galley stoves

[marymandara]

Hey, Ebb--
Just use the link on the website to drop him an E-mail, you may be able to work something out and/or he may be willing to build you a stove...I believe he is willing/able to do a modicum of fabrication work at this point if someone really wants. I think...not know. Never hurts to ask!
Dave

[willie]

Hey Kent, could you give me a quick link to where i can get the burner and valve assembly you used? Looks like just what i want. I dug around on the coleman site, but finally gave up trying to find the right one. I have the seaswing now, just need the guts. I sent a privite mssg. also to you. Thanks, Bill

[SailorLiz]

This link is for any of you gourmet chefs. Ummm...I can smell the bread baking.... I'm sure it would fit in the galley of an Ariel with a little modification.

http://www.sailnet.com/store/item.cfm?pid=13581

(I'm not affiliated with this store or company.)

[Hull376]

Willie,

I found the box to my old single burner stove--- it was made by American Camper and was purchased at a Houston Oshman's. I went to the Oshman's home page (www.oshmans.com) and searched for propane stove, and found that they still sell one with the brand name "century". Here's the link to the page http://www.oshmans.com/product/index...entPage=searchundefined

Can't tell how close it is to mine. You could also try this number for American Camper 1-800-315-CAMP to see if they still sell theirs. By the way, I took apart my swing, sawed off the 3 "drops" that attach to the bottom of the pot holder, then re-bolted on the bottom piece. that moved the burner about 2 1/2 inches closer to the pot holder. I decided that extending the burner tube would probably have messed up the air to gas mixture since these burners rely on the propane accelerating past the small holes in the tube to draw in the right air mixture.

[c_amos]

While I continue to look for a gimbaled stove, I use my butane stove I have had for years.

Great unit, much better then the propane camping stoves I have used in the past. THe only draw back had been that it was difficult to find the correct butane [size=2]cylinders[/size].

I once ordered a case of 12, but the freight was high. West Marine charges $5.99 each for them

The local ACE hardware will get them in some times for about half that, but it is hit or miss.

Tonight I saw them at Wal-Mart (the other WM) for $1.87.

A quick online survey shows the stoves going from $39 - $69. However if you check on E-Bay there are a bunch of them for about $15

[ebb]

FINALLY DECIDED
338 is going to have a single burner stove and is now the proud owner of a nickel plated Petromax 'multifuel' kerosene burner that I got from Britelyt. It's not a camping stove being an impressive 8" diameter. Haven't tried it yet. I want to gimbal it like Jim Baldwin's.

So I have to ask, having never built gimbals: Has anybody had any experience bending s.s. rod? How do you get those perfect circles? Around a form?

Has anybody built the Baldwin Gimbals? I may try to put it lower down at 'counter' height in a tradition lined box setup in an attempt to get it out of the way. Has anybody else shunned propane? I'd like to continue a discussion about a voyaging stove set up.

[eric (deceased)]

My Post On Sailing To Hawaii On Starcrest States The Alcohol Wouldnt Stay In The Preheat Cup.a Subsequent Voyage On A 90 Foot Schooner Used A Propane Torch To Preheat The Burner,that Is What I Used On Starcrest 2 now I Just Use Propane For Cooking On My Current Boat....'starcrest Too.....the Range Of M'ocean'

[ebb]

Eric, thank you for your feedback.

This model Petromax has a preheater in the form of an extra tube and valve that uses the fuel in the tank, preferably kerosene, to heat the burner. You pump up the tank to a red mark on the dial, light the preheater for 60 seconds, big flame, flip off the valve on the preheater and listen for the stove to light. Then you repressurize and after that supposedly the tank is ok whether you turn the burner up or down. Sounds like you might cook with it. But I still have to play with it.

There is a rudimentary tray on the burner you still can use for alcohol, but it wouldn't hold anything. Maybe a saturated fiberglass wick would be possible.

Always thinking of this thing in gimbals, what caught my eye was that you get a fitting that replaces the pump that allows you to pump up pressure thru a tube, like a bicycle pump. Maybe sounds weird, but so does pumping up the tank when its swinging around. I imagined the pump could be hard mounted at the side of the stove box and the tube permanently connected to the tank would flex and do its thing. Actually... sounds almost civilized!

This nickel plated stove looks sharp. Looks nicely made, has some heft to it. Not tinny. It's about 8" round and 8" tall. It has to have custom gimbals made for it. I thought I'd start with Jim Baldwin's kero stove setup and go from there. Keeping the shape of that old double-action aluminum seaswing stove in mind for proportions. 8" cooker, 10" sauce pan.

[cjackson]

Check out this link...with a little bit of metal fab work this could be adapted quite well I think! The price is unbelievable by comparison!!!

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/te...equestid=75674

[c_amos]

Kent,

Just bought a sea swing, and it is the same sterno model that you modified.


