More on Pansy cabin heater

Found some charcoal and got the Pansy working. Quite a difference now! I'm still having mixed feelings though:

Heat output seems minimal and not much better than say a Tilley lamp. The Pansy itself does get quite hot (spit test) but you can't even make a tiny turkish coffee on top.

Tar keeps running down the flue and passes through the makeshift deck fitting all the way down. Not that staining the deck would be much better though!

After refilling with as little as a handfull of charcoal, entire boat has to be aired for half an hour. Tremendous smoke output from underneath the lid. Since I did change the lining throughout this remains rather unsatisfactory.

Very dirty but that I had expected.
 
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My homemade one looked and did things very much like your pictures. Some thoughts

- I found that with the heater on the bulkhead like you have it put out a lot of heat ... but it all sat at the top of the cabin. A small battery fan helped a lot to bring it down to "living" level.

- Carbon monoxide alarm is a must, especially since its giving out smoke, so nothing to stop CO getting out too...

- I had similar smoke problems after it was first lit. I put this down to my flue being a bit on the small side... How big is your flue, it looks kind of like mine in the picture (eg 1") and too small for the heater, but the picture might be deceptive.

- Tar getting out was a problem for me to.... I guess some more fire cement in the right place on the chimney might help?
 
Could be the problem is that you do not have a draft forcing cowl on the flue? I acquired a Pansy stove a while ago, which was incomplete. I went in to Pascall Atkey in Cowes and was told it needs a special cowl on the chimney which creates a forced draught. This is expensive. I have also read that they work much better if the flue is pre-heated, which also helps create a forced draught. Without a good draught, you will get exactly the problems you describe with smoke going everywhere.

I have not yet got round to fitting mine, having changed boats and not having any suitable location identified yet in the new one, but they were very emphatic about the need for the special cowl to get them working properly. I also have read that when they are working well they are very efficient.
 
Yes, fitted and activated a CO warner.
Felt a bit uneasy when I saw the little red light indicating a CO level of 50ppm (35ppm being the max allowable concentration).
Concerning flue size: it's 1" which might seem a bit small indeed but on the other hand was "factory fitted".

I'd be interested in this "draft forcing cowl" what's that supposed to look like? I've only got 4 slots in the flue as in the above brochure.
 
Quick thought re the tar leaking:

Which way up are the joints in your chimney? To stop tar running out, it is usual to have an upper section of flue fitting *inside* the lower section, (domestic flues, not boats, but maybe the same principle applies?)

0.02p

Andy
 
Hmm if I understand you correctly mine's the other way round: the chimney goes over the deck fitting. I would have thought that after a production run of 50 odd years any faults should have been ironed out?
On the other hand, looking at my car and the general standard of workmanship in the industry that should not be taken for granted.

CO alarm went off while I was preparing something to eat. Blimey, the stupid thing sure is loud! Didn't stop after I opened all hatches, unscrewed it and took it outside. Felt this close to just throwing it over the side had it not been for the 40 or so quid it cost me.
This Pansy thing isn't working out quite as planned
 
Christ, what a kerfuffle...

Seriously guys, I would bung this piece of crap overboard and dig deep for something a little less futile

/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Am I wrong? Or is this whole excercise a bit 'Raiders of the lost Ark?' /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

BUY A PROPER BLOODY HEATER /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
Never mind. When this kind of thing happens, I normally ask myself: what would Basil Fawlty do now? Usually it won't solve the problem per se but I certainly feel better afterwards!
In this case however I haven't been able to rip the Pansey out as it was too bloody hot.

I now think it might be better to concentrate on the cowl design
 
I do not have a picture of the cowl, but it was a fairly elaborate thing, which goes atop the flue and is supposed to create a forced draught, which these things need because of the narrow bore of the pipe. Not sure it wasn't H shaped, but memory in old age is not reliable on this! I know the chap in Cowes showed me one and my impression was ' how the heck can this make any diference?' - but I was assured it did, and was necessary. Might be worth giving them a ring 01983 292381, as they have printed info about it all.
 
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So, what about the other Pansy owners out there?

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My first thought on seeing all the smoke in the cabin was....what was you trying to burn in it to cause all that smoke.

To light mine I use three sheets of paper kitchen towel wrapped in a tight ball then soaked in meths with couple handfuls of charcoal on top, this creates very little smoke, when its going well I usually half fill the heater, as has being already said, heat the chimney.

I tried firelighters, plus the self igniting charcoal with little success other than a lot of smoke. I also used a heat resistant sealant on the chimney joints.

what I also did to stop any fumes from escaping from around the lid, was when the heater was cold to clean the inside of the lid where it makes contact with the heater then apply a bead of heat resistant sealant, before replacing the lid I gave the top of the heater a good coating of hard soap everywhere the sealant was likely to get to stop it sticking together, then gently replaced the lid with a gentle pressure to form a good seal, do not clamp it down or else it will squeeze the sealant out, left it for a day or two for the sealant to set, my lid came off very easily without it sticking due to the soap, this should stop the fumes escaping, obviously when using the heater after clamp the lid down .

It surprised me how long the sealant actually lasts, one would assume it would soon get burnt up, but in my case with a heater that gets a lot of use this did not happen, plus the sealant comes in a large tube so easy to redo, sorry cannot recall its name, but its readily available.

Please feel free to ignore any of the above, its just what works for me /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Oh an clean that elbow regulary as it soon chokes from the tar running down inside the chimney.
 
I doubt the Pansy will be a keeper. Gives out far more poisonous CO than heat and stains the deck with tar. Since I can't turn it off I'll have to leave all hatches open before going to bed. Not exactly what I had in mind in midwinter!

Concerning the smoke: I suspect that the charcoal might have gotten wet as they kept it outside so probably not ideal. Much better than these smokeless briquettes though!
 
Five CO alarms later ebay suddenly seems like a good idea. This has to be the worst piece of junk ever to be installed on a boat. Rolls Royce? Only if they built the Morris Marina!
 
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