Anyone really LIKE Taylors cookers?

[Mirelle]

Re: I\'ll stick with it.

I have stuck with it for 31 years. There was one off year when I had a gas stove. Yes, I have often thought that a bit of thought, at the design stage, would make the business of getting a spanner on the burner easier, but we have to keep in mind that this is the product of a cottage industry, not a multinational, and they have a small, but expert and helpful, staff.

A tip: keep the tank pressurised, of course, but shut off the fuel at the tank valve when leaving the boat - a very slight weep over a few days will cause a smoky burner next time it is lit. Second tip (this is in the manual): never light a burner with the tank valve closed - as the burner heats up the paraffin inside it vapourises and the pressure build up may crack the burner, with spectacular results!

Third tip (this really applies to any stove) fit a sheet of stainless, with masterboard or whatever insulation behind it, under the deckhead above the stove - this stops any worries about overheating the deck and is easy to keep clean.

Fourth and very obvious one - a kitchen type, long handled, gas lighter is handy in place of matches!

Fifth: if you have any doubts about having bought the right stove, look at the controversy on YM Scuttlebut about butane stoves not working in cold weather!

And it boils a kettle faster!

 

[owendo]

I have and old two burner paraffine cooker, it works like a dream, i use meths to light it which i measure with a syringe as used for mesuring hardner for epoxy. works well and takes only 45secs to get hot enough to light the full flame, no gas for me thanks

Mike Woodhouse
Vertue V17

 

[Neal]

I use meths.....

and by the time the meths has burned through, the kettle is boiling.

Wouldn't change to gas.

 

[Guest]

Re: I\'ll stick with it.

Used both for many years and much prefer pressure paraffin as it is easier to cart about than gas bottles, will not fill up the bilges and explode, gives great heat, will not slow down and eventually freeze in cold weather like butane, easier to stow than gas bottles, more versatile than gas as it also does the oil lamps and cleans things.

The simple secrets to reliable operation are clean fuel ( I pass it through an old diesel filter as it leaves the main tank), and proper pre-heating. For the latter I have tried meths in the bowl, blowlamp and tilley lamp lighter (with asbestos soaked in meths). I keep this in a bottle of meths so when it is taken out it has just the right quantity soaked up, then clip it under the burner and light with long kitchen gaz lighter. When the flame has died down but still just reaches where the paraffin comes out I turn on the paraffin. Never fails - first time every time. I find this far and away the simplest, safest and most reliable system - it always puts the heat exactly where it is needed for exactly the time it is needed (not so easy with a blowlamp) and it cannot spill. And with experience you can go off and do something else while it does the work.

PS I expect this is illegal, along with just about everything else these days, but I ran mine on central heating oil all last year - much cheaper than paraffin.