Dickenson Cook Stoves

[Vino the Dog]

Now on my third Dickinson diesel cook stove, I have come to the conclusion that the company should cease to exist.

The first one I experienced worked great, but I was a crew hand and had no experience working with it. It was on a commercial fishing boat and all we ever did was throw a TV dinner in the oven to heat up while we worked the gear. I loved it, but was totally ignorant.

The second one I experienced was on the boat I am now living on. It was an older one that got me through a cold spell recently in Portland, Oregon, but at the cost of waking up in the middle of the night with a serious headache and the entire cabin ceiling covered with black soot. This was after researching every thread on this forum to learn about how to operate these stoves along with every other forum that Google could list. After spending two weeks trying to figure out how to make the thing work, I contacted Dickinson.

After several days, the technical representative from Dickinson replied by repeating exactly what their manual states, just like a customer service representative from India when you call about your electronics problem. After getting no useful information from him, I came to the conclusion that my old stove was just worn out, so I started researching my options. I wanted to keep a diesel stove because the system was already installed and I did not want to add a propane system. I found a new Dickinson Pacific cook stove, never installed, brand new, so I bought it and installed it in place of my old one.

I was very happy with my new Dickinson stove until the first time the wind stared to blow. It worked fine. Just like the manual said. Nice lemon yellow flame, no fan needed, very nice. Then it got cold and the wind started to blow. NO POSSIBLE WAY to keep the fire going as it was supposed to! Soot everywhere no matter what I did. Read every page of the instruction manual. Checked every dimension and angle of my flue pipe and it was all within specifications. Taped my flue pipe with adhesive metallic duct tape to make sure there were no leaks. NOTHING WORKED.

Weather calmed down and the Dickinson worked fine. Then I tried cooking in it. Took over an hour to get the temperature to a predicted temperature. "Sorry, darling, I promised you dinner! Bye. Maybe next time. That was over a month ago and I still can not control the temperature well enough to cook an egg sunny side up.

Now it is cold again and the damn thing will NOT raise to any temperature above setting 2 without going out. NO combination of fan and fuel setting will raise above the lowest setting. I KNOW THAT MY FLUE PIPE IS EXACTLY WITHIN DICKINSON SPECS. So is fuel flow, installation and every other thing related to the installation of this stove.

I am also NOT stupid.
Check out my blog on refitting my boat, listed on my signature and tell me if you think I am stupid or incapable of understanding basic mechanics?

I am also wiling to learn. If anyone has experience with these stoves and can help me figure out how to make the damn thing work, please let me know. Dickinson won't!

I would NEVER recommend ANY Dickinson product to anyone whose friendship I want to keep. I know there are people who love these things. NO ONE with a reasonable expectation of performance within any modern standard will EVER accept the unpredictable, dirty, time consuming effort these things require to do what one would expect them to do unless they are just lucky enough to have the EXACT AND INCALCULABLE situation that will make these things work. I say Dickinson products should be avoided unless you find one cheap and are willing to spend a lot of time fussing with it before you buy something that works. I, for one, will NEVER pay good money for any Dickinson product unless they can show me a simple thing where I am wrong. NO NORMAL PERSON will be satisfied with their products unless you are just lucky enough to have the EXACT set up where they will work.

So, now as I write this, I have spent the last three hours doing every thing I can possibly think of to keep this new stove working..., with less than a month use, now, during freezing temperature, hoping to be able to cook a soup... THREE **-KING HOURS with no ability to heat up a pot of water for a soup??? Pss on U, Dickinson - no one in their right mind would ever recommend your products!!!

Feeling lucky? Give Dickinson a couple thousand dollars and see if YOU are satisfied.

Sorry, DIck, you lose my support unless you can show me how I may be wrong.

[FlyingCloud1937]

Vino,

quit being a dog!

Now I have been operating theses stoves for 30 year plus.

Each and every time I have helped someone cursing a diesel pot burner stove manufacture.

The problem was the owner install/operator error.

I have absolutely no affiliation with any of the stove manufactures.

.....

Lets start from the beginning. Please, in as much detail explain your install.

