As it's the coldest day ever on my boat my interest has gone to my heater which I've never seen the need of till now. But there is no apparent way to fill her up. Anyoe used one before?

Sideways photo alert...help HG!

I know you asked for him ...... but here goes

It looks like a pressure kerosene heater. I'm not sure where the filling cap is. Its probably best to fill it to about 2/3 of the tank to leave space for the pressurized air, although when first trying it it might be better to put less kerosene in.

It will be scary if it flames up, you will definitely need a fire blanket out and ready to cover the flames just in case.

The procedure is to:

Pump up the air pressure in the tank a bit. I'm unsure, probably about 8 to 15 pumps, you should be able to feel some resistance to the pumping to indicate it has air pressure.

Ensure the kerosene is turned off at the burner.

If there is any kerosene visible at the burner or in the burner cup, to first wipe it up with a rag.

Place some methylated spirits in the cup at the bottom of the burner. Light it with a match and let the methylated spirits burn for a while until it completely burns out.

It is very important, to avoid a flare up, that there is no kerosene in the burner cup when lighting the methylated spirits, and that the metho flame has completely burned out before turning on the kerosene flow to the burner.

Then turn on the burner and light it with a match or lighter or something.

If it works, then the it will burn with a blue flame and hiss.

If it doesn't work, then yellow flames will flare up everywhere threatening the bulkhead, the headliner, and anything else flammable near the burner, which you will need to turn of the burner and cover the flames with the fire blanket. Or maybe you could control the flames with a frypan or saucepan to try to keep the flames away from the bulkhead, headliner, etc.

PS an alternative to using methylated spirits to pre-heat the burner is to preheat the burner with some type of gas torch, obviously that would require wiping up any kerosene on the burner or cup before trying that.

Although they can be scary at first, I really like pressure kero stoves.

Fit a Webasto diesel heater. Safe, easy to use, use about 200ml / hour of diesel. We have one in our caravan and would not be without it. Our boat is fully air conditioned but if we are at a marina we still use a little 240v portable blower heater as it is quieter than the airconditioning. We also use the blower heater in the caravan if we are on power.

If you are really intent on giving this a whirl, the first thing would be to have it checked and cleaned and tested for functionality before applying any kind of naked flame to it.
Things that haven't been used for a long time have a nasty habit of deteriorating at a faster rate than those things in regular use. When you are ready to fire it up make sure you have your fire extinguishers close at hand, Co2 or foam, not water.

+10
In the meantime, how about a few PET bottles filled with hot water and put under your doona?
That is how l lie right now in 12 degrees outside, 16 degrees inside and summer under my eiderdown sleepingbag. Do not burn yourself, thou!

This is a taylor fuel tank it a later model same as I just used on my stove notice the air pump on top and thin of yours
Your knob appear to be the same as my stove so Id say it could be an early taylor kero heater which probably uses a burner just like my stove
Id email psare marine in UK they handle taylor parts also Blakes taylor do also but I think you may get a quicker response from spares marine

sparesmarine.co.uk/webshop/heaters/


www.blakes-lavac-taylors.co.uk/
remove it off the bulk head and dismantle so you can get to the burner then flush out all the old kero from the tank or whatever is in there and maybe you can verify if it diesel or kero from what fluid comes out or if it has a burner like my stove has
Don't light it on board till you have trailed it on land first please

Cool heater Mc Naught. Let us know if you get it going. Hopefully we wont hear about it on the news!

Select to expand quote

Trek said..


Cool heater Mc Naught. Let us know if you get it going. Hopefully we wont hear about it on the news!

Plus one for that Trek
Put some photos up as you go Mc Nautical Japie has a taylor and Ive just been exposed .
Yet more to learn before it goes back on board to but I get the simplicity of its design
if its a kero burner a drink bottle top full of metho poured into the pre heat cup light the meths and wait till it goes out then open a burner slightly and light it and just let it heat up before you turn the burner up



Pre heat cups is number 32 that's where the metho goes Mc nautical
if you removed the burner off the heater you would probally need number 32 and 33
sparesmarine.co.uk/webshop/cookers/030-paraffin-cooker/paraffin-kerosene-burner/?brandFilter=Taylors < kero stove
sparesmarine.co.uk/webshop/heaters/079k-paraffin-cabin-heater/paraffin-kerosene-burner/?brandFilter=Taylors <kero heater

same burner as the the stove by the part numbers if your is stuffed now I've got my stove running I could clean up a old burner see how it runs if good send it up to you
Your not get my Hanse burners

