So have a Broadwater kero stove and oven.
Does anyone have a manual or at least the starting instructions.
Tank is pressurized but I need to know to what pressure.
I take it is pre heat burner with the metho then go the kero.
Thanks in advance.
As a last resort I will go and visit the manufacturer later in the week.
Its probably best to fill it to about 2/3 of the tank to leave space for the pressurized air, although when first trying it it might be better to put less kerosene in.
It will be scary if it flames up, you will definitely need a frypan (or large saucepan) and/or a fire blanket out and ready to cover the flames just in case. If there are flammable things like curtains near the stove it is probably best to move them further away if feasible.
The procedure is to:
Pump up the air pressure in the tank a bit. I'm unsure, probably about 8 to 15 pumps, you should be able to feel some resistance to the pumping to indicate it has air pressure. If you are lucky that you have a pressure guage that still works, then I'm unsure what the pressure should be.
Ensure the kerosene is turned off at the burner.
If there is any kerosene visible at the burner or in the burner cup, first wipe it up with a rag.
Place some methylated spirits in the cup at the bottom of the burner. Light it with a match and let the methylated spirits burn for a while until it completely burns out.
It is very important, to avoid a flare up, that there is no kerosene in the burner cup when lighting the methylated spirits, and that the metho flame has completely burned out before turning on the kerosene flow to the burner.
Then turn on the burner and light it with a match or lighter or something. If it works, then the it will burn with a blue flame and hiss.
If it doesn't work, then yellow flames will flare up everywhere threatening the headliner, and anything else flammable near the burner, which you will need to turn of the burner and cover the flames with the frypan, saucepan or fire blanket that you have ready for this purpose. Then you would have to wait for the burner to cool down first before repeating the procedure, as HGO2 warns that it is dangerous to pour metho on a hot burner in this thread:
www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Sailing/General/Boat-Heaters/
Although they can be scary at first, I really like pressure kero stoves.
If you have never tried the burner before then there is a chance that it will be clogged up with carbon, so you may need to try another burner.
PS an alternative to using methylated spirits to pre-heat the burner is to preheat the burner with some type of gas torch, obviously that would require wiping up any kerosene on the burner or cup before trying that.
Someday has it spot on, it is also important to turn on the kero and light the burner the second the metho goes out, if you wait even 5 seconds it will have cooled too much and you will get the orange flame every time. My stove has a 2 litre tank that I pressurise to 100 kpa with a 12v compressor every now and then.
I am just in the process of rebuilding my Primus Optimus kero burners, got the 3 kits from Julian Shaw at tilleylampsandstoves.com in the UK for $100 (see below) or you can buy complete new burners for about $100 each. I soaked the burners in turps for a day and then in water and vinegar. One of the stove burners was completely clogged, couldn't even get compressed air through it, so I got onto Julian and he suggested boiling it which didn't help so I found a piece of wire that was soft enough to bend but strong enough to scrape out the gunk. It took a while but I cleared the burner enough to get some air flow and boiled it again and was able to clean it completely with compressed air and water. Haven't had a chance to fit them back on the stove yet but I think they will work a lot better now.
I've lived with my Taylors for four years now and through a series of mistakes and incidents have got to know the bugger really well.
The biggest issue I have had is broken cleaning needle spindles. I broke one myself but then had three broken by people who made the same mistake, turning the control knob past 180 degrees, so it is really important to make sure that anyone who is going to use it is instructed meticulously.
Five or six times.
The pressure I have found is not really that important providing there is some. Less pressure means you will not get a "full" flame. Wander is spot on with regard to the metho. I have been distracted countless times after lighting it, it has gone out and the burner has lost heat and will not light properly so you really have to stand there and watch it. I've got a little plastic bottle with a tube and can measure out direct to the cup what is required to heat the burner up.
If you cannot light the burner because it has cooled below operating temperature but still hot and you add more metho and light it you can get a spectacular result. Whilst it looks dangerous I only ever use about a table spoon full so it goes out quickly.
Likewise concern about the kero under pressure. I have a valve just below the tank and the delivery pipe is very small diameter. In between the valve and the burner there is a regulating jet and of course the burner jet, both of which are screwed in to the assembly. This ensures that you can never get a flood of kero which could of course be dangerous.
It also pays to ensure that there is no kero in the heating cup which is quite easily visible. If there is it will smoke horribly and of course there is the concern as to how it got there. Usually this happens through the operating valve not being turned off properly but if that is not the reason then the close of valve is not seating properly. I generally turn the main supply valve off while not in use as a precaution to ensure the tank cannot empty whilst not being used.
The other problem s dirty fuel. I have an inline filter but have still had a few blockages. I purchased the custom tools so can take it apart pretty quickly.
It pays to have spares available as I discovered to my cost last year when I had to purchase a cheap chinese wick stove while waiting on parts. It bloody near asphyxiated me!
Spares to carry, cleaning needle spindles, cleaning needles and jets plus an array of the washers, olives and whatnot which tend to get damaged when taking apart.
I have been considering changing from gas to kerosene but reading this I am thinking stay with gas.
I reckon kero is a lot safer but where it beats gas hands down is that it is available almost everywhere in the world. Also takes up a lot less space. I use mine extensively, its cooking as I type, and a tank runs forever. One spare bottle and I am good for a long time.
Gas is definitely a lot cleaner, very little maintenance and no fuss to start.
I lit my kero oven last week and as it started to warm up, the inside glass on the oven door just shattered. I had to remove the oven from the boat to get the door off it.
I snapped off all the s/steel screws that fastened the hinges to the aluminium glass frame in the door.
Had a new piece of tempered glass cut to size and I'm about to put it back into the door frame.
I'm starting to wonder If I should have bothered fixing it and just got a gas cooker,, But it fits in the boat nice and it works great!
I have a Maxie kero stove/oven that i bought off eBay a while back. The seller failed to mention that the pressure tank was suffering from bad corrosion. It had a hole in the bottom that had been repaired with some sort of brass solder and it was pretty obvious that the tank was suffering heavy internal corrosion.
I have been had vinegar in the tank for the past few weeks. After emptying i put about 500gms of bicarbonate of soda dissolved in water to rinse it out. I'm not sure if this will be enough.
Are replacement tanks available? Would as Taylors fit if I could get one?
I just tried lighting it. As above, I found it needs a lot of preheating- far more than my petrol camping stove. I had blue flame but there was still some yellow flame.
