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Deepdraft · 23-06-2012, 20:27

Hi,

I just bought a sailboat with a Force 10 heater mounted on the forward bulkhead. Fuel is fed from a tank in the hanging closet forward of the bulkhead. It looks exactly like a fire extinguisher bottle, has no markings, and no tank shutoff valve. Anyone ever seen a setup like this? How do safely remove it? I think it's empty,there's really no way to tell - no gauge either. Previous owner is currently unreachable.

Thanks,
Neil

**DeepFrz** · 23-06-2012, 20:30

Pictures might help.

SVTatia · 23-06-2012, 22:04

What kind of fuel - does it have kerosene burner or gas (LPG)?

mitiempo · 23-06-2012, 23:31

I assume it is a kerosene heater. Here is a link to the manual if you need it.
Force 10 Cozy Cabin Heater Diesel/Kerosine Model Owners Manual

Force 10 didn't install shut off valves in their tanks because they are dangerous.
The original Force 10 tanks did have gauges - I have owned 2 over the years. They were about 10" diameter and 14" or 15" high.

**cal40john** · 24-06-2012, 02:31

Is this canister green? Google Coleman 1 lb propane disposable bottle to see if this is the same.

John

**Lancerbye** · 24-06-2012, 06:50

If it is like the one I had, it will use pressurized diesel. The tank was a pressure vessel that had a fill plug and an air fill valve similar to a tire valve. No valve was needed because they were mounted below the heater and once the pressure was bled off, lines could be opened or disconnected with no possible way of fuel coming out. Force 10 do also make a propane version so check carefully as to what type you have.

mitiempo · 24-06-2012, 07:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lancerbye

If it is like the one I had, it will use pressurized diesel.

Or kerosene.

Deepdraft · 25-06-2012, 15:09

The tank is mounted above the heater, painted red. Is there a way to determine the fuel type?

mitiempo · 25-06-2012, 15:29

Not right above I hope. It is a pressure tank isn't it, with the ability to pump pressure into it?

A picture of the tank and heater would help.

**cal40john** · 25-06-2012, 15:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deepdraft

The tank is mounted above the heater, painted red. Is there a way to determine the fuel type?

Not giving much to work with here. Get a picture. Does it have a fill cap? Does it have a piston pump? Does it have a vent? Does it look like the hose unscrews from the tank? If it does, what does the fitting look like? Propane POL? Or Propane green can fitting? Or something lower pressure?

I don't think anyone is going to be able to help you with a probably custom made tank with little more description than it's red.

John

Deepdraft · 25-06-2012, 15:50

I'll get some pictures. The tank is mounted in the hanging closet other side of the bulkhead that the heater is mounted.

Deepdraft · 25-06-2012, 19:10

Pictures loaded upside down.... Third picture is the fitting from the other side. The fuel line is a flexible braided line.

lancelot9898 · 25-06-2012, 21:19

That setup looks nothing like I had for the Force 10 heater. As someone else mentioned the tank that comes with the heater is a pressurized tank that is installed below the heater and pressure is added via a bicycle pump if I remember right. The tank can be filled with diesel or kerosene and the burner must be preheated with alcohol to get the think to work. After about a year or so of putting up with the stink, I converted it to propane which required installing another burner into the heater. The propane is kept in a vented propane locker and a proper hose is run from that locker all the way to the heater. It works great except for the fact that the ignition(spark) is not working which requires manually lighting the thing. My first thought when seeing that picture is that it really looks like a tank for one of the coleman stoves. Not sure if I would want that gravity fed into the burner or even if that fuel would work safely. If it's propane then I would not want the tank in an unvented enclosure.

**cal40john** · 25-06-2012, 22:24

If someone cobbled that up to work for propane, it would be scary.

Look at the link posted earlier for the diesel version and look at the picture in this link:
SJ23 Tech Tip C07 - Force 10 Bulkhead Heater and Vented Propane Locker.

Does your burner have a cup to pour alcohol in, or does it look like the burner in the link in this post?

In any event, my guess is that this is a diesel version of the heater. I think I would open the valve on the heater long enough to see if there is any pressure left. If there is and liquid flows into a preheater cup then you know it's a diesel heater. If there is no pressure, then time to take down the bottle and start investigating. It doesn't look like there's any way to pressurize it. It looks like it stops delivering fuel when the bottle is still nearly half full. It could be a masterwork of engineering that works properly, but it is not stock and unless the person that built it can tell you what he did, the only other way is to take it apart to see how it works, then throw it away and find a more appropriate pressure tank.

(or pay someone to look at it)

John