Kenyon alcohol single burner?

berkan

berkan

Member
Oct 27, 2007
39
Uppsala Sweden
Boat Info
Sundancer 270 da 1997
Engines
7,4l / Bravo 3
:smt100
Hi there
We have a big problem with our stove,it`s the original single burner for our 270 da 1997!
The problem is when we cook longer then 5 minutes the flames turn longer and more yellow and soots the pots & pans so they get completely black on the outside and the electric spiral as well!(wich means we can`t touch anything without everything turns black)
I have cleaned the canister and burnt it dry and filled it with 6oz denaturated ethanol but nothing changes, is the stove not better than this or do you guy`s have any better fuel then me?:huh:
 
I've been using the stove fuel from west marine with good success. Burns very clean.
 
We had a similar stove on our 97 250. Have you tried closing off some of the flame, making it smaller, using the small thumbwheel on the bottom of the stove?
 
Yes i have tried to decrease the flame,but nothing seems to help!
My fuel is called Origonol and is a special cleanfuel made for the Origo&Dometic stoves,but they burn whitout the sooting effect!
So something must be wrong with our stove, but i can`t see what that could be!
 
berkan said:
:smt100
Hi there
We have a big problem with our stove,it`s the original single burner for our 270 da 1997!
The problem is when we cook longer then 5 minutes the flames turn longer and more yellow and soots the pots & pans so they get completely black on the outside and the electric spiral as well!(wich means we can`t touch anything without everything turns black)
I have cleaned the canister and burnt it dry and filled it with 6oz denaturated ethanol but nothing changes, is the stove not better than this or do you guy`s have any better fuel then me?:huh:
Click to expand...


i know this thread is very old but was this ever resolved. I have exactly the same problem here in Australia and have posted about it before without success. Here is the link to that thread. Any help please !!!
http://clubsearay.com/showthread.php/49838-Kenyon-Stove-soot-on-pots-and-pans?highlight=Kenyon+stove
 
I did not have this problem with the Kenyon alcohol stove we had in our 230 Sundancer but I do have a theory. In the absence of answers maybe this will give you a starting point to consider... I had an old Coleman camping stove that did the exact same thing. Yellowing could be a sign of excess oxygen in the flame (?) When that old Coleman would heat up after awhile, the press fitting from the tank to the burner would shift and let air into the line between tank and flame, resulting in a transition from blue flame to the yellowish/soot flame. Try checking the line fittings in the stove to make sure you don't have a place that is allowing air into the line.
 
Thanks Gerald. I will pull the stove out and check. The boat is 5 years old and we bought it one year ago and the stove hadn't been used, so if there's an air leak its been there since new. I have never been able to use it without sooting and a yellow flame. Had plenty of experience with pressurized and non pressurized alcohol stoves before, not with this problem. Just to be able to make a coffee away from the marina would be great. Thank you.
 
I've had that with my Coleman camping stove too. A good cleaning solved it.
 
Not to dispute anyones actual experiences but generally, a sooty and/or yellow flame is indicative of incomplete combustion, usually caused by a lack of oxygen, not an excess. Sounds to me like the air intakes are partially blocked and as the stove heats up, and things expand, the orifices grow closed choking off the air supply.

As an illustration, anyone who has ever used an oxy/acetylene torch knows that when you light the gas, its a sooty yellow flame that turns blue when you open the oxygen valve.
 
Actually you are right of course; I had my oxy bassackards in my memory! The welding explanation is correct of course. All I can say is that when I repaired the line in the Coleman stove to keep air from entering it fixed that problem. :shrug: Maybe it altered the fuel/air ration enough to throw it off.... I'd still check the lines and/or give it a real good cleaning. I hear ya about the need; coffee in the morning is a daily tradition for me while we are on the hook.
 
Last edited:
Thanks all for your input. I think I'll take the stove out and bring it home, then try to work out the problem out in the fresh air rather than down below. Maybe over Easter. I'll let you know how I go.
 
Last edited:
FWIW I tried the never before used alcohol stove on my '07 260 last year (same Kenyon as yours) and it did the same thing. Orange flame and sooty, I used some fuel from West Marine and figured it was bad or I was just doing something wrong. Since I have a generator I dont really plan on using it but it was there and I wanted to try it to see how it worked. Maybe I'll play with it a little more this year, but like you I dont feel comfortable messing with it in the cabin.
 
I think its the same stuff. Hard to find denatured alcohol up here. We use Methyl Hydrate.
 
If its a pressurized stove, you can adjust the air but turning the burner with a set of pliers.
 
Molson said:
If its a pressurized stove, you can adjust the air but turning the burner with a set of pliers.
Click to expand...

Its not pressurized, just sits in a little reservoir and wicks into the burner. Fron the owners manual:

Theory
This patented burner system incorporates an internal tank in the burner assembly that does not require any external pressurization. This burner system uses ethyl alcohol. The “center chimney” contains a fiber wick, which is lit to start the burner. The flame from the wick, vaporizing and pressurizing the alcohol inside rapidly heats a separate surrounding chamber, within the burner. A ring of holes (burner jets) in the top of this vaporization chamber allows the escape of the alcohol vapor which is ignited by the central flame. The central flame then diminishes and the burner functions in the normal manner.

Not really a whole lot to it, no moving parts except the little plate that slides over the burner to regulate the heat and put it out. Other than that its just some holes, alcohol and air - plus some fire to get it started of course.
 
Amazing what a little time and patience reveals. I took the stove out of the boat on Friday and brought it home over the weekend. My stove is the non pressurised type and there are a total of 13 "burner jets" around the central chimney. The stove is effectively brand new as it had not been used before I purchased the boat in January 2012, so I know the burner jets are clean. What I discovered is that with only 8 jets showing (the snuffer plate covering the remaining 5 jets), I get a clean burn, just the slightest tinge of yellow at the end of the flame, and no soot on the bottom of the kettle. Open the snuffer plate up by only 1 more jet to reveal 9 jets, and the sooting begins. So I have to operate this at 8/13 of full heat, a little over 60%. I was still able to get the water to boil, which in reality, is about all I would be requiring the stove to do - can't see myself cooking up a feast inside the boat - my transom BBQ does that fine.

I never realised the stove would be that sensitive to adjustment, as in the past, to boil water, I had simply put it on full (13 jets). Now to get the scorch marks out of the stainless steel...

I would be interested to know if others have had the same experience.
 
Common with the old alcohol pressurized stoves. It took a while to get them up to operating temps and a good clean burn. I'd guess once yours is up to temp it will run wide open just fine? That or maybe there is something in the system since it's still new that might prevent it from operating correctly. As you use it more I'd guess it will get better.
 
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