Stoves

[Topaz Bill]

I have one of those single burner butane stoves David, but mine is stainless steel. It must be of a decent grade as after four years it's completely rust free. I bought it from Big W, bit as is usually the case when I discover a product that I really like, they are never to be seen in stock again.

I don't have any problem with the speed of cooking, just learnt to drink my wine faster.

[Topaz Bill]

David, I have an old single burner Maxi stove in my storage system ( shed full of crap ), if you or any of our bloggers would like it for free private message me postal address. It's stainless and brass but I have no use for it. I did a test, boiled a measured cup of water - one minute thirty seconds on the butane stove, four minutes fifty seconds on the Maxi (although the metho has been in the tank for at least two or three years).

I'd drop it in to Beauty Point except for this cusid covid, have relatives in Burnie that we used to be able to visit every year or so.

Regards, Bill

[Franklin]

Hi Bill,
I’ve just sent you a PM.
Cheers
Franklin

[Ozzie]

“Stoves” has been discussed a lot over the years on here and other sailing forums . If you put the search term “explodo” into the search box up the top you’ll get most of it with much reference to the butane canister jobs. I think I christened them that

I currently still use my single burner Maxi metho job and yes it’s slow but it fits in with my whole philosophy on sailing....there are too many things we do in a hurry in life ...why?

If you don’t want to troll through all the stuff that comes up from the above search I’ll quote myself from one post back from 2014. Sheesh that seems a long time ago now

Re: fuel fumes in the locker
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Post by Ozzie » Wed Apr 23, 2014 9:21 pm

Good question atles, this the general advice I'd give to anyone reading. I have consistantantly wrestled with this problem. I first raised cooking, boat fuel and butane vs others on Tsp many years ago and found deep polarization on the subject ( something of a pattern over there).

In regard to venting.My fuel tank is in the port locker but generally when sailing I leave the bung out so the lowest point is ventilated. My lockers are not sealed off from the cockpit air wise but I have never smelled petrol fumes in the cabin.

The big question of stoves. I agree with Emrys, its hard to recommend as its all up to personal risk assessment. First a few facts . When cooking you are trapped on a 19 ft boat with probably a minimum of 10 to 20 liters of fuel in a vented container ( many carry a lot more flammable stuff than that ) and an open flame. Fact... the furthest you can get away from that flame on an Investigator is 19 feet. Fact...you are a long way from the local brigade.

So really my point is its not what your using to create a flame but how and where you do it that's probably important. I used a twin burner metho on my old cruiser for 14 years and had my share of flare ups . In that situation the stove was always in the cabin and there was not much choice . You had twin 40 litre built in petrol tanks in the cockpit sides with breather vents. I'm still here.

When I bought the Investigator I had nothing so I bought an explodo butane Primus brand as I thought the quality control was probably better. Truth is they probably all come from the same factory . Having a portable fuel tank gave me the option of moving it up to the anchor locker when cooking in the cockpit or at times putting it in the tender and letting that out on the painter so it was well away from the boat . Opened canisters went home in the sailing bag but then I started leaving them in a long screw top container stored on the vented anchor locker between uses.

Then, I got the jitters with the articles I'd read on them, and bought another two pot Maxie. Used that for a while but it's too big and still flares up. So I'm now carrying an explodo again for cockpit and beach cooking. The metho was used for inside cooking for a while but now it's out on the bench at home.. For the odd inside cuppa's I'm thinking of resurrecting my old metho camping stove . A primitive smaller form of the origo very much like a Trangia but with an open top that's stores very compact. I may add some mesh and something in the tank to stop spillage.

Butane as you know is heavier than air and will inhabit the lower regions of the boat . Like petrol fumes and LPG get the right amount of air fuel and ignition and you will get to view your 563 from above mast level. Spilled metho can also catch fire and ignite other flammables which may get to your fuel supply. Read all the warning advice on butane stoves in the referenced posts . Don't use big frypans as they reflect heat onto the canister. I never use canisters thar show any rust. Don't store canisters in unventilated lockers. Air the boat before cooking.

No matter what stove your using before you create a flame make sure your boat is well ventilated. That includes I guess cigarettes, connecting batteries and even flares if your unfortunate enough to have to use them.

Going back to my first few paragraphs . People not being careful with flame on boats will get their goose cooked . And not the one your having for lunch with potatoes and peas.


