Score: 2 Sea Swings, now what stove to put in them?

[skylark]

I found two used Sea Swing stove assemblies at a local marine store, $29 each.  There was no price on them and the owner seemed to be charitable that day.  They had two more on the shelf.

They look like this model:



Now the question is what stove to put in them?  

I have a Butterfly kerosene stove which needs a little repair.  It is the type with no burner valve, you prime it with alcohol and then pump up the pressure to start it.  To shut it down you vent the pressure out of a valve on the fuel cap.  

Is the type of kerosene stove with a valve on the burner better for use in a boat?

How do you prime the stove? I seem to spill alcohol every time I try to prime this thing, is there a better way than just pouring a half a shot on the top of the burner?

Anyone have a source for a primus type kerosene stove?  I have seen them on ebay and I got the Butterfly from St. Paul Mercantile or somesuch.

Skylark gets splashed on Saturday, I am very excited.

[polecat]

Skylark - Very good price on that model Seaswing.  They are very easy to modify for the Butterfly stove. This is what I did - took about an hour.

1)removed the butane burner assy. from the seacook and cut out the butane burner support so that the butterfly burner will come up close to the pan when cooking.

2)there are 3 rods that support the butterfly stove top.  remove the butterfly stove top and discard. and straighten the rods.

3)attach the rods to the butterfly by drilling a small hole thru the small brass tube and rod.  use either cotter pin or safety wire to keep them from pulling out of the stove.

4)drill 3 1/4" holes in the bottom of your seacook such that the rods will slide up into the bottom of the seacook.  slide the butterfly up close to the pan surface and mark the rods to drill holes in them for cotter pins - cut the rods off about an inch longer than needed and drill small holes in the rods for cotter pins so the butterfly will be supported below the seacook.

James Baldwin on this net makes a gimbled stove that supports a much larger pan for the butterfly stove.  He has parts for sale and makes a wick that you simply dip in a small jar of alcohol clip it around your burner and light  - in a minute or so when the alcohol burns off - light the stove.  works great and much safer than spilling alcohol all over trying to light the stove.

jim

[Bubba the Pirate]

Skylark - is that a marine store around Lake Michigan?   Sounds like an interesting store.   Can you share or is it like a good fishing hole?   :o)

Todd

[skylark]

http://www.wolfsmarine.com/

Its an old warehouse full of boat stuff.  The staff is somewhat grumpy but they have the stuff we needs.

Be aware, the Sea Swing is a relatively small pot holder, so you won't be able to use a large frying pan.

If you are looking for the Sea Swing, find the stove section, when standing in the aisle looking at the stove section, the sea swings are in the left corner about 7 feet high on a rack.  There were two pot holders but I think there was only one mount left.

[s/v Faith]

Might I just say, if one of the stoves is set up for Sterno (a common fuel) you might consider using one for a propane conversion and one for sterno.

  Some do not like Sterno, it does not get as hot as propane.  It will heat water for coffee, and make food about as hot as you want it.  I really like it for when we are using our sea swing... in a rolly anchorage, or underway in a seaway.

  Sterno is much less apt to burn your soup, especially when you are distracted by other things... like oh.. I don't know... maybe sailing.  ;D

  We like out Butane stove for most cooking, and the sterno sea swing makes a great second burner on the hook, as well as soup / beans / coffee stove when you want something easy to cook on underway...

  ...just another opinion.

[geneWj]

If they still are available, go buy the one or two for me and I'll send you the money plus shipping fees.
genewj  phone 941-201-5002
will be out of town, from the 14 through the 21 of april.

[skylark]

[skylark]

This is the Sea Swing connected to a Butterfly kerosene stove.  The gimbal will accept up to a 6" pot, so it is not very large.  The connection is made using brass rod and cotter pins.  Some bending had to be done to align the holes in the Sea Swing with the stove tubes. 