Lloyd

Originally Posted by Vino the Dog

Now on my third Dickinson diesel cook stove, I have come to the conclusion that the company should cease to exist.

The first one I experienced worked great, but I was a crew hand and had no experience working with it. It was on a commercial fishing boat and all we ever did was throw a TV dinner in the oven to heat up while we worked the gear. I loved it, but was totally ignorant.

The second one I experienced was on the boat I am now living on. It was an older one that got me through a cold spell recently in Portland, Oregon, but at the cost of waking up in the middle of the night with a serious headache and the entire cabin ceiling covered with black soot. This was after researching every thread on this forum to learn about how to operate these stoves along with every other forum that Google could list. After spending two weeks trying to figure out how to make the thing work, I contacted Dickinson.

After several days, the technical representative from Dickinson replied by repeating exactly what their manual states, just like a customer service representative from India when you call about your electronics problem. After getting no useful information from him, I came to the conclusion that my old stove was just worn out, so I started researching my options. I wanted to keep a diesel stove because the system was already installed and I did not want to add a propane system. I found a new Dickinson Pacific cook stove, never installed, brand new, so I bought it and installed it in place of my old one.

I was very happy with my new Dickinson stove until the first time the wind stared to blow. It worked fine. Just like the manual said. Nice lemon yellow flame, no fan needed, very nice. Then it got cold and the wind started to blow. NO POSSIBLE WAY to keep the fire going as it was supposed to! Soot everywhere no matter what I did. Read every page of the instruction manual. Checked every dimension and angle of my flue pipe and it was all within specifications. Taped my flue pipe with adhesive metallic duct tape to make sure there were no leaks. NOTHING WORKED.

Weather calmed down and the Dickinson worked fine. Then I tried cooking in it. Took over an hour to get the temperature to a predicted temperature. "Sorry, darling, I promised you dinner! Bye. Maybe next time. That was over a month ago and I still can not control the temperature well enough to cook an egg sunny side up.

Now it is cold again and the damn thing will NOT raise to any temperature above setting 2 without going out. NO combination of fan and fuel setting will raise above the lowest setting. I KNOW THAT MY FLUE PIPE IS EXACTLY WITHIN DICKINSON SPECS. So is fuel flow, installation and every other thing related to the installation of this stove.

I am also NOT stupid.
Check out my blog on refitting my boat, listed on my signature and tell me if you think I am stupid or incapable of understanding basic mechanics?

I am also wiling to learn. If anyone has experience with these stoves and can help me figure out how to make the damn thing work, please let me know. Dickinson won't!

I would NEVER recommend ANY Dickinson product to anyone whose friendship I want to keep. I know there are people who love these things. NO ONE with a reasonable expectation of performance within any modern standard will EVER accept the unpredictable, dirty, time consuming effort these things require to do what one would expect them to do unless they are just lucky enough to have the EXACT AND INCALCULABLE situation that will make these things work. I say Dickinson products should be avoided unless you find one cheap and are willing to spend a lot of time fussing with it before you buy something that works. I, for one, will NEVER pay good money for any Dickinson product unless they can show me a simple thing where I am wrong. NO NORMAL PERSON will be satisfied with their products unless you are just lucky enough to have the EXACT set up where they will work.

So, now as I write this, I have spent the last three hours doing every thing I can possibly think of to keep this new stove working..., with less than a month use, now, during freezing temperature, hoping to be able to cook a soup... THREE **-KING HOURS with no ability to heat up a pot of water for a soup??? Pss on U, Dickinson - no one in their right mind would ever recommend your products!!!

Feeling lucky? Give Dickinson a couple thousand dollars and see if YOU are satisfied.

Sorry, DIck, you lose my support unless you can show me how I may be wrong.

[FlyingCloud1937]

So Vino,

I took your advice and went to your web site.

The very first picture posted was of your stove.


One thing is very clear from this picture. The problems are in fact installer/operator error.

So get off your rant about the manufacture.

You did not follow the manufactures guidelines, else you would have a barometric dampener, in the smoke stack, some where in this picture.

The reason the first stove provided you with so much comfort,

is because it was installed and operated by someone other then yourself.

