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Any ideas on the Seacook Gimbaled Stove ?
http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/st ... 471/470/15[/img]

nothing that i would allow to come inside my cabin! seems mostly to be a solution for open dinghies. since i read about the spilling propane can in the other thread my decision is confirmed: the largest amount of liquid propane/butane on my boat is a cigarette lighter (no i don't smoke, but need it to solder rope ends ).

Dear Norbert, I do not know what happened to the other boats with the propane leaks, This stove is made by "Force 5" and have seen a lot of ocean crossings. I had a backpacker propane stove in a sailboat for many years with the same canister and it never leaked. Drove it around for a few thousand miles. All fuels have to be treated with the proper respect. I think that there is more gasoline fires on boats than anyother fuel. Done right and made right, Propane is a very useful boat cooking fuel. The technology has come a long way in the last 15 years.

Done right and made right, Propane is a very useful boat cooking fuel.

You are correct that propane is a common and useful cooking fuel in boats. However, I'm not aware that the technology has come a long way in the past 15 years, and even if it had, it's nowhere present on this stove.

"Done right" would not by most knowledgeable definition include this stove.

I'm not an expert in this matter, but I know propane stoves properly designed into boats have very stringent design criteria, including outside storage of bottles in specially designed, sealed propane lockers lockers with overboard drains, automatic and manual shutoff valves, sealed combustion chambers with overboard drains, etcetera.

Backpacker stoves have no place inside a boat with a closed cabin.

The fact that propane explosions are less common than gasoline explosions is not a recommendation for propane.

james v, i referred on this thread. i would not offend anybody, but my decision for my boat is clear: no propane/butane cans on board, and never in the cabin. i cook a lot onboard with my 2 burner origo, and it works quite well. a bit slower than propane stoves, but i am not in a hurry there .

hay norbert
if that stuff would't be so teribly expensive i would prefer
a diesel-outboard and a diesel-stove
- no more gasoline or propane/butane or other explosives on board -

( even alcohol can explode )

juergen

I can see your points. There is a lot of threads on this at different sites. A point not mentioned is when alcohol burns it is clear and people have gotten burnt from spills, noted that is is better than being blown up. The other point is the storage of fuel in the boat. These have leaked. West Marine sells a sniffer alarm for CO2, propane, gas, ect for about $ 150.00. Would handle a lot of my concerns more than just propane.

I just bought a Force 10 #82000 from Defender. Naturally, going to sea is a dangerous undertaking. LPG is just another manageble risk associated with boats. I like the gimballed idea. I shure as heck don't want something hot to spill on me or the crew. And then there are all those RV folks with LPG...they don't seem to be blowing up left and right.

Yes, propane is dangerous. With almost any propane system you can change it to butane by just changing the bottle. Nice but hard to get outside the USA. As long as it does not freeze you are OK. Weekly check is needed.

I did change my mind about the stove as I need a 12 inch skillet. I also do not plan any cooking while under way. I am not planning any trips over 12 hours. With some planning it should be doable.

I still have not decieded where to put a 11 pound tank. Right now the best place looks like infront of the wheel. Well, this is still 1 year away.

Key word in any type of stove inside a boat is VENTILATION. I use a Coleman cannister stove,but it gets lots of respect. Open companionway and hatches for ventilation. Cannister comes off the stove after every use,and the tube gets split from the cannister out in the cockpit.
I'm working on a PVC cannister tube to hold 3 fuel cannisters. It will be mounted on a stern rail stanchion,with a bottom vent(over the side)

Gerald Gordon wrote:And then there are all those RV folks with LPG...they don't seem to be blowing up left and right.

KayakDan wrote:Key word in any type of stove inside a boat is VENTILATION.

That is the key... Most RVs store the tanks outside, so all that escaped gas, when you change tanks, can't help but ventilate. Also, the insides of an RV simply isn't sealed up as well as a boat cabin...

The problem with a boat is that once the gas gets down below the cabin entry, its going to be hard to get it out... It'll just settle and collect in the lowest spot it can get to... That is until it explodes...

Butane is lighter than air. Problem solved if you use this. Checking for leaks is a weekly practice.

As said before, Not good below 32 degrees as it will freeze.

James V wrote:Butane is lighter than air.

Actually, it's heavier than propane and twice as heavy as air. Were you thinking about compressed natural gas (CNG)?

[edit] Just checked the freezing point, = -138ºC. Boiling point = -0.5ºC which is the issue for use at 32ºF, but we aren't going to be aboard then.
--
Moe

I use a Coleman type Woods stove and rail mounted Sport B-B-Q with the little propane cannisters you by at HD and other outlets. I store the little cannisters beside the gas tanks in the cockpit and do all propane cooking in the cockpit. I have noticed though, that long term cannister storage on the boat tends to corrode the cannister and threads and who knows what else. In future I will only carry the propane cannisters when I need them, otherwise they will be left at home in the garage. Not sure those cheap little cannisters are meant for marine environments.

Re the storage of bulk propane on a Mac....you may be interested in my mod posted last February under 'cockpit' and 'misc'. I have just sent Heath an updated text and better pics. I am sure he is busy so it may be a few days before he gets the update substituted. We use a Mr. Heater 4000-9000BTU portable heater. This has internal low oxygen shutoff. We also have dual function alarms below. BTW, we never never use propane heater below when sleeping. The Mac interior is small and we find a quick morning or evening warm-up adequate. The new pic shows our mount on the aft port step adjacent to the motor. This is the same general idea used by most larger recreational craft. Any leakage simply would spill overboard. On a recent seven day trip on the Colorado River (Lake Powell) we found our single burner Origo alcohol unit to be our primary source for cooking. It is significantly slower than propane-butane however. We got by for a whole week with one alcohol filling. Jack