Hi McNaught,
That photo looks seriously manky! I have a lifetime experience of shellite bushwalking stoves, aka the Choofa, so I now have an unhealthy disregard for hydrocarbon fuels, having lit up in all sorts of desperate places. Any serious corrosion around the burner must be made good first. I would not light up until:
*Burner (jet) is thoroughly clean.
*You are certain of fuel type, and emptied & re-filled.
*Valves & caps are cleaned & lubed so they seal.
*You are certain of the plumbing so you can diagnose problems.
In other words - pull the bastard to bits!!

Order of flammability, high to low: Metho > Shellite(unleaded petrol) > Kero > Diesel.
Metho will start itself. Shellite can pre-heat itself. Kero & Diesel always need preheating, usually with metho.
On my recent trip to Cape Horn, Pelagic Australis used a diesel heater (a Nordic brand from memory) burning 24/7. Very economical and NO fumes.

Good luck!

Best boat heater I have experienced is a hot woman under a thick blanket.

Select to expand quote

LooseChange said..
If you are really intent on giving this a whirl, the first thing would be to have it checked and cleaned and tested for functionality before applying any kind of naked flame to it.
Things that haven't been used for a long time have a nasty habit of deteriorating at a faster rate than those things in regular use. When you are ready to fire it up make sure you have your fire extinguishers close at hand, Co2 or foam, not water.

Spot on Loose, but Please, please, please McNaught, do not fill and start this heater without expert on site advice!

Select to expand quote

McNaughtical said..




As it's the coldest day ever on my boat my interest has gone to my heater which I've never seen the need of till now. But there is no apparent way to fill her up. Anyoe used one before?

I do believe that is a shipmate kero heater, supposedly quite a good heater, though it definitely needs a good clean and service.

Select to expand quote

SemusMcgilicoty said..

Pretty Rare Heater I think...

Yes and without knowing anything about it, the one in McNaughties boat could be acohol, kero or diesel fuelled. A model number is what is needed. If any parts are needed they are from what I see on the net, next to impossible to procure.

Another option might be to put in place a portable catalytic gas heater. These heaters were banned in Australia back in the 80's due to them having the gas bottle in the same cabinet as the heating element. They were normally a wheel mounted cabinet that you rolled from room to room as you needed it.
With a long hose to separate the bottle from the heating element these are as safe as anything you are going to have on your boat.

Select to expand quote

UncleBob said...

McNaughtical said..




As it's the coldest day ever on my boat my interest has gone to my heater which I've never seen the need of till now. But there is no apparent way to fill her up. Anyoe used one before?

I do believe that is a shipmate kero heater, supposedly quite a good heater, though it definitely needs a good clean and service.

good one uncle bob
McNaitical is go to bunning buy a C O
alarm fit to the main cabin then use you stove oven for a few day while its chilly

Select to expand quote

cisco said..
Best boat heater I have experienced is a hot woman under a thick blanket.

McNaught already is a hot woman, but she has to get out of bed eventually, and that is where the heater comes in.

Fraid there is no option but to pull the heater apart and check Mc Naught. Particularly the pressure vessel. That needs to be carefully examined and pressure tested with water fill.
Anybody know the rated pressure of a kero heater? If all else fails you could check out the rated pressure of a similar modern kero (paraffin) stove. Used to be called a Primus stove. Was the camping standard in my long lost youth.

Thanks everyone. ..I'm taking all the advice and sticking with the gas oven hot water bottles and cats till I thouroughly check that ine out.

Select to expand quote

McNaughtical said..
Thanks everyone. ..I'm taking all the advice and sticking with the gas oven hot water bottles and cats till I thouroughly check that ine out.

If your on marina power Mc Nautical you could have a look around for a new or second hand one of these oil bank heaters around a medium size will warm your boat. I used one last winter while doing interior epoxy work. It worked a treat


around $50 $ 100 keep you warn and toasty
you must be a wooos it you can't pick up a medium size oil bank heater Fish monkey

i dunno, i can't see any advantages of those oil heaters over a panel heater. they are heavy and unwieldy and slow to heat up, and use just as much power.

we ditched all our oil-filled heaters a while back...

