An idiot’s guide to Origo Spirit stoves?

The cheapest places I find for my meths in the UK are farmers/country market retailers such as Cornwall Farmers, Mole Valley Farmers in the SW. Expect to pay about £10 to £12 for 5 litres.
 
French Meths

We have had the same Origo for about thirteen years and like it.

Meths in small containers from DIY shops is expensive.Either get in large containers such as Severnman recommends or if ever you visit france pop into the nearest supermarket where you will find it stacked up high at less than half the rip off UK price. Its labelled alcol a brula 90%.
 
Another great tip given to me by a chap I sailed with once with an Origo stove.

Store the bottle of meths well away from any milk/Tizer/Coke you may want to take a big gulp of in the dark after a particularly heavy run ashore!!

Apparently he wasn't well for some time afterwards!! :eek:
 
emsworthy said:
Another great tip given to me by a chap I sailed with once with an Origo stove.

Store the bottle of meths well away from any milk/Tizer/Coke you may want to take a big gulp of in the dark after a particularly heavy run ashore!!

Apparently he wasn't well for some time afterwards!! :eek:
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Hehe! bit of a classic!
 
Just got my new Origo 3000 from the LBS and it did not have a manual (it was a display one) so this thread is brilliant. Just found out the French price ....
Alcool à bruler 90° Carrefour 1.85 euros for a litre
B and Q £2.98 for 500ml
yet to find a 5litre supplier local to Brighton
 
Thanks Aslabend and Severnman. The Brighton wood restoration supplies shop closed a couple of years ago, and the local independent decoarators merchant wanted a massive £27.26 for 5 litres. So unless I get to France first I will be grazing by Southampton Easter-time. And to go to France I need to factor in the price of 6 new passports:mad:........
 
Origo

I suffered with one of these for years. Then I spent about £10 on one of those nice 2 burner gas stoves from a capming shop (the ones with a cannister about the size of a tin of fly spray). These work really well, do not smell and are far less of a hazard than carrying flammable liquids.
I sold the origo for £5 at a Boat Jumble and never looked back.
Martin
 
Halo said:
Then I spent about £10 on one of those nice 2 burner gas stoves from a capming shop (the ones with a cannister about the size of a tin of fly spray). These work really well, do not smell and are far less of a hazard than carrying flammable liquids.
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The organisers of the Boat Safety Scheme recently issued a warning against these types of cookers. IMO, flammable liquids are inherently safer than flammable gases.

http://www.boatsafetyscheme.com/site/current_208.asp
 
Halo said:
I suffered with one of these for years. Then I spent about £10 on one of those nice 2 burner gas stoves from a capming shop (the ones with a cannister about the size of a tin of fly spray). These work really well, do not smell and are far less of a hazard than carrying flammable liquids.
I sold the origo for £5 at a Boat Jumble and never looked back.
Martin
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What problems did you encounter? It would be interesting to learn from your experience.

As these appliances are so simple and generally robust it's hard for me to see how a problem would persist if an Origo hob is properly maintained and used.
 
Origos are a bit in the 'love it or hate it' category, but far more people like them than dislike them, and I really like my 3000 which came with the boat.

The concerns of the Boat Safety Scheme with the little camping cookers with the internal gas cartridge has to do with the storage of gas down below rather than in a gas locker externally. In reality as long as people exercise common sense I doubt there will be many problems, except perhaps in the drunken idiots coming back to the boat after a heavy night dept, where anything can happen. It is possible to leave the gas taps on unlit, which also carries a risk, and they are not always stably mounted. Those are the immediate concerns I'd have if I had an HSE hat on.

Im a gas engineer(fitter if that keeps you happier) but not qualified on LPG. On going aboard boats with gas I am sometimes a little perturbed at the lurking smell of propane/butane, particularly in the gas locker area.

Were I qualified in LPG and Boats I'd do a system check and certify it for a damned site less than £300, as long as it wasn't a flight away or anything like that. Thats a crazy price.

