Spirit Cookers

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MissIsle

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We have just bought a new boat with a Origo 3000 2 burner spirit cooker fitted.
Firstly, does anybody have any experience with these?
Secondly, what fuel should we buy? Force4 sell the cookers but don't seem to stock fuel. Meths might be a little "smelly" to share a cabin with, & most bioethanol fuels seem to be designed for domestic fires.
It is a bit of an unknown, any advice appreciated.:confused::confused:
 
MissIsle said:
We have just bought a new boat with a Origo 3000 2 burner spirit cooker fitted.
Firstly, does anybody have any experience with these?
Secondly, what fuel should we buy? Force4 sell the cookers but don't seem to stock fuel. Meths might be a little "smelly" to share a cabin with, & most bioethanol fuels seem to be designed for domestic fires.
It is a bit of an unknown, any advice appreciated.:confused::confused:
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Lots and lots of posts on here in the past.

many people find the ordinary violet colored " mineralised" meths ( now officially known as completely denatured alcohol or CDA ) produces unpleasant fumes.

L'alcool à brûler is the best stuff to use but not avaialble in the UK.

Some people find adding a little water to the ordinary meths helps

Bio-ethanol available on line and some of the larger DIY stores as fuel for bio-ethanol fires etc may well in fact be the stuff to use in the UK unless you have access to a supply of industrial methylated spirit (IMS) and now known as industrial denatured alcohol ( IDA)
 
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The Origo's are known as ' spirit burners ' but this is hard to procure.

Meths from normal shops is expensive, try farming shops online selling in relatively bulk quantities.

Don't do as a chum I know did, igniting it with the rubber caps still on !

The smell of meths - like any smell - can induce seasickness, if that's the case try Stugeron or Motilium well before sailing.
 
As VicS has said, there have been several threads on the topic

I'd recommend bio-ethanol without hesitation. It burns cleaner, hotter and with virtually no smell at all (compared to standard CDA / Meths) and is cheaper (ridiculously cheaper in DIY stores - I would never, ever, buy meths over the counter if I could help it but bio-ethanol is actually, I'm told, currently cheaper in B&Q than it is online!)

Another advantage of the bio-ethanol is that it comes in 1l dispensing bottles (you have to squeeze the bottle to squirt the contents into the stove reservoir) which is so much more convenient than decanting from 5l containers
 
Long thin gas lighter is the best thing for lighting them as you need to get the flame right down to the wadding
 
Just try it with pink meths from B&Q / Wilkinson etc first. You might be surprised to find it just works and doesn't stink.

If not you can read all the threads about 'alternative' fuels - some of which I'm sure are dangerous.
 
A1Sailor said:
This stuff?
http://www.diy.com/nav/rooms/fires-...a-Bio-Ethanol-Fuel-2L-12808568?skuId=13319274
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Thats the stuff but ITYWF that it is only available from the certain stores

Moxon said:
Just try it with pink meths from B&Q / Wilkinson etc first. You might be surprised to find it just works and doesn't stink.

If not you can read all the threads about 'alternative' fuels - some of which I'm sure are dangerous.
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Any variety of denatured ethanol should be safe. Anything else would be unsuitable or possibly dangerous.
 
Moxon said:
Just try it with pink meths from B&Q / Wilkinson etc first. You might be surprised to find it just works and doesn't stink..
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It does indeed work. As for the smell, some find it a problem some don't


But for the love of all you hold dear, don't buy it from B&Q etc! It's a ridiculously expensive option. You can buy CDA in 5l containers online for less than half the cost
 
Good, safe cooker! Top up Meths/red spirit bottle or 4/5 lts. container with water, (10/15%) not only goes further, but NO smell! Used twice aday ie: Breakfast and evening meal. 1 lts. lasts a weekend or long weekend!
My wife loves cooking on it!
 
Straight meths worked fine for me. Smell wan not a problem but I always keep my washboards out or the compaionway hatch open.

The B and W stuff is better, about half the price of meths from my local shops.

Smells less, lights a little easier and seems to last a little longer.

I love my origio and would not change it for the world.

If you have problems getting the stuff let me know and I can pick up a bottle or two and drop it off next weekend (im in Shepards Wharf all week for the Cowes Classics) pm me if you want me to.
 
Viking said:
Good, safe cooker! Top up Meths/red spirit bottle or 4/5 lts. container with water, (10/15%) not only goes further, but NO smell! Used twice aday ie: Breakfast and evening meal. 1 lts. lasts a weekend or long weekend!
My wife loves cooking on it!
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Well Known trick of bushwalkers esp those using Trangia Spirit Stoves not only does it stop the smell, but the REAL BENEFIT is that adding 10% to 15% water to "metho", stops or almost stops the black sooty residue on your pot bases.
 
The problem with 'meths' is that to normal, unassuming ethanol (alcohol), methanol has been added to make it poisonous, and various foul dyes and nauseants have been added to make it further undrinkable. But those same additives can make the fumes less than pleasant when confined in a small space. In Brazil, for example, every supermarket sells pure ethanol for cleaning and sterilising in the home.

The drinking of ethanol for cleaning purposes is less of a problem: cachaca can be cheaper than bottled water, and there is less of a drinking-until-drunk culture - as well as not having the puritanical, I know whats best for you governmental attitude........besides, they have much bigger problems...
 
Thanks all.
We'll be off tyo B&Q, and persevere with the spirit burner for the rest of this season. If we don't get on with it, it's a Gaz conversion over the winter.
 
MissIsle said:
Thanks all.
We'll be off tyo B&Q, and persevere with the spirit burner for the rest of this season. If we don't get on with it, it's a Gaz conversion over the winter.
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You need big stores. For example Eastleigh doesn't stock it but Hedge end does.
 
MissIsle said:
I will probably go through B&Q on-line.
I still think Deb will want a Gaz hob & grill, with a microwave add-on!.
Thanks.
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Not available from B&Q online I think you will find

Stick your post code in the "check stock in your area" facility and you should find the nearest store with it in stock. The B&Q Warehouse in St Oswald Park Gloucester have it in stock
 
I just tried the BnQ Bio stuff for one fill on my jollies last week. It seems less smelly than purple meths but I had just bought 5l (£15 from Go Outdoors) so used most of that up in the two weeks.
The fumes form the purple stuff weren't a problem because we had good ventilation.
I must admit the fumes were unplesant when it was cooler and we had the washboards in and the hatch only open a couple of inches.
The BnQ stuff is £2.50 / l so it's cheaper than Go Outdoors @ £3 / l
Good tip about adding water to stop the black pan bases, that is a problem on our older stove, I'll try that.
 
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