My brother in law, who is a chippie by trade has just done a brilliant fitout in his VW Transportor with a double stainless butane stove . It’s in a long pullout draw so by definition it’s only lit when it’s pulled outside of the vehicle but as per my blurb above it’s 1 metre from his fuel tank. Anyway David if your interested I’ll get you the brand and retailer. It looks to be very well made.

Fire safety is important, I have an extinguisher near the companionway and a fire blanket hanging behind the internal door which is open when I’m using my metho stove.

In regard to petrol though maybe it’s overkill worrying about it . There was an episode of Mythbusters where they totally disproved the tv/movie trope of the car going over the cliff and bursting into flames . They did everything they could to get the petrol tank in the car to blow up ..null ..nix..nada... Had to blow the bloody thing up with C4 in the end to get it to immolate.

The boat fires you see often on tv news are I think statistically mainly caused by leaking fumes gathering in the lower sections of inboard petrol engined cruisers and touched off by electrical faults. There is probably some stat on the net somewhere published by insurance companies that would tell you.

Only 100% safe way to cook on a boat ...sushi

[Ozzie]

Hi David. Brother in law has a Dune 4wd twin butane. $99 at Anaconda (member price but free to join)...mail order is available I think. Similar ones at bcf and maybe Bunnings. Not all stainless but drip tray is . I had no issues with the painted parts with rust leaving mine on the boat for long periods in it’s plastic case , it’s the cylinders you need to keep sealed up. And I either took them home or in a screw top plastic container with a desiccant crystal pack in with them. Anyway FYI.

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Other thing is for $34 they sell trangia brass spirit burners. With two of these you could emulate an origo spirit stove at considerably less price . Just a thought. They have screw top sealers which I think on a boat is better than or at least equal to the origo rubber cap. Sheesh origo are $900 just looked it up.

Quick search turned this up
https://www.bonanza.com/listings/square ... goog_pla=1

OS site but free international delivery

[Ozzie]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_spirit

You got me interested in Shellite David so looked it up. As a young draftsman pre CADD we used shellite as a cleaner to remove pencil and dirt from foil ( plastic) drafting film before ammonia printing. My desk mate, Stuart often had a shellite soaked paper towel and a lit Rothmans in the same hand Yes kiddies these were the days pre OH&S when every work day was an adventure

Anyway seriously, would this be of an issue in regards to your health requirements. Wikipedia article is confusing. Shellite, actually a product name of Shell Aus for white spirit) is a form of mineral turps. Never realised that.

[Ozzie]

Totally confusing to me but then again chemistry was never my favourite subject. The Napthar Wikipedia states

Nephi and naphthar are sometimes used as a synonyms.[1]. It is also known as Shellite in Australia[2].

However on the white spirit Wikipedia page they say

In Australia, white spirit is normally sold under the generic name of Shellite (a trademark of Shell Australia), and is composed of C6 to C10 straight alkanes, classing it as light pure naphtha. It is used for fuel and cleaning....but no citation given .

If you check tsp there was some poster who used dual fuel Colman stoves. I think he had good report

Funny when you look up Shellite on Wikipedia you get stuff used in US Army heavy munitions that would cook not only your dinner but your goose as well.

Only reason I mention it David is that it maybe available to you in Tasmania under a totally different product name.

[Ozzie]

Yes, sorry tsp is Trailer Sailer Place. Something I have a checkered history with.

I checked quickly and can’t find the posts on the subject. I think your own research is probably finding the pros anyway.

Here’s the other shellite reference

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shellite_(explosive)

It was. British Navy by the way not US Army, I get confused because they both have a history of blowing stuff up.....

I learn all sorts of shi....stuff by coming to this forum

[Franklin]

A big shout out to Mr Topaz Bill.
He has given me a great little metho stove. I’m very appreciative. A very generous gesture to give it away to someone he’s never met.
Thanks Mate. Credit to you and this great little forum.
Cheers
Franklin

[Andrew]

I would be a bit wary of using Shellite inside a boat. It's a very volatile fuel, similar to petrol in character.
I've got a MSR shellite camping stove - its designed for hiking/ mountaineering and definitely burns hot (eg melt snow quickly). but wont ever use it aboard.

In my young days, on a remote south Pacific Island with no electricity, some people used shellite (white spirit) Coleman lamps for lighting. They do burn very bright but must be very careful with the volatile fuel.