Faulty Kenyon Kiss butane stove

Mark Lyon

New Member
Jun 21, 2020
20
Boat Info
Sea Ray Sundancer 240 w/Gamin GPS map 541. Tow vehicle is a Ram 2500 pickup
Engines
5.0 Mercruiser w/Bravo III drive
Hi I just bought a 2011 240 Sundancer and the stove leaks like hell. I researched it on this forum to find that they have discontinued and this type of stove due to the seal problem. I found a single burner stove top propane stove to replace this. My question is can I safely place a small propane take in the cabinet under the sink? The stove is for an RV and all the trailers I have seen the propane cans are outside of the cabin. Just don't wish to blow myself up here.

Mark
 
Propane is heavier than air and will settle to the lowest point in the boat. As explosive as it is, thats why it needs to be outside or in a properly sealed propane cabinet which I believe routes any leaks overboard.

So short answer is no, tank under sink is not safe
 
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I will add, I've seen a pressure valve release once, outside, on a 20 pound propane tank. Had there been an ignition source present, I probably woudn't be writing this.
 
Mark,

Without a proper design that conforms to all the safety requirements it is monumentally unsafe. Tanks can be stored inside the boat but inside a container that is airtight to the living space but vented to the outside of the boat. The line going to the stove, burner etc must go through a shut off valve, and the list of requirements goes on. The Coast Guard requirements are quite extensive.
 
I saw a boat go up in flames one year.
The cabin area down below kind of blew up.
My wife had her phone on burst because we were watching boat races, she got a lot of pics, some with people jumping in mid air getting off.
We were far enough away that we couldn't assist, plus, since it was boat races, there were a lot of rescue and fire boats.
My wife tracked the owner down to see if he might want the pics, and she chatted with him for a little bit. Everyone made it off ok, he just had a small burn on his hand.
The cause was a propane leak in the galley.
 
I will add, I've seen a pressure valve release once, outside, on a 20 pound propane tank. Had there been an ignition source present, I probably woudn't be writing this.

Thanks so much Dave I will have to enquire at a marina as to my options then. So I take it butane is lighter and does not settle to the bottom of the boat. So a propane can cannot even be stored in the boat say for running the crab cooker on the beach some where? If not how about storing the can in the dunnage bunker where the shore power chord and lines are?

Mark
 
I always wondered about the alcohol stoves in the classics.
I always considered those bombs.
 
You can hang a couple disposable 1 lb canisters in a bag off a rail above the swim platform or a bow rail. Magma actually makes a bag for that purpose
 
I always wondered about the alcohol stoves in the classics.
I always considered those bombs.

I had a boat with a non-pressurized origo alcohol burner. It wasnt much different than lighting a big candle. My 270 has a pressurized alcohol/electric kenyon. I use electric only, that pressurized alcohol scares the shit out of me
 
Growing up my parents had a sailboat with an alcohol stove with complete oven and cooktop. It had this bicycle type pump attached to the fuel tank that you pumped up to pressurize the liquid system. The thing still used a process of where to light it you dripped raw alcohol into a small primer tray under the fuel feed line. Then you lit the alcohol puddle that burned under the feed line to vaporize the alcohol so it would burn in a gas like state. You ran that for a few seconds and then lit the burner. Once it was going the heat from the burner parts alone was enough to vaporize the fuel at the burner. And as it burned it developed enough suction to draw fuel out of the tank.

The problem was the pump was located at one end of the galley, and not only was the primer tray partially hidden, but the pump was too far away to see well enough to judge when there was enough fuel to light and the number of pumps needed to pressurized the system differed by the amount of fuel in the tank making getting the right amount of primer fuel impossible. When too little fuel it wouldn't light, but if there was too much fuel left over in the primer tray after the burner lit, then whoosh a blue fireball. My mother refused to light it, and my dad would curse every time he had to light the stove to point our parents made us kids go topside. They never would fess up whether it was fear of a fire, or my dad's cursing that banished us to the top side.
 

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