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alcohol stove not working

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John Ace
Deckhand

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USA
24 Posts

Initially Posted - 07/09/2004 : 08:41:30

I have the Catalina stock stove that does not work. Has anyone taken their's apart and cleaned it successfully?

Edited by - on

OJ
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4382 Posts

Response Posted - 07/09/2004 : 09:22:11

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by John Ace
 . . . successfully?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

You said the key word!

First are you trying to start it correctly?

There are far more posts that dicuss inserting to the Origo 3000 or coverting to propane than repairing the old.

Try the search.

Edited by - on

JimB517
Past Commodore

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USA
3285 Posts

Response Posted - 07/09/2004 : 13:22:55

Throw it away and get a $50 propane camping stove - something like a Coleman. That's what I did. Cooks much faster. Doesn't smell.

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tinob
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1883 Posts

Response Posted - 07/09/2004 : 13:55:41

Hi John,

AH YES, the notorious curtain burner...I have two of them... both working flawlessly. The first came with the boat and works well mainly because no one ever adjusted it, or adjusted it properly. I just added fuel and using the appropriate lighting sequence have been cooking on it these last twelve years. The other one was cleaned and adjusted by someone who hadn't a clue what he/she was doing and as a consequence produced a "CURTAIN BURNER", It took me the best part of a day undoing what the adjuster did.

The best advice I can offer is to take the thing out of the boat and place it away from anything combustible and follow this lighting proceedure. Fill the tank about 3/4 full, pump it ten or so strokes and open the valve of one of the burners allowing about 1/2 ounce of fuel to puddle in the hollow at the base of the burner,( some place a variety of combustible preparations at the base of the burner rather than prime as I've suggested) Then shut the valve completely and light the puddle. Wait til it burns out then open the valve and light it. If it is properly adjusted it will produce a flame that will in time cause the dome in the center of the burner to glow, If this happens you have a stove. Then do the same to the other burner. Hopefully that unit hadn't been adjusted either.

If either burner flares up regardless of having used the appropriate lighting technique, consider the options mentioned above. Convert to propane or ditch it and go for the Origo non pressurized stove.

I say this because I prefer things as they were produced. Didn't always. I had a beautiful 1930 Ford two door coupe with rumble seat and made so many changes in the thing that Henry Ford might not have recognized that it was originally his creation. Since then I've opted to leave things as the were conceived. That's how my boat remains except for the wing conversion thing

Val on Calista # 3936
Patchogue

Edited by - on

JimB517
Past Commodore

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USA
3285 Posts

Response Posted - 07/09/2004 : 16:51:48

I think Frank Butler and Co. would barely recognize my C25! Hundreds of improvements!

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At Ease
Admiral

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672 Posts

Response Posted - 07/09/2004 : 17:51:39

Propane's the way to go...cleaner and much safer.

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lcharlot
Master Marine Consultant

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Antigua and Barbuda
1301 Posts

Response Posted - 07/10/2004 : 00:21:05

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by At Ease
 Propane's the way to go...cleaner and much safer.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

I agree with one caveat - Propane is only "safer" if you store the canisters in a compartment that can't vent into the boat's interior, if the canister springs a leak while the boat is unattended. The shallow starboard side cockpit seat tray is a good choice, or the gas tank locker on the Mk. II,III, or IV boats. If a propane can in either locker leaks, the fumes just run out the cockpit drain or blow away if it's a breezy day. Propane is also much less expensive per BTU than Alcohol, and a lot more convienient; you can light a propane stove with a simple spark lighter of the type used for any propane or oxy-acetylene torch. The Origo 3000 absorption-type alcohol stove requires one of those long-snout butane camping lightrs lighters to get it going - and it seems like they (the lighters) rarely last even one season before they break down and quit working. One other hassle with the alcohol absorption stoves is they can be virtually impossible to light in very cold weather. Below 40ºF it seems like the alcohol won't vaporize no matter how long you play the flame from the butane lighter on the burner wick.

Propane is cheap, too. You can buy 4-packs of the 16 ounce propane camping bottles at Mal-Wart for less than 4 bucks, and 4 of those canisters usually lasts me a whole season on the boat. Average useage I get 4 weekend boat trips per canister. Compare to $10 for a gallon of alcohol, of which you will eventually lose at least half to evaporation, since the burner cans on the Origo stove do not have a 100% vapor-tight seal.

CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) is also an alternative boat cooking fuel, with very good ratings for safety - the fumes are lighter than air and rise instead of sinking into the bilge - and CNG is pretty inexpensive other than the purchase price of the tank and plumbing. However, it is only practical if your local City Gas utility company has a public CNG retail outlet to recharge your boat tank. I am pretty sure that PG&E here in Sacramento has such a facility, since the City's transit busses all run on CNG, but I am not sure if they are set up to service retail customers with small scuba-tank size gas bottles, or only the huge roof-mount cylinders on the busses? We had one C-25 Mk. III in our sailing club with a CNG system, and the last time I heard from the owner, he was going to switch to propane because it was too difficult to get the CNG bottle recharged locally. He had to drive 80 miles round trip for CNG, whereas propane was available within 2 miles of the marina.

Edited by - on

dhunt
1st Mate

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USA
83 Posts

Response Posted - 07/10/2004 : 21:39:06

I use a Coleman propane camp stove that has a grill on one side and a burner on the other . . . usually sells for $69 or so. The new ones come with a griddle to set over the grill.

