Refleks stove lighting

[Mitchellmoxo]

Hello,

 

installed a refleks stove in my boat today, it got so hot that my flue has changed colour and the top plate actually turned red. 

 

I pushed the latch down on the control valve, held the valve in until the thermocouple got hot and set it to number 1,  and it was red hot after about 10 mins, is there anything I am doing wrong?

 

regards

[Robbo]

How you feeding the stove?  Gravity or pump?

 

[koukouvagia]

It sounds as though the diesel flooded into the bottom of the burner before it was lit.  If you delayed after turning on the fuel before lighting the stove this will happen.  You only need enough diesel to cover a 50p piece in the bottom of the burner before you light it.

The only thing to do when this happens is to cut off the diesel and let the fire burn itself out and hope for the best.  Make sure the stove has fully cooled down before starting again otherwise there will be a nasty bang as the diesel ignites.

 

[cuthound]

^^^^ This.

What colour were the flames 15 mins after lighting it? They should be blue.

If not you may need to lower the high flame setting, but before doing that that try delighting with just a 50p sized pool of oil in the bottom of the stove.

[cuthound]

11 hours ago, Robbo said:

How you feeding the stove?  Gravity or pump?

 

This is similar to the method I use to light my Kabola Old Dutch, except I use 2 capfuls of methylated spirits rather than the non-descript alcohol. Also the amount (within reason) isnt critical.

I would say his stove is running too rich after 5 hours, unless he has it on a high setting. Mine has blue flames up to and including setting 4. Above that they turn yellow because of the short flue most boats have.

[koukouvagia]

Two more observations.

The OP says "I pushed the latch down on the control valve".  It's not clear whether this was held down.  The latch should never be held down because this is a safety device which will trip if the diesel is flooding into the burner pot.  

Cuthound asks what the state of the flame is.  It should burn blue, with only a tinge of yellow.  Do you have a catalyser (a sort of stainless steel cage - or a large spring, depending on the model, that fits in to the bottom of the burner pot)?  These can be retro-fitted and make a huge difference to the quality of the flame.

I still think the symptoms point to a flooded burner.  If the over fueling occurs after the fire has been running satisfactorily for a while, it may be that the float level or the high flame screw needs adjusting.  Only fiddle with these as a last resort, because it can be tricky getting the flame right if you don't know what you're doing.

 

Edited December 27, 2017 by koukouvagia

[LEO]

Interesting video, but is it that helpful? - not really, as it seems to feature a smal,l modern unit with a coil shaped 'cat' and after 5 hours burning has orange flames in viewing window. My OD4 burns with a nice blue flame on setting one after 2 weeks continuous burning.

Really I prefer the uncomplicated 'British' way of lighting.

KK you may have to up your game and produce a video about cleaning and lighting these stoves..

[Mitchellmoxo]

Thanks for the replies I think it was just a case of too much fuel in the pot as I came back the next day to try again and it was burning lovely! I did have a bubble stove in my previous boat but much prefer the refleks