Taylor’s Heater

[Roadrobin]

Help please. I have Taylor’s Heater 079K. When pressurised I have paraffin leaking from a small nut which is at the top and centre of the 4 leg burner. I can’t understand if the nut would need re tightening but I’m unable to get a small spanner between the burner 

[Jen-in-Wellies]

Welcome to the forum. A photo of the area around the burner might help those unfamiliar with this heater. 

[LadyG]

25 minutes ago, Roadrobin said:

Help please. I have Taylor’s Heater 079K. When pressurised I have paraffin leaking from a small nut which is at the top and centre of the 4 leg burner. I can’t understand if the nut would need re tightening but I’m unable to get a small spanner between the burner 

I had some extra thin spanners (cyclist),at one time, but if there is a leak, it might be better to dismantle the fixture, replace serviceable parts,  etc etc. You really need to service these things ... when was it last serviced?

Edited February 26 by LadyG

[carlt]

Is it the nut that this waggly wrench was designed to reach?

 

Just another thought...

 

Is the "nut" you're describing actually the jet which is supposed to be emitting vapourised paraffin?

 

Are you preheating the burner?

[mrsmelly]

Cannot help other than to say that we had one on one of our boats and it was a great bit of kit so sort it if you can. 

[carlt]

24 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

Cannot help other than to say that we had one on one of our boats and it was a great bit of kit so sort it if you can. 

Every part on them is serviceable or replaceable.

 

I've got the older model and I keep threatening to sell it but I wouldn't make enough to pay for the divorce.

 

[Roadrobin]

Thanks for all replies, I’ll remove the burner and get a full service kit. Also get a couple of the spanner’s that’s suggested I always pre heat well but just pressurising without heating I have the leak. It’s been a good friend never a problem before in 15 years. Thanks again

[carlt]

47 minutes ago, Roadrobin said:

Thanks for all replies, I’ll remove the burner and get a full service kit. Also get a couple of the spanner’s that’s suggested I always pre heat well but just pressurising without heating I have the leak. It’s been a good friend never a problem before in 15 years. Thanks again

The seals go eventually.

 

The spares kit in my photo has a lifetime's supply of seals and stuff.

 

If you need anything for the 079K then https://www.sparesmarine.co.uk/ are the place to go.

 

[Roadrobin]

Thanks for that I’ll go to their site

[Up-Side-Down]

Or try http://www.taylorsheatersandcookers.co.uk

[Roadrobin]

Thanks  will do

[Bee]

Almost certainly Carl t is correct, you need the waggly spanner thingy, there are 2 sizes of them and there might be a little fibre washer under the jet  which could be the problem. Don't use too much force on it as the adjustable burner is awfully expensive, the non adjustable version is not expensive but then it becomes  just a basic primus stove. 

[Roadrobin]

Thank you Bee  that's very helpful also  I'm about to purchase the scanner to remove the jet

[blackrose]

On 26/02/2026 at 15:16, mrsmelly said:

Cannot help other than to say that we had one on one of our boats and it was a great bit of kit so sort it if you can. 

 

I thought the general advice was that any liquid fuel produces an equal volume of condensation as the fuel burned, so paraffin heaters were not recommended on boats? I have to say that was not my experience when I used to have a paraffin heater on board. The only problem was that on start-up and shut down, the smell of fumes meant opening up the boat up to evacuate the fumes, defeating the object of using the heater in the first place. That was the only reason I got rid of it, nothing to do with condensation which everyone warned about, but which I never experienced.

Edited Tuesday at 08:21 by blackrose

[alias]

25 minutes ago, blackrose said:

 

I thought the general advice was that any liquid fuel produces an equal volume of condensation as the fuel burned, so paraffin heaters were not recommended on boats? I have to say that was not my experience when I used to have a paraffin heater on board. The only problem was that on start-up and shut down, the smell of fumes meant opening up the boat up to evacuate the fumes, defeating the object of using the heater in the first place. That was the only reason I got rid of it, nothing to do with condensation which everyone warned about, but which I never experienced.

 

As a rough rule of thumb a litre of water is a combustion product of a litre of liquid fuel. It would only add to condensation if it was vented inside the boat, rather than out through a flu.

[blackrose]

29 minutes ago, alias said:

 

As a rough rule of thumb a litre of water is a combustion product of a litre of liquid fuel. It would only add to condensation if it was vented inside the boat, rather than out through a flu.

 

So the Taylor heaters are flued? - sorry I didn't realise, I couldn't see pictures from the link. My paraffin heater was un-flued (the type shown below) but I never had any condensation issues with it.

 

[alias]

14 minutes ago, blackrose said:

 

So the Taylor heaters are flued? - sorry I didn't realise, I couldn't see pictures from the link. My paraffin heater was un-flued (the type shown below) but I never had any condensation issues with it.

 

 

Presumably your ventilation was adequate to dissipate the products of combustion.  

[carlt]

1 hour ago, blackrose said:

 

I thought the general advice was that any liquid fuel produces an equal volume of condensation as the fuel burned, so paraffin heaters were not recommended on boats? 

This does not apply to Taylor's heaters which have a flue and chimney.

 

Edit...sorry didn't read on...

Edited Tuesday at 09:44 by carlt

[blackrose]

2 hours ago, alias said:

 

Presumably your ventilation was adequate to dissipate the products of combustion.  

 

I guess so, but it's just standard fixed ventilation, the same as any other boat which meets the ventilation recommendations of the BSS.

[alias]

4 minutes ago, blackrose said:

 

I guess so, but it's just standard fixed ventilation, the same as any other boat which meets the ventilation recommendations of the BSS.

 

Out of interest, when you were using it how much paraffin a day did you get through, and was it the sole source of heating?

[David Mack]

40 minutes ago, blackrose said:

 

I guess so, but it's just standard fixed ventilation, the same as any other boat which meets the ventilation recommendations of the BSS.

But those BSS recommendations vary with the number and size of fuel burning appliances and whether they are flued or unflued. So was your ventilation specifically sized for use of an unflued parrafin heater?

[blackrose]

1 hour ago, David Mack said:

But those BSS recommendations vary with the number and size of fuel burning appliances and whether they are flued or unflued. So was your ventilation specifically sized for use of an unflued parrafin heater?

 

No, it wasn't specifically sized for anything, it was generic ventilation put in by the builder of my sailaway who didn't know how many or what type/size of appliances I would install. Although BSS recommendations for fixed ventilation may be specific, they can only check to ensure the ventilation is sufficient for/or exceeds that required for the appliances the inspector finds onboard on the day of the test. Thinking that an inspector wouldn't want to see a standalone unflued paraffin heater onboard, I took the heater off the boat for the test so it wasn't part of his calculation. Since I never used the stove and the paraffin heater at the same time I thought that was safe enough.

 

Also I can't help thinking that the amount of ventilation required to reduce condensation may be entirely different from the amount of ventilation required to allow sufficient air into the boat to enable fuel burning appliances (including humans) to breath and combust fuel properly in order to prevent the production of carbon monoxide. I'm not sure but perhaps we're confusing two different things here? 

 

Anyway, the point is that I used to use an unflued paraffin heater on my boat and contrary to everything said to me on this forum, I never saw any evidence of condensation.

[David Mack]

OK. So your ventilation wasn't specifically checked for use of the paraffin heater, but in practice it worked fine (and you are still here to show you weren't asphyxiated).

About what I would expect!

🙂