Going to give the sterno a shot first, but I wonder if you are still happy with this set up? Specifically I am wondering about the distance from the burner to the bottom of the pot.

Here's a 1960's vintage cast aluminum Sea Swing which was used originally with a can of Sterno. Its been modified as Dave brainstormed a couple of posts back in this thread. Has worked fine--- probably needs a 1/2" coupling about an inch or two long to move the burner a little closer to the pot if I wanted to be fussy about it. This stove already had a hole in the bottom through which a standard Coleman type single burner fit through with no modifications necessary. The assembly is held in place by the nut on the top side of the valve threads. The cut out in the bottom was stock as well, and made a great spot to locate the on/off valve control---- some room for the fingers to get a good grip.

Also, where have others mounted these? I think I remember Eric saying his was on the hanging locker side, I am wondering where this swinging, hanging stove will be comfortable onboard an Ariel....

Thanks,

[Hull376]

Using the sterno should raise the flame to the right height. If you go with a propane fitting, it will be a little too low (as you can see in pics I posted earlier in this thread.). I have since cut down the three "legs" that attach the bottom piece to the pan by about two inches or so, then re-drilled the holes in the cut down legs and re-inserted the screws from the top side of the pan (see post 34 above). Raised the flame to just where I wanted it and was pretty easy to do, but you can't un do it once you make this decision. I'm happy with the mod to propane. See pic of cut-down version. I mounted at comp-way so could easily reach from the cockpit.

[ebb]

Thanks James for responding to the stove question. (On your dryout legs thread.)
I can understand not being set up to produce a niche product.
I also know that any interest HERE in this Forum is HIGHLY SPECULATIVE.
Most of the skippers in this Forum won't be going foreign. 'Course I believe that is changing.
I participated in a discussion here on the subject of stoves and fuels and came to the lonely conclusion that while I hated kerosene it was in my future.

Everyone else around here is a propane fan. So this is likely the last on this subject. Your experience that kerosene is a world wide fuel was the clincher for me. Might call it the people's fuel and may in some way be the least polluting petroleum product because of the way it is used. Irresponsible corporate production of the liquid we'll study about later!

Don't remember if it came up on the old thread but I have a very nice looking kerosene lantern and an equally impressive BRITELYT Multi-fuel stove. Britelyt says they replace the old Petromax, Geniol & Hipolito stoves. In fact some web pages are IDed as Britelyt-Petromax. The stove will supposedly burn kerosene, mineral spirits, citronella oil, gasoline, diesel, bio-diesel, methanol, ethanol and alcohol. You can't just dump in what fuel you want without a bunch of downhome fiddling based on the number of summers you went camping. I haven't tried to start these two up yet - because I know they will consume a lot of time and FOCUS. Britelyt promises all the support you need, parts and spares, they repair old lanterns, and have a tech line. For what I got, I think the price was right.

Instructions for setting up for burning kerosene has you pumping up a bit of fuel into a preburner to light and heat the burner. I believe it is under a little pressure itself. No dosing with alcohol needed - altho you can do it the old way if you desire. You curl a piece of fiberglass wick into the cup and douse that with your little alcohol squirt bottle. I'd like to hear from someone who's done it a number of times. SOOT? It could be BS, yet some BS is revolutionary!

Where these burners are made escapes me. They look too well made for Taiwan or Mainland China. Or India, where zillions of small kitchen stoves are stamped out of sheet.
These are strong and beautifully made, beautifully finished chromed/brass metal art pieces.
How they are in daily use on a boat?..........

OK, where's that bread recipe?

It was the multifuel option that caught my eye. And the no alcohol start up. Their website is a bit of a challenge to extract info from. Their shipment arrived with a totally confusing video.
I don't know how anybody makes a decision to go cruise with a kerosene stove.
It's just something some people just DO.
www.britelyt.com

James, I was interested in your gimbal.
It's more time-consuming engineering that I thought I could cheat my way out of!
That's OK, there'll be time to gimbal when Little Gull gets in the water! And I have a copy of your plans from your GENEROUS webpage. Really nice, THANKS.
Interested to hear your take on these Britelyt stoves. Aside from their expense, I know!
__________________________________________________ ________________________________________
Sorry for the repetition!!! After Bill put this over to here, ole single track scrolled back this page.... and it sure looks like what James got from me was a repeat of what's already here! Must be the beans.

[atomvoyager]

Ebb,

You're a very lucky man - you have not tried to light the bitelyte yet. You still have time to drop it in the trash and put it out of your life. Walk away and don't look back.

Or you can do as I did. I bought the stove two years ago when I was researching where to source stoves for a couple customers and friends. I struggled with that piece of junk all day - never got it to burn a full minute. It leaked fuel from all that pretty plumbing that could not be tightened or gasketed. Bitelyte folks said send it back, so I did. They never issued my refund! I called. They stalled. First the mother was sick. Then someone had a vacation. Months later they said they lost the paperwork. ARGH! Also, once I got my hands on the thing it became clear that there was no easy way to mount it to a gimbaled potholder.

