chimney flue fitting

[2nd_apprentice]

About to fit my Pascall Atkey "Pansy" heater. I bought it used so no idea as to how it was supposed to be fitted. Tin Hau has a ply deck (epoxied over) so there's got to be more to it than simply drilling a hole, right? I do have the deck flange itself which is made of stainless like the flue itself. Do I need to insulate the flue? Only thing I could think of would be thermal wrap as used on car manifolds. Bit concerned about a very hot metal fitting passing through a ply structure. Second concern would be how to make the through deck waterproof.
The Pansy is a charcoal heater if that helps.

 

[Sandyman]

I found this if its any help:

10-08-2007, 03:20 PM
Ah, the Pascal Atkey Pansey! The Rolls Royce of small cabin heaters! If you have a chance to get your hands on one, grab it.

I've got one (presently unshipped). There are really great. Definitely mount it as low as possible so the heat rises. There are a few tricks to them, as with most stoves. First, they are the only solid fuel cabin heater I know of that has a one inch (maybe inch and a quarter... can't remember) flue pipe. This makes a neat installation. The above deck section is only about an inch and a half high, just right to be capped with a plastic 35mm film can! The stack is another two foot section of heavy gauge stainless (as is the whole stove and pipe). When the stove isn't in use, you can remove the stack and have a near flush cabin top without sheets wrapping around the stack and so on.

Now, what makes the stove work is the draw up the flue. Stoves with large flues draw better, but waste energy and burn a lot more fuel with most of it going up the stack. Not so the stingy Pansey. However, you will find it a lot easier to light and keep going if you preheat the flue. This is done by using about an inch long piece of fire starter stick. These are the three quarter inch square by six inch long sticks of compressed sawdust and parafin they sell to start fires with. You can also use waxy "presto logs," those fireplace logs for people who are too lazy to cut and stack their own firewood. Just cut a hunk off and form it to shape. Or, with the fire starter sticks, cut off about an inch's worth. Put it into the mouth of the flue inside the stove and light it, letting it burn down and heat up the flue. Once that's done, you light the stove and she should draw nicely.

The really great advantage of the Pansy is that you can burn charcoal briquets in it. It will burn wood, and coal, I suppose, if you don't overload it, but it's designed for charcoal. Pascal Atkey used to sell tubes of round, flat briquets that fit the stove, but I've always used plain barbeque briquets with success. The trick is not to overload the stove. You only need about a half dozen at most. Add more as you go. Experiment until you get it right. Remember that the advantage of the Pansey is that it is very efficient. You get a lot of heat out of a surprisingly small amount of fuel... but you have to preheat the flue or you will pay hell to get the fire going.

Because you are burning charcoal, if it's done properly, you won't have any soot to speak of. This makes the Pansey a very clean stove to have aboard. Despite the romance of the traditional wood and coal burning stoves, they are incredibly dirty things to have aboard, getting soot all over everything. Emptying the ashes is a piece of cake, since the bottom ash pit simply detaches from the stove and can be dumped overboard. (DON'T drop it over with the ashes, though!)

Now, there is a limitation to consider. The Pansey is made of stainless steel, with a quarter inch ASBESTOS sheet liner. If you overheat the stove too often, you can burn out the liner. In fact, I expect you will see this frequently, although I have only seen a couple of Panseys in the flesh ever. Asbestos isn't available anymore. (This is how I got mine... her owner burned out the liner and couldn't find any asbestos to reline it and gave up!) I suppose it is possible to find some refactory material or stove cement that you could use to repair or replace the liner, but that would be a tacky job. It took me quite a while to track down parts, but not surprisingly, they are available. (The Brits seem to be the last culture that manufactures things that can be fixed, and keeps the parts to do so available... bless 'em.) Barry Van Geffen at Giles was good enough to find a replacement liner for mine. He ordered it through Davey and Co., I believe. Not a particularly expensive item. Pascal Atkey makes them. They aren't asbestos anymore, but some other equivalent material. They can be ordered still.

I don't know of any outlet selling them in the States. They are simple enough to build, but I suppose they are made one off ("bespoke" as the English say) like Rolls Royce radiator shells. In any event, a new one probably costs as much! You sure won't go far wrong with one. Even if you don't decide to install it, you can bet there will be somebody who knows better than you willing to pay a pretty penny for it.

