spring crosses the top of even one thread the unit will jam and you may not be able to get the burner to work at all. In addition to this if the nut (that caps the tube that the generator sits in) pushes the rod and crossed spring in you will have a bear of a time getting it back out. Since I bent two springs getting those generator rods out it was really tough to get it reassembled. In the end I did and the stove works like new. I called Seaward and ordered a few replacement rods and springs in case this ever has to happen again. The parts (including wicking, packing, rod and spring) cost around 10 dollars per burner. I would recommend buying the replacements rather than cleaning because they were not easy to clean even with the carb cleaner. Needles are not available for purchase.

Matt

demers@sgi.com

[matt cawthorne]

Larry,
I did not ask about burners or control valve assemblies. Their number is (562) 699-7997. Several years ago I saw an entire hillerange stove in the dumpster at my marina. I did not have the good sense to go dumpster shopping and take it. If anyone out there is going to ditch their stove, please make it available on this bulletin board.

Matt



mcawthor@bellatlantic.net