Home made cabin heater?

graham

graham

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Can anyone tell me if copper is suitable for making a very small cabin heater? I am tinkering with the idea of one made from 3 or 4 inch copper pipe with a 1 inch copper pipe flue.

My thinking is that its easy to work with and doesnt rust but will it burn away with that much heat?
 
Yes! I made one based on the old round taylors that had a 1 inch copper flew pipe

I had a heater element inside and the outer copper about an inch away i fitted a wick parrafin burner the fule container i stuffed with cotten wool to prevent flare ups

I fitted that it looked wonderful and on the "bench"(beach) it warmed the chill evening air.

Once installed and lit it soon warmed the boat after about 20minuets i went forward to refill the new earthenware wine jug with good localwine and noticed silver spots under the heater??

As i watched it fell apart the burner spilling burning parrafin over the sole and into the bilge! The jug of wine acting as fire extigusher?

Fortunatly i had a new fire extiguser on hand but thats very messy i grabbed with care the burner and overboard then poured another jug of fizzy wine this time (also local)over the flames as that has co2 in it.

Got the fire out luckily as i dont have an engin the bilge was oil free but the bread crumbs? and burning wine smelt wonderful though a bit tainted with parafin. An extingusher would have left powder EVERY where

The metal shop that put it together had used silver solder and that melts in the heat!

I replaced it with a stainless steel cylinder found at a junk yard from a steralising machine problem with that was that the heat took forever to walm the steel??

Im now useing mild steel chimney section WELDED with a mig wealder

Seems the copper has to be rivited but id worry about CO poisening
 
I wonder if the metal shop used ordinary soft solder if it melted that quickly. I was thinking of rivetting the bits together or braszing it.

I was thinking of charcoal for fuel but you have me thinking now about the base section of a hurricane lamp sat inside the heater as a quicker easier way .And definitely no soldering /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

PS welcome to the forums.
 
I think most important to your plans will be:

1. Flying the U flag at all times.

2. Carrying 3 balls on each yard arm

3. And, for the signally challenged, the erection, in a prominent place, of a sign bearing the message:

"STAND CLEAR OF THIS VESSEL"

Illuminated at night please - if not from the smoldering ruins of your boat.

PWG
 
I suspect even fairly heavy guage copper will not survive hot-spots that will be inevitable if you are burning solid fuel in your heater.
My stove, home made and bought from a forumeer is stainless steel:
DSC_0008.jpg

Its made out of 2.5mm plate with a fireclay back wall. When the vents are open it glows cherry red in places... copper would melt.
The flue is made up of flexible stainless exhaust pipe and the H chimney was made up by a custom car exhaust maker.
 
Thanks for that Gordon nice to get an informed opinion /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

I have heard other people say the problem with solid fuel is that you get too much heat. I suspect you may be right that copper will burn out before long.

The suggestion above to use a small parrafin burner instead of solid fuel has captured my imagination.It would be instantly controllable and quicker to light.

My boat has a very small cabin,most of the conventional heaters would take up too much space and be too powerfull.

Cheers
 
Hello Peter Thanks for your input ,very helpfull.

Im sure you wouldnt stoop to uninformed comments so please tell us on what your opinion is based?
 
Sorry to drift away from the point of the post but would a parafin lamp do the job on its own; for gentle background warming that is? My new one has an extra wide wick and it kicks out a lot of heat, as well as being good enough to read by. Or maybe a parafin pressure lamp (Tilley) which, are very bright and give off a fair old heat. PS. I have just read the post a little way back, far more erudite comment there.
 
You can buy an old small cast iron solid fuel stove from a junk shop that will handle charcole for a few pounds hear they go for around 20 / 30 euros

Problem with solid fuel is that it covers the boat inside in a fine grey ash in time.And cant be regulated easly once the chill winds blowing outside it will be glowing red and wouldnt like being told to cool down!!

As for downdraft gusts! I cant remember the name but someone who posts hear bought a small cast iron wood burner from a supermarket and spent the winter in France walm as toast

A lamp wont heat enough to walm other than in mid summer and then not north of potters bar!

