268DA Stove

Old Vet

New Member
Sep 12, 2010
706
St Lawrence River/1000 Islands
Boat Info
1987 268 Sundancer
Engines
454 Magnum, Alpha One
Having just bought our 268....and having not used it hardly at all...YET....I'm curious about the stove on board and its operation.

Of course...the boat is now all wrapped up here in the Great White FREAKIN' North for the winter so I won't be going near the stove now before spring. But I'm wondering about its operation. Of course....it's 110V for shore power.....but....is it alcohol also and operate similar to a Coleman camping stove type thing? Fill a fuel tank underneath....pump up pressure...then light? I haven't even looked underneath it yet.

Many/any here actually use your stove on alcohol? I've heard a number of people mention they don't like using their liquid fuel stove on board. Don't like the idea of having a flame down below I guess.
 
I've used our alcohol stove(s) for 10 years. It's unique in the way you light it, but once up to heat it runs much like a propane stove. The nice part is that you carry a gallon of alcohol around and KNOW how much fuel you have. The fuel evaporates and doesn't pool in the bilge like propane and can easily be put out with water. So you don't have to worry about unexpected explosions like you might with propane! It's not quite as hot, but that's easily handled by allowing a little more time for cooking.

Here are some instructions. Yes you will have a flame in the burner pot during the initial startup, but after that it's gone. The first time you light it you will think you are doing something wrong! It's OK to have a foot high flame while heating it up! That happens when you have too much alcohol in the burner cup!

http://web.me.com/overholtzer/impliedconsent/Kenyon_Stove.html
 
When I had my 260 I got rid of it and got a searay electric one.

Don't like any gas or propane down below. But thats just me

Rick


That's why the alcohol is so great. If spilled it evaporates! I don't even like carrying propane hanging out on the bow!
 
We now use only alcohol in our 270DA.
Below is a copy of what was posted in the stove part of my restoration thread:

The original Princess alcohol/electric stove was removed. Electric worked fine but when roughing it the pressurized alcohol was very un-reliable in getting a controlled flame. We chose a CookMate 4200 non-pressurized alcohol stove as a replacement. We have been extremely pleased with it's simplicity, controlled flames and cooking results.

With installation I had to steal the outer frame from the Princess to frame the existing hole. The new stove had rounded corners that did not quite cover the opening.

stove1.jpg

Stove with Bamboo cutting Board

stove2.jpg

Cutting Board Removed

stove3.jpg

Canister, wick type fuel containers with rubber storage caps in place
 
I grew up on a boat with an alcohol stove. Like any other piece of equipment, learn how to use it and you get along fine, don't and you will be soon tossing it overboard as "useless, dangerous, a waist of time", take your pic.....In fact my boat has an electric stove only. I am looking for a combination electric/alcohol stove to trade out.. popeye-Olive oil likes her alcohol as well....
 
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They do operate similar to an old coleman white gas stove but if you have not used an alcohol stove, be sure to read the manual before firing it up. It's too easy to melt vinyl and ceiling material. If unsure when it was last used you may want to at least disassemble the burners and clean the orifices before giving it a try. Manuals can be found on-line if needed.

Maintenance seems to be critical with pressurized alcohol. On our boat the alcohol part of the stove was not used or cleaned for many years prior to our purchase. My first run on this particular Princess was scary, control valves were not working properly. After a thorough cleaning and rebuild it worked better but not the way it should. We spend most days roughing it without shore power, thus our opting for the simple non pressurized alcohol replacement.

I agree with many others on avoiding the risks and expense of safely setting up a propane stove.

Best of luck !
 
Thanks guys for all the thoughts, opinions and info.

Come spring I'll likely remove the stove, clean it up and test fire it for the first time on alcohol ourside the boat.

I have no idea when it was last used.
 
Or you can send it to Kenyon and they will rebuild it for you over the winter and it will be in top shape ready to go in the Spring! I'd try it first inside the boat. It's really not THAT scary!
 
Nah...I don't expect it to be terribly "scary". I don't even know if it's a Kenyon stove or not. I presume that's what SeaRay used??

Just be easier to clean up and fire up in my garage though I'd think to be sure it pumps up pressure the way it should and fires the way it should. Something to play with in the spring when the weather is more suitable again.

Thanks.
 
I have a 1977 Kenyon Stainless unit with teak trim in perfect conditon that I am considering to sell?
 
Some tips:

- dont over fill the tanks or the pots on top. The pots are just used for the initial lighting. Once the stove warms, the alcohol inside boils, creating a pressurized vapor that is what does the heating

- Good thing about alcohol stoves is that if you get a big flame you can put it out with water. Bad things are that the flame is hard to see.

- clean up any spills before you light the stove (eyebrows grow back, but light up the ceiling and you have a big problem)

- Don't refill a hot stove - ever. Fill it up before you use it and you wont run out of fuel. If you refill while hot, the alcohol can boil as you fill it, putting alcohol vapor all around the stove. If part of the stove is hot enough you could have a flash fire.

- keep flammable things away from the stove while you are using it. Especially paper towels, napkins etc. Its amazing how a wind gust can move things around in the cabin.

- Have lots of ventilation and open hatches while you use it.

- Never, ever leave the stove unattended while its running. The flame is notoriously uncontrollable and can get very big quickly if you overfill the tanks and use a large pot that holds heat under the pot. (you get rapid alcohol boiling and if raw liquid alcohol spurts out of the burners instead of vapor, you get a BIG flame. You don't want that to happen while you are not watching.

