• From: Victoria B.C.
  • Registered: 2006-03-11
  • Posts: 171

Re: Heater and stove

with a boat this size the deckhead is going to get mighty warm but it should still be several hundreds of degrees cooler than what it will take to ignite,with a little distance.It's good to give some sober reflexion on modifing your boat,but if you've thought it thru,your informed by experience and you know what you like then the stock boat is just the beginning of an idea.Not everyone may like what you do,but its your boat  after all.recently a friend said I should just try adjusting to the boat for once.More power to those that can.

  • Registered: 2006-07-12
  • Posts: 166

Re: Heater and stove

Hi all,

This is my first posting on the Contessa site, here goes...I have an Origo 2 burner alcohol stove in my 85 JJT but it's not on gimbals.  It is stuck, very firmly I might add, to the bottom of the stove alcove on the stbd side with industrial velcro-type stuff.  The alcove is lined with stainless steel and I'm not sure if that's original to the boat or added by the previous (and only) owners.  Two points to make here - the stove is down low away from the overhead components of the boat, and surrounded by a non-flammable, not meltable material so the risks of radiant heat are minimized.  It certainly won't get up and run around.  Other than not being able to cook while underway it's a good set-up.

I also have one of the Origo heater/cookers that I used in a small cabin on my land before I built my house.  It worked great in that application, although I did not run it at night while sleeping.  I used it for cooking and heating and was happy with it in both capacities.

As for the Origos going for an uncontrolled burn, I've never heard of that but that's what forums are for.  One thing I have noticed is that when the alcohol is gone and you are starting to burn the filling it gives very little heat (starved for fuel) and gives off a faint (at first) but very acrid smell.  When I smell the scent of burning stuffing I shut down the burner and let it cool.  One last note: a big advantage to alcolhol as a fuel is that it responds well to fire fighting with water or dry chemical and is easily extinguished.

Happy cooking!

28 Reply by Shannon (edited by ShannonRHIANNON 2006-07-15 16:54:24)

  • From: Vancouver, B.C. Canada
  • Registered: 2005-05-06
  • Posts: 304

Re: Heater and stove

“You get a boat for only one reason, because you want one.  If you’re worried about being practical, forget boats.”
  • Registered: 2006-07-12
  • Posts: 166

Re: Heater and stove

Hi Shannon,

I'm glad to see you're still aboard - I've read some of your last postings and hope things are working out in some agreeable way.  You are right about keeping fuel on board and the cannisters full - all appliances work better with fuel!  A few times I've let the cannister run so low as to start to burn stuffing but that was when I used the Origo heater unit, and that was in my cabin in the winter when the heater ran a lot.  I guess my point there was for those who wish to use stoves as heaters or use the heater model for heating - these things will give you a STINK WARNING before they get too hot to manage.  Your point is very valid though - watch the time and check the burner now and again, something I obviously let slip once or twice (oops).

As for the gimbals - thanks for the lead.  Right now I am always at anchor for the night, or in the marina, but when I graduate to long-haul sailing I'll be looking for the gimbals.  The first owner of my boat chucked the original Force 10 unit and put the Origo on it.  The gimbal mounts from the Force 10 are still there though, and I'd be curious to know if the Origo gimbals will hang in the F.10 mounts (I think someone else in some other post may have touched on that...).  Can you answer that one?  I added the velcro to the equasion to keep the stove stationary while sailing and it works well.  Again, it might be an idea for those thinking of using the heater/cooker units that can't be gimaballed - you can shtick it in place well with velcro and un-shtick when you want to store the unit out of the way.

Thanks for the greeting, I'm glad to have had a chance to exchange ideas with you.

