Pascal Atkey's Pansy heaters - are they any good?

Roach1948

Roach1948

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Pascal Atkey\'s Pansy heaters - are they any good?

As I know from fitting-out Roach over the Winter that boats are cold places to be sometimes - even in Summer. I am really considering a heater as soon she will be free from the umbelical link of a power cable and electric radiator.

I am considering some sort of stove for the occasional night aboard and for maintenance weekends next winter when ashore (I will still have loads of work to do) that is free from leccy.

The Pansy looks like it could be the one for me. Main advantages are:

1. Delightfully eccentric name
2. Very small flue - low intrusion for my flush deck
3. Classic looks and quite attractive design IMHO.

Disadvantages seem to be that it can only burn voluminous charcoal, but that is fine for the occasional use I forsee.

Anybody here owns or uses a Pansy and can tell me whether I am taking my thinking in the right direction?
 
Re: Pascal Atkey\'s Pansy heaters - are they any good?

I know where I can get one from...

I really wanted to know any good/bad comments from people that have one, or have used one, so I can make up my mind whether this is the most appropriate heater for Roach. In fact, there are plenty of second hand ones on the market - and that alone makes me suspicious. Why have they been taken out of a yacht in the first place? Is there something I need to know?
 
Re: Pascal Atkey\'s Pansy heaters - are they any good?

OK. Here are my opinions.

Advantages: Cheaper than other types of heater. Easier to install. Fuel readily available. Not much to go wrong with it.

Disadavantages: Dirty. Fuel takes up a lot of space. Less controllable.

I removed ours and sold it recently. The new owner is delighted with it and I have bought a Taylors paraffin heater.
 
Re: Pascal Atkey\'s Pansy heaters - are they any good?

I thought about the mess issue - but I think that applies to any solid fuel. Would it not be possible to use the light-the-paper-bag BBQ style charcoal?

PS - Did you find it heat-up the interior of your Twister OK?
 
Re: Pascal Atkey\'s Pansy heaters - are they any good?

Remember them in my yoof...The outer casing can get pretty hot (spit sizzling hot) and it was quite tricky sometimes to adjust the air damper 'just so' so that it would burn all night.
When it went out and yet contained hot ashes they were a bit of a messy chore to empty and relight...but certainly produced a dry,smokeless and noiseless reliable heat...You could always try the inverted terracota flower pot on the stove too (with the companionway hatch cracked open a good inch or two)
 
Re: Pascal Atkey\'s Pansy heaters - are they any good?

We have used the Pansey on different boats for the past 25 years we use ours regularly. The stainless steel versions are better than the old copper versions which tend tocorrode more quickly . The lining is easy to damage. They are sometimes difficult to light, you must use meths. Tend to burn lump wood much better than bricketts which tend to choke it up. Needs regular cleaning to burn /light easily. Tend to be dusty. Burns through the night easily. Small flu no chance of the deck getting too hot. Burns quit quickly when its windy and hard to control. Rate as 7/10. Tempted to try the Taylors diesel heater but dont really want a 3" hole in the deckhead.
 
Re: Pascal Atkey\'s Pansy heaters - are they any good?

Thanks for your views.

Having never used one, I thought they were emptied by dropping the bottom out, and therefore quite clean as you could get some sort of lined tray to take the ashes away. From your post I get the impression this may not be the case and one might need to scoop out all the ashes from the top - which I can imagine to a right messy chore on a small boat.
 
Re: Pascal Atkey\'s Pansy heaters - are they any good?

Ours was not a the Pascal-Atkey Pansy type but was refuelled by opening a flap in the top and putting charcoal in. To minimise the amount of escaping smoke we used to pre-pack charcoal in brown paper bags scounged from the greengrocer. One person stands by to hurl in a bag of charcoal while the other person opened the flap for as brief a time as possible. A bit like loading a cannon. The flap opener had to wear a leather gardening glove because the heater casing got very hot.

It certainly provided plenty of heat but, because it was mounted high up on a bulkhead, the lower part of the cabin was cool while the upper part was hot. Ideally they should be mounted low down or a circulating fan used [or sit on the bunks with your feet up, as we used to do!]

By the way, there is a firm called Bengco who also make a charcoal heater. They look to be substantially built. Might be worth your while to compare it with the Pansy.
 
Re: Pascal Atkey\'s Pansy heaters - are they any good?

I had exactly the same consideration last winter. I considered the Pansey, the Bengco, the Taylors paraffin and Froce 10 diesel. I chose the latter because:
-No additional fuel in the boat - can use the diesel out of the force 10 pressurised tank for main engine and visa versa if needed. Meths for priming used in the cooking stove.
-Quick and clean to light therefore more likely use it.
-More control with output.
-The force 10 unit was the smallest of the 4.