Works great. My son the chef (really is a chef) thinks the think is "the bomb" (that's a good thing to people of his generation) because of the heat distribution on the grill. It fits the space for the old Origo just about perfectly. I can take it to the cockpit for grilling steaks or barbeque where smoke in the cabin would be a pain.

Cleans easily, cooks well, and is portable.

Edited by - on

John Ace
Deckhand

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USA
24 Posts

Response Posted - 07/12/2004 : 14:59:44

Looks like Deep 6 for the old "Princess". Thanks for all the input. I have a camp stove but the bottle attaches to the side and sticks out so it won't fit in the same space. Is there a model that fits and works where the old one goes?

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OJ
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4382 Posts

Response Posted - 07/12/2004 : 16:20:43

If you are handy enough to attempt to repair the stove as you first indicated, then you'd have no problem converting the Princess to propane. There's a propane camp stove that goes by the model name of Scout:

http://www.centurycamping.com/stoves/trail/

With a little bit of filing and/or drilling these will fit the Princess like a glove. Or go with the Origo 3000.

Good luck!

Edited by - OJ on 07/12/2004 16:22:15

John Ace
Deckhand

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USA
24 Posts

Response Posted - 07/27/2004 : 18:34:20

I ended up with a coleman with a flexable hose that with a little bending and tapping I made fit. When not in use the bottle sits behind the stove and in the sink when in use. It's not as pretty as the Princess, but its fast and clean.

Edited by - on

Gloss
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1916 Posts

Response Posted - 07/28/2004 : 06:05:58

I love my Origo 3000 stove. I haven't tried it in 40 degrees though.
Since there is the possibility, however slight, of heavier than air propane gas settling in the bilges from a Coleman stove, I didn't even consider it.
I went on vacation last spring in the Keys with my new Origo and in two weeks used less than a gallon of alcohol fuel, which at about 9 bucks a gallon, cost about a six pack of beer. When on vacation I'm not going to worry about 5 or 6 bucks worth of fuel, or beer.

I sincerely hope that you Coleman users never, ever have a leak, or valve not completely close.

Edited by - on

dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 07/28/2004 : 10:22:41

Just last night, while shopping for a new camping stove, I came across and bought a Brinkmann two burner camping stove (Walmart $38.99). It is similar in design to a Coleman, in that it folds up neatly into a nice carrying case, but the thing that sold me on it was that it is made entirely out of shiny stainless steel. Perfect for the marine environment in both use and looks.

Edited by - dlucier on 07/28/2004 10:23:26

dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 07/28/2004 : 10:26:31

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Gloss
 I sincerely hope that you Coleman users never, ever have a leak, or valve not completely close.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

And I sincerely hope that you Origo stove users never, ever have one of those invisible alcohol fires.

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RichardG
Admiral

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USA
990 Posts

Response Posted - 07/28/2004 : 12:09:09

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">I prefer things as they were produced.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

The older I get, the more I see value in that philosophy -- however, it's not always easy in today's modern, latest-and-greatest way of thinking.

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Gloss
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1916 Posts

Response Posted - 07/28/2004 : 20:53:45

Hey Don,
good point about the alcohol fire being invisible. I was pretty careful in using mine and never got burned. Even with the thing wide open the flame didn't go too high. do you think that this was a bigger problem with the pressurized stoves? hence, the name "curtain burner"
I guesse nothing with flames is 100% safe. That's why they don't let me play with matches.

Edited by - on

Brooke Willson
Admiral

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USA
983 Posts

Response Posted - 07/29/2004 : 06:35:18

Frank, I believe the "curtain burner" appelation came from people who didn't preheat their burners, tried to use their pressurized stoves as if they were propane stoves, and produced big flames that literally singed the curtains over the galley. I did that myself.

Patience and obedience (following the directions) are virtues both general and specific.

Brooke

Edited by - Brooke Willson on 07/29/2004 16:47:42

Gloss
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1916 Posts

Response Posted - 07/29/2004 : 08:15:30

when I buy a C-36 I'll go propane, with all the safety devices, until then, I'll stick to my Origo (gee, that was easy, since it is already bought and paid for)

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Brooke Willson
Admiral

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USA
983 Posts

Response Posted - 07/29/2004 : 16:49:46

When I buy my C-36 it'll be a Pacific Seacraft Orion. . . (wistful sigh).

Brooke

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IndyJim
Navigator

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USA
130 Posts

Response Posted - 08/04/2004 : 23:26:07

When I bought my boat and started testing all the onboard equipment I discovered why they're called "curtain burners". Right after I cleaned up the mess from the fire extinguisher (luckily it was on the working equipment list) I decide to read the lighting instructions. Since that day I've been using it with no problems. I understand why some would opt to replace it especially if it doesn't work and you want to upgrade. But I really don't understand the "propane doesn't smell" comment. I sincerely believe that the alcohol stove doesn't have anything close to the propane smell. It really seems to be a clean burning fuel and the Admiral likes cooking on it.
But you definitely need to read the lighting instruction and you sure don't want to light it like a propane stove because your curtains will be on the "non-working equipment list".

Edited by - on

gnorgan
Admiral

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USA
563 Posts

Response Posted - 08/05/2004 : 01:35:13

I have the Origo 3000 also (it came with the boat). It works fine for the cooking I do on it. I cooked some of dinner for my wife and I on it last night but I barbequed the chicken on the new Magna grill out on the rail

. The coffee pot gets going very fast at sea level all year long.
Curtains? We don't need no stinkin curtains!! I always slide them as far away from the stove as I can when cooking. Just makes sense to me

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