Kabola Old Dutch Drip Feed Stove - No Oil Entering Stove

[cuthound]

Just tried to light my Kabola Old Dutch Stove and there is no oil entering the burner pot.

There is oil to the in-line filter and the dedicated tank is full.

I suspect that the hole in the oil feed fitting that has the scraper in it has become blocked. However vigorous scraping hasn't cleared it. Possibly the Toby valve isn't working, but I don't want to take that apart unless if really have to.

Does anyone know how to remove the fitting with the scraper in it?

Alternatively does anyone know of someone who can fix these things? Previous enquiries to my local boatyards have drawn blank looks when asking about drip feed stoves.

 

[koukouvagia]

3 hours ago, cuthound said:

Just tried to light my Kabola Old Dutch Stove and there is no oil entering the burner pot.

 

I bet the regulator is bunged up.  Have you cleaned the filter?  Condensation can also cause problems if the stove hasn't been used for a while.

Have a look at this.

 

[jenevers]

13 minutes ago, koukouvagia said:

I bet the regulator is bunged up.  Have you cleaned the filter?  Condensation can also cause problems if the stove hasn't been used for a while.

Have a look at this.

 

How did you get the copper tubing “backboiler” soooooo clean?

[koukouvagia]

7 minutes ago, jenevers said:

How did you get the copper tubing “backboiler” soooooo clean?

I took the whole stove apart so the copper tubing was cleaned separately.  I usually keep the inside of the fire cleanish with those magic Russboy tablets. 

[cuthound]

37 minutes ago, koukouvagia said:

I bet the regulator is bunged up.  Have you cleaned the filter?  Condensation can also cause problems if the stove hasn't been used for a while.

Have a look at this.

 

Thanks Koukouvagia, I  will take a look tomorrow.

[rusty69]

17 minutes ago, cuthound said:

Thanks Koukouvagia, I  will take a look tomorrow.

Definitely need to get my eyes tested.Read that as

"Thanks Kookyvagina".

[WotEver]

6 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

Definitely need to get my eyes tested.Read that as

"Thanks Kookyvagina".

I knew someone once who... never mind...

[peterboat]

On my bubble the toby valve has a drain screw on it, I unscrew it now and then to drain out water which tends to get into it.........just like it does in the normal fuel tank

[Iain_S]

2 hours ago, WotEver said:

I knew someone once who... never mind...

Left hand thread?

[LEO]

Hi, I sometimes have this problem with the Kabola OD4 fitted to my boat. It's worth checking if the stove is fitted with an 'overboil' shut off valve - this could have operated and closed off the supply. This is re-set by pushing the button at the bottom of the valve back in (I think! it may be the other way round and need pulling out!), This will restore the oil supply. Or it could be a blocked filter - tricky to get at one screw on the OD4 to allow removal of the filter cover - I have drilled a hole in the frame around the carb. to enable easy access.

It is unlikely that the inlet to the burner pot is blocked.

A couple of pictures may help, in Pic 1 the Overboil shut off valve is below the large copper dome.  Pic 2 shows the hole (in bright steel to the right of the filter) which I drilled to allow access to one of the 2 screws sealing the filter cover. Pic 3 is a general view of the back of the OD4 showing the connection of the overboil thermo coupling.

Hope this helps.

L.

[cuthound]

8 hours ago, LEO said:

Hi, I sometimes have this problem with the Kabola OD4 fitted to my boat. It's worth checking if the stove is fitted with an 'overboil' shut off valve - this could have operated and closed off the supply. This is re-set by pushing the button at the bottom of the valve back in (I think! it may be the other way round and need pulling out!), This will restore the oil supply. Or it could be a blocked filter - tricky to get at one screw on the OD4 to allow removal of the filter cover - I have drilled a hole in the frame around the carb. to enable easy access.

It is unlikely that the inlet to the burner pot is blocked.

A couple of pictures may help, in Pic 1 the Overboil shut off valve is below the large copper dome.  Pic 2 shows the hole (in bright steel to the right of the filter) which I drilled to allow access to one of the 2 screws sealing the filter cover. Pic 3 is a general view of the back of the OD4 showing the connection of the overboil thermo coupling.

Hope this helps.

L.

Thanks Leo. Mine doesn't have a water heating coil, so no overboil protection. I will check the filter in the regulator though (although the in-line pre-filter is clean.

 

11 hours ago, peterboat said:

On my bubble the toby valve has a drain screw on it, I unscrew it now and then to drain out water which tends to get into it.........just like it does in the normal fuel tank

Thanks Peterboat, I will check for a drain screw and if fitted drain it.

These are great little stoves when working. I guess I'll have to pull the regulator apart and learn how to become a drip feed stove expert like you guys 

[koukouvagia]

18 minutes ago, cuthound said:

These are great little stoves when working. I guess I'll have to pull the regulator apart and learn how to become a drip feed stove expert like you guys 

Just a word of caution if you're going to dismantle the regulator.  If the fire was working well before the problem, don't fiddle with the high and low fire screws to try to increase the flow.  Once these are out of kilter they can be a pain to set up properly again.