Lloyd

Originally Posted by FlyingCloud1937

Vino,

quit being a dog!

Now I have been operating theses stoves for 30 year plus.

Each and every time I have helped someone cursing a diesel pot burner stove manufacture.

The problem was the owner install/operator error.

I have absolutely no affiliation with any of the stove manufactures.

.....

Lets start from the beginning. Please, in as much detail explain your install.

Lloyd

[FlyingCloud1937]

The next thing I noticed, is your, new to you stove is actually from the late 70's to early 80's

It has an aluminum top...hope you didn't throw your old stove away. If it's the same model with a cast iron top, you will need to swap the tops.

Other wise you will need to purchase a new cast iron top.

Next up, the Alum top models have a 6 inch burner, and need the revised super heater. You can order that from any Dickenson dealer.

Lloyd

Originally Posted by FlyingCloud1937

So Vino,

I took your advice and went to your web site.

The very first picture posted was of your stove.


One thing is very clear from this picture. The problems are in fact installer/operator error.

So get off your rant about the manufacture.

You did not follow the manufactures guidelines, else you would have a barometric dampener, in the smoke stack, some where in this picture.

The reason the first stove provided you with so much comfort,

is because it was installed and operated by someone other then yourself.

Lloyd

[captain58sailin]

I've had Dickersons for years, no problems with the flue. I have the iron top though. One of the things that I always have had is a "Charlie Noble" on top of the stack, it seems to help the evacuation. One of the other issues that crops up from time to time is the carburetor can get finicky, filtered clean fuel is a must, if any little grit gets under the needle valve it can cause the pot to flood, and either put out the fire or cause the fire to run away. I always clean my carburetor every season. I don't know if you have a day tank or just a fuel pump that keeps a steady pressure to the carburetor. I prefer the gravity fed daytank configuration. My stove runs 24/7 during the fishing season, usually keeps the cabin warmer than I like, I keep the kettle on the cool side of the top so I don't boil out all of my water. I always have hot water for a cuppa or some noodles when the mood moves me. Your experience is different. Is there a chance you don't have that little metal insert in the bottom of your burner pot, I don't know how much it affects the performance, I've never tried to run my stove without it. One of the other things I do from time to time, when the stove is cold, take a shop vac and clean out the soot in the fire box and where the smoke goes up the chimney. On my old gillnetter I had a Dickerson from 1962 and it worked like a champ. I hope you can suss out the problem, once you do, you will fall in love again.

[Vino the Dog]

The current stove is an older one, but was kept in a dry, clean storage place and had never been installed. All its parts are just like new.

I have two factory installation manuals, one that came with the stove and another 24 page one I got from a local chandler. Both state that the barometric damper should be installed in a stack over 7' length. Mine is 5'-10". According to the manuals, it is within specifications without the damper, but if you think that is one of my problems, I am happy to take your word for it and will install one.

The reason the previous one kept me warm was not because it was properly installed, it was because it would only burn in one heat range, which was so hot it would sear the teak above a much worse installation than what I did. The old flue had two 90 degree bends, was stuffed under the starboard deck, and would only work at all with the fan going all the time. This confirms your comment about wrong installation. That I figured out and ripped out the entire galley to the hull and remodelled it to reposition the stove within the guidelines. Still didn't work right so I got rid of it and got this one to keep from burning the boat down and dying from asphyxiation from leaking diesel smoke that covered the cabin ceiling, turning the entire interior of the boat black with soot. Took over a month to clean it up. Not much else I could do since it was below freezing, the only heat source I had, and I live on the boat.

My fuel is new, flowing through new lines to a new filter just before the stove and was filtered going into a gravity fed day tank through a Racor from the main tank. No condensation, dirt or fuel restrictions, so that is not the problem.

A Charlie Noble, will possibly help. Will install that.

What does the revised super heater look like? Not sure if it is what I have or not. What came with this stove is different from the last one.

