Does anyone have the manual for this, or can instruct me how to use it? I need to know what kind of alcohol to use, and how to get the stove and oven lit. It came with the boat from the factory.
Catalina 30 alcohol stove and oven
- Thread starter SSchneck
- Start date
I can help with part of it. What you're looking for is denatured alcohol. You'll get it in a gallon can, usually from your hardware store - even West marine carries it. Its not cheap though - $25 a gallon. But you probably won't use it quickly. Here's what it looks like below.
I owned a 1974 Catalina 27 that used an alcohol stove, and they're dead simple. Ours originally came with a pressurized version, but that fire hazard had to so, and we replaced with a non-pressurized alcohol stove. Much safer. Yours may or may not be the same, but if its like mine for the stove part you'll likely have to open the top of the stove, and below each burner is a "pot" of sorts with some wicking inside. Pour enough denatured alcohol in there so that the wicking sops it up, but its not sloshing. Then close the stove, open the burner, and light it with a match or lighter. If you want to keep the alcohol from evaporating between uses there should be a rubber cover for each burner that you use to cover the top of the pot after its cooled. No idea RE the oven - haven't ever used one, but plenty of folks on here can advise.
The Catalina 27 alcohol stove manual is at this page, if it helps: Catalina 27 Manuals | Catalina 27
But if what you have is the original pressurized stove and oven, be careful - those things are dangerous. Here's a good thread: Getting an Old Alcohol Stove Going Again | Sailing Anarchy Forums
I owned a 1974 Catalina 27 that used an alcohol stove, and they're dead simple. Ours originally came with a pressurized version, but that fire hazard had to so, and we replaced with a non-pressurized alcohol stove. Much safer. Yours may or may not be the same, but if its like mine for the stove part you'll likely have to open the top of the stove, and below each burner is a "pot" of sorts with some wicking inside. Pour enough denatured alcohol in there so that the wicking sops it up, but its not sloshing. Then close the stove, open the burner, and light it with a match or lighter. If you want to keep the alcohol from evaporating between uses there should be a rubber cover for each burner that you use to cover the top of the pot after its cooled. No idea RE the oven - haven't ever used one, but plenty of folks on here can advise.
The Catalina 27 alcohol stove manual is at this page, if it helps: Catalina 27 Manuals | Catalina 27
But if what you have is the original pressurized stove and oven, be careful - those things are dangerous. Here's a good thread: Getting an Old Alcohol Stove Going Again | Sailing Anarchy Forums
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I did a bit of Google-Fi and it appears the original alcohol stove/oven combo on some years of Catalina 30s was a Hille-Range by Seaward Corp. If so, that's a pressurized stove/oven. If it is original, you may want to replace with a used Origo, which is unpressurized and much safer. Or maybe something else as I think Origo is now defunct - but I could be wrong. Google around and you'll see a lot of threads on fixing, or otherwise working with the Hille-Range by Seaward Corp. Getting parts may be impossible. The Origos are very well thought of, and simple. But technology has passed alcohol stoves by, so you may think about converting to propane - much cheaper to use, hotter flame, and you can get fills in a lot more places than sell denatured alcohol.
I guess we need to know if it is a canister type (Sterno) or pressurized with an external fuel tank. If it's original then it's probably the latter.
Assuming it is, you need to go over the parts carefully before trying to light it. There are valves that let the pressurized alcohol into the burner cups and they need to seat completely to shut off the flow of pressurized alcohol. I'd suggest a test with water first. There should be no leaks of fluid from the cups to the bottom of the stove.
To light it you use the valve to let a little alcohol in the cup. You ignite that and let it burn until it is almost out. Then you use the valve to let a little more alcohol in, close the valve and let that burn. Repeat. Pretty soon the burner will heat up enough to vaporize the alcohol before it spills into the cup and the burner will turn blue and you can open the valve to the amount of heat you want. It is analogous to lighting one of those gas camper lanterns with the mantel (I don't expect they exist any longer). Obviously do one burner at a time. Do not leave unattended.
And I agree with the posts above about the Origno style stoves.
I've never lit the oven so ....
Assuming it is, you need to go over the parts carefully before trying to light it. There are valves that let the pressurized alcohol into the burner cups and they need to seat completely to shut off the flow of pressurized alcohol. I'd suggest a test with water first. There should be no leaks of fluid from the cups to the bottom of the stove.
To light it you use the valve to let a little alcohol in the cup. You ignite that and let it burn until it is almost out. Then you use the valve to let a little more alcohol in, close the valve and let that burn. Repeat. Pretty soon the burner will heat up enough to vaporize the alcohol before it spills into the cup and the burner will turn blue and you can open the valve to the amount of heat you want. It is analogous to lighting one of those gas camper lanterns with the mantel (I don't expect they exist any longer). Obviously do one burner at a time. Do not leave unattended.
And I agree with the posts above about the Origno style stoves.
I've never lit the oven so ....