Select to expand quote

HG02 said..

McNaughtical said..
Thanks everyone. ..I'm taking all the advice and sticking with the gas oven hot water bottles and cats till I thouroughly check that ine out.

If your on marina power Mc Nautical you could have a look around for a new or second hand one of these oil bank heaters around a medium size will warm your boat. I used one last winter while doing interior epoxy work. It worked a treat


around $50 $ 100 keep you warn and toasty
you must be a wooos it you can't pick up a medium size oil bank heater Fish monkey

I'm on the hook HG, so definitely not doing that one, which conserving power etc.

Select to expand quote

HG02 said..

Trek said..


Cool heater Mc Naught. Let us know if you get it going. Hopefully we wont hear about it on the news!

Plus one for that Trek
Put some photos up as you go Mc Nautical Japie has a taylor and Ive just been exposed .
Yet more to learn before it goes back on board to but I get the simplicity of its design
if its a kero burner a drink bottle top full of metho poured into the pre heat cup light the meths and wait till it goes out then open a burner slightly and light it and just let it heat up before you turn the burner up



Pre heat cups is number 32 that's where the metho goes Mc nautical
if you removed the burner off the heater you would probally need number 32 and 33
sparesmarine.co.uk/webshop/cookers/030-paraffin-cooker/paraffin-kerosene-burner/?brandFilter=Taylors < kero stove
sparesmarine.co.uk/webshop/heaters/079k-paraffin-cabin-heater/paraffin-kerosene-burner/?brandFilter=Taylors <kero heater

same burner as the the stove by the part numbers if your is stuffed now I've got my stove running I could clean up a old burner see how it runs if good send it up to you
Your not get my Hanse burners

Thanks HG, now I'm on a desktop computer on land, I can see this diagram better. I'll pull mine to bits and clean it up and see how I go. Will probably be warm again by then.

Select to expand quote

cisco said..
Best boat heater I have experienced is a hot woman under a thick blanket.

Cisco, I have no interest whatsoever in having a hot woman or any woman for that matter under a thick blanket with me.....

Select to expand quote

HG02 said..
you must be a wooos it you can't pick up a medium size oil bank heater Fish monkey

easy tiger!

sporttoday.org/28_79fa574b0744846d_1.htm <a little bit of info about the middle of the page about a book which might be worth sourcing second hand

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Shipmate-stainless-steel-kerosene-heater-Model-701CH-/321938473055?nma=true&si=D7o6tNvq%252B3xM%252B4KON7q4rX%252BaipI%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557
From what Ive found on the net (cant find a manual yet) my Taylor burner will work and its used in many different brands of stoves and heaters
Where you could try and get more info is join camp stoves community and ask in there for a PDF manual some one will now where
It needs to be cleaned including the stale kero in the fuel tank .
It will go again with so,me work
this is a force ten heater manual it will give you a basic understanding of your shipmate internally
www.go2marine.com/docs/8/3/1/0/83101F-mi.shtml

I can if you want clean and test one of my old burners on my stove it probably is ok after a good clean I can run it on my stove and test it out before I send it if you want.
Looks like your handle is missing the top part where you pump the air into the tank this pressures the kero then you put around 20ml of metho into the pre heat cup
which is number 32 in the diagram above you light that metho and this warms the burner up so it can vaporize the kero . Once the meth in the preheat cup goes out you then open the knob slightly and the kero vapor comes out and you light it keep the knob on low for a while till the burner warms up a lot more and then very slowly turn it up. That's seems to work for me on my burners if you open them up to quickly it will produce a carbon flame (yellow flame) you want and need a blue flame.

If you cant get a blue flame you have not let the burner get hot enough so you turn the burner off and wait till the burner is cold again DO NOT ever try and relight a hot burner with metho EVER NEVER. When its cold again repeat the procedure pour metho into the pre heat dish and light it when it goes out crack open the burner know and light the burner

I think my stove might not have done any work I feel and some of the parts and even the heat deflector in the over was like brand new not a heat mark on it so i think one of my burner will be fine after a good clean
My Taylor stove which uses the same burner as your ship mate heater
I think who I bought it off stored it for around ten years in a shippign container and the first ownerbefore him never instailled it either if he did lot for long proabally bought a gas stove
www.cruisersforum.com/forums/f115/kerosene-cabin-heater-19368-2.html

classiccampstoves.com/forums/stove-forum.286/

Select to expand quote

McNaughtical said..

cisco said..
Best boat heater I have experienced is a hot woman under a thick blanket.

