Bubble diesel stove - regular de-coking needed??

[Gary Peacock]

I have found this as well. Last autumn, I adjusted the regulator to reduce the burn rate when on the lowest setting in an attempt to save on diesel. I just wanted a low heat as the nights were not too cold. I found that the burner pan coked up badly and the slightest wind would cause the door glass to soot up. I have since re-adjusted the flow rate so that on the lowest setting the top of the metal fins in the centre of the burner are glowing red. No more problems with sooting up the glass and less coke to clear out. The only problem now is that on mild days, I have to open windows to let the heat out, even when on the lowest setting.

 

We fitted quite a few and the reports we have got back completely match your experiences.

 

It seems when you have got them running well if you leave them alone they are fine but if you mess with them you have problems.

 

We did have two customers have them taken out and replaced with solid fuel stoves but I think their problems were more down to being used to gas fires and thought they were buying something that could simply be turned on and off instantly!

[elessina]

There is a product on the market called Ruboy and it helps decoke the stove, you just put one tablet into the burnerr pot and it does the rest.

 

The reason they coke up is because they are often left on low, if you were able to run them much hotter then you would find that they dont coke up so much,but it would cost a lot more to run and you wouldnt be able to sit in the boat.

Any idea who stocks the Ruboy..... canal chandlers, fireplace shops etc.?

 

Unless very cold or windy, ours is on low all night and day, only turn it up in the evening and maybe weekends...... I had actualy thought they coke up more when turned up.... so thanks for info.

Ian

[OWIN]

Any idea who stocks the Ruboy..... canal chandlers, fireplace shops etc.?

 

Unless very cold or windy, ours is on low all night and day, only turn it up in the evening and maybe weekends...... I had actualy thought they coke up more when turned up.... so thanks for info.

Ian

 

I have bought some in the past from the boat yard at Norbury Junction on the Shropshire Union Canal, i am sure if you give the nice lady in the shop a ring they will send you some, there web address is www.norburywharfltd.co.uk

[Chris-B]

I have a lockgate 'upright silver cylinder' stove - generally it runs very well. Last week it went absolutely mental; I lit it, after a couple of failed attempts and left it on setting one. Then working through a lock I could hear a strange poping noise from the boat. The kids appeared at the hatch shouting that the stove was on fire. I darted inside and found the stove so full of roaring orange flame that the hotplate lid at the top was being blown open by the flames (that was the poping noise)! - I cut the fuel supply and eventually the inferno died. I have not been back to the boat to investigate what went wrong yet but the knob was still on setting one (low). Any thoughts?

 

We have had this situation a coiple of times with our Diesel stove, you probably have got a slightly Larger than usual puddle of fuel in the burner pan , when this has caught light it has gone into an "overheat" situation

The popping could have been caused by the fire trying to draw more and more oxygen in to feed the flames.

All you can do is turn it off LET IT COOL THROUGHLY check the fuel inlet area for carbon and relight

HTH

Chris B

[hector1988]

Sorry if i am going over already covered ground, but having had a Kabola (round one) stove for a number of years, it seems one thing that is very important is to have the heat setting just high enough to make the stove burn clean. If you are getting smoke then you are running at too low a temp and the fire will coke up very quickly. I usually clean mine out about 4-6 weeks and occasionally 8 weeks.

One question which could become important with all the discussions going on about availability and price of red

diesel. Has anyone run these stoves on domestic heating oil! Does the burner need re-jetting?I understand from a colleague that thi is currently around 27p litre.

All the best Dave

[miles beyond]

Sorry if i am going over already covered ground, but having had a Kabola (round one) stove for a number of years, it seems one thing that is very important is to have the heat setting just high enough to make the stove burn clean. If you are getting smoke then you are running at too low a temp and the fire will coke up very quickly. I usually clean mine out about 4-6 weeks and occasionally 8 weeks.

One question which could become important with all the discussions going on about availability and price of red

diesel. Has anyone run these stoves on domestic heating oil! Does the burner need re-jetting?I understand from a colleague that thi is currently around 27p litre.

All the best Dave

 

Exactly what I am investigating - I have a Kabola Old English stand alone room stove. It's the same as the Kabola Old Dutch in the way it functions the only difference being the shape, and that fact that it is more insular and xenophobic and goes out binge drinking most weekends. I digress.

 

You can buy a replacement unit for these and for Bubbles for domestic heating oil use. The only difference is the slide in the heat setting controller at the back. This is cylindrical and has a slot cut in it to regulate the rate of flow. Unfortunately you cannot buy the slide alone for either make of stove and have to replace the whole control unit - around £85 for a Bubble and an eye watering £150 for my beast.

