Origo stove caution

[Ixneigh]

I was running my origo stove on high, cooking chicken in a skillet last night. When the food was done, I noticed I could not shut the stove completely off. Even though the sliding cover that is moved by the knob in front had operated correctly, The flames seemed to be coming from under the cover some how. Maybe the metal has warped from the heat. Now I had a hot skillet of ginger chicken in one hand, and a lit stove that won’t turn off in the other. I put the fry pan on a trivet and briefly thought about pitching the stove over the side, but instead I doused it with a cup of water. I’ve never had this happen before, despite owning such stoves for decades. It may be time to finally think about something else. Maybe made from copper or something. The chicken was fantastic though.

Ix

[kurz]

can understand quite well. I had the same situations.

I think several thinks have to come together.

Is it possible that you had the tank completely full? Or more full that it should be?

Second: Maybe the stove get really hot...

As long as you cook it does not seem to be dangerous...

By turning off you can blow in the flame through the wholes... should work.

For security I allway have fire distinguer SPRAY near the origo, so a short push turns out the flame

[pitchpolehobie]

My origo stove slider broke partially and results in me needing to open the stove to slide the vent. I had a similar situation in which my stove was near full and actually seemed like it had overflowed while it was cooking. I did have water very close by as well as a small kitchen fire Extinguisher that is always within arm's reach of me cooking. Water is actually easiest to put this out whereas the fire extinguisher leaves a bit of a Residue. Going forward I only fill my stove up about 75% of the way Max.

[Be Free]

I know you said that the cover was working properly but if it is still burning after you turn it off the cover is the most likely culprit. If the cover is bent or if the mechanism is not moving it into position properly then the stove may still get enough air to allow it to continue burning. It's a pretty simple mechanism so if it is malfunctioning it should be pretty easy to fix it.

Under normal use you should not be able to warp the stove using the fuel it was designed for. That said, the cover would probably be the first part to do so since it is closest to the burner and relatively thin. Is it possible that you were using an oversized pan (over 9") and retained too much heat under it? That is the only way I can think of to potentially get the burner hot enough to warp the cover.

Water is not the ideal way to douse an alcohol fire. Depriving it of oxygen (as the stove is designed to do) is the preferred method. Anything that will produce a relatively airtight seal of the opening on the fuel tank should put it out as well. A CO2 or dry fire extinguisher would be next best. Water will eventually dilute the alcohol to the point it will not burn but it may spread the fire to other combustible materials before doing so.

[NiceAft]

Be Free said:

but it may spread the fire to other combustible materials before doing so

He is correct.

Alcohol floats on water. By dousing with water, you just might supply the vehicle for allowing a flame to travel. Suffocating it is safer, even if it leaves a mess.

[OverEasy]

Hi All

Guess that was quite the conundrum… pan in hand and flaming stove on the other… Whew! Glad you saved supper and successfully dealt with the errant stove!

For a flame stove the alcohol type is one of the safer options.
Pressurized white gas (like the old Coleman type) and the propane or butane type also can have leak issues which can be much more challenging to contend with.

Personally we opted out of the flame approach to cooking instead going to an induction cooktop.
We currently run it off of shore power but it’s draw is low enough that we could use it with an inverter off our house battery or a generator when we get to cruise the ICW more extensively.

We thought about bringing a dual burner fold-away stove with us but I’d want to keep the cylinders outside of the cabin (as I’ve had more that one of those propane cylinders fail and leak gas after disconnecting it from the device. Not fun. ) As things turned out we deliberately left it in the car.

We have a 12 VDC immersion water heater as a backstop so we can at least make hot water/soup/coffee/tea/cocoa/broth/ramen/etc should we find ourselves away from a marina and shore power.

We really like skipping the open flame aspect in the confined cabin spaces below surrounded by flammable plastics…..

It’s your boat and your rules but we’d like to suggest the possibility of going to or consider an alternative flameless approach.

Best Regards
Over Easy

[BOAT]

Alcohol does not float on water - it MIXES with water - that's why it's used on boats. (check State Fire Marshall on this - that's what I did).

Water is a very good way to extinguish an alcohol fire. In fact - chefs experienced with cooking with alcohol use small amounts of water to control the flame to create simmering profile on stoves. You add a thimble of water and the stove will simmer flame for a while until the water boils off. Try it the next time you make lobster bisque onboard.

As for the problem described where the flame is flowing around the snuffer that's because the spring mount under the alcohol reservoir needs to be raised. There are spring arms under the round reservoir that push it up tight against the snuffer when the lid is closed. If the lid is not tight against the reservoir flame can leak around the snuffer. Just remove the reservoir and bend the spring clips up so they hold the tank up higher.

There is another type of alcohol stove that you might like - it's the ones that you pump up and they put the fuel under pressure and they turn off with a valve. There are many options. We all like Propane and LNG but it is not legal in a boat like ours. Those tanks need to be mounted outside or in a special compartment like on large boats.

[Ixneigh]

can understand quite well. I had the same situations.

I think several thinks have to come together.

Is it possible that you had the tank completely full? Or more full that it should be?

Second: Maybe the stove get really hot...

As long as you cook it does not seem to be dangerous...

By turning off you can blow in the flame through the wholes... should work.

For security I allway have fire distinguer SPRAY near the origo, so a short push turns out the flame

The stove was really hot. I think that’s the problem. If there’s anyone who can make this stove out of better materials, I’d be interested.

[Ixneigh]

Alcohol does not float on water - it MIXES with water - that's why it's used on boats. (check State Fire Marshall on this - that's what I did).

