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Galley alcohol, gas, diesel and induction cookers/ovens

  • 27 Sep 2017 20:30
    Quote
    Reply # 5283040 on 1195343
    Anonymous member

    The smell of Kerosene is pleasant to me and brings back fond childhood memories and I could easily live with it onboard, although I have a yet to be installed Origo alcohol cooker.

     As a young lad our extended family all went camping to the beach every Xmas holidays in a huge tent. No electricity, so lighting and cooking was all Kerosene.  Those were the days.  It's funny how smells can be positive or negative based on your memories and emotions.
  • 27 Sep 2017 04:57
    Quote
    Reply # 5281600 on 5279543
    Anonymous member
    Arne Kverneland wrote:Edit, evening: Tonight I lit the Optimus a final time before reinstalling the Origo. I tried a 2-minute preheat, but that wasn't enough and resulted in a yellow flare-up. Switched to the other burner and preheated it 3:10min with good result. The special thing with the Optimus 111 is that the pan around the burner is closed.  The burner sits in a pit, kind of. This prevents one from spilling any alcohol on the table below, which is good, but on the other hand, airflow is not good to the preheat flame. I guess this is why it takes a little longer to preheat than other models I have used. This is also why I make a funnel from a tin can, to concentrate the preheat flame around the burner.


    Well, there you are!  I used to keep the wick in a jar and clip it over the base of the burner, but that was on an Optimus 555 (I think it was called - the white enamelled one with green hotplates), where the burner was easily accessible.
  • 27 Sep 2017 04:56
    Quote
    Reply # 5281598 on 5281231
    Anonymous member
    Paul Thompson wrote:

    I don't think LC stinks of kero nor does Skatty. If you buy Jet A from the airport it high quality and cost no more than petrol at the pump.

    I didn't think I did either.  I only discovered it when a friend told me that he knew when his cat had been visiting me: it always smelled of kero!  And I'm afraid neither Jet A nor 'denatured' kero are much better :-(

    Edit: don't forget I referred to living aboard rather than just weekending.  It's because everything you own is in the atmosphere that it all starts to smell.  The same friend said he knew when I walked into the room because I was preceded by the pong of paraffin(!)  However, I suspect that using oil lamps multiplies the ssmell dramatically.



    Last modified: 27 Sep 2017 07:20 | Anonymous member
  • 27 Sep 2017 00:41
    Quote
    Reply # 5281231 on 1195343
    Anonymous member

    I use a kero stove on LC and I'm very happy with it. I've only had a flare up twice and both times it was a crew who did not know what they were doing.

    They received detailed instructions but thought they knew better (moral of the story stick to single handing and if you have crew, make it female, they don't think they know everything).

    I don't think LC stinks of kero nor does Skatty. If you buy Jet A from the airport it high quality and cost no more than petrol at the pump.
  • 26 Sep 2017 19:12
    Quote
    Reply # 5280513 on 1195343
    Deleted user

    Arne,

    "Timothy, as for pure lamp oil, I am not so sure. I once tried it on my Optimus, but it simply didn’t work. However much I preheated the stove, it just flared up, so boiling temperature must be much higher than on kerosene. I later learned on a Primus expert's a home-page that lamp oil is not just refined kero, it is something else."

    You're right. It took me a few minutes to discover that, but I left my original statement.  That's why I also mentioned the 'lamplight medallion oil' which is designed for oil lamp use, and designed to burn clean, so it might work in a kero stove. I'd be curious to find out, as I use alcohol stoves with 99% isopropyl, so I don't have a way to test it out :-)
  • 26 Sep 2017 09:05
    Quote
    Reply # 5279543 on 1195343
    Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Annie,

    My Optimus stove already has those wicks. I guess I was just a bit rusty on using that stove so I gave it an extra dram to be on the safe side. I think the bottle cap was bigger than on earlier alcohol bottles as well.

    And yes, the kerosene leaves a smell in everything. I kind of didn’t notice when I was in the boat, but when I sold Johanna and removed some sweaters and blankets, they surely started to smell in the car.

    Timothy, as for pure lamp oil, I am not so sure. I once tried it on my Optimus, but it simply didn’t work. However much I preheated the stove, it just flared up, so boiling temperature must be much higher than on kerosene. I later learned on a Primus expert's a home-page that lamp oil is not just refined kero, it is something else.

    Anyway, I reluctantly declare the Origo as the winner for my use.

    Arne

    PS: So what do people use for preheating their grills? Have everyone switched to gas grills these days?

