How do you light a stove?

[CarinaPDX]

Yep, you really don't get it. Propane explosions aboard boats are anything but rare. I personally knew a couple in my yacht club who blew themselves and another couple up on their boat, resulting in 7 badly splintered legs and one amputation. Four months later they were barely able to move a few feet with the aid of crutches, and they were still in pain. While cruising, on several occasions I saw the remnants of boats that had blown up from propane. And on the way back, motoring north up Lake Huron a boat a couple of miles ahead, coming back from the Mackinac Island Race , blew up and burned; when I passed them the mast, rigging, and deck/cabin were gone and yellow flames with black smoke were coming from the hull - 10 minutes later she sank. This is not some theoretical possibility, it is real and it happens often enough that caution is required: ignore at your own peril. With a healthy respect and the proper equipment and procedures the risks can be managed to an acceptable level.

Greg

[sailorboy1]

Yeah I know of someone that had a propane explosion in their house. ....................... Still doesn't make it so common that you should live in fear of it!

[CarinaPDX]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

Yeah I know of someone that had a propane explosion in their house. ....................... Still doesn't make it so common that you should live in fear of it!

I never said anything about fear: that is your word, not mine. I said that it must be respected and dealt with properly, and if not it is dangerous. Like so much of cruising, the competent skipper must know how to manage the various risks. Manage, not run in fear of, those risks. Anyone prone to hearing ghosts under their beds need not apply, but equally anyone brazenly ignoring real risks should take up something else, or at least stick with risking only his own life.

Through the years I have seen a lot of bad handling of propane, and most people do indeed get away with it. But given the number of boats I have also seen that succumbed to propane explosions it is clear that this version of Russian Roulette does not have an infinite number of empty chambers...

Greg

[captlloyd]

Good advice here about managing and lighting propane devices. What bothers me is when I see a human-being not conquer their fear over something they should not be afraid of. Now climbing in a cage with an African lion would be something I would be afraid of doing, and others should be too. Understandable. But being afraid of lighting a propane device is something you should not be afraid of. In order for an oven to blow up there would have to be a lot of gas build-up, actually its not going to blow up, just blow out. Someone should walk the OP though this lighting process until he is confident he can do it. Then, because there are legitimate reasons for not choosing to use propane on a boat, he can make a decision. But lighting one is not a legitimate reason.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by roverhi

I like to wait a bit after turning the gas on before hitting the igniters on the Weber. That automatically opens the Webers hood with a nice wooompphh!!!!!

....

Ha, did that once by accident on a Magma grill...the lid reached pretty impressive vertical velocity before coming to the end of its stainless lanyard. It was at night too so made for a pretty impressive display. Somehow I avoided injury from either the fireball or the lid.

With a little forethought that could make a cool video. ;-)

[leftbrainstuff]

Originally Posted by Guy

I have never had the courage to light our oven. I am afraid of propane explosions because a little explosion blew me off my feet once and it has left me a chicken. I have no reason to think our Shipmate oven does not work, the broiler seems to work fine. I cannot seem to summon up the courage to turn the oven on , then wait for enough gas to accumulate for it to light. Are there any logical ways to light an oven? Faith will not work for me.

A well maintained propane stove is very safe. The key is preventative maintenance. Each month we check all hoses, the tanks, regulator and solenoid. Each change of bottle we check orings. Any sign of wear we replace the affected items. It's a safety critical system and we treat it accordingly.

We light ours with the standard piezo igniter. We also run a dual fan extractor on the port above the stove.

We have a saying when switching off the oven. 'Gas off twice aye'. When we leave the boat we shutoff the fresh water pump and check the propane shutoff switch is off.



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[model 10]

Originally Posted by captlloyd

Good advice here about managing and lighting propane devices. What bothers me is when I see a human-being not conquer their fear over something they should not be afraid of:

Once again, I have been blown up. I am still alive but it has left a lasting impression. Any of you who have not been blown up from a propane explosion should hesitate a bit before calling me a chicken.
I have read the stove instructions carefully and it still comes down to gas flowing into the oven space and several moments going by with out any action. I have lit numerous old water heaters and know that usually there is lots of fussing an burnt down matches and finally the pilot lights. If I knew that our 40 year old oven worked correctly it would be different. I think the only test there is, is to see if it works.