Water is a very good way to extinguish an alcohol fire. In fact - chefs experienced with cooking with alcohol use small amounts of water to control the flame to create simmering profile on stoves. You add a thimble of water and the stove will simmer flame for a while until the water boils off. Try it the next time you make lobster bisque onboard.

As for the problem described where the flame is flowing around the snuffer that's because the spring mount under the alcohol reservoir needs to be raised. There are spring arms under the round reservoir that push it up tight against the snuffer when the lid is closed. If the lid is not tight against the reservoir flame can leak around the snuffer. Just remove the reservoir and bend the spring clips up so they hold the tank up higher.

There is another type of alcohol stove that you might like - it's the ones that you pump up and they put the fuel under pressure and they turn off with a valve. There are many options. We all like Propane and LNG but it is not legal in a boat like ours. Those tanks need to be mounted outside or in a special compartment like on large boats.

Boat- thank you, I’ll check those metal tabs inside. I like the stove, I know it’s not as good as gas or induction. I’d like to have it in a better material. I hate the fact that the top rusts no matter how careful you polish it. I’m thinking about building a stove myself, and just using the fuel container. I know the flame is corrosive, as it has blasted a small crater in my CAST IRON
skillet.

Ix

[OverEasy]

🫤

[BOAT]

Your iron pan is corroding because alcohol mixes so well with water that it absorbs even the water in the air. Alcohol absorbs water even in gasoline. Then when you burn the alcohol it turns the water into steam. If you steam iron it's gonna rust. It makes the stove rusty too.

Alcohol itself is not corrosive but burning alcohol creates carbon and water so it's sort of like soaking the bottom of your skillet with water and anyone with cast iron pans will tell you to keep them away from water. Cast iron is not a good choice for cooking on alcohol.

Alcohol also burns hotter than propane or LNG. my Origo heats up my shower tank to 90 degrees in 11 minutes but the same tank takes 18 minutes on my propane stove.

I'm sorry that we boaters are stuck with alcohol - there is not much I can do about it. Because boats have no way to ventilate gasses heavier than air because boat bottoms don't have vents (if they did they would sink) so you need a gas that is lighter and air that will drift up and out out the cabin when you cook. (Not to mention the fumes when your NOT cooking!)

There just is no real alternative fuel that will do that.

[OverEasy]

There is another no flame process of cooking you might want to explore. There are “Quick Lime” canisters that come in little pop top cans. Used to be available in the better camp gear places. It’s not all that popular these days as it’s a limited “one-shot” system.

Pop the vent, add a measured amount of water and it gets hot enough to boil a pint of water. The ones I used generated heat for about 5-10 minutes.

“Quick Lime” reacts with water to produce heat.

You make “Quick Lime” by heating high quality lime really hot then letting it cook in a moisture deprived environment (like a tight fitting clay pot & lid). You can also do it with thick sea shells if you don’t have high quality lime. Either way works but it’s more fun to have rocks piled up that get real hot and generate steam to amaze your friends (and befuddle your non science types).

(It’s an old parlor trick that was even used in before biblical times…. It’s how the Israelites got their altar to cook the sacrifice after pouring water on it while the other guys beat themselves up trying to get Baal to light theirs)….

No magic, just applied exothermic chemistry.
Been around for a really really long time.

[Ixneigh]

Your iron pan is corroding because alcohol mixes so well with water that it absorbs even the water in the air. Alcohol absorbs water even in gasoline. Then when you burn the alcohol it turns the water into steam. If you steam iron it's gonna rust. It makes the stove rusty too.

Alcohol itself is not corrosive but burning alcohol creates carbon and water so it's sort of like soaking the bottom of your skillet with water and anyone with cast iron pans will tell you to keep them away from water. Cast iron is not a good choice for cooking on alcohol.

Alcohol also burns hotter than propane or LNG. my Origo heats up my shower tank to 90 degrees in 11 minutes but the same tank takes 18 minutes on my propane stove.

I'm sorry that we boaters are stuck with alcohol - there is not much I can do about it. Because boats have no way to ventilate gasses heavier than air because boat bottoms don't have vents (if they did they would sink) so you need a gas that is lighter and air that will drift up and out out the cabin when you cook. (Not to mention the fumes when your NOT cooking!)

There just is no real alternative fuel that will do that.

Leave it to Boat to know the where why and how’s

I just bought a set of used titanium cookware off eBay, so maybe that will save some weight and I’ll use my cast iron it home.

[Clipster]

+1 to all those who said don't overfill the Origo. I did it once in twenty years because 'there's just a little bit left in the bottle', and had to put out a fire in the metal box underneath the burner. The legs that hold up the fuel canister don't get stronger with time, so best to leave it less than full.

[NiceAft]

Everyone is entitled to their opinion; no one is entitled to misstate the facts. I was wrong in saying that alcohol floats on water; it should, but,

A substance will sink or float depends upon the density. In this case, the density of ethanol is 789kg/m3 and that of water is 1000kg/m3.

Ideally, ethanol is lighter than water so it should float on the surface of the water but this is not the actual case. The ethanol in water neither sinks nor floats, rather it mixes thoroughly to form a homogenous solution. The reason for this mixing of two solutions is hydrogen bonding between the ethanol and water. The strong force of attraction between the solutions holds the molecule tightly which leads to increase in boiling point of solution and enhances the solubility of ethanol in the water.

So BOAT is correct:

Alcohol does not float on water - it MIXES with water - that's why it's used on boats. (check State Fire Marshall on this - that's what I did).

Crow doesn’t taste very good, but sometimes, a necessary meal