Deb

  • Registered: 2006-07-12
  • Posts: 166

Re: Heater and stove

Yes, it's me AGAIN.  Confession time: I work with boats for a living and play with boats in my free time and so my head is always full of boat thoughts.  Pardon me if I seem, well, full of boat thoughts.  Anyhoo - a brain storm for those who are looking to work with a heating or cooking appliance where one is not originally accomodated.  Here goes:

I have a tiny backpacking stove, an MSR model that comes with a folding aluminum heat shield/wind screen.  What if one were to adapt this idea to a boat?  If you had the Origo heater/cooker (what Shannon referred to as a soccer ball!), or any other small stove for that matter, you could set it down low in the cabin - say on the floor, or on a settee without the cushion, then put a temporary heat shield around it to keep from combusting combustables.  You could probably fake one up out of a heavy aluminum foil turkey roasting pan, or cookie sheets, or find your local sourse of thin aluminum or stainless sheet and make up something that is hinged.  Again, such things can be aquired for camp stoves (Colgan or Coglans or whoever it is that sells camping accessories sells 'em).  Check one out for a model then make a bigger one.  On the velcro front, you could stick one side on the bottom of your cooker (it don't take much, especially if it's the coarse industrial stuff), and the other part on the underside of one of your cabin sole inspection boards.  When you want to use the stove, turn the inspection board over and stick your stove on it, then it's not so likely to slide around or get punted too far.  When you're done, turn the board over again and the velcro disappears.  The same could be done with a settee access board.  It may be a goofy idea, but at least it's an idea, and it may help someone with limited space and funds.

  • From: Massachusetts
  • Registered: 2006-03-07
  • Posts: 97

Re: Heater and stove

The MSR stove is gasoline. I think a gas camp stove in a boat, possibly a pitching boat , is a bad idea. I am not familiar with the MSR. I did most of my backpacking before the MSR with a Svea 123. The Svea is a gas bomb waiting to happen in the best of conditions.  I have thrown it out of my tent into the stove more then once.
How about one of the many solid fuel or diesel wall mounted stoves with a chimney? No good for cooking but should do the heating. A  swing single burner butane stove for cooking would compliment the wall mounted stove. When the cooking is done, away it is put.

  • Registered: 2006-07-12
  • Posts: 166

Re: Heater and stove

NO! WAIT!! I WAS NOT SUGGESTING THE USE OF A GASOLINE STOVE ON A BOAT!!!! For the love of God no!  I was just suggesting the use of a heat shield of sorts to surround an alcohol stove, or a butane stove, or any other small portable stove.  The only ONLY reason I mentioned a camp stove is because that's where the idea came from, and where models of collaplible heat shields already exist.  Other writers have expressed concern about the radiant heat from their stove affecting the bulkhead, cabin roof, whatever boat parts are near the stove.  All I'm suggesting is getting the stove as far away from burnable things as possible and then using a non-flamable shield to put some dead air space (i.e. insulation) around the stove.  NO, not a gas stove on the boat!!!!  An aluminum cookie sheet for example proped up, hung,  or somehow mounted with an inch of space between it and a bulkhead for example would greatly reduce the amount of heat transferred to the bulkhead.  Anyone with a woodstove in their house will recognize this idea as quite often walls need to be protected with heat shields too - usually a sheet of steel or asbestos mounted on spacers 1" from the wall and 3" from the floor and ceiling to keep the wall and thus the studs in the wall from heating up to the point of combustion.  Those were my key points: keep the stove (or heater) secured to the boat so it can't move around while lit, and use some heat shielding if needed.

  • From: Montreal
  • Registered: 2005-04-22
  • Posts: 259

Re: Heater and stove

Forespar makes a gadget called the Mini-Galley.  I have the older generation aboard my Contessa.  It is essentially a Bluet camping stove mounted on a double gimbal.  It works extremely well. but I have heard some cautions recently about one of the rubber seals drying out and allowing butane to leak.  Butane behaves like propane and ends up in the bilge.  Therefore one of my many projects involves fitting a gas detector...  (So many projects!)  If you decide to go with one of the older Mini-Galleys, they do come up on E-Bay occasionally at low prices (under $50).  A nice feature of the Mini-Galley is that it can be moved easily.  For example, I could fit an extra mounting bracket in the cockpit to avoid heating up the cabin on warm days.

Forespar have updated the Mini-Galley to be more robust and to use 1lb propane cylinders for fuel.  They probably address the leaky-seal safety concern at the same time.  I do not have experience with them but assume they would serve your purpose. 

The good news about a Mini-Galley is the ease of installation -- just a small bracket screwed into the bulkhead above the galley sink.

Good luck.