Taylor Cooker fuel tank

[Andy20]

I have one of the Taylor Ideal K paraffin cookers in my boat, the only reason I went for this model is that I have insufficient room to swing any of the larger Taylor Cookers and I wanted desperately to get rid of any gas on the boat having seen the aftermath of various explosions and fires one first hand. Last year while out cruising I saw on another boat that had a Taylor Cooker on board and the owner had fitted a small 12v tyre inflation compressor to the plumbing on the fuel tank with a pressure relief valve. Unfortunately before I had a chance to have a good look the boat had moved on. Has anyone else done this and if so do you have any tips and hints in the design.

Andy

 

[KenMcCulloch]

Hi Andy, Welcome to the forum. My response has two parts, first 'wow what an ingenious scheme' and second 'why would anyone go to the trouble'? I have a Taylors Cooker and find that half a dozen strokes of the pump every couple of days is more than enough to keep the pressure up.

If you need to pump more often then either you have a leak (air from the top of the tank) or, more likely, you have the tank too full. I never fill mine more than between 1/2 and 2/3 full otherwise there's insufficient space for a volume of air large enough to maintain the pressure as the paraffin is slowly squeezed out.
Cheers

 

[sarabande]

Andy, indeed welcome on board.

We have a Taylors cabin heater. The tank was pressurised in June 2009, and was not looked at until June 2010. It was still showing a working pressure, on a half full tank. Good, innit ?

Ken McC is right. There is no operational reason apart from the love of gadgets for the sake of gadgets, that one would need to add an electric air pump, with in line fuse, more cabling, additional attachment to the bus bar, extra switch, etc, etc., UNLESS you have hidden the tank deep in the bowels of some hidden locker.

Stick with pumping it up manually; that is like us, once a year.

 

[seasolutions]

I aquired a second hand taylors tank where the brass pump had been brazed directly to the stainless tank, unsuprising, it leaked.

I have cut the pump off and had a patch welded over the hole, then I fitted a 1/4BSP Tee under the presure guage and fitted a schrader valve into the tee.

I presureise using a bike pump, but there is no reason why you couldn't use an electric pump.

I have also heard of people making adapters for there dive bottles, you could even fit a regulator, and have a dive bottle permantly connected....

I feel some straying from the KISS principle here tho

cant remember where I got my valve, It was about £3 tho, a quick google has turned up this: http://www.airshaft.co.uk/valves/valves.htm

BSP fittings from RS components: http://uk.rs-online.com/web/search/...unt=224&Ne=4294957561&N=4294961670+4294652944

 

[penfold]

I have also heard of people making adapters for there dive bottles, you could even fit a regulator, and have a dive bottle permantly connected....

:-O The thought of 50psi never mind the unregulated 3500psi anywhere near a primus tank boggles the mind. What's wrong with the standard pump?

 

[dur]

As the other say - we manage with a handful of pumps a day. Thats on an 028 hob with the standard (1 gallon?) stainless tank and we tend to leave a burner on very low under the kettle when loafing on board. Perhaps takes 150 pumps when the tank has been depressurised to top up the praffin.

 

[Andy20]

Electric repressurisation pump for Taylor cooker

Thanks for all the replies, a bit more background on this, my tank is not ideally placed for access and it would be a major job to relocate it. I use the boat quite a lot and like to be independent on board anchoring where possible this leads to cooking on board a lot. I therefore get through about 5 gallons of paraffin each season, it always runs out halfway through cooking a meal I find. This is the main reason why I thought about fitting an electric pressurisation pump. The intension is to fit a pressure safety valve set to about 90% of the maximum operating pressure of the system so the electric pump can’t cause a problem. I already have the compressor that has been knocking around my garage for a couple of years. Thanks for the steer to PRECISION PRODUCTS (PORTSMOUTH) LTD they are not to far from me I’ll drop in to see them.

Andy

 

[Lyulph Hesling]

I have no experience of this oven, but it seems to me that you could combine the clever suugestions above, and have a tyre valve on the tank, and a remote air pump/compressor/supply (of whatever sort you want) connected with some pressure hose, which leaves you free to fit the pump/compressor/supply anywhere convenient.

 

[Krusty]

...........this leads to cooking on board a lot. I therefore get through about 5 gallons of paraffin each season, it always runs out halfway through cooking a meal I find. This is the main reason why I thought about fitting an electric pressurisation pump. /
Andy

Andy, with a cabin heater as well, I use more paraffin than you, so a description of my system might give you ideas. It has been in operation for more than twenty years.

The primary ('feeder') tank for both cooker and heater, through their own shut-off valves, is below a berth. It is supplied, through another shut-off, from an identical ('header') tank below a cockpit seat where access for filling and pumping is easy. It gives me double the usual fuel and pressurised-air capacity. I usually pump up only once every 3-4 days and top up fuel, in the cockpit, every 7-12 days; all without interrupting use of the cooker and/or heater and with no need to bring paraffin below.