Tim
 
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Q. How long to boil 2 litres? A. See below

I've been following this thread with interest as I was in the process of buying an Origo 2000 to replace my gas system. I tried it today for the first time. As an experiment I filled a kettle with exactly 2 litres of very cold tap water and brought it to the boil. The kettle whistled in exactly 18 minutes. Possibly not as fast as gas but it works great! I'd thought about boiling the kettle on the gas hob in the kitchen and timing it for comparison but considered this a bad idea as the gas reserves are low enough. Also I didn't want to be awarded an anorak!

Regards
 
Harry, you're no anorak :).........need to measure starting temp of water, air temp, and (with hindsight) boiled only a litre (to save the planet) and measured volume of fuel used (for costing out). I'm half tempted to dig out my camping gas stove for comparison:D.......

Re. Alfie's points I seem to remember one of the issues with the pressurised cannisters was incorrectly loading/connecting them. I got a single burner one with the boat and my reading around has put me off them completely, particularly as other users on my boat would not be so wary and we are going to be cramped with kids. That said I used my somewhat rusty butane cannister blow torch today for the first time in several years...... I was aware I had plenty of space to escape away had things not gone to plan (it wasn't creme brulee either, proper plumbing job that actually went right!)
 
Coaster said:
We've never been upset by fumes from our Origos although we do usually have good ventilation in operation when using the stove.



Our previous experience was with a small gas hob. After changing to a single burner Origo we found no significant difference in the time it took to boil a kettle. We were sufficiently impressed by the single burner to buy an Origo 6000 cooker when we changed our boat.

The only drawback of the Origo is that there's no grill. The major advantage is safety. I won't have bottled gas and gas pipes on our boat. Most other people apparently think differently, assuming they've thought about it at all.
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I have had a 3000 2 burner for eight years or so and endorse Coaster's comments for not having gas on board, and have been more than happy with the Origo, yes it's a bit slower but you can't have everything. Not having a grill makes toast a bit of a challenge but passable toast can be achieved using a hot non-stick frying pan, (this tip found on this forum.)

Coaster, how good is your 6000 model, does it have an oven? I've thought about fitting an oven but have never been able to get an impression from anyone as to how well it performs. A non-gas cooker test a few years back in PBO, was unable to get the Origo oven to light and were unable to make any useful comments. Is your 6000 easy to light, does it have any significant failings?
 
teekay said:
Coaster, how good is your 6000 model, does it have an oven? I've thought about fitting an oven but have never been able to get an impression from anyone as to how well it performs. A non-gas cooker test a few years back in PBO, was unable to get the Origo oven to light and were unable to make any useful comments. Is your 6000 easy to light, does it have any significant failings?
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Sorry, don't have time now to answer your question properly. Yes, the 6000 model does have an oven. Going to check boat tomorrow, will try and take some photos and post them with comments.
 
Origo 6000

teekay said:
I have had a 3000 2 burner for eight years or so and endorse Coaster's comments for not having gas on board, and have been more than happy with the Origo, yes it's a bit slower but you can't have everything. Not having a grill makes toast a bit of a challenge but passable toast can be achieved using a hot non-stick frying pan, (this tip found on this forum.)

Hi Coaster, how good is your 6000 model, does it have an oven? I've thought about fitting an oven but have never been able to get an impression from anyone as to how well it performs. A non-gas cooker test a few years back in PBO, was unable to get the Origo oven to light and were unable to make any useful comments. Is your 6000 easy to light, does it have any significant failings?
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________
Until "Coaster" checks back in, I can confirm that the oven in the model 6000 works fine. This was the standard galley range on our '88 model boat. Looks and works like new, still. The Admiral does chocolate chip cookies and cinnamon roles in it all the time.
BTW, we also toast bread in a nonstick pan! :)

Cheers,
Elder Cruiser

ps: in the US, "meth" users are thrown into prison, and our Origo stove fuel is alcohol... :cool:
pps: least expensive place I have found alcohol is in gallon cans in the painting supplies dept at the hardware store.
 
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Alcohol

You can of course make your own alcohol. ;)

http://homedistiller.org/first_StillMaker.pdf

Seriously, can't individuals get a licence to by pure methanol rather than denatured methanol if they can make a case for it? That would eliminate concerns about the fumes/smell from purple meths
I know of at least one person who runs his outboards on pure methanol plus oil. Very clean burning and smooth.
 
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