Force 10 Diesel heater.
 

I just saw a neat looking little Force 10 diesel or K1 heater. It has
a very simple mechanism that you prime with alcohol in a cup to heat
up the burner. Brass construction, very compact with a 1" flue and an
outlet that would work well in the place I would have to put it. It
would be an awkward spot to have a typical stove Charlie noble.

Can anyone report their experience with this kind of unit? A big
attraction for me would be to pipe it off the engine fuel supply. I
know there will be a bit more odor and maintenance burning diesel
instead of kero but, will this unit work with it?

--

Roger Long

On Sat, 19 Feb 2005 21:07:51 GMT, "Roger Long"
wrote:

I just saw a neat looking little Force 10 diesel or K1 heater. It has
a very simple mechanism that you prime with alcohol in a cup to heat
up the burner. Brass construction, very compact with a 1" flue and an
outlet that would work well in the place I would have to put it. It
would be an awkward spot to have a typical stove Charlie noble.

Can anyone report their experience with this kind of unit? A big
attraction for me would be to pipe it off the engine fuel supply. I
know there will be a bit more odor and maintenance burning diesel
instead of kero but, will this unit work with it?


I'd use a day-tank instead of piping it off the engine fuel supply.
Mark E. Williams

Oh, of course, and a very good point. I didn't mean that comment as a
piping instruction. The fuel regulation in that kind of burner is
rather crude and would fluctuate wildly with any pressure changes in
the fuel line. A header or day tank would be essential. I was just
referring to having only one fuel to worry about. Fill up the fuel
tank and you are filled up with stove fuel as well. The day tank
supply would tap into the fuel system somewhere so you didn't need to
handle stove fuel other than filling the big tank.

I see the particular little stove I saw in the store is no longer
shown on Dickinson's web site. I wonder if I should grab it. I could
always Ebay it if I decide I want something else, like a larger diesel
stove where the gimbaled alcohol stove is now. This is Maine after
all. I used to cruise with a wood burner and seldom found it
oppressive.

--

Roger Long



"Maynard G. Krebbs" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 19 Feb 2005 21:07:51 GMT, "Roger Long"
wrote:


I'd use a day-tank instead of piping it off the engine fuel supply.
Mark E. Williams

Oops, I thought "Force 10" was a label of Dickinson. Here's the
heater I was looking at:

http://www.force10.com/dieselkerosene.html

--

Roger Long

Roger Long wrote:
Oops, I thought "Force 10" was a label of Dickinson. Here's the
heater I was looking at:

http://www.force10.com/dieselkerosene.html

I had the propane version which did a great job with a 30' boat - but
make sure the diesel version burns #2 diesel (engine fuel) and not
just #1.

Evan

It appears that it does run on diesel. However, it has to be a
pressurized source. They sell a tank with a hand operated air pump but
this would have to be hand filled through a funnel which would be a
real pain.

There is an item in their FAQ's about using a fuel pump but not much
detail. That's an attractive idea because it might get back to the
"T" off the main fuel supply. Hooking the pump up a fire detector and
emergency shut off would be a lot safer than having a pressurize
source of diesel in the boat.

OTOH our boat has two molded cockpit lockers for propane tanks. It's
an unusual feature and might be worth taking advantage of.

--

Roger Long



"Evan Gatehouse" wrote in message
...
Roger Long wrote:
Oops, I thought "Force 10" was a label of Dickinson. Here's the
heater I was looking at:

http://www.force10.com/dieselkerosene.html

I had the propane version which did a great job with a 30' boat -
but make sure the diesel version burns #2 diesel (engine fuel) and
not just #1.

Evan

Roger,

I have that very same heater in question. I installed it last year, not the
easiet to install, but not the hardest either.
Slow down, figure out before hand how you want to install it, then once
you've devised your plan, have at it. The biggest hurdle was installing the
exhaust pipe, and that was only because I had to bend it.

I use the 2 gallon remote tank. I didn't want to tie it off directly to the
fuel tank for a variety of reasons, including the effort involved, expense,
diffuculty etc.... And, since I only planned to burn Kerosene in the unit
(we'll use diesel if we have to) it didn't make much sense from that
standpoint either. The two gallon remote tank also has some advantages as
well, it's completely self contained and self sufficent. We don't need to
use shore power, or ships power to use the unit. We can use it underway, at
anchor, docked, etc.... In a pinch we can siphon off diesel from the main
tank and use that if need be.

Pumping it up by hand with a bicycle pump is a pain in the butt. However,
shivering is also and besides I've gotten use to pumping it up. You need to
pump it up more often when the unit is fullest. After the unit has burned
off some fuel there's more capacity in the tank to hold air, and the more
air you have the less you have to pump. But to make life a little easier I'm
going to look at 12 volt, or battery operated air pumps for the unit. But
pumping it by hand has some advantages; you get a little bit of exercise.
And you're usually pumping up the unit because there's a chill in the air,
however the pumping usually warms you up while your waiting for the heater
to catch up.

The heater will keep our 30 foot boat nice and toasty, in fact we often have
to turn the unit down to keep from over heating. It burns about a gallon on
fuel in a 24 hour period. If you install it correctly then there's little if
any smell. And it adds to the looks of the boat.

Personally I'd gladly go this route again. Yes there are some cons with this
type of unit. But in my opinion the pros outweigh them.

Hope it helps
Jerry Price



"Roger Long" wrote in message
...
I just saw a neat looking little Force 10 diesel or K1 heater. It has
a very simple mechanism that you prime with alcohol in a cup to heat
up the burner. Brass construction, very compact with a 1" flue and an
outlet that would work well in the place I would have to put it. It
would be an awkward spot to have a typical stove Charlie noble.

Can anyone report their experience with this kind of unit? A big
attraction for me would be to pipe it off the engine fuel supply. I
know there will be a bit more odor and maintenance burning diesel
instead of kero but, will this unit work with it?

--

Roger Long

"Roger Long" wrote in message
...
It appears that it does run on diesel. However, it has to be a
pressurized source. They sell a tank with a hand operated air pump but
this would have to be hand filled through a funnel which would be a real
pain.

There is an item in their FAQ's about using a fuel pump but not much
detail. That's an attractive idea because it might get back to the "T"
off the main fuel supply. Hooking the pump up a fire detector and
emergency shut off would be a lot safer than having a pressurize source of
diesel in the boat.

OTOH our boat has two molded cockpit lockers for propane tanks. It's an
unusual feature and might be worth taking advantage of.

--

Roger Long



"Evan Gatehouse" wrote in message
...
Roger Long wrote:
Oops, I thought "Force 10" was a label of Dickinson. Here's the heater
I was looking at:

http://www.force10.com/dieselkerosene.html

I had the propane version which did a great job with a 30' boat - but
make sure the diesel version burns #2 diesel (engine fuel) and not just
#1.

Evan


As you note, it requires fuel under pressure. I once read a post in which
the writer said the output steadily decreases during the night as the
pressure falls and by morning you have next to nothing. I have also heard
these stoves make a fair bit of noise as the pressurized fuel exits the jet
and burns.
If you were to connect it to the main tank so that fuel could be pumped in I
expect you would need to include a reverse flow check valve to maintain
pressure in the day tank.
I have a Dickenson Newport hooked up to my main tank with a Walbro pulse
pump. Worked well last winter but this year the pump would not run. I am
going to install a small day tank and replace my Walbro with a low pressure
rotary pump so that I can fill my day tank.