Force 10 Cabin Heater

[quinlanmw]

Jack and Pi, thanks for your help. Yesterday I started the burner just before the alcohol extinguished, she lit with an irregular yellow flame but no smoke so I left it on and watched it a while, experimenting with different valve settings. After a while I achieved a steady blue flame, strong HISS. Shut it down, restarted and again got good results. My problem with the sooty smoke was obviously insufficient preheating; the gradual improvement of the uneven yellow flame I think was the old fuel finally getting purged.

It''s a strong and uniform blue flame although it does form a slightly yellow cone around the burner, not sure if this is right but it heats well now with no visible smoke. I kept all hatches and ports closed for a while to see how fast the cabin would heat up but I think in the future I''ll keep a hatch open..there was a perceptible smell. Also, I think a CO detector would be in order...

Thanks again guys. Fair sailing,

Mike

[pirateofcapeann]

Just picked up a Shipmate stove yesterday that is very similar to the Force 10. The owner said he was having a lot of trouble with it and I was surprised at the timing of this problem coinciding with this thread! Anyway, I hauled the stove apart and rebuilt the burner, washed the old kerosene from the tank with paint thinner and put it all back together. Now it runs like a champ and the owner is happy even though his wallet is a little lighter! Glad to hear you’re getting warm!