Homestrand Golden Mariner repairs

Discussion in 'Stove Forum' started by coelcanth, Jun 25, 2017.

  1. coelcanth

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    hello all,

    I have purchased an old Homestrand Golden Mariner alcohol stove model 205-32A to use for cooking aboard my old wooden boat. as such, i need to reduce all the possibilities of flare-up or fire hazards !
    the stove is in quite good condition and produces a nice steady flame when all stars are aligned, but i suspect some rubber parts are dried or worn and could use replacement.

    if i follow the official starting procedure (the old stove came with the original printed instructions card !), and use pressure in the tank to fill the preheating cups, the stove will build more pressure as it warms up and never stop filling the cup with fuel, even with the valve fully closed. the stove is usable now if i carefully preheat with fuel from another container and blow out the preheat flame and then light the burners specifically, but shutting down can be a tricky procedure. just seems like fuel will not stop leaking past the valve seals.

    which parts should i be looking at first for replacement and is there a good source to get them ??
    if it makes a difference, i think the stove is the earlier model..
    or, at least, my burner knobs are labelled 'made in Larchmont, NY' rather than Guilford, CT

    no photos of the stove just yet,
    but here's one of the old girl if you're interested:

    [​IMG]
     
  2. presscall

    presscall United Kingdom SotM Winner SotY Winner Subscriber

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    IMG_5122.JPG

    Welcome to CCS @coelcanth - or given your username - aka 'living fossil fish'. Lovely boat and a great stove to go in it.

    HERE's where I explored the workings of my Homestrand (pictured).

    It's not a rubber/nitrile seal that prevents the primer cups from filling up but the conical tip of the fuel control spindle mating up against a fuel passage hole rim within the valve.

    It may be there's fuel leaking out of the valve spindle stem seal on one or both burners and tightening the packing nut should stop that.

    Priming alcohol almost to the rim of the priming cup should be allowed to burn up before opening the valve, at which point the fuel coming out of the jet should be vapourised and not liquid fuel - to be ignited by a match or lighter flame.

    I'll not drag on any further until you maybe reply with comments about how the symptoms you've described marry up with what I've offered up so far.

    Spares? I don't know about Homestrand specific spares sources in the USA but I'm sure the CCS site founder's Fettlebox shop will have something to suit should spares be required.

    Try tightening the packing nut on each burner first to stop any potential seepage there and check the pipework from the fuel tank for any leaking soldered joints. The only rubber/nitrile seals I recall are the non-return valve 'pip', the safety release valve 'pip' in the fuel cap and the fuel cap washer.

    John
     
    Last edited: Jun 25, 2017
  3. hikerduane

    hikerduane Subscriber

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    There is a supplier of simple parts back east in your neck of the woods. If you want, I can see if I can find a packing slip.
    Duane
     
  4. ArchMc

    ArchMc SotM Winner Subscriber

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    Re: priming the Homestrand. I have limited experience with these stoves. However, I have noticed that using tank pressure to fill the priming cups results in flooding the burners. These take a long time to completely drain into the priming cups, but lighting the priming flame before the burner has drained leads to significant flaring. I think this flaring is what has led to the decline in popularity of pressurized alcohol stoves on boats.

    My suggestion:
    1. Put wicks (short lengths of wood stove door gasket, or carbon felt cut to fit) in the priming cups. This alone will reduce the flaring somewhat, and has been shown in various posts on CCS to give a more effective prime on many kinds of stoves.
    2. Fill the priming cups with a dropper or such, rather than using stove pressure to fill them from the tank. This is an extra step -- which is unwelcome -- but it keeps the priming flame confined to the priming cups, and there is much less flaring. This is desirable (at least to me) in a galley with low overhead.

    Welcome to CCS. Nice boat!

    ....Arch
     
  5. IvanN

    IvanN United States Subscriber

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    I have very little know how to add with alcohol stoves, but I really admire the the photo of the boat. I have long been a landlocked sailor With a wooden boat dream.
    Ivan
     
  6. presscall

    presscall United Kingdom SotM Winner SotY Winner Subscriber

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    Good point Arch. I think though that with the Homestrand alcohol burners (as opposed to the kerosene-burning tubular burner versions) it's less of a problem, because the vapouriser is just a vertical column and not with tubular branches.

    When the primer cups are filled from a burner of the tubular type liquid fuel remains in the vapourising tubes and when vapourising with the heat of the priming charge forces a combination of vapourised and liquid fuel under pressure through the jet, with consequent spurting and flaring.

    It's that phenomenon that prompted Punker to incorporate a dropper cup in the fuel filler cap to dispense a priming charge in the priming cup, rather than filling it from the burner, as I discovered when getting to know my Punker single burner stove.
     
  7. coelcanth

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    thanks for the advice and tips so far..

    making some wicks sounds like a good idea and is definitely something i will try..
    is there a standard safety recommendation or rule of thumb for overhead clearance to combustible materials for an alcohol stove like this ?? right now i am just trying to operate on common sense.

    i think i will also continue to prime from a separate bottle as a standard best practice.

    at this point the main problem is getting the valves to shut off after finishing up with the stove..
    i will try tightening the packing nuts as suggested.

    does anyone recall who actually manufactured the burners and what model for this early stove ?
    that will help when looking for parts if necessary..
    are these the SVEA 1915 burners ??

    thanks
     
  8. presscall

    presscall United Kingdom SotM Winner SotY Winner Subscriber

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    I'd need photos to confirm, but those in the Mariner I featured aren't, they're solely intended to burn alcohol and were manufactured by Optimus, if memory serves correctly.

    In these extracts from an Optimus catalogue, the Svea 1915 type resembles the Optimus kerosene burner second from right (No.207)

    IMG_5125.JPG


    ... whereas the alcohol burner type is the one third from left (No.209N).

    IMG_5124.JPG
     
    Last edited: Jun 26, 2017
  9. ArchMc

    ArchMc SotM Winner Subscriber

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    Hi John, @presscall
    Sorry I was misleading. I have a Homestrand 126, so my statement of having "limited experience" just means I haven't used the stove in the field (at sea). In tests on my patio, I found the burners (the dedicated alcohol burners, not Svea 1915) retain a fair amount of alcohol and tend to flare even if I wait 30 seconds after turning the valves off before lighting. I think the fuel is held in the outer cap holes by surface tension. There is noticeably less flaring if I just squirt some fuel from a bottle into the priming cups, especially if wicks are present. Part of the height of the flare is due to the flames originating from the burners vs from the priming cups.

    @coelcanth I don't know of any rule of thumb regarding overhead clearance to combustible materials. (I'm sure the Coast Guard would provide guidance.) I have seen galley photos of these stoves with curtains hanging directly behind them, and maybe a foot above. I would not be comfortable with that. I think you should test by starting the stove in safe conditions (out of the boat would be best), look at the height of the priming flame, and just use your best judgement.

    ....Arch
     
  10. coelcanth

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    thanks guys..
    looks like my burners are definitely not Svea..
    they resemble the Optimus 209N
     
  11. ArchMc

    ArchMc SotM Winner Subscriber

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    Can you adjust the fuel/air mixture by rotating the burner base? (This adjusts how holes in the two parts of the base align.)

    ....Arch