 

[Blueboatman]

From memory drill an oversize throughole so the flue doesn't contact the cabin top, fit 1/4 of gasket material between the flange and the cabin top to act as a bit of an insulator, light it and monitor at first.
Perhaps someone can post an extract from the actual fitting instructions?

Good little bit of kit in its time, do make sure the internal asbestos(?) liner isn't badly damaged or missing or the shell will get very hot!

 

[dovekie]

A very thorough and good response above. I would just add one point about the liners. The crucial liner is the one inside the lid, which helps make the seal. It is made of flat asbestos is perhaps easier to source than the cylindrical liner of the main part. The stove works fine without the latter. As an alternative to heating the flue to get a good draw when lighting, you can fashion a little 12 volt fan to blow into the air intake. And I agree, charcoal is the best fuel. It burns very economically and hot.

 

[Kurrawong_Kid]

Not sure the Pansy is the Rolls Royce of charcoal heaters! I'd vote for the Bengco; and I've had both!
The Bengco came with a very neat chimney flue fitting with a spacer around so the flue was not in contact with the deck apart from the plates on either side. Also there is an inner stainless steel lining in the stove so you don't get the problem of the asbestos sheet burning away.
I agree with all the points about about lighting the Pansy, particularly warming the flue. The same applies to the Bengco too. However a tip I was given was to preheat the flue with a gas blowlamp and use the blowlamp to ignite the charcoal rather than fiddling about with Meths.In fact the Bengco lights OK with Meths providing you make absolutely certain that the Meths wick is fully saturated. The Pansy was much easier to start with a blowlamp.
Both gave out splendid heat.
My Pansy was replaced because my son forgot to cover the chimney on a rough North Sea crossing. The asbestos became soaked and the next time I tried to light the stove it smoked like a collander through small pinholes that had corroded through the body of the heater.
To answer the question, I suggest you try to fabricate a deckhead fitting with the pipe held centrally and an air gap around. so that the wood is not scorched. You will need some heat resisting material under the plates at the top and bottom of the deckhead fitting to similarly avoid scorching.
Good Luck.

 

[pvb]

Might be worth contacting Bengco, who can probably sell you a suitable deck fitting off the shelf.

 

[Krusty]

Hi, Patric. This was my design for installation of the through-deck chimney for my Taylor's paraffin stove (output up to 2kw). It might give you some ideas.
In my case the deck and liner mouldings are both glassfibre; just as liable to scorching as ply, I would think.
It was put in 22 years ago and has worked without any problems: Never leaked.

 

[2nd_apprentice]

Wow truly amazing advice here and in no time, thanks indeed!
Interesting comment about the liner acting as lid sealant too. Wouldn't have thought of that! Pascall Atkey still sell replacement lining for the Pansy, bought that last year but haven't fitted it yet.

 

[gary3029]

I have one of these and I have come up with a sure way of lighting EVERY time with meths after suffering as many have with the thing not lighting. Fill the wick holder with meths hang the bottom chamber from the main body with the catch clips. Should be around 1 to 2 inch gap between the two. This ensures good air supply and the fuel will light easily. When the wick has gone out I just clip the base to the main body. Since using this method I have not had one single lighting failure using meths and I have not had to resort to the gas burner. Just to add with this method of lighting I have never preheated the flue.

 

[oldharry]

Why not give the original makers a ring? +44 (0) 1983 292381 they are based in Cowes. I went there a few years ago, and they were still selling them, although the old man who makes them(!) was not in that day. Dont know if he is still going strong or not.

 

[ianabc]

Piota's wonderful diagram reminds me of the system used here on the west coast of North America.

It's similar to the through deck fitting shown except that there's a U that is on the eet/west coast water filled with rain.

These are fitted on most of the commercial fish boats.

Keeps the deck cool.

 

[2nd_apprentice]

The installation you describe is shown on the "little cod" website but I thought it might prove a bit difficult to make this sort of fittig. My DIY abilities are a bit limited!

 

[jeanne]

This tip applies to all solid fuel stoves, but is well suited to someone who is concerned about the chimney setting fire to the deck.
Fit a small fan (mine is 4inch diameter) to the deckhead beside the chimney, and when the fire is lit, direct it straight down the line of the chimney . This will cool the chimney, transfer heat which would otherwise be lost back into the cabin, and by circulating the air in the cabin, avoid the the ¨hot head, cold feet¨syndrome.
This is especially valuable if you are unable to fit the fire at floor level.
Oh, and when you get the boat to the tropics, adjust the fan to horizontal, and it resumes its original design function!