Hey, Diesel Guys !

[ssullivan]

If you like diesel heaters...

Feast your eyes on THIS!

I'm not into diesel, but if you are... this is Marine Stove's new addition to the family.

No fan or electricity required. Pretty slick - for diesel... ha ha

[rebel heart]

That's pretty damn nautical looking. I like the flame; makes it look cozy.

[David M]

Looks like nice way to warm things up. My wife says she wants one when we get a boat.

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha Sean,
That looks huge. Did you ever get your Dickinsen to work right?
JohnL

[crumper]

Nice heater.
I have just bought a 365 pearson with a dickinson chespeake in it. I cleaned it, it has a remote tank in the head, but I can't get a clean flow of fuel to the heater. I'm trying clean fuel, liquid parafin, for starters. There appears to be a pump in the bilge near the heater but the pump doesn't respond to a 12 v jump. The thing that's got me is why would you need a pump with a tank that's above the level of the heater and valve? The heater is sweet, and the chesapeake is cold this time of year. I would dearly love to get it cranked up.

Motu Iti

[ssullivan]

Originally Posted by SkiprJohn

Aloha Sean,
That looks huge. Did you ever get your Dickinsen to work right?
JohnL

The unit in the picture is (I think) no larger footprint than the Dickinson. It's just taller.

I did get the Dickenson to work to the level it was designed to work. The problem are this:

1) It doesn't put out *real* heat - just a whimpy bit like a toy.

2) It takes hours to warm up a very well insulated 16'x7'x7' living space

3) As the room gets colder, the diesel going to the burner flows slower and as the room gets warmer, the diesel to the burner flows faster. It's an issue all these gravity fed diesels have. Diesel gets thicker as it gets colder. In my case, this has caused many an unsafe condition (overfiring when I was sleeping) and also some freezing in the AM (just when you need the stove the most)

For the 3 reasons above (as well as the fact that diesl is $3.50 a gallon), I just placed an order for a new Little Cod wood stove. I'll finally be able to be WARM this winter and have instant heat. Ahhhhh... can't wait!

[Pblais]

Actually looking at the picture the flame is poorly adjusted.It should not be yellow. It should be blue. I don't understand the problems you have had Sean. I have a Sigmar and it's as close to a Dickensen as you get. That stove will get very hot! I can't run it full for very long. The fuel efficiency is quite good.

Crumper, you need the pump! The stove needs a 2.5 lb self regulated fuel pump (or an attached regulator). That is the pump spec you need. You only need a 12 volt pump that you can connect up and set the pressure. You can then use the adjustment on the stove to fine tune it. It is possible the pump is trashed as the old bellows fuel pumps don't last all that long. You won't get this stove to do anything serious without the pump.

[ssullivan]

Originally Posted by Pblais

Actually looking at the picture the flame is poorly adjusted.It should not be yellow. It should be blue. I don't understand the problems you have had Sean. I have a Sigmar and it's as close to a Dickensen as you get. That stove will get very hot! I can't run it full for very long. The fuel efficiency is quite good.

Paul, I think the fact that you use a fuel pump (as opposed to gravity) might be what makes your heater run more smoothly. That, and maybe the fact that you're down South a bit. The effects of the slower diesel flow don't become really apparent until the temp of the room drops first below 60 (just barely apparent effects) and then below 40, where you get more pronounced effects.

I disagree with your statement about the flame from my experience with the Dickenson. While a blue flame is more efficient (more complete burn), there is more actual heat produced by the stove when you have the flame adjusted as in the photo. With my Dickenson, if you have an all blue flame, you are freezing to death. BTU's are low. Once I make larger blue/yellow flames like in the photo, I get the most heat the Dickenson will put out, which is very little compared to the wood stove I re-ordered.

Aside from the issue with diesel viscosity, I think the Dickinson is just too whimpy for my application. At 16,000BTU, it's more of a fall and spring heater, not something you can use in January in Maine. I was used to 26,000BTUs, and I think that was about the min you need.

It was 17 a couple nights ago. Paying $300-$400/mo in diesel and getting inadequate heat just isn't worth it. The entire Little Cod is $1200 and it is infinitely more simple to use. No adjusting, no compensating for room temp, no waiting to be warm while it struggles to heat the place and no monthly payment. I had thought I needed a diesel heater in an RV so I wouldn't have a smoke column rising up. As it turns out, I will burn free wood when the column doesn't matter and hardwood charcoal or another fuel that makes clear smoke if I need to tone down the smoke column.

[Pblais]

Paul, I think the fact that you use a fuel pump (as opposed to gravity) might be what makes your heater run more smoothly.

The PO lived on the boat in DE all winter and used it as the only heat source. Once properly preheated I can't make the flame burn yellow. It burns blue when properly adjusted. It makes a jet like noise when it is going full. If it is burning yellow then it is also smoking and not preperly preheated or atomized.

Yes, it's not as cold here but I don't see that it makes that much difference. I really can't operate the stove at a setting higher than maybe 4 (on a 1 to 9 scale) continuously without it getting excessively hot. That would be in water that is 45 degrees F. The air temp make be a small factor but the water temperature is where the serious cold comes from.