Perhaps a braised copper unit now thats IT i still have the remains of mine i will see about braiseing it and try again but this time with a gas burner!

The wick parrafin burners a very good compromise as it dose heat really well for a 25/26 foot boat(mines 25 foot)is quite, economical and the soot goes up the flew & on deck just like a diesel! Just a question of preventing it escaping

Another alternative is to buy a drip feed and make your own diesel heater but then from stainless as the alcohol gets the taylors glowing white hot!
 
hi Doug ,your right,for the amount I use it a hurricane lamp would probably do the job .I think if I hang it under the vent above the galley then most of the moisture /fumes would go out the vent.



I dont like pressurized fuel on board after witnessing an accident with one but an unpressurised hurricane lamp would probably do the job.

A built in heater with a flue would result in a dryer heat and also be something of a talking /focal point on the boat.Still only thoughts at the moment.
 
Just mesure up & make one,its realy not costly to make then fit a wick stove. Have you ever used a wick stove at all??

You can buy one from compass for about £20 then use that in caseing with flue. That will keep you walm and can be regulated BUT REMEMBER stuff the fuel container with cotten wool or it will flare with every movement

The compass one is made of tin so will rust but just drop it overboard and replace every year or two,otherwise look in the junk shops for an old brass one they look great. Remember they all need stuffing
 
Have a word with jobs-a-goodun, he has a brilliant paraffin heater on his foreign yacht. It is cheap and cheerful, but I was very impressed with its efficiency. It uses a wick burner, not pressurisation, which heats a radiating coiled element.

Never seen them over here, but apparently they are the dogs wotsits in the Adriatic /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif It heated a large cabin in no time at the top setting ( about 5-7 deg C outside), and we used less than a litre over 4 evenings
 
I think copper would be suitable - compare melting point 1083degC with cast iron about 1100deg C (J.B. Clark, Physical & Mathematical Tables). The other consideration is oxidation; copper is less prone to oxidise than iron at room temperature. I'm not certain that the same holds at high temperature but I think it should. Copper has been used to make cooking pots.
I think even brazing may not be a suitable construction method - brazing temperature sems to be around 600deg C from a web search.
Caution - I have no experience of making a copper heater, just some information that you may use or ignore!

Derek
 
Thanks to all for the advice.I am definitely tending towards parrafin rather than solid fuel now. Wether Copper Brass or stainless may depend on the contents of the local metal suppliers scrap bin. Cheers
 
Hi Graham,

Stooped? I could wish for such flexibility at my time of life...No, my reaction to Steve of Justdrifting, was more of convulsed collapse over the keyboard. In truth I thought he's been at the Peyton vintage again...seemingly not so. Thers' the basis of my comment - not on this occasion from personal experience, but then some experiences are best avoided. Which brings me back to the subtext of my message.

Good luck
 
I have a small wall mounted gimballed oil lamp like this one for the winter evenings. By using deodourised lamp oil rather than parafin there is negligilble smell. The light is JUST good enough to read by & it does provide some background warmth.

It is safe enough to leave on when I go to the club & it is good to come back to a noticeably warm cabin (compared to the outside temp that is) with a pleasant glow of light.
 
Why bother making one just use the old flowerpot trick cheap and it really works . I use one and don't notice any condensation with it .
 
Well spotted.
You might like to know I rode out a very bumpy cold Saturday night after a good drookin in the afternoon.
The cabin was warm and dry on Sunday morning despite a frost... and all my clothes were dry.
I might make one small modification... I am thinking of making a window from a small pyrex dish-top.
Or is that going too far?
 
It seems to me that ventilation of smoke /fumes is a must with heating.
While I know nothing of the subject. If you have a cooker ie spirit stove then a cowl to lower over the flame with a chimney could enable long time operation safely. I would go for a stainless funnel shape over the flame going up to a copper flue which would have a bend in it to channel the fumes aft to the bulkhead at the back of the cabin. If this is a long run then all the heat will be extracted into the cabin air. There should be a low pressure area aft of the cabin if you are at anchor or swing mooring. Or one of the tiny computer type 12 volt fans could suck the fumes out. olewill
 
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