The main drawback is I will not leave it on during the night but would be happy to leave a charcoal burner going.

In terms of both the Pansey and Bengco I found many positive first hand recommendations on this site and the web in general.

Hope this helps.
 
Re: Pascal Atkey\'s Pansy heaters - are they any good?

I am the delighted new owner.
Not a Pansy, but similar in concept and rather more like a Bengco. So far its been invaluable as I have been using the boat through the winter on a swinging mooring. I have used lumpwood, charcoal briquettes and peat and all work well. The peat serves to slow the burn down which keeps the fire in through the night.
Lighting is easy... I use a couple of small firelighters.
Downdraft was a problem for a while as the flue went through a deckhead flange ending in a straight section. I managed to get a length of stainless pipe from a bespoke exhaust shop and made up an H chimney.
The ash is quite fine so it can be dusty, but the advantages outweigh: no blower motor, no noise from pressurised paraffin, dry heat, no battery drain.
 
Re: Pansy Flue and Deck flange

Thank you, everybody, for your informed input.

After much deliberation I am now a proud owner of a Pansy - in VGC for it's age.

What I need to know now is what sort of deck flange and chimney arrangment I should go for and where can I get the component parts. A few questions:

1. What sort of deck flange do I need? The deck iron - water cooled sort or just insulated with flashing? The flue is 1inch OD. Where do I source?

2. Should I have length of flue out above the deck to help with draw? If so, how high? (I would need it to be removable when sailing). Or Can I get away with no extension above deck?

3. Chimney - what sort? H style seems to be widely acclaimed, but on 1inch copper pipe might be a bit fiddly to get done. Any good contacts for anybody that can weld one up?
 
Re: Pansy Flue and Deck flange

Having looked at this particular problem myself I would recommend the water cooled deck iron (after much good advise from this forum) . However my flue is 4" diameter and the deck iron will cost just shy of £200! I have much better things to spend my money on at the moment so this will be put off until next year...........

Davey and Co have the deck irons, but also have a look here http://www.kuranda.co.uk/.
 
Re: Pansy Flue and Deck flange

mmhh, nothing as small as 1 inch i am afraid.

It looks like this may require some custom welding. As for the deck irons, notice that Taylors/Force 10 and the like dont have water-cooled deck irons. Does paraffin/diesel burn cooler or am I missing something?
 
Re: Pansy Flue and Deck flange

Installation instructions for the Force 10 just required a void of a certain diameter and a wooden pad to hold the flue cap off the coach roof/deck. I also used the heat resistant ribbon you can buy for Aga doors as an insulator.

To help with your installation - I have a vague memory that when I was investigating which heater to install last year I discovered there was an article about installing a solid fuel stove in a back issue of CB - written by I think by Mirelle. (I may well be wrong about this however!)
 
Re: Pansy Flue and Deck flange

The chimney on my charcoal heater was either 1-1/4" or 1-1/2" diameter S/S tube {I can't remember which} and it passed through a 4-1/2" hole cut in the coachroof. Welded to the S/S chimney was a simple flange consisting of a S/S plate about 6" square with holes around its edge so that it could be screwed to the 1/2" ply coachroof. Interposed between this flange and the coachroof was an asbestos gasket.

Although the chimney got very hot in use the plywood coachroof did not. I don't think a hole as large as 4-1/2" was really necessary; I reckon 3" would have done ok provided the asbestos gasket is there to insulate the hot flange from the coachroof.

I can't see that a water-filled trough would be much use except in very sheltered waters, unless you have a boat that doesn't roll or pitch much. In any case, who is going to volunteer to keep going up on deck to check the water level [ and let the cold air in when they open the hatch!]?
 
Re: Pansy Flue and Deck flange

The Pansy Heaters have a specially designed chimney arrangement which helps to force the draught in the narrow chimney. I went to Pascel Atkey in Cowes about mine, which was missing, and was told they could easily have one made up if I told them the pipe diameter, which apparently varied with the date of manufacture - but it would be 'expensive'.
 
Re: Pansy Flue and Deck flange

I have mailed Atkey's with pics of my heater and await a reply to see what 'expensive' is. I am not actually sure what model I have - the new ones are currently model no. 8, so hope mine is not model no. 1, as obviously 7 adaptations have been done to get the thing working right.

I know its a huge favour to ask - but has anybody got a pic of their original Atkey flue? t may be that I could get one welded up in the same design at the iron mongers on a farm up the road - but they would need some sort of visual guide. This might be my best approach I think as they can make the deck flange too.
 
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