Tell me About These Kerosene Burners

[pressuredrop]

shipmate pressurized kerosene stove of unknown vintage came with these, marked al 2.. they seem deceptively simple i feel like i am over looking something, give me the good the bad and the ugly...

[Duke 48]

I'm just guessing, but it looks like a section of the feed line is heated to cause it to vaporize and burn like a propane flame.

[pressuredrop]

correct, just looking for general information and experiences from people that have used them, google turns up nottthhiiinnggg

[hpeer]

Try Base Camp

base-camp.co.uk

[SkiprJohn]

Yes, I had one (Shipmate) back in the '80s. Heated the burner with alcohol in a little pan located on the burner then turned on the kerosene once the burner was hot. It was a very dangerous and flammable operation which I and each one of my crew hated. I've since gone over to propane.
kind regards,

[justgeorge]

if you use this stove do not leave it unatended, if it goes out unnoticed for as little as 5 minutes do not relight, liqiud kerosene will have colected and will flare up with lots of black soot taking hours of cleaning off the inside of your boat.(guess how I know) The best thing to do with this stove is give it the float test or give it away. We put in a wallas and are very happy with it.

[hpeer]

Yes, please, float one or three my way!

[onestepcsy37]

had a kerosene stove back in the 70's - 80's. glad to be rid of it. for a simple and inexpensive cook stove try a coleman propane camp stove.

first you had to pressurize the kerosene tank with a small pump attached to the tank. then you filled the 'pan' around the burner with alcohol. then you lit the alcohol and let it burn out. this heated up the kerosene burner which helped to atomize the kerosene. then you turned the kerosene burner knob on and lit the burner. if all went well the kerosene stove did burn pretty hot - much hotter than a pure alcohol stove, but had to be carefully regulated or it would produce a black sooty smoke that got all over everything. had to clean the burners every few months.

i would send the parts to a museum.....

[marc2012]

I have a kerosene stove & the burners are not like those.

[pressuredrop]

Originally Posted by justgeorge

if you use this stove do not leave it unatended, if it goes out unnoticed for as little as 5 minutes do not relight, liqiud kerosene will have colected and will flare up with lots of black soot taking hours of cleaning off the inside of your boat.(guess how I know)

thanks george, ^ this is the kind of response i was looking for

Originally Posted by justgeorge

The best thing to do with this stove is give it the float test or give it away.

^ this is not!!. glad everyone loves their propane, for now im determined to make this work

[justgeorge]

these stoves can be made to work Mine was old. 40+ years. The person I bought my boat from has a newer bigger boat near mine. He took the propane out and put kerosene in. He feels its safer and simple to repair,so good luck have fun and be carful.

[hpeer]

Just, I generally agree and have done the same thing.

The only reservation I have is the TYPE of stove Pressure has. From the pics they don't appear to be a normal Primus burner. May be harder than normal to find parts.

Still, I like kero for the points you mention.

[pressuredrop]

just occured to me that these could be alcohol burners (hence the AL2 markings...) how can i tell?

[hpeer]

Try googling "Vintage alcohol burner." Some interesting pics.

[Jimbo485]

We have used both propane and kerosene on different boats. The disadvantages of kero are all listed above (flare-ups, requires pre-heating, blocked burners, etc).

The advantages are that
- 20 litres will go a long way (6 months for us)
- can be stored in a jerry jug with no special gas detectors and hoses going over the side
- kero is readily available in the 3rd world
- no need for special valves to pour kero from one container to your stove