Solid Fuel Fires

Saddletramp

Saddletramp

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11 Jul 2007
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Any one one any experience of the Bengco www.bengco.co.uk charcoal burner. I though about a second hand eber but there seem to be a lot of posts about problems with them and I like a simple life.

I dithered around this time last year and froze all ruddy winter. The time has come for action. (probably)
 
I thought I would start with the wood trim, see how that goes.
But thanks for the advise. Just my luck, burn the boat and someone will buy me be a trailer for Christmas.
 
I have a wood burning stove in my cottage, and have seen how they can give off so much heat that the woodstore next to the stove actually caught fire,
Great source of heat but have it fitted properly, and fire blankets nearby.
 
I had a Bengco on a previous boat. Basically good, but make sure the flue is long enough, otherwise smoke fills the cabin if the wind is wrong. Excellent heat, use briquettes if possible. Dirty to fill and empty. Would run all night without attention. After 5 years, the innards burnt away...

It enabled me to sail in comfort in winter, recommended
 
I put in a heater similar to the Bengco last winter and have been using it fairly consistently ever since. Its the only form of heating I have found (so far) that I would be happy leaving on all night. I have an eberspacher as well, but the noise and power draw make it impractical for any length of time. There is no gas on board.
Points to bear in mind on installation: make sure any adjacent wood is insulated. The back wall of mine has a fireclay brick and three sheets of stainless steel with 1cm air gaps between. There is one wooden wall to one side... its protected with a stainless plate, actually the side of a boat cooker, over thermo-board.
The flue was made up to my pattern by a stainless steel motor exhaust fabricator. The deck flange is important. Narrow-boats use a through-deck with a moat to collect water and stop heat transferring to the deck. Mine is a large plate which is enough to dissipate heat.
The chimney is an "H", again made up by the exhaust man. It is removable for sailing.
I have used driftwood, lumpwood charcoal and peat briquettes but the best fuel is charcoat briquettes (the same as I use in the Cobb barbeque). The peat gives off a great smell to complement the Islay malt, but it also creates tar which drips from the chimney onto the deck.
Burning the stove all night only produces enough fine ash to half-fill the ashtray and if disposed of with care doesn't make a mess.
The stove is located midships... most of the heat goes into the forepeak but with a porthole open I get a steady movement of warm air into the main cabin. It certainly makes a difference waking up to a warm boat with no condensation.
Two precautions; I never light the stove if I plan to leave the boat and at night I put the air vent to its "almost closed" position.
 
Have a Bengco Heater installed with their chimney and deck fitting and heat reflecting plate. Excellent piece of kit, easy to light providing I use a portable gas jet to warm the flue first for a few moments and remove any cold air. Have fitted a carbon monoxide alarm. Usually burn lump wood charcoal-little smoke from chimney. Have to check that deckhead does not get too warm. Biggest problem is to get the heat to come down to my feet since Bengco is mounted on the bulkhead and heats my head first! Far better than the "Pansy Heater" that was installed previously.
 
I have a Bengco heater which I am very happy with - a small fan does help to circulate the heat a bit more.

As to the problem of getting messy loading the stove, I took a tip from a mate of mine. He had a Pansy heater and he used to pre-load the charcoal into paper sweet bags which were just the right size to go into the feed port. He even gave me his remaining sweet bags when he sold the boat. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Thanks for all the comments. They seem positive regarding the Bengco. I have a cupboard that I want to take out that will allow enough room for a heater to be sited next to the oven with plenty of space around. Width is about 12inches. I did not realise it would need as much insulation as gordonmc has used. They only supply a stainless plate. Having had wood burners in the home in the past I know they can get pretty hot. I though about putting a bracket in so that it would not be directly mounted to a bulk head, rather in the centre of the space where the cupboard was.

I looked at the Dickinson range but when I saw their solid fuel burner at the boat show I was not impressed. It looked and felt very flimsy. I have found a few burners, can't remember the names off hand but no one has come back with other alternatives so the Bengco looks a good choice.

A friend of mine has a Taylors diesel heater and had burning diesel dripping out of it last year. Put me right off them. At least the charcoal burners are fairly simple as long as they have good draft and the chimney is clear etc.

An alarm sounds a good idea, isn't it carbon monoxide that gets you. Would not want to wake up dead as they say.

How long do they take to warm up and is the meths start up a bit of a fiddle?
 
I mounted mine onto a wooden bulkhead with just a sheet of alloy to reflect the heat. Never any problems.

Tried the meths to light it, but soon gave up and used firelighters instead. Much easier!
 
[ QUOTE ]
Doom and Gloom /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Read the MAIB report on the narrow boat Lindy Lou

Synopsis (130kb pdf) here

It'll put you right off solid fuel stoves.


[/ QUOTE ]

Scarey.... /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
Since I'm considering to get a Pansy, may I ask why you found it unsatisfactory as opposed to the Bengco?

[/ QUOTE ]

Try PM'ing him for a reply. I was wondering how much the Bengco is, they don't have much info on their site.
 
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