 

[LEO]

6 minutes ago, koukouvagia said:

Just a word of caution if you're going to dismantle the regulator.  If the fire was working well before the problem, don't fiddle with the high and low fire screws to try to increase the flow.  Once these are out of kilter they can be a pain to set up properly again.

 

Hi,

I guess, I should have checked to see if you had a water heating coil in your OD4, shame as they are good at providing hot water as well as space heating and the 'overboil' safety switch is very useful.

KK's advice about the factory set screws within the regulator is excellent.

There could be a build up of carbon around the inlet to burner pot, I check this using a small mirror on an extending handle and a hand held spotlight. These inspection mirrors are not expensive and are useful. Or I have a small camera probe which connects with a laptop.

I have purchased a spare connector to the burner pot and these screw in.

To clean this area I have also made a pointed tool (basically a rod which is bent at right angles at the end) to chip away carbon.

Does oil seep in when the 'flame failure shut off' is overridden? - (if fitted).

Let us know what causes the problem.

L

 

[cuthound]

41 minutes ago, koukouvagia said:

Just a word of caution if you're going to dismantle the regulator.  If the fire was working well before the problem, don't fiddle with the high and low fire screws to try to increase the flow.  Once these are out of kilter they can be a pain to set up properly again.

 

Yes, you may recall I spent ages over a year ago fiddling with the high flame screw and eventually achieved a blue flame up to setting 4 on the regulator. Above that the flame progressively became more yellow. 

16 minutes ago, LEO said:

Hi,

I guess, I should have checked to see if you had a water heating coil in your OD4, shame as they are good at providing hot water as well as space heating and the 'overboil' safety switch is very useful.

KK's advice about the factory set screws within the regulator is excellent.

There could be a build up of carbon around the inlet to burner pot, I check this using a small mirror on an extending handle and a hand held spotlight. These inspection mirrors are not expensive and are useful. Or I have a small camera probe which connects with a laptop.

I have purchased a spare connector to the burner pot and these screw in.

To clean this area I have also made a pointed tool (basically a rod which is bent at right angles at the end) to chip away carbon.

Does oil seep in when the 'flame failure shut off' is overridden? - (if fitted).

Let us know what causes the problem.

L

 

Thanks for the advice regarding the connector to the burner pot and use of a mirror and dedicated tool.

No oil enters the stove, even when the flame failure device is manually overridden. The stove is very clean as it was unused for the first 7 years of its life and took me a further 2 years to get it working satisfactorily. It has probably done less than 500 hours from new and been cleaned thoroughly after a week of use each time.

[peterboat]

I am no expert that is for certain but I am on my second bubble stove and it does focus your mind doesnt it I have had the water in the toby in both stoves and it does turn mine off! I now drain it every summer to stop the issue

[LEO]

23 hours ago, cuthound said:

Just tried to light my Kabola Old Dutch Stove and there is no oil entering the burner pot.

There is oil to the in-line filter and the dedicated tank is full.

I suspect that the hole in the oil feed fitting that has the scraper in it has become blocked. However vigorous scraping hasn't cleared it. Possibly the Toby valve isn't working, but I don't want to take that apart unless if really have to.

Does anyone know how to remove the fitting with the scraper in it?

Alternatively does anyone know of someone who can fix these things? Previous enquiries to my local boatyards have drawn blank looks when asking about drip feed stoves.

 

Hi

This looks like the fitting you were wanting to remove, looks as though it is screwed into a fitting at the bottom of the burner pot. It's basically a hollow tube with the scraper rod running through it, The rod is quite difficult to turn.

Hope this helps.

L.

[cuthound]

Thanks Leo. The scraper rod on mine had some resistance to moving when I first got the boat, but is much looser lately. In fact it is quite easy to pull the scraper rod completely out. If it is blocked, it will be the hole where the oil enters the fitting, rather than the tube that the scraper rod moves in.

Tomorrow I will try draining the regulator and removing and cleaning its internal filter and if that doesn't work I will try removing the oil inlet/scraper rod fitting.

Edited April 2, 2018 by cuthound
Clarification

[cuthound]

Thanks Koukouvagia, Leo and Peterboat. Stove now working.

Unfortunately there isn't a drain screw on my regulator.

I took the filter out and it was clean. Oil ran out so obviously no blockage within the regulator.

As I originally suspected, the blockage was in the oil inlet fitting which holds the scraper, blocking the hole where the oil enters the fitting. Much searching  through my tool box found a broken instrument screwdriver which I bent into an improvised hole scraper and cleared the blockage.

Now I have the stove working again we can expect a heatwave 

 

Edited April 3, 2018 by cuthound
Spillung

[koukouvagia]

17 minutes ago, cuthound said:

Thanks Koukouvagia, Leo and Peterboat. Stove now working.

Unfortunately there isn't a drain screw on my regulator.

I took the filter out and it was clean. Oil ran out so obviously no blockage within the regulator.

As I originally suspected, the blockage was in the oil inlet fitting which holds the scraper, blocking the hole where the oil enters the fitting. Much searching  through my tool box found a broken instrument screwdriver which I bent into an improvised hole scraper and cleared the blockage.

Now I have the stove working again we can expect a heatwave 

Glad everyhing is now OK and thanks for reporting back.  All too often we never hear when problems are resolved.