[pdqaltair]

ABYC A-30 limits the size of portable stove canisters to 8 ounces. That is typical.

Not all of the gas will end up in the bilge or any other place. Although heavier than air (MW 58 vs 29 for air), like any gas, with any air movement it will mix in and only a small portion will actually settle. Generally the bilge is not wide open to the cabin (only small vents). This is true if the stove is on the counter top. If you store it in the bilge or a locker connected to the bilge, well, obviously more will stay in the bilge.

The volume of the gas, assuming the cylinder is full, is about 3 ft^3, but the volume of an explosive mixture ranges from 35-160 ft^3 (UEL to LEL).

Yup, there have been accidents (CPSC Report 2003.

The bottom line is that they are cheap and seem similar to a home gas range, so they have displaced marine stoves for smaller boats and RV, making it uneconomical for alcohol to compete. Dometic stopped making them because the OEMs stopped buying them (yes, I spoke to folks up the food chain at Dometic). Perfectly understandable. The market no longer demanded alcohol stoves, whether safer or not... because most of the market does not understand that difference. People like to just turn a knob.

And that is all I know for now.

 

[contrarian]

Would you be interested in selling your 6000?

The way things are going you'll probably be able to buy the whole darn boat for the price of an alcohol stove !!!
For right now I'll hold off on selling the stove though. The one in Cape Cod did pique my interest but I thought it might be difficult for me to purchase logistically. If it were on Ebay that would be a different story.

 

[boatpoker]

It is amazing that decades ago, the U.S. Coast Guard deemed alcohol as being the only safe cook fuel to use on a boat...as the flame could be extinguished with water. They also said LPG was far to dangerous to use on a boat. For alcohol, they over looked the fact that the flame is very clear and at times hard to see and the flame is cold compared to mineral spirits or propane so one is exposed to a cooking flame for a much longer period than with the other fuels. When I had a boat with an alcohol stove, I quickly bought the burners for mineral spirits. They are the same threads so the alcohol burners were tossed in the trash and the mineral spirits burner screwed in. Still, alcohol had to be used to preheat the mineral spirits burners same as with the alcohol burners. So if you really want to regress with a stove fuel, unscrew your mineral spirits burners and screw in some new alcohol burners.....if they can be found.

From BoatUS Magazine on causes of fires on boats........

(6) Stove fires appear to be less common (1%) than in the past, probably due to fewer alcohol stoves being installed on new boats. Still, alcohol can be a dangerous fuel; though it can't explode, an alcohol flame is hard to see. One fire was started when a member tried to light the stove and gave up because he couldn't see the flame. Unfortunately, he had succeeded, but didn't realize it until he got a call from the fire department. Only one fire was started by propane; a portable stove fell off a counter and ignited a cushion.

 

[olson34]

From BoatUS Magazine on causes of fires on boats........

(6) Stove fires appear to be less common (1%) than in the past, probably due to fewer alcohol stoves being installed on new boats. Still, alcohol can be a dangerous fuel; though it can't explode, an alcohol flame is hard to see. One fire was started when a member tried to light the stove and gave up because he couldn't see the flame. Unfortunately, he had succeeded, but didn't realize it until he got a call from the fire department. Only one fire was started by propane; a portable stove fell off a counter and ignited a cushion.

The article subject was likely the thousands of older Pressure Alcohol stoves. They are indeed dangerous. Perhaps due to the Origo flame being non-pressurized, but we have never had any problem seeing the lit flame on any of the burners on our Origo 6000 range. We have been using this since we acquired our boat in 1994, so we do have some history with it.

Statistically, one anecdote does not "prove" anything. Heck, you could find a similar story for every kind of heat-producing device on any boat, RV, or house.
Not to disrespect the magazine from BoatUS, but I have received/read it for years, and they often shorten a complicated subject into some few column-inches that will over-excite the reader a bit.

 

[boatpoker]

The subject was likely the thousands of older Pressure Alcohol stoves. They are indeed dangerous. Perhaps due to the Origo flame being non-pressurized, but we have never had any problem seeing the lit flame on any of the burners on our Origo 6000 range. We have been using this since we acquired our boat in 1994, so we do have some history with it.

Statistically, one anecdote does not "prove" anything. Heck, you could find a similar story for every kind of heat-producing device on any boat, RV, or house.
Not to disrespect the magazine from BoatUS, but I have received/read it for years, and they often shorten a complicated subject into some few column-inches that will over-excite the reader a bit.

Not quite one anecdote. Their view is based on their own insurance claim stats.

 

[SchockT]

My old boat came with a Kenyon pressurized alcohol stove. I used it a few times before deciding it was too dangerous. If you over pressurize the system a bit you can get flames shooting up dangerously high. I am sure they can be used safely once you get to know them and know the tricks, but our boat came with a set of cupboards that fit in the opening and gave us more counter space, which was more valuable to us than an oven. I pulled the whole system out and put it in a local marine consignment store and someone snapped it up right away!

The concern about invisible flames with alcohol is not so much the burner itself, it is when there is a fuel spill or leak.

Sent from my SM-G960W using Tapatalk

 

[Zemurray]

Not quite one anecdote. Their view is based on their own insurance claim stats.

Unless the stats include data separated for both "pressurized" and "non pressurized" alcohol stoves, it doesnt really say much.

Having replaced a pressurized alcohol stove with an Origo, I can definitively say they are not at all the same thing. I did a ton of research myself and I've never found one single owner complaining, feeling unsafe, or report of a fire with an Origo stove. They are very safe. The only negative things I've heard about Origo are from posts by people who have never used one and associate them with the old pressurized units.

Any fuel under pressure is going to carry more risk. There are a ton of reports of propane accidents due to it's inherit risk which are well known. I'd much rather have an Origo than propane for safety alone.

 

[Arcb]

Not quite one anecdote. Their view is based on their own insurance claim stats.

Suspect this data is obsolete and based on the old pressurised alcohol stoves.

 

[paulinnanaimo]

We used a Kenyon pressure stove for a few years and with proper understanding and maintenance it worked very well and was not considered a danger. A friend offered an Origo alcohol/electric stove for almost free (actually it was offered free but I think I gave him a hundred dollars). I don't think it is better but it is really quiet, the Kenyon was a really noisy beast. I have posted this before but I'll do so again. After enough use the springs that support the fuel cannisters can lose their spring retention. If this happens, the cannisters are not held high enough and the sliding gate does not seal off the opening; this results in the flame not being extinguished. At the least the stove is burning fuel for nothing, at worst, something bad may happen when the user opens the gate and a flame suddenly leaps up. I suggest that users check for this condition. It isn't difficult to rectify, I used clothes pin wedges under the springs. At first, I just bent them up a bit but that was only a short term solution.