- make sure its truly out and cool before you cover it. The flame is hard to see and it often burns along even after you close the covers until the burners cool enough to stop the vapor.
 
We now use only alcohol in our 270DA.
Below is a copy of what was posted in the stove part of my restoration thread:

The original Princess alcohol/electric stove was removed. Electric worked fine but when roughing it the pressurized alcohol was very un-reliable in getting a controlled flame. We chose a CookMate 4200 non-pressurized alcohol stove as a replacement. We have been extremely pleased with it's simplicity, controlled flames and cooking results.

With installation I had to steal the outer frame from the Princess to frame the existing hole. The new stove had rounded corners that did not quite cover the opening.
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Thats what we did. We try not to spend the night where there is shore power so the 110 part was useless. I found a non-pressurized unit and dropped it in (after some trimming). Works great. Some say it is slow but out on the water we're never in a hurry...
 
Creekwood - great break-down on safely using alcohol and it's characteristics !

KRB64 - I heard the same but we have'nt noticed much of a cooking difference with the non-pressurized. We are right there with you though - no hurry anyway. If a minute or two is that important you should probably be staying on land with your microwave.
 
"If a minute or two is that important you should probably be staying on land with your microwave."

Absolutely true. :thumbsup:

We had a non pressurized stove on our last boat 20 years ago and as I recall it worked just fine when we needed it. Almost all of our cooking was done outside on our grill...but during inclement weather we'd cook down below on occasion. Very seldom though.

I doubt that we'll be using this pressurized stove down below terribly often either...but just like to know that it's fully functional and safe for when/if we do need to use it.
 
Some tips:

- dont over fill the tanks or the pots on top. The pots are just used for the initial lighting. Once the stove warms, the alcohol inside boils, creating a pressurized vapor that is what does the heating

- Good thing about alcohol stoves is that if you get a big flame you can put it out with water. Bad things are that the flame is hard to see.

- clean up any spills before you light the stove (eyebrows grow back, but light up the ceiling and you have a big problem)

- Don't refill a hot stove - ever. Fill it up before you use it and you wont run out of fuel. If you refill while hot, the alcohol can boil as you fill it, putting alcohol vapor all around the stove. If part of the stove is hot enough you could have a flash fire.

- keep flammable things away from the stove while you are using it. Especially paper towels, napkins etc. Its amazing how a wind gust can move things around in the cabin.

- Have lots of ventilation and open hatches while you use it.

- Never, ever leave the stove unattended while its running. The flame is notoriously uncontrollable and can get very big quickly if you overfill the tanks and use a large pot that holds heat under the pot. (you get rapid alcohol boiling and if raw liquid alcohol spurts out of the burners instead of vapor, you get a BIG flame. You don't want that to happen while you are not watching.

- make sure its truly out and cool before you cover it. The flame is hard to see and it often burns along even after you close the covers until the burners cool enough to stop the vapor.
Still working with my alcohol electric Kenyon I am sure glad of the great advise here and that you gave me a month or so back. I get good results with my right hand burner so primarily use that to make the second coffee of the day when I go off fishing. I make the first on electric while getting ready to get underway. My left hand burner is a beast and I can use it but it's prone to flareups and I watch it like a hawk always with the hatch above open and my water ready . I have not had to extinguish anything on the boat but I know all too well that fortune favors the prepared. Just this weekend we were frying some fish and chips in a big outdoor fryer . My wife came out of the house and asked why the fire extinguisher . My response was FFTP. We'll when I dropped the basket of fries in I was too hot and too fast massive boil over and wow the oil fire. I tossed the lid on and extinguished the fire quickly . Probably under 10 seconds but wow scary stuff.
The good .... the fire was out
Reinforced a safety first policy
Dinner was saved no chemical from the extinguisher got in the pot and I relit and carried on
The fish and chips with fresh caught Georgian bay bass was The Best better than the halibut we get around here so No more capt Kens
THE BAD......2 scorched deck boards
Bit of a mess to clean up
Bruised ego my neighbors were watching the whole thing

I am quite certain that my outcome would have been so much worse if not for having my fire extinguisher at hand and by the time I could have gotten into the house the oil in the pit would have been on fire as well as my deck and house.
I am going to continue with my alcohol stove for the season when I'm aboard alone and prepared but for Christmas Rebecca's Dreaming has a newer safer cooker in her galley.on the list
 
Yikes!. That is why I have not bought a turkey fryer. Too much risk.

I was fishing this weekend too. No salmon or trout, so we hit a classic Georgian Bay shoal on the way home and picked up some nice smallmouth bass. Took a couple back for some awesome fish tacos. Nothing like deep water Georgian Bay bass.
 
Good outcomes are generally the result of good planning and the proof is in the pudding. With proper risk assessment I'll try just about anything once so long as I have a sound plan to save myself from disaster. Glad you got some bass. I'd lone to learn trolling for salmon and trout or other techniques and places. I don't have any downriggers YET but I can get fish for the table and freezer I can justify getting some.
 
Good outcomes are generally the result of good planning and the proof is in the pudding. With proper risk assessment I'll try just about anything once so long as I have a sound plan to save myself from disaster. Glad you got some bass. I'd lone to learn trolling for salmon and trout or other techniques and places. I don't have any downriggers YET but I can get fish for the table and freezer I can justify getting some.

They look like this:



A closer look:

[URL='https://flic.kr/p/22gfVYw']
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