It normally requires me to preheat with 1 oz of denatured alcohol. This burns for almost 5 minutes and just before it goes out I light the diesel. In a few additional minutes at the lowest setting the stove is fully preheated and you can set it as required. At that point the stove only burns a blue flame. You use the settings to make it taller or shorter. There is a small fan overhead that blows along the chimney to capture the heat from it before the flue goes out the deck. That flue will get exceptionally hot and provide a great deal of additional output.

The gravity tank may be able to get the head pressure to 2.5 pounds but if you don't get that much it won't allow the stove to work properly. It needs that pressure to atomize the diesel. Unless you do that it just burns too slow to put out any serious heat. That appears where you are at with it since it burns only yellow. It should easily out heat a wood stove.

The better option is to use the same heaters they use in trucks. They are about the diameter of a fire extinguisher and about double the length. They are self contained and work on a thermostatic control. It makes the operation almost idiot proof. They burn quite efficiently and without smell.

[ssullivan]

Originally Posted by Pblais

The PO lived on the boat in DE all winter and used it as the only heat source. Once properly preheated I can't make the flame burn yellow. It burns blue when properly adjusted. It makes a jet like noise when it is going full. If it is burning yellow then it is also smoking and not preperly preheated or atomized.

Yes, it's not as cold here but I don't see that it makes that much difference. I really can't operate the stove at a setting higher than maybe 4 (on a 1 to 9 scale) continuously without it getting excessively hot. That would be in water that is 45 degrees F. The air temp make be a small factor but the water temperature is where the serious cold comes from.

It normally requires me to preheat with 1 oz of denatured alcohol. This burns for almost 5 minutes and just before it goes out I light the diesel. In a few additional minutes at the lowest setting the stove is fully preheated and you can set it as required. At that point the stove only burns a blue flame. You use the settings to make it taller or shorter. There is a small fan overhead that blows along the chimney to capture the heat from it before the flue goes out the deck. That flue will get exceptionally hot and provide a great deal of additional output.

The gravity tank may be able to get the head pressure to 2.5 pounds but if you don't get that much it won't allow the stove to work properly. It needs that pressure to atomize the diesel. Unless you do that it just burns too slow to put out any serious heat. That appears where you are at with it since it burns only yellow. It should easily out heat a wood stove.

The better option is to use the same heaters they use in trucks. They are about the diameter of a fire extinguisher and about double the length. They are self contained and work on a thermostatic control. It makes the operation almost idiot proof. They burn quite efficiently and without smell.

Interesting. My heater behaves quite differently. I have the gravity tank's lowest point (the point of the fuel tap) a little over 4 feet up from the stove. Everything I did was straight from the installation manual for the Dickenson. When I called, they said a 4ft drop is as close to perfect as you can get.

I do find it interesting that your stove burns with only a blue flame. This is not the case with mine. Mine will burn in many various configurations (blue flame, all bright yellow, or sooty orange) depending on how you have the fuel metering valve and airflow control set. They mention these colors of flame in the Dickenson manual, suggesting your flame should be "lemon yellow" or blue.

I'm thankful for the post. It helps me understand that maybe my particular brand of diesel heater is the problem. It is set up quite differently from yours. The differences are:

1) The combustion assist fan is a "pusher" and blows air into the stove.
2) It is meant to burn blue or "lemon yellow" as mentioned in the manual
3) Mine preheats with diesel (lit by some tissue paper), not with alcohol

Thanks for the comparison. I think the Sigmar and the Dickinson are two different animals. However, there is one point where you are in error.

The rating for a Dickenson Lofoten (as well as a few of their other models) is 16,000BTU on full output.

The rating for the Little Cod wood stove is 28,000BTUs on full output.

There is no comparison - the wood stove will most definitely out heat the diesel heater, by 12,000BTUs per hour, to be exact. Or almost double the output of the Dickenson. This is probably why I feel the heat produced by the Dickenson is similar to that of an Easy Bake Oven.

http://www.hasbro.com/easybake/

Do you have a link to the truck "fire extinguisher" type diesel heater? I had never really hear of these before. Thanks!

[Boracay]

I thought that the standard way for Cruisers to become warm was to head south (or north for those of us down under) "until the butter melts.."

[Auspicious]

Originally Posted by ssullivan

Do you have a link to the truck "fire extinguisher" type diesel heater? I had never really hear of these before. Thanks!

The Webasto and Espar diesel-fired forced-air heaters are truck heaters.

[Pblais]

I just was with friends from Marblehead, Mass. That have one of the new style truck heaters and this is really nice. Battery powered for the forced air part of it but nice and quiet and heats the whole boat. The Sigmar is no longer made as they were bought out and now sell this style. I would say there are 4 or more different vendors that make them.

[Lancerbye]

Have an diesel Espar hydronic type, selective zone heating. Love it.

[ssullivan]

There are many reasons the Espar or Webasto are good. I agree with the convenience. Imagine... just set a temp and make sure the diesel is full!

The luxury!

Unfortunately, we use our heater as a source to cook on. I really like having a stove top running for free all the time. That's what ruled out the Espar (aside from the price to buy, install and run).

Paul, did you mean Espar when you mentioned "fire extinguisher" style heaters? My curiousity is getting the best of me on that one. Just curious. The Little Cod should be on its way soon, so I'll be back to a trusty wood stove.