[Public-List] About those woodstoves

[Gordon Laco]

Hi Jeff - 

We love our stove; it is capable of heating the boat very effectively.  A
liquid fuel stove would require less tending, but I like the idea of being
able to burn anything and of course the golden flicker of the fire on
Caroline's skin makes the wine taste better....

I wish my stove were more air tight so that we could slow the fire down
better though.  The Little Cod and Hot Pot are much better than the
Dickenson I have in that respect.  In my stove, which is made of stainless
steel plates of varying thicknesses, the loading door and closing dog are
both too light to maintain a tight close seal.  The ash trap in the bottom
is also way too leaky.  The Hot Pot has a novel piece of stove engineering
in it that makes it nice: the fire box is top loading but the flue opening
is half-way down the space.  The theory and practice is that the fuel can't
burn until it works its way down.  In my stove, which loads from the front
and with the flue at the top, everything burns in one great blaze if I load
it up.  I am thinking about ways to make a more positively working dog on
the door that is strong enough to resist the SS sheet metal's predilection
to warp as the stove gets hot.

One very good thing about the stove we have in SURPRISE is the very
efficient heat shielding the manufacturer has designed for the firebox.
Even when the firebox can be seen glowing orange ...the outside of the stove
is only warm and one can place a hand on it comfortably.  The flue is
another story.  It gets really hot and I sometimes worry about the
fibreglass in the cabin top.  I made the hole for the flue as wide as the
flange on the thimble would cover, and have stuffed the space between the
flue and the balsa cored cabin top with non-combustable insulation from a
woodstove installation company.  I also fitted a heat shield around the top
of the flue but I think I will take another step and fix tiles to the
overhead there using 5200.  (George has put pictures of all this on the
site)

We find that wood burns very hot and too fast... And driftwood can leave
sooty spots on the deck.  The best fuels seem to be charcoal briquettes or
charcoal. The later is best of all.  A friend gave me a bag of real coal but
I have not tried that yet.  I hope that the coal turns out to be nice and
slow burning.  Charcoal and briquettes leave no soot whatsoever.  The later
leaves more ash in the stove than the former.  The trouble with charcoal is
that you want the big chunks; but the small ones burn too fast.  Maybe this
will be better if I figure out how to seal the stove better (or give up and
buy a Hot Pot)

We have used our stove in very high winds on various Misery Trips; we had a
back draft only once when were tied up alongside a high wharf.  I figured
that the down drafts of wind were defeating the draft in the stovepipe... We
cured the problem by pegging a wind screen to windward of the charley noble.

I never talk about the stove or fuels without commenting that keeping lots
of fresh air feeding the stove is important.   We exceed the manufacturer's
suggested minimum by a wide margin.

Gord #426 SURPRISE



On 10/22/08 10:57 AM, "Jeffrey" <alberg30nh at gmail.com> wrote:

> Interesting seeing those images with woodstoves installed.
> 
> Can I ask, for those with woodstoves, do you like them?  I've heard
> many times that a woodstove on a boat is a pain to use.  Always back
> drafting and such.  The little experience I have with them on a boat
> is positive. On a friend's boat, we burn charcoal for a couple of
> hours and it really dries the boat out.
> 
> Are they much trouble?? Or more specifically, are they any more
> difficult to use than a woodstove in a home?
> 
> -jeff
> 
> Jeffrey Fongemie
> #116
> My Project Photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/fongemie
> _______________________________________________
> These businesses support your Association:
> http://www.alberg30.org/store/A30supporters.html
> Please support them.
> _______________________________________________
> Public-List mailing list
> Public-List at lists.alberg30.org
> http://lists.alberg30.org/listinfo.cgi/public-list-alberg30.org


 1224693731.0