[boatpoker]

Originally Posted by Guy

Once again, I have been blown up. I am still alive but it has left a lasting impression. Any of you who have not been blown up from a propane explosion should hesitate a bit before calling me a chicken.
I have read the stove instructions carefully and it still comes down to gas flowing into the oven space and several moments going by with out any action. I have lit numerous old water heaters and know that usually there is lots of fussing an burnt down matches and finally the pilot lights. If I knew that our 40 year old oven worked correctly it would be different. I think the only test there is, is to see if it works.

I don't understand "several moments going by without any action"
My propane burners (stove top & oven) light instantaneously. I simply have to hold the control knob on the oven down for a few extra seconds until the thermocouple heats up. Your stove must be either ancient or broken.

[captlloyd]

Originally Posted by boatpoker

I don't understand "several moments going by without any action"
My propane burners (stove top & oven) light instantaneously. I simply have to hold the control knob on the oven down for a few extra seconds until the thermocouple heats up. Your stove must be either ancient or broken.

Yes Boatpoker, I do not understand either? OP was ''Blown Up'' ? Please explain further. ''Blown Up'' to me is dead. By the way, I did not call you a ''Chicken''. I just said you have an unfounded fear. I have lit a deep grill more than once and gotten a flash-back, singed hair and all. Kind of exciting, not death-defying. I sure like accurate, straight forward information.

[model 10]

Originally Posted by captlloyd

Yes Boatpoker, I do not understand either? OP was ''Blown Up'' ? Please explain further. ''Blown Up'' to me is dead. By the way, I did not call you a ''Chicken''. I just said you have an unfounded fear. I have lit a deep grill more than once and gotten a flash-back, singed hair and all. Kind of exciting, not death-defying. I sure like accurate, straight forward information.

Ok, lighting a heater, explosion , I fly up and backwards 10', semi conscious, somewhat singed. Sorry I did not die to meet your standards. It was some other cracker who thought I might be chicken, however don't compare lighting your bar-b to that kind of thing. That is pretty lame excitement.

[kas_1611]

Originally Posted by Wotname

And yet jet fuel have none of the dangers that you describe above. It remains a liguid at room temperatures, is not volatile, it is quite difficult to ignite at room temperature and pressure and has a very distinctive smell.

Most boats carry hundreds of litres of similar stuff and never give it a second thought.

Diesel is not the same as Kerosene. Jet engines do not run on Diesel. Concorde did not do Mach 2.2 running on Diesel. They are similar in that they are heavy hydrocarbon fuels but that's where it ends. In fact Kerosene is added to Diesel in winter to help Diesel burn better (reduces waxing).

Yes I agree liquid hydrocarbons are slightly safer as the liquid does not burn but the gas given off by said liquid that burns, hence why you have to preheat Kerosene (and some Petrol) stoves with a more volatile fluid first.

However the LEL in air for Kerosene is actually 0.7% compared to Propane at 2.1% so it is highly explosive in gaseous form, even Hydrogen is 4%! With a flash point of 38ºC (100ºF) on a hot day it is possible to get enough vapour for a spark to ignite the fuel, hence why you don't leave your ignition on or use a mobile phone in a petrol station.

One last point is that Kerosene and Diesel are both carcinogenic according to the MSDS sheets I have seen whereas Propane has no mutagenic or carcinogenic properties known.

All hydrocarbon fuels are inherently flammable and explosive given the correct conditions and must be treated with respect. Mistreat them and they will bite your ass.

[boatpoker]

Originally Posted by CarinaPDX

Yep, you really don't get it. Propane explosions aboard boats are anything but rare.
Greg

Wow, You've seen more propane explosions than BoatUS claims department.
I don't think I wanna dock next to you

[CarinaPDX]

Actually it would be very enlightening to learn how many claims are made every year. Certainly the marine insurance companies know.

[boatpoker]

Originally Posted by CarinaPDX

Actually it would be very enlightening to learn how many claims are made every year. Certainly the marine insurance companies know.

From BoatUS Seaworthy magazine ....

Causes of Fires Started Aboard
Click on the links below for more information:
1) AC and DC wiring/appliance - 55%
2) Engine/Transmission Overheat - 24%
3) Fuel Leak - 8%
4) Miscellaneous - 7%
5) Unknown - 5%
6) Stove - 1%

6) Stove - 1%

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.

[sailorboy1]

[QUOTE=boatpoker;1883208] Only one fire was started by propane; a portable stove fell off a counter and ignited a cushion.[/COLOR]

I believe what that means is the number of fires caused by permanently installed propane stoves = ZERO