When I bought my boat 10 yrs ago (it was 10 yrs old then), it had a
pressurized kenyon alchohol stove that didnt work. I got it to work
but decided that such pressurized alchohol stoves are probably one of
the most dangerous things on a boat considering the necessity of
priming with a substance whose flames are frequently difficult to see.
So, I just took out all its innards and dropped large cans of sterno
into the empty burner wells and used longer screws to make the burners
stand off high enough. We have managed to cook simple backpacking
meals on sterno for 5 so it does sort of work but I doubt you could
fix a real meal on it.
This got me thinking about the Origo non-pressurized stoves but they
are very expensive and involves removing the old stove with possible
damage to cabinetry. Why not make an Origo style drop in replacement
for the burner wells for older style pressurized stoves? I saw an
unpressurized alchohol backpacking stove that could be modified to fit
the burner wells, it would need some glass wool in the alchohol
reservoir to keep the fuel from sloshing. Not sure it would provide
much heat though. I have considered making a larger replacement
specifically for this purpose.
Is this worth doing? Would it sell as a product? Do Origo style
stoves work well enough? Would product liability insurance be a
killer? What do y'all think?