Gas versus paraffin

[Searush]

As you already have 'backup' paraffin stove then go gas
If going somewhere far sometime it's a problem to obtain one or the other. Or in case a system fails.

Good paraffin cooker is costly, and less good is... And going out of fashion. Taylor has changed burners to inferior type I've heard and discontinued old kind, I have still to source out the Primus spares... so maybe it's time to move with times? As for the cooker I was offered more than whole new gas installation will cost ?

Now there's a telling point. When we moved into our current house (30 years ago) we were advised by rural living friends to not rely on any single source of fuel, heat & cooking.

So we had electric heaters, parafin heaters, parafin lamps, candles, gas cooker & solid fuel stove (cooking surface on top) plus gas & solid fuel CH & portable gas fires. We survived power cuts & frozen gas bottles, running out of coal (no deliveries possible thro snow) and have never lacked for warmth, light & hot food.

You don't often need to fall back on the stand-bys but it is soooo good that they are there when you do!

 

[ghostlymoron]

Can't beat a Rippingilles 470, a primus. and a Tilley Lamp or two. Real men love parafin as do their girlies

Don't forget to ask Carruthers to bring you a spare burner! I seem to remember that Davies chucked his Rippingilles overboard.

 

[mikeinkwazi]

woops!

Paraffin burns hotter, I hear, so the kettle will boil sooner.

Personally I'll stick with the convenience of gas, though.

Pete

Sorry you are misinformed! I have a taylors paraffin hob and it is far slower than the little gas camping stove I purchased to get that quick cup of tea.
Having said that, when not in a hurry it works well and is easy to light.

 

[BurnitBlue]

Regarding the fuel and availability, I forgot to mention that I once spoke to a Swedish optimus engineer at the Stockholm boatshow about using Diesel in their stoves. He said that the latest optimus burners (this was ten years ago or more) are designed to run on Parafin or Diesel. They are specced for the military.

I haven't tried it because ordinary heating oil is similar to parafin and in cheap supply. Also AVTAG (if I recall) used in jet engines.

I know one liveaboard in the old Yugoslavia used a self-mixed 10% white spirit in road diesel to clean up the burn in his stove and heater.

 

[prv]

I'm not familiar with these but have used a small meths burner in the past. How long do they take to boil a kettle? Do you have an oven?

I believe there is such a thing as an Origo meths oven, though I have no interest in using one.

I recall that part of the success of the Coalition forces logistics in recent conflicts was an emphasis on "single-fuel" policy wherever possible.

Indeed - even to the point of diesel motorbikes.

As for availability of paraffin, I'm reminded that everywhere that has a runway will have lots of Jet A-1 or similar

One of the Pardeys' books has a chapter on running a paraffin based boat. They reckon that jet fuel works in lamps and stoves if necessary, but tends to soot up lamp chimneys and produce fumes that sting the eyes.

Pete

 

[sarabande]

Optimus have a good set of pages on technical support for their stoves, with practical comments* on the use of good quality diesel in paraffin stoves.

http://www.optimusstoves.com/seen/technical-support/faq/fuel-faq/

Interesting to discover that diesel and kerosene (praffin) have almost the same thermal potential.

*The pages are good as an introduction, but the contents will be familiar to those who are brought up on Optimi.

 

[Rossynant]

Nice to correct myself - Taylor is selling the 'four-legs' burners again. These were vaporising the fuel better, so with less volatile (lesser quality) fuel worked better. Probably could manage with diesel - must try someday. With those few hundred liters of diesel on boat anyway it seems best choice of fuel

 

[Amulet]

Nice to correct myself - Taylor is selling the 'four-legs' burners again....

Whoop! Thank heavens for that.

 

[penfold]

I have a Taylors on Amulet. Now that I've developed a relationship with it I like it fine. I recognise all the pros and cons listed above. I got it partly because of the simplicity of installation by comparison with the difficulty of a proper gas installation on a tiny traditional boat. I think that if my boat already had a proper gas installation, which I understand yours has, I'd stick with it.

Secret of success with the Taylors - if it is burning well don't mess with it. Do not dismantle it or clean it. It'll keep going for ever.

Lighting - keep a syringe (no needle) for putting meths in the cups. 20 ml in the syringe should be the only meths near the stove if an adjacent ring is on, which means that even if you spill it it's not a disaster. Also had some success using solid fuel tablets instead of meths in heavy weather.

Why do you use a meths start rather than a gas torch? I lived onboard a boat with a Taylors for a couple of months and used a wee gas torch to get the vapouriser going.