Lockgate stoves

[starman]

Anyone have any experience with setting these up or tips on lighting? Ours has been fiddled with by a previous owner and has never run very well. Seems very sensitive to adjustments on regulator. How should it look when running well - yellow flame or blue? How much heat would you expect from it? Done all the usual stripping and cleaning out stuff.

[ChrisPy]

Anyone have any experience with setting these up or tips on lighting? Ours has been fiddled with by a previous owner and has never run very well. Seems very sensitive to adjustments on regulator. How should it look when running well - yellow flame or blue? How much heat would you expect from it? Done all the usual stripping and cleaning out stuff.

I'd be worried about carbon monoxide if a diesel stove was running with a predominantly yellow flame.

[onthecut]

Hi Starman.

 

Don't have a Lockgate, but have a Bubble and a Dickinson cooker. First issue, usually, is have you got a good length flue -- the longer the better. With the Bubble, I open the valve until a damp patch of diesel appears in the tray, place a lit match on the damp patch, close door and away it goes. I always turn it down to a pretty minimum setting straight away. For the first ten or fifteen minutes it burns yellow, but when up to temp. it predominantly runs blue, but only up to setting 1.5 or 2. Beyond that, yellow. Having said that, beyond that setting you'll be sat outside to avoid the heat. I periodically then clean the combustion area and remove the dead matchstalks.

It actually has an electric start provision, but as far as I can see, the pot has to be relatively swimming in diesel before that's effective, so I stick with a match.

The Dickinson is a different beast --- it either runs yellow, or yellow, or, on a good day, yellow. I think there is a fan somewhere underneath it -- I really ought to connect it up and see if it helps. Anyone out there got a clean running one ?

 

Mike.

[Scotty]

When i was looking at the lockgate stoves i noticed they have to be quite close to the fuel tank.

 

Can this be overcome with a fuel pump? and might it be a factor in starman's problems?

[Rob@BSSOffice]

Anyone have any experience with setting these up or tips on lighting? Ours has been fiddled with by a previous owner and has never run very well. Seems very sensitive to adjustments on regulator. How should it look when running well - yellow flame or blue? How much heat would you expect from it? Done all the usual stripping and cleaning out stuff.

 

You're not from the Norfolk Broads Forum by any chance are you? There's a similar question on there at the moment. Anyway we have been in direct contact with Refleks in Denmark from time to time and they have always been very responsive and helpful so I offer you this information if it helps. BTW, in general, a lazy yellow flame is a sign that a combustion process is inefficient and may be producing carbon monoxide.

 

http://www.refleks-olieovne.dk/default.asp?pagenumber=1563

Refleks Olieovne A-S

Lørupvej 17

DK-5750 Ringe

Tel.: +45 62 67 12 68 - Fax: +45 62 67 13 81

E-mail:info@refleks-olieovne.dk

 

Contact: Mr. Tim Bennett

Cosalt InternationaL LTD.

Fish Dock Road

Grimsby

N. E. Lincolnshire

England

DN31 3NW

www.cosalt.co.uk

01472 504 306

01472 504 314

 

Contact: Mr.Pete Turner

Lockgate Ltd.

The Old Iron Warehouse

The Wharf, Shardlow

Derbyshire, DE72 2GH

England

www.lockgate-stoves.co.uk

01332 799 317

 

Regards

Rob

[starman]

No I'm a canal man though I've looked and the query seems similar -- it's the yellow flame that concerns me, though there is a good clean flue etc and the stove appears installed to maker's spec. It's just very. very senstive to settings especially before warmed up -- and even then turning down one 'click' can start the thing going slowly out. How do others find them in use?

[denboy]

have you cleaned the filter in the regulator

[KenK]

Hi Starman,

We have a Lockgate on our boat, no problems with it so far. The flame does tend to be yellowish rather than blue and I have a CO detector close to it which has never gone off. The only thing I do to start it is

 

1 Push in the L shaped bar at the back of the stove a couple of times and then pull it out.

2 Set the dial to the start position, first red mark.

3 Press down the lever on the side to open the valve.

4 Pour in a small amount of Meths, capful usually does it (5ml).

5 Throw in match and quickly close lid.

6 Once it's going properly 5 mins turn the dial to max and turn on the pump.

 

They don't throw out enormous amounts of heat but if it's running correctly the flame looks like a gas ring on a stove, blue / white at the exit and yellow at the centre, in line with the window. The only time ours went out the lever had popped back up for some reason probably human error (mine).

 

Hope this helps

 

 

Ken

[starman]

Thanks for all the advice. I took the stove out, stripped it down and scraped all the burnt-on carbon out of the inside of it (there are lots of small air inlet holes round the burner pot which get blocked easily).

 

Put it back in the boat and -- though it's still a bit iffy to light -- it runs like a dream; glows red, blue flame, loads of heat etc. Trick of running ours seems to be leaving it on pilot until well warmed up then turning up very gradually. Turn it up too much too soon and there's not enough air to completely burn oil so it burns yellow, starts coking up and we're on the way to trouble again.

[denboy]

Thanks for all the advice. I took the stove out, stripped it down and scraped all the burnt-on carbon out of the inside of it (there are lots of small air inlet holes round the burner pot which get blocked easily).

 

Put it back in the boat and -- though it's still a bit iffy to light -- it runs like a dream; glows red, blue flame, loads of heat etc. Trick of running ours seems to be leaving it on pilot until well warmed up then turning up very gradually. Turn it up too much too soon and there's not enough air to completely burn oil so it burns yellow, starts coking up and we're on the way to trouble again.

best way to light it is to put a couple of caps full of turps/white spirit in the pot then light a bit of firelighter (about a 1/4) and drop it in, turn it of once a month and scrap the crud out