Diesel / paraffin heater flue length

Malish

Malish

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With the cooler season approaching my mind has turned to fitting a traditional paraffin or diesel heater probably sourced from either Taylors or Dickinson. There is only one easy location to fit it within my boat and this position only permits a flue length of about 70 to 80 cm. Both the above suppliers specify a flue length of 1 metre or more but do not give a reason why. Has anyone installed one of these heaters with a short flue? what issues arise?
I will be quizzing the Dickinson importer at Soton boat show but would welcome the views of the forum.

Cheers
 
I have a Dickinson Newport and as far as I'm aware you should locate these close to the sole. So unless you have very low headroom you might need think about where you are thinking of putting the heater.

I've had the Nepwort for a season, on the basis of advice from this forum, and have nothing but praise for the product and the service offered by Dickinsons, great piece of kit.
 
Dont forget that there will be a chimney as well. I have a Sigmar 100 diesel heater and it has optional short and long chimneys, this will affect total length.
You might wish to consider fitting a balanced flue. In strong winds my heater is not too happy. I can sail with it on but only in light winds. A balanced flue would solve this.
 
There is a good practical reason for siting the stove low down, near the sole; if the stove is fitted high the air below it stays cold and you can be sitting with your head in the Tropics and your feet in the Arctic!

Don't ask me how I know that!
 
I recently installed a Taylors 079D diesel and due to similar constraints as yours I could only fit 2 of the 3 lengths of flue below decks. I guess that equals 800mm or so - I'm not sure. In general it works fine like this, but in the worst conditions (strong gusts from ahead and companionway open creating low pressure in the cabin) it does occasionally blow black though it has never blown out. I tend to fit the 3rd length of flue above deck, insulated with wound string as suggested in the manual, to prevent this. It pays also to keep it turned up high to maintain a nice hot flue in gusty conditions.

Incidentally, I'm using gravity fuel feed and I couldn't achieve the required 4 foot head with the tank installation either. It works perfectly though with the scant 2 foot that I managed to find..
 
I thought that that might be the reason having sailed on a couple of craft which had sited theirs half way up the bulkhead with same results. I wouldn't be as rude as ask if you had done the same.

I can also recommend the balanced flue and turning it up a bit in gusty weather, turning on the draft-assist fan helps as well.
 
Is the flue length recommendations based on the total length of the pipe or the straight line distance from the top of the heater to the exit point of the chimney cowl?
 
Cor blimey, a blast from the past; to the exit point I would have said but be careful of having that too too far above the deck, wind derived cooling cause condensation at the top of my mk 1 flue and I had to bring the exit point down closer to deck level.
 
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