The primer wick is about 4" x 8" of fiberglass cloth wrapped around a wire, and then wrapped with copper wire.  The fuzz was burned off with a propane torch.  A wick is a far more civilized way to prime this stove.  No dripping alcohol, no overpriming, no spills.

[CharlieJ]

Nicely done Skylark. Looks a lot like my stove, same method of attachment, only I tapped the ends of the rods and used brass nuts.

One thing I really didn't like on the SeaSwing models was the way they attached to the boat. The SeaCook like we have has a flat plate on the stove that drops into a slotted plate on the boat. Nothing protrudes from the bulkhead, where the Sea Swing has that rod sticking out. Cannot understand why they did that. It looks really dangerous to your person in any seaway. Of course, we leave ours mounted most of the time so it really doesn't matter, but still..........

Still, nice job. You'll get much use from it. Laura has used ours underway many times, and in some rough seas too :o :o ::)

[maxiSwede]

Good pictures. i can see that the burners are not the Primus/Optimus where you adjust the flame with a knob attached to a spider inside the burner.

In fact the burner looks pretty much identical to the burners I bought (mistakenly) in Lisbon last fall. They fit on a Primus (or Taylor, since they use Primus burners anyway) but how do you adjust high/low flame?

I guess the simple answer is; you don't. You would simply reduce the pressure, right?!

On our Taylor stove there is a 6 liter pressure tank attached to it, so releasing and pumping every time we cook would not be the first choice..... that said, these burners have a simplicity thing about them that is appealing. Sure wish I had bought a little stove too, in Lisbon. They were really cheap and would be perfect as a backup,and most of all to bring a shore or to cook in the cockpit once in a while.

[maxiSwede]

http://britelyt.groupee.net/Oldstove.htm

This burner pretty much looks like it would fit a Primus type though... anyone who tried that?

[skylark]

I think you could put a burner with a valve on it, either a roarer or a silent type.  However the burners on the Butterfly pressure stove are controlled only by the pressure in the tank.  Your control comes from venting the tank with the screw on top of the fuel fill cap. 

With a lot of pressure (40 pumps) the burner will burn hot.  After a while pressure reduces and you can let it simmer.  You can let pressure out with the fuel cap vent to simmer.

You have to remember to leave the valve open to allow air pressure changes.  If you don't some kerosene could be pushed out of the nipple if the ambient air pressure drops.

The tank pressure method works very well.

[s/v Faith]

....You have to remember to leave the valve open to allow air pressure changes.  If you don't some kerosene could be pushed out of the nipple if the ambient air pressure drops.....

THat could be handy.... hey!  What is that smell?  Better put another reef in!  :)

[wolfenzee]

I used an old SVEA stove, runs on gasoline, "white gas", etc. (best to get it started out of the cabin them move it in the boat. I didn't have to make any modifications to get it to fit in the sea swing, just didn't include the (removable) windscreen.

[JWalker]

nicley done skylark!

[Stefan]

FWIW, the sterno fueled Sea Swing had a metal chimney that sat on top of the sterno can and focused the flame up, like a funnel, which greatly increased the heating.  I was impressed at how fast they could heat things when that tool was used.

[s/v Faith]

FWIW, the sterno fueled Sea Swing had a metal chimney that sat on top of the sterno can and focused the flame up, like a funnel, which greatly increased the heating.  I was impressed at how fast they could heat things when that tool was used.

Yes, I have (and use) this.  I wonder if you are on to the reason so many seem not to like Sterno... maybe they just did not know / have this part.

[Stefan]

I think that may be it. The kero/gas methods involve a lot more effort. Sterno is simple, and the dif in cooking time is quite tolerable if the chimney is used. However if not used it could take a very, very long time to heat water. I lost the chimney on my SeaSwing and could not find a replacement anywhere. Finally bought a whole stove on eBay just to get a chimney again.

I rarely use the SeaSWing, but when I need it I am very happy to have it.  I have also taken the chimney on camping trips when using a foldup sterno grill. Probably how I lost the original...