    Edit, evening: Tonight I lit the Optimus a final time before reinstalling the Origo. I tried a 2-minute preheat, but that wasn't enough and resulted in a yellow flare-up. Switched to the other burner and preheated it 3:10min with good result. The special thing with the Optimus 111 is that the pan around the burner is closed.  The burner sits in a pit, kind of. This prevents one from spilling any alcohol on the table below, which is good, but on the other hand, airflow is not good to the preheat flame. I guess this is why it takes a little longer to preheat than other models I have used. This is also why I make a funnel from a tin can, to concentrate the preheat flame around the burner.



    Last modified: 26 Sep 2017 21:41 | Anonymous member (Administrator)
  • 26 Sep 2017 07:33
    Quote
    Reply # 5279509 on 1195343
    Anonymous member

    I cooked on kero for the best part of 35 years. I have three objections to it: it (eventually) discolours the deckhead; you, your boat and everything on it smell of kero, if you live on board; spares are eye-wateringly expensive. In NZ there is an additional issue in that getting hold of good kero is a bit of a mission.

    Arne - 2 minutes is sufficient to preheat the burner.  If you can get hold of one of the wicks that Tilley make for their lamps, they are perfect for lighting the stove and save alcohol.

    I have considered fitting a kero stove to SibLim - they are cheap second hand, but overall, now that I don't use oil lamps - too expensive to run! - I'd rather go with alcohol.
  • 26 Sep 2017 01:17
    Quote
    Reply # 5279172 on 1195343
    Deleted user

    Ultra-Pure lamp oil can be used in place of kerosene for most applications. I have not tested this with a kero stove, so check first or test it.

    Just google 'Ultra Pure Lamp Oil" and you'll find it.


    EDIT: I have found there is another product called 'lamplight medallion oil' which is designed for use in oil lamps, so it may be better suited for stove use.

    Last modified: 26 Sep 2017 01:21 | Deleted user
  • 25 Sep 2017 22:08
    Quote
    Reply # 5278954 on 1195343
    Anonymous member (Administrator)


    Today I went back, almost to square one. I brought on board the old Optimus 155 from Johanna (Edit: its burners are model 207B with internal needle). I guess I installed that new in 2000, but it has been out of use for a few years.

    Compared to most alcohol stoves, this feels like a real power station. Its data vary a bit, I have seen 2.2kW and 2.5kW (edit: 2.4kW). What I found, was that it brought 0.5l water to boil in less than four minutes  -  that is, after preheating, which took about 3:20min by burning a bottle-cap-full of alcohol.

    I am in two minds about what stove to keep in Ingeborg. For my humble use, boiling a cup or two of water for coffee and tea, and occasionally heating some canned soup, the Origo surely makes most sense. For someone who are to do real cooking for several people, the Optimus is the choice. With the fuel prices here in Norway, the Optimus would be a little over half as expensive to run as the Origo, and remember; ten litres of kerosene has almost twice the energy (almost 10kWh/l) as ten litres of ethanol.

    Some complain that kerosene is hard to get at these days. Remember then that the ‘preheat liquid’ (Norw. tennvæske), used for preheating grills, actually is kerosene, at least in Scandinavia, so can be had just about everywhere. This seems to be well refined, and my stove just loves the stuff.

    I think the perfect setup in a boat would be to either have one or two kerosene burners, and then a single-burner Origo (model 1500), or other ethanol stoves. The last one would be quicker for fast, small jobs, and would also be better for long-time simmering at very low setting.

    .. but I like the Optimus  -  I even prefer the smell of burnt kerosene over that from the Origo  -  in the end I guess it is a question of sense versus sensibility...

    Arne


    ..t    he Optimus 155 showing muscles...

    PS: I guess sense win, so the Origo will be re-installed tomorrow...


    Last modified: 16 Jun 2024 16:32 | Anonymous member (Administrator)
  • 22 Sep 2017 19:49
    Quote
    Reply # 5275287 on 5275182
    Anonymous member (Administrator)
    David Tyler wrote:
    Darren Bos wrote:

    But, for those with less experience, maybe it is worth pointing out the danger of CO poisoning?

    It is. I wouldn't run an Origo in a small cabin without an active CO alarm.'

    I would not argue against those good arguments. In my defence:

    • In the 'Poor Man's Webasto' piece, the stove and the Fuji heater were only used for the first 20 minutes. Then the Taylor heater (with a flue), which had been runneing from the start, kept on alone.
    • As mentioned, I cook with the hatch more or less open.
    • If that hpv-Salsa were to be pressed into use as a heater, it would anyway run empty of fuel within two-three hours (and the hatch a bit open).
    • I never go to sleep with any heater on  -  Stavanger is Stavanger, not Tromsø or Spitsbergen 

    So, yes, a CO alarm may end up under my Christmas tree, this year.


    Arne

    Last modified: 22 Sep 2017 19:50 | Anonymous member (Administrator)
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