I don't like the aluminium top, but am not going to go buy a new cast iron one unless I find one to salvage off another stove. Then may change it along with installing a water heating coil, which I have. I am pretty good at figuring things out and will figure this out too. My bet is that both of you are pretty good at figuring things out also, as most commercial fishermen tend to be. Obviously guys like you with lots of experience can get these stoves working OK, but it is a crap shoot for people with no experience and I still would not recommend one, particularly to the average sailor with limited skills.

I very much appreciate you guys trying to help. Thanks for recognizing frustration and putting up with my rant. Now I can GO BACK to being a dog. Dogs don't rant.

[captain58sailin]

I can understand your frustration. I wouldn't want to fill the cabin with a bunch of soot or fumes either, that would piss me off very quickly. I don't know what the aluminum top would have to do with the stove's operation, possibly that year model had some inherent faults. The one currently in my boat had a bunch of sensors put in by the PO and safety switches, which promptly stopped working when I got the boat, I ended up pulling the switch cover off and wiring the cut off valve directly so it wouldn't shut off at arbitrary times, I still have to go back and wire in a toggle switch to that little bundle of joy so it is just a straight off/on situation. Right now I am too busy swapping engines and reduction gears. The weak link in the whole set up is the carburetor, every time I have had a problem it always comes back to that thing. I keep a spare on board and floats & needle valves. Usually I get away with just cleaning it out every now and then. I too filter my fuel, but for some reason, the carburetor bowl gets fine little bits of junk in it over time.

[Astrid]

I have used a Dickinson Adriatic for years. As others have pointed out, clean fuel, periodic cleaning of the burner is necessary for proper operation. I should also point out that low sulfur fuels can also cause some problems as they require more air and a higher temp to vaporize properly. You might need to purchase a fuel baffel for the burner if you are using low sulphur fuels in your stove and you will probably have to fiddle with the air fan until you find the setting which works best. If you don't have the baffel, or if your air flow is insufficient to quickly bring the burner up to heat, you get an accumulation of fuel in the burner pot or bowl, and when it finally reaches temperature, you get excessive burn and a lot of soot.

[hpeer]

I have an older Adriatic I bought, still had shrink wrap on it.

On problem I think I've had is that there seem to be significant changes in fuel characteristics. I recently had to readjust the carb as, with the recent purchase of fuel, it started to run away. I presume it is a summer/winter mix problem?

I had a day tank but switched to a Wabro pump with Holly pressure regulator.

[brutb]

Like they said in the other posts, clean your carb (no matter how new), clean fuel which you say you have, gravity tank to carb, charlie noble and the damper will make it work and the temp adjustable. Years ago I found that a small bilge blower on an adjustable rehostat allowed me to make my small diesel stove glow cherrie red when I need cabin heat in a hurry in Tacoma. Good sealing of the stove pipe joint and the proper charlie noble kept the soot out of the cabin..... Good luck on getting your new to you stove heating and cooking as well as possible.

[Astrid]

You can get that runaway problem with low-sulphur fuels. It needs a higher temp and more air to properly vaporize; this leads to a slow heat build up when first started and more accumulation of fuel in the burner pot. Without a special baffle for use with such fuels to raise the temperature more quickly, and adjusting the air flow to the burner, fuel accumulates. It will eventually ignite when the burner gets hot enough, but causes both higher amounts of soot and an overheating of the burner and possible run-away symptoms as you noticed.

[cburger]

Vino I just went through the same issues you describe with a Dickinson diesel heater, can you please where you are living so I can try and help you with your very frustrating issues. I completely agree with you, wouldn't recommend their gear to anyone and am amazed they haven't been sued out of business.

[Ofer]

Originally Posted by Vino the Dog

Now on my third Dickinson diesel cook stove, I have come to the conclusion that the company should cease to exist.
.

I agree 100%

I had a similar issue with their customer service. Will not buy another product from them EVER!

[Ofer]

BTW thank you for taking the time to post your issues.

You made my day!

[cburger]

Originally Posted by Ofer

I agree 100%

I had a similar issue with their customer service. Will not buy another product from them EVER!

Think you meant to say cheap, shoddy, poorly designed, expensive, dirty soot spewing products. I am truly amazed that there hasn't loss of life with these stoves.