There is nothing I can see about the stove that makes it more multi-fuel than the Butterfly. Don't even think about pouring gasoline in it

Well, maybe you'll have better luck than I did. If not, you might try the link in an earlier post:

http://www.stpaulmercantile.com/MilesStair.htm
Brass Pressure Stove - $50 (2 for $90)
Pressurized solid brass stove can be disassembled and carried in a backpack.
---------------------------
These appear to be the same stoves as mine and cheaper than I can sell them. But mine come with a useable preheat wick and are pre-tested and have spares available so it's comparable value.

One minor issue is that these stoves used to be all brass except the pump rod, which doesn't rust anyway because it is in an oily environment in the pump tube, but the past few years most Indian manufacturers have substituted brass plated steel flame rings and preheat cups which will rust eventually when pots washed in seawater are set on the stove. Not a big problem if you have spares, but it is annoying. A few of my stoves got out with these brass-plated parts, so I sent some spares along with them. I'm still trying to source the solid brass and have just a few right now. I don't
know if the above supplier has plated steel or solid brass.

Contact me when you're ready to weld up your gimbal and I'll send you some detailed instructions and dimensions.

My stove page was updated a few months ago for anyone who wants to see what we're talking about:

http://atomvoyages.com/projects/AtomStove.htm

James

[ebb]

A lucky man I am, James!
In a minute I'll phone St Paul and get a couple.


Always been a magpie and a shill's easy mark.
Hard to fault such (apparently) well made objects as the Britelyt stove and lantern. Proof's in the working....!
Comparing the two, the Butterfly by photo, the Bitelite stove is a WHOLE HIPHOP of "plumbing". A lot of brass tubes, levers, knobs and returns of soldered joints popping in-and-out of the tank and looping over the burner - that obviously should be perfectly assembled. Simple is the more dependable and more easy to fix. Like a waltz.

Appreciate the tip, the lead, and your offer to help with the gimbal.

It appears from the website that Britelyt is a small, privately owned outfit. It was incredibly stupid how unskillfully you were treated by them. Can always blame the help, but the manager should have been on top of it and sent you another stove (air pressure tested at least) free of charge, and an apologetic letter. Theirs is a word of mouth product. Unbelievable!

There will be a cursery light up and comparison between the two brands in the near future. Have the low-odor kero ready to go.


In the interior remodel of Little Gull, I have the aft seat of the starboard side dinet at the c'way ladder. An image keeps arriving in my head that a single burner gimbaled stove will be in a bay just opposite the seat on the port side - so the LIGHTING and cooking can be done sitting down. A 'braced' position!

I will also explore a stove hood of some sort - it could be folding sheetmetal - it could be fabric/wire coil like big airhose - but the hood needs to conduct positive OUT venting for nasties with a small builtin fan that is part of it. We'll see about that! But there WILL be positive out venting of stove lightup. There is no room or route in this busy part of the cabin for anything fancy or permanent. The c'way hatch is overhead. Hmmmmm, maybe a customed top hatchboard with a small fan in it....a plug in hatchboard! But this can all be sussed out when the boat is in the water.

The other issue now is the space needed for a full swinging stove. Trying to put it low in the Ariel is limited by the turn in the hull. It's all about keeping the stove with a pot of boiling water out of the aisle when heeled.

A functioning kerosene cooker can double as a heater. Kerosene and other fuels have to be vented totally, but they say you can get away with burning alcohol below being a little more casual about ventalation. Yeah, I know, C'monoxide Seems to me, extra stoves ain't a bad idea.

************************************************** **************************************

YOU HAVE A PATENTABLE STOVETOP
there with your 'Mark IV' more compact looking lower surround with the adjustable pan/pot holder. AND adjustable counter weight. You have something unique there too!
It certainly is a 'niche market' product.
BUT
Your top could be universalized to include many cooking fuels with the right stove. It could be customed into another mode with a burn plate for the 1# screw on propane cans.
It's a great versatile top you have going there! Your nearest and only competitors: the two single burner (marketed as heavy weather extra) propane can stoves in the market require special small size gear to cook with. And "COOK" is in quotes, because of the constricted tops. Last I heard the Force 10 will take only a 7" pot! And Forespar only special-made-for-their-stove.

Small boats don't need, can't give up the space for three burner stoves with ovens. A two burner countertop drop-in is just about the only possibility - even that takes too much valuable real estate. They all look rediculous to me on a boat under 30' - unless you're a chef. A true chef would take the single as a challenge! And write a one-pot meal cookbook! A single burner with a generous well thought out top like yours might break out of the niche and get mainstreamed in smaller boats and trailer sailers. The right single burner stove hasn't been invented yet.

Well, maybe it HAS... just not marketed yet!!!