Cisco, I have no interest whatsoever in having a hot woman or any woman for that matter under a thick blanket with me.....

Have you considered a hot blooded matador then??

Select to expand quote

cisco said..

McNaughtical said..

cisco said..
Best boat heater I have experienced is a hot woman under a thick blanket.

Cisco, I have no interest whatsoever in having a hot woman or any woman for that matter under a thick blanket with me.....

Have you considered a hot blooded matador then??

That's more like it Cisco.

Select to expand quote

HG02 said..


sporttoday.org/28_79fa574b0744846d_1.htm <a little bit of info about the middle of the page about a book which might be worth sourcing second hand

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Shipmate-stainless-steel-kerosene-heater-Model-701CH-/321938473055?nma=true&si=D7o6tNvq%252B3xM%252B4KON7q4rX%252BaipI%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557
From what Ive found on the net (cant find a manual yet) my Taylor burner will work and its used in many different brands of stoves and heaters
Where you could try and get more info is join camp stoves community and ask in there for a PDF manual some one will now where
It needs to be cleaned including the stale kero in the fuel tank .
It will go again with so,me work
this is a force ten heater manual it will give you a basic understanding of your shipmate internally
www.go2marine.com/docs/8/3/1/0/83101F-mi.shtml

I can if you want clean and test one of my old burners on my stove it probably is ok after a good clean I can run it on my stove and test it out before I send it if you want.
Looks like your handle is missing the top part where you pump the air into the tank this pressures the kero then you put around 20ml of metho into the pre heat cup
which is number 32 in the diagram above you light that metho and this warms the burner up so it can vaporize the kero . Once the meth in the preheat cup goes out you then open the knob slightly and the kero vapor comes out and you light it keep the knob on low for a while till the burner warms up a lot more and then very slowly turn it up. That's seems to work for me on my burners if you open them up to quickly it will produce a carbon flame (yellow flame) you want and need a blue flame.

If you cant get a blue flame you have not let the burner get hot enough so you turn the burner off and wait till the burner is cold again DO NOT ever try and relight a hot burner with metho EVER NEVER. When its cold again repeat the procedure pour metho into the pre heat dish and light it when it goes out crack open the burner know and light the burner

I think my stove might not have done any work I feel and some of the parts and even the heat deflector in the over was like brand new not a heat mark on it so i think one of my burner will be fine after a good clean
My Taylor stove which uses the same burner as your ship mate heater
I think who I bought it off stored it for around ten years in a shippign container and the first ownerbefore him never instailled it either if he did lot for long proabally bought a gas stove
www.cruisersforum.com/forums/f115/kerosene-cabin-heater-19368-2.html

Thanks HG,

The shipmate on ebay is exactly the same as mine.

Thanks for the great instructions. I remember my parents cooking on a primus cooker when we used to go camping. I also have a kerosene pressure lantern that I've had but not used for probably 30 years, so I have a vague memory of using that sort of thing.
I've printed off the manual you sent me the link to, and it would be very kind of you to send me one of your old burners. I'll have a go at mine on my next days off when I have some good daylight to work with.

Select to expand quote

cisco said..

McNaughtical said..

cisco said..
Best boat heater I have experienced is a hot woman under a thick blanket.

Cisco, I have no interest whatsoever in having a hot woman or any woman for that matter under a thick blanket with me.....

Have you considered a hot blooded matador then??

My Mum lives in Spain and reckons hot bloodied matadors are not all they're cracked up to be !?!?.

Thanks HG, The shipmate on ebay is exactly the same as mine. Thanks for the great instructions. I remember my parents cooking on a primus cooker when we used to go camping. I also have a kerosene pressure lantern that I've had but not used for probably 30 years, so I have a vague memory of using that sort of thing. I've printed off the manual you sent me the link to, and it would be very kind of you to send me one of your old burners. I'll have a go at mine on my next days off when I have some good daylight to work with.

Those pressure lanterns give off a humongous amount of heat. If it's still a goer try that for warmth until you get the heater set up, but you will need a bit of ventilation cos they do chew up the oxygen.