Propane can be reasonably safe if installed and used properly. The largest danger with propane is that it’s heavier than air, so any leaks will sink to the bottom of the boat and hang there. A properly designed propane locker will have a drain at the bottom so any leaks go overboard. A propane sensor should also be installed in the boat. If all of the safe design criteria can’t be met it might be better to consider other alternatives, including the non-pressurized alcohol mentioned above.
If you use propane make sure to have all proper systems in place. My Cat 30 has a propane stove/oven with a bottle in the aft lazzarette. Just off the bottle is a safety cutoff solenoid which is wired to a panel on the bulkhead in the galley next to the stove, and this will be wired to my master panel with a fuse.
The regulator, and shut off solenoid are readily available from Catalina Direct, or even from RV stores. and getting a hose made is not an issue, most propane shops can build them fairly cheap. I think I had my new hose made for less than $40. The switch and panel can also be found at CD and RV stores.
The regulator, and shut off solenoid are readily available from Catalina Direct, or even from RV stores. and getting a hose made is not an issue, most propane shops can build them fairly cheap. I think I had my new hose made for less than $40. The switch and panel can also be found at CD and RV stores.
My 1980 Hunter 33 still has the original Kenyon pressure alcohol stove. I have used it for over twenty years without any horror stories. The burners are difficult to regulate especially on simmer. I always watch it while cooking. At low settings the flame can go out and eventually raw alcohol will seep out of the burner. For that reason I never use the oven because I cannot monitor the burner for flame out. Someday I hope to replace it with a propane range but there is always some higher priority. Cooked American Chop Suey last night, and fresh perked coffee this morning. They do work. Or, budget $2,000 to convert to propane.
Solid response. I'd just add that propane is a standard install on modern boats, the mitigation for safety issues is well understood, and a proper conversion to propane would incorporate all the measures that Davidasailor26 mentioned. Frankly a pressurized alcohol stove is a real fire hazard - do some searching and you'll see the stories. The curtains over the stove on my Catalina 27 were singed when I bought it, and I quickly understood why. I also struggled, frankly, to cook well with alcohol because it burns at a substantially lower temperature than propane.
Not for marine use - though you'll see them used for camping. The main reason being that the cannister MUST be vented to the outside to be safe, or you risk leak and explosion in a boat. So marine propane systems locate the tank, of whatever size, outside of the cabin and in a lazarette vented outside the boat. That said, sure, if you want to use a 1 lb cannister you can just buy an adapter and hook it up to the system where the hose starts in the vented locker. That way the entire safety system is still in play - the vent, the solenoid, etc. I have an adapter just for an emergency if I run out of propane in the boat tanks and just have the 1 lb cannister I use for my outside grill (and I have an adapter for THAT to run off the larger boat propane tank). But Its much cheaper and convenient to use a larger tank (you'll burn through your 1lb cannister quickly cooking in the oven, for example). But don't think of your typical BBQ grill tank at home - boats our size use smaller tanks. They're about half the size (or less) of a standard 20 lb tank. So figuring out room for the propane conversion isn't as bad as you think.
I made a bad video a while back.
There's a bunch of people that will talk bad about the alcohol stoves. I love mine. They're really easy to use and work well, and I wouldn't change it out. Unless my boat was designed already to use propane... but even still, an alcohol stove is easier to me to use and refill.
The safety factor between propane and alcohol can be debated to death. Before propane-designed boats, PROPANE was deemed more dangerous, and never to use, but now it's considered relatively safe. Alcohol fumes don't sink, and fire can be put out with water.
You can watch my video to see how to use it. Sorry it's not a great video. But in general, you fill the little pressure tank with fluid, add some pressure, let some in at the burner for a few seconds, light it so it heats up the burner for a couple minutes, then open the burner again and it will work like any normal stove at that point.
The key is the to heat up the burner before opening it so the fuel coming out is VAPORIZED. If you know how to do this, it will be great every time. When you let out fuel that isn't vaporized, that's when you will get a "flare up" and the liquid becomes a big flame you have no control over. Don't panic, just keep a pot or pan on top of it, and make sure the curtains are out of the way, or douse it with water if you're scared and start over. This is why people don't like alcohol stoves. They usually don't know how to properly use them and have to deal with their mistakes.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Regarding type of alcohol, yes, if you can get the clean burning stuff at WM, i'd use that. Honestly, it's like a big camping stove using liquid fuel. You could theoretically use just about anything that burns that would go into a camp stove, but you probably should use the good stuff so your food and boat doesn't stink, lol.
Propane is heavier than air. So, If there are any leaks, it could fill up your boat and create a gas bomb because the propane will have nowhere to go. Newer boats with propane systems have a vented locker for the tanks, and some extra safety shutoff systems in case of leaks.
if you retrofit an old boat with propane, you should be aware of this and make sure you have equivalent functioning safety systems.
Your alcohol stove will work just fine though.
see my post above for a quick description of how Catalina made the system. If you look in my thread I have pics of some of the locations of the bits and pieces.