Where is the combustion assist fan on Dickinson Bering Diesel Stove?

[MayaC]

Hello all! I have recently purchased an old wooden sailboat (1968) that has a Dickinson Bering Diesel stove on it (I'm assuming from the same year). The previous owners said that the stove always worked great for them, however whenever I light it it fills the cabin with diesel smoke. I noticed on the instructions it says to turn the combustion assist fan on after lighting until the starter fuel has all burned up. However, I'm not sure if I have a combustion assist fan or not. Where would it be located?
Do other people have this stove with no fan? If so is there a way to light it without it filling the cabin with smoke?

Thank-you so much in advance!

[JohnHutchins]

The fan itself will be under the stove. There should be a little copper tube coming down the fuel metering valve, bending under the stove and back up to enter it at the burner. The combustion assist fan, if there is one, will also be under the burner. The appearance of the controls has changed over the years but they will be somewhere accessible and will consist of an on/off rocker or toggle switch near a rotary knob -- maybe a brass one that turns smoothly or maybe a chicken headed one that turns in steps. They can be located in different places according to whatever is convenient for the particular installation but on a modern stove would be on the lower front of the stove.

Other things to think about:

Is your chimney clean?
Is your burner clean?
Are the little holes in the side of the burner pot clean -- they are much more important than you might think.
Do you have all the burner parts -- the burner ring and superheater are important.

Do you know how long it's been since the stove was used? Have you asked the person you bought it from whether he has trouble with smoke in the cabin?

It might be helpful if you put up some pictures of your stove including pictures taken down into the burner and described the process you go through when lighting it.

[MayaC]

Thank-you so much for your reply! I will look for the fan later today.
The burner is definitely clean and it does have all the parts. I'm not sure about the chimney though. How does one go about cleaning that? I've had a hard time getting a hold of the past owners, though I do know they hadn't been using the stove for the last 6 years or so.