 

I am going to try using the existing unit with heating oil should our worst fears be realised and the only diesel readily available is at road prices (read those 40 litre a week posts on this topic - that is a heating bill I could certainly do without at between 88p and 100p per litre). I can't see why, if you adjust the low and high burn settings, it won't work.

[elessina]

..... Has anyone run these stoves on domestic heating oil! Does the burner need re-jetting?I understand from a colleague that thi is currently around 27p litre.

Red and white diesel are both known as "35 second oil". Parafin and kerosene are known as 28 second oil. I believe home heating oil is also a 28 second oil. The 35 second and 28 second statement is the viscosity of the fuel. A given volume of diesel takes 35 seconds to go through a test orifice and a similar volume of kerosene take 28 seconds to go through. If you just switch fuel from diesel to a 28 second oil, then at 4cc on a diesel calibrated valve (min setting) the oil flow would increase to say 6cc.

 

I think I am correct in saying this means the heater will be 50% hotter at low setting (and will burn 50% more fuel), but importantly it may be a safety issue in that if the valve were to be fully opened, the level of heat may be more than what the stove was designed for…. Dangerous!!!

 

According to Harworth heating, the manufacturers of the oil valves will not sell the metering stems as a separate part and so you have to buy the valve complete and simply swap the metering stem.

Valves vary from £80 to £120, see http://www.oilstoves.co.uk/webdocs/prices/...res_July_06.pdf

you will see all the oil valves at the back of the catalogue

 

 

Maybe someone can correct me if my understanding is wrong.

 

Ian

Elessina

[Alan Saunders]

I have a lockgate 'upright silver cylinder' stove - generally it runs very well. Last week it went absolutely mental; I lit it, after a couple of failed attempts and left it on setting one. Then working through a lock I could hear a strange poping noise from the boat. The kids appeared at the hatch shouting that the stove was on fire. I darted inside and found the stove so full of roaring orange flame that the hotplate lid at the top was being blown open by the flames (that was the poping noise)! - I cut the fuel supply and eventually the inferno died. I have not been back to the boat to investigate what went wrong yet but the knob was still on setting one (low). Any thoughts?

The stove should be installed with the regulator either forward or aft of the stove. Otherwise, if the boat should list the level in the burner pot could rise to an unacceptable level. The stove can tolerate pitching and rolling but not a permanent list.

 

Make sure the level in the float chamber is correct. Should the level in the float-chamber become excessive the oil should drain through the overflow connection. It is not unusual to find this has been blocked off.

 

If you flooded it when you were trying to light it, my experience is that it takes, perhaps, 20-30 minutes before the stove reaches a sufficient temperature to vapourise the fuel rapidly enough for it to overheat.

 

IIRC the manufacturer, 'Refleks Olieovne A-S' claim that their stoves will run continuously for three months between de-cokes.

 

Alan S

Edited January 29, 2007 by Alan Saunders

[miles beyond]

Red and white diesel are both known as "35 second oil". Parafin and kerosene are known as 28 second oil. I believe home heating oil is also a 28 second oil. The 35 second and 28 second statement is the viscosity of the fuel. A given volume of diesel takes 35 seconds to go through a test orifice and a similar volume of kerosene take 28 seconds to go through. If you just switch fuel from diesel to a 28 second oil, then at 4cc on a diesel calibrated valve (min setting) the oil flow would increase to say 6cc.

 

I think I am correct in saying this means the heater will be 50% hotter at low setting (and will burn 50% more fuel), but importantly it may be a safety issue in that if the valve were to be fully opened, the level of heat may be more than what the stove was designed for…. Dangerous!!!

 

According to Harworth heating, the manufacturers of the oil valves will not sell the metering stems as a separate part and so you have to buy the valve complete and simply swap the metering stem.

Valves vary from £80 to £120, see http://www.oilstoves.co.uk/webdocs/prices/...res_July_06.pdf

you will see all the oil valves at the back of the catalogue

Maybe someone can correct me if my understanding is wrong.

 

Heating oil is the same as kerosene and you are right about the viscosity/flow rate. However these drip feed stoves (Lockgate, Kabola, Bubble, Reflecks) all use the same simple principle to regulate flow. My Kabola has a low and high flame adjuster to stop it going out or booming away violently as the topic starter experienced through over fuelling.

 

I think it is worth trying a small amount of heating oil before coughing up the money to replace the regulator (£150+ in the case of a Kabola, around £85 for a Bubble) and playing with the adjusments first. The only possible snag I can see is that it will not be possible to adjust it to a low enough flow rate for tickover, but we shall see. Obviously this luxury will only be available to those with dedicated tanks for their stoves.