smoldering? I don't believe you know what the word "smoldering" means. At
least not from your use of the word below:


Origo alcohol for heat ?
From: Rodney Myrvaagnes
Date: 12/5/2004 7:42 PM Eastern Standard Time
Message-id:

On Sun, 05 Dec 2004 14:57:01 GMT, Bill Adams
wrote:

Doug Dotson wrote:
I'd set it up by depositing it in the nearest dumpster. It's just too
old to trust.
Gee, that's what my wife says about me!
These stoves and heaters are not rocket science. Just alcohol poured
over some wicking material with an aperature that opens and closes to
control heat production. Pressure alcohol units are a different story
and I would agree with Doug to toss a forty year old pressure unit. With
the Origo, if it works and is not rusted out, it's likely as safe as the
day it was new.

Also,on another comment, I've let my Origo stove run out of fuel on
many, many occassions (it's how I know I have to add more fuel). The
only negative consequence I've noticed is that my food doesn't cook
until I switch to the other burner. Never seen any damage to the stove.


I agree with Doug on both points. We chartered a boat in the 1980s
that had a two-burner Origo. A total of 8 weeks or so over a period of
years. Ran dry, no problem.

One problem that hasn't been mentioned in this thread, and probably
ra The cover that regulates one of the burners had its rivet crack.
This let a little air in when we shut it down for the night once.

It never stopped burning inside and was still smoldering the next
morning.

Be conscious of that possibility and you will feel it if it happens.
THere was no safety problem in this case, but it did use up some fuel.

That said, I would keep a 40-year old Origo. It generated enough heat
to steam lobsters.



Rodney Myrvaagnes NYC

Let's Put the XXX back in Xmas

westcoast nutter writes this worthless drivel:


Date: 12/5/2004 8:58 PM Eastern Standard Time
Message-id:

On 05 Dec 2004 21:51:03 GMT, (JAXAshby) wrote:

westcoast nutter billie wrote this drivel:

Personally, I think alcohol stoves on a boat are extremely dangerous.
You'll
find that virtually all Marine insurance companies share this view. Don't
believe me? Ask them.

my marine (lower case, capitalized means United States Marine Corps)
insurance
company did not ask at all what kind of stove fuel I had on board. In fact,
they did not care a whit what kind of engine fuel I had on board (I asked if
they did, and they said No). My marine (not capitalized) insurance company
is
a major marine (not capitalized) insurer and part of an extremely large
insurance company, and their rates were less than the clowns at BoatsUS for
greater coverage.

so, just why did westcoast nutter billie utter what he did? Maybe he got
confused by the sun coming up in the east this morning?


Can't even figure out which coat I'm on? I'm not surprised. Meanwhile, ask
any
Marine or marine (whichever blows your skirt up) insurance company for their
history of claims due to alcohol stove "accidents". You haven't done that
yet.

BB



why??

Applause!! Bravo!! Standing ovation!!
The cast of rec.boats.cursing has managed to turn this little
thread into a wait for it flame war!

one westcoast nutter calling himself billie is the same as any other westcoast
nutter calling himself billie.


Date: 12/6/2004 6:56 AM Eastern Standard Time
Message-id:

On 06 Dec 2004 03:09:29 GMT, (JAXAshby) wrote:

westcoast nutter writes this worthless drivel:


Learn to read headers, doofus. I've been posting from The right coast for
many,
many years. I lived in Santa Cruz, CA for a couple of years, but that was in
the
early 70's.

BB

cindy, it turned that way when the idgits couldn't tell an Origo from an Oreo,
but they were happy to flatly state the things were no damned good because they
were white inside.

Applause!! Bravo!! Standing ovation!!
The cast of rec.boats.cursing has managed to turn this little
thread into a wait for it flame war!

On Sun, 05 Dec 2004 22:58:16 GMT, chuck wrote:

Golly, BinaryBill!

Which type of alcohol stove do you think is extremely dangerous:
pressurized alcohol stoves or the Origo type or both? And why?

I would think pressurized alcohol stoves could be troublesome, as could
pressurized propane, gasoline, and kerosene. But the Origo stoves won't
even spill fuel if you turn them upside down!

