paraffin stoves.....groan......

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yourmomm

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hi-i just bought a lovely old wooden boat with a force 10 monster paraffin stove/oven-it seems to hold 1-bar pressure ok when pumped up with a halfords portable compressor (not at all with a bicycle pump), but when i light it, having fully pre-warmed the burners, i start a fire in my beloved wooden boat. not good. very yellow, very tall flames. very quick pull on the fire blanket. seems the burners are spouting out liquid (rather than vaporized) paraffin and then igniting the whole lot. i know NOTHING re paraffin stoves. anyone help? or anyone want to swap this piece of *!@! for a proper gas one...? many thanks to learned forumites....
 
I think you've already guessed this , but don't light it again , more advice from others will no doubt pour in , but yellow is not good . It's not just the fire risk , yellow means the stuff is not burning properly and a gas one would be a good option
Dave
 
Pressure's too low. You need around 1.5 bar. Not familiar with the Force 10 but use Taylors cooker and heater. If the tank's not holding pressure, then replace seals until it will. Pre-heat the burners for at least two minutes if using meths, and for 30-45 secs if using a blowtorch. Combination of pressure and pre-heat will give you a nice blue flame and no more scorched deck head!
 
Not pre heating enough, even with low pressure they will start up properly if th efuel is hot enough. that is what I find with my Primus. but it should hold pressure once pumped even when not in use, so you may have leeks as well
 
You have at least one leak, probably at the tank, from the pressure drop you describe I'm surprised that you cannot hear it. Try a mix of water and fairy Liquid applied with a brush around the fittings (esp the filler cap) - bubbles will identify the leak. Little point in proceeding until this is sorted as it sounds like you currently have to continually pump just to maintain pressure.
As others have said, you are not pre-heating for long enough, fill the cup at the base of the burner with meths. From your description it sounds like you now have liquid paraffin in the burner head. This means that next time you pre-heat this will be forced out of the burners giving you those nice, tall yellow flames again. There is little you can do about this - the liquid paraffin has got to go. Can you easily remove the unit and light it outside of the boat (in a draft free area)?
For spares and advice try Base Camp:
http://www.base-camp.co.uk/

Persevere and you will be rewarded with a stove that will last forever with none of the risks cause by leaky gas fittings (BOOM!)

+ where are you ? Fill in your bio and you may find that someone local to you can help
 
First take the cooker out of the boat!
Search for leaks and fix as required

Set up the stove outside

For lighting use a gas blow lamp... heat the underside of the burner -- especialy the pipe that carries the fuel into teh burner head -- you will likely get a bit of flaring as fuel burn off

then turn on the fuel and light witht eh lamp.

We had same problem as you when first using ours, but now three years on, using daily as liveaboards, we can light in a under a minute.

Practice with it outside til you get ethe hang of it and of course always have a fire blanket nearby.

ours went out once while I wasn't paying attention. I was a little worried when I smelled the parafin a min
uyte later , worried about explosion but the fuel droplets fall out of teh air very quickly and though a pain to clearup , did not put the veseel in danger and left the wood looking nice if smelling a bit paraffinny

best of luck
 
I have one of these. If the cups have got paraffin in them, one thing you can do is take the wick material out of the cup, put the wicks outside (on a plumber's mat, in a stainless pot or whatever) and burn the paraffin off with a blowlamp. Blowlamp is the way to go for pre-heating too. I keep mine in the cockpit so I don't get any problems with gas leaking from the cartridge into the boat. Good luck with it. You do get better with practice.
 
Two points to add to those already made. First, on the downside, flame-out can cause vapourised fuel (mist) to fill the cabin and this is highly inflammable. On the positive side, if this is the cooker I think it is, it is a lovely piece of kit and streets ahead of any of the modern gas ovens. Most of the present day ones are best described, in the immortal words of Gerald Ratner, cr?p. Ino make some nice ones but they are very expensive...do check what it will cost to replace before removing it.

If you learn how to use it, and give it a full overhaul, you will probably be glad you kept it but it will always be a bit less convenient to start up and will result in a paraffin odour inside the cabin.
 
Yes persevere with it. You might try one of those portable gas blow lamps to really get it hot before letting fuel near the burner. This may prove to you that once burning properly it is a good fuel system. It is essential that the burner is hot before you introduce any parafin.
My old Dad used a kerosene blow lamp. (I think that is the same as parafin) He always had a pricker and frequently poked this fine bit of wire on a stick into the jet. So try cleaning the jet. A piece of 1/8 inch 7x19 flexible SS wire when unravelled to one strand gives a very stiff pricker. My Dad actually added a little metal cup to hold more meths to ensure better lighting.

Lastly you might very carefully try other similar fuels. Try meths (alcahol) but external to the wooden boat. good luck ...olewill
 
I would strongly advise against filling a paraffin stove with meths / alcohol - the burning characteristics are very different and will, although I've never tried, almost certainly result in unhappiness. Also, regarding the use of prickers, many burners have a self cleaning assembly - turn the knob beyond full on and an internal needle cleans the jet. With no pressure in the tank it should be possible to see the tip of the needle rise out of the jet.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Persevere and you will be rewarded with a stove that will last forever with none of the risks cause by leaky gas fittings (BOOM!)


[/ QUOTE ]
LOL /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

"Very tall yellow flames"
"Always have a fire blanket handy"
"flame out can cause the vapourised fuel to fill the cabin"

Sounds nice and safe - give me Gas any time!
 
vaporised fuel thing is not an issue-- it just precipitates out on the floor like water from a spray bottle -- risk of combustion in minute (less than gas) -- flames yes but only 6 inches or so and only if you don't pre heat enough -- but it does look alarming -- fire blanket is a sensible precaution egardless of fuel...

as a witness to a boat that exploded due to a gas leak killing two people I would rather deal with paraffin any day
 
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