kerosene/thinner?

[wiseleyb]

The Westsail 28 I recently bought has a kerosene stove. The previous owner mentioned that he used thinner in it as it burned cleaner. I forgot to ask for details.

Anyone familiar with this? Looking for some brand name or something of what I should buy and where (hardware store?).

[sevseasail]

I don't know about thinner but you will find a kerosene that burns very clean at your local home improvement center.
I've used it before and it is defenetly much better than Kerosene; you could even add a fragance to it.

[TrueBlue]

Many will recall all the health-related illness's from the kerosene space heater craze back in the '80s. The highest risks were asphyxiation from oxygen depletion and CO poisoning, both due to improper venting. For home use, these appliances were and I believe still are, banned from use in sleeping areas . . . for good reason.

I would also assume boat use would pose even greater hazards due to the smaller cubic volume. If you're unfamiliar with kerosene, it's use and how or if your stove is vented, research the installation before using it.

IIRC, you should only use grade 1-K kerosene, nothing else.

[erps]

We had a kerosene stove in a previous boat and I eventually converted it over to propane. The stove cooked well when it was running, but it was hard to start, we had to preheat it with another fuel (alcohol), we had flare ups and the associated soot on the headliner. I didn't try any other fuels in it but if the previous owner of your boat said it worked for him its worth further investigation. Coleman sells white gas for their camp stoves that's widely available and seems a lighter fuel than kerosene but not as explosive as gasoline. You could experiment with mixing that with your kerosene at different ratios first to see if you get the results you want.

[Valiente]

Perhaps we are talking about paraffin? Kerosene is sooty and paraffin is cleaner, hence its use in "oil" lamps.

[cruisingdream]

Dont mix fuels !!!! they go boom
stick with a quality kerosene
another alternative to preheating with alcohol is a butane torch
they are small & portable plus you can preheat a burner while another
burner is already on (dont try that with alcohol)

[rrgane]

Originally Posted by TrueBlue

Many will recall all the health-related illness's from the kerosene space heater craze back in the '80s. The highest risks were asphyxiation from oxygen depletion and CO poisoning, both due to improper venting. For home use, these appliances were and I believe still are, banned from use in sleeping areas . . . for good reason.

Too True TrueBlue, however while this was most publicized as a kerosene issue, every heating/cooking fuel has this issue. Alcohol, Propane, Kerosene and Diesel all eat oxygen, and unless your stove is completely enclosed and vented (like the Wallas 85) you must be sure to keep a good flow of fresh air through the cabin.

[erps]

Dont mix fuels !!!! they go boom
stick with a quality kerosene

Oh, where's your spirit for adventure? I had a little army issue campstove that burned anything from gasoline to diesel fuel. As far as kerosene goes, there are several distillates that are very close in their burning qualities to kerosene, some better than others. I didn't try burning thinner in my stove but I could see how a little bit lighter fuel might burn better. BTW, the butane torch for preheating the burner sounds like a good idea.

[rrgane]

Originally Posted by wiseleyb

The Westsail 28 I recently bought has a kerosene stove. The previous owner mentioned that he used thinner in it as it burned cleaner. I forgot to ask for details.

Anyone familiar with this? Looking for some brand name or something of what I should buy and where (hardware store?).

I read somewhere (.. i thought it was here, but searching i couldn't find it) that someone was using paint thinner, or mineral spirits instead of kerosene. If I remember correctly the post said something about getting it at Home Depot at a much cheaper price then Kerosene, and it burned cleaner..

[sailingdog]

Mineral spirits are what you're looking for. There's a good article on Kerosene and the alternatives for kerosene lamps that I read a while back... I'll see if I can dig up the link to it.