I have an Origo stove, am very pleased with it, and feel safer with it
than with a pressure stove, however there is a significant danger in
refuelling if the burner is not cold. Pouring alcohol into a warm
burner can create a combustible cloud and if the burner was burned dry
(quite likely the reason you would be filling a warm one) there may
well be a part either hot enough or smouldering that will provide a
source of ignition. If you are filling the burner from a closed
container (like a plastic bottle) the flame can run into the bottle,
overpressure it and spray burning alcohol all over which is a Bad
Thing (TM).

Such accidents really do happen. The precautions are obvious. It's a
bad mistake to think of any combustion system as not being a fire
danger.

Ryk

Ryk,

Thank you for the explicit cautioning.

Will heed !

Courtney



Ryk wrote:

On Sun, 05 Dec 2004 22:58:16 GMT, chuck wrote:


Golly, BinaryBill!

Which type of alcohol stove do you think is extremely dangerous:
pressurized alcohol stoves or the Origo type or both? And why?

I would think pressurized alcohol stoves could be troublesome, as could
pressurized propane, gasoline, and kerosene. But the Origo stoves won't
even spill fuel if you turn them upside down!


I have an Origo stove, am very pleased with it, and feel safer with it
than with a pressure stove, however there is a significant danger in
refuelling if the burner is not cold. Pouring alcohol into a warm
burner can create a combustible cloud and if the burner was burned dry
(quite likely the reason you would be filling a warm one) there may
well be a part either hot enough or smouldering that will provide a
source of ignition. If you are filling the burner from a closed
container (like a plastic bottle) the flame can run into the bottle,
overpressure it and spray burning alcohol all over which is a Bad
Thing (TM).

Such accidents really do happen. The precautions are obvious. It's a
bad mistake to think of any combustion system as not being a fire
danger.

Ryk




--
s/v Mutiny
Rhodes Bounty II
lying Oriental, NC
WDB5619

On Mon, 06 Dec 2004 23:42:59 -0500, Courtney Thomas
wrote:

Do you know where I can find the exact combustion byproducts of an Origo
and in what amounts they are produced ?

====================================

Unfortunately I do not, and they almost surely depend on conditions
and the quality of the fuel used. Not all alchohol is created equal.
:-)

My comment is primarily directed at heating, not cooking. As a
cooking unit the Origo's seem to perform very well and combustion
products although present, are not as big a concern. Virtually any
unvented flame can produce carbon monoxide under the right conditions,
and sleeping with a heater on is not something I'd recommend, even
with a CO detector.

Wayne,

Thank you for your take on this matter.

Do you know where I can find the exact combustion byproducts of an Origo
and in what amounts they are produced ?

Cordially,
Courtney


Wayne.B wrote:

On Fri, 03 Dec 2004 23:04:21 -0500, Courtney Thomas
wrote:


Have come into an old single burner and am considering it as a backup
source.

Opinions, caveats, advice ?


======================================

I am very wary of any combustion heater that does not vent to the
outside. At the least you need a CO monitor and alarm but there are
other risks such as oxygen deprivation and poisoning from combustion
byproducts.




--
s/v Mutiny
Rhodes Bounty II
lying Oriental, NC
WDB5619

Courtney Thomas wrote:

Do you know where I can find the exact combustion byproducts of an Origo
and in what amounts they are produced ?


Courtney ,

Any time you have a flame below decks you should use caution. A
CO detector and good fire extinguishers are good ideas on *any*
boat. Don't let the people who've never used these heaters/stoves
convince you that they're dangerous.

I don't know the exact proportions of gases - perhaps you can
find out from Origo. I can say that we've never had a problem
using our Heat Pal, even while we are sleeping. Alcohol is a very
efficient fuel and I think that the amount of CO produced is very
low. We've found that different brands of fuel will have more or
less smell and those smells probably mean that extra gases are
being produced. I think this has to do with impurities in the
fuel. There are some types of fuel that smell so bad we won't use
without having the companionway open. I also believe that the
quality of fuel is related to the amount of water vapor produced.
The Origo brand fuel seems to be the best, but it is very
expensive. I suspect that a filled cartridge can pull water out
of the air, so we keep ours in a plastic bag when we're not using it.

The worst problems we've ever had with our Heat Pal are running
out of alcohol half way through a two week trip, and water vapor
condensing on the aluminum hatch frame and dripping on our faces
while we sleep.

Cindy

(I should disclose that we're looking into getting a Sigmar
diesel heater.)