Major Kenyon Kiss malfunction

416rigby · Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2012 11:58 am Post subject:

Personally I'd fill the hole to get your counter space back and use the butane stove. They work great and when they quit working they're cheap to replace. We just bought a new one for about 20 bucks.

Rick

ghone · Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2012 12:18 pm Post subject:

I'm with Rick. I almost ordered my boat with no stove. I find we cook outside more than inside so if my Kiss quits, I will cover the hole with a food quality surface for meal prep and use the portable there. I do now actually. I close the kiss and store the portable on top. I find the portable has better low flame control. $28 in Canada. Can buy them often if they give you trouble.

bmacpiper · Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2012 12:27 pm Post subject: Update again

Spoke to Frank again, and he was once again very accommodating. I asked to keep the portable butane, return the alcohol/electric combo, and have him rebuild the Kiss. I also asked for a stainless cover for the KISS hole, in case I remove it later. He agreed to all of that, and is sending me a refurbished KISS instead, to save me a bit of time. I'll return the other one to him for their review.

I will keep a close eye on the KISS going forward; I hated to just toss it and get nothing in return, but also wanted to cover the eventuality of removal and closing the hole. Will see. I'll have to add some non-slip to the portable if I go that route--and maybe some makeshift potholders. Used it on Friday out of Pt Townsend and had the boiling kettle all over the place.

b

potter water · Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2012 8:58 pm Post subject:

My KISS is working well. I like everything about it. BUT, with the info on the potential fire issue, I'll be paying more attention. Sucker heats up like a blow torch and you are cooking or boiling right away, so I'd hate to go to anything else. However, I do know that proper sealing and maintaining any gas stove, propane, butane or otherwise is important. The tip on the 30 weight oil makes sense, and I'll be doing that. Otherwise, the stove is so simple, I can't imagine much going wrong. I also can't imagine what would melt the burner. I wonder if there is something funny with your gas canister and the wrong stuff is in there. Is it possible that there is some other gas in a similar canister that is much hotter? Makes no sense to me that the butane would be able to melt the burner.

Sea Wolf · Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2012 12:26 pm Post subject:

bmacpiper · Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2012 1:12 pm Post subject:

Hi Potter Water, thanks for the thoughts. I most definitely have butane, even read the can to the Kenyon people. It has the metal tab with cutout and all that as well.

As an aside, a direct quote from Kenyon: "You aren't limited to just our brand of butane--they are all the same and you can use any brand you want."

I do use MAPP gas also at home, but it has a different torch to propane.

I couldn't agree more that I have a hard time imagining any circumstance where the burner would melt and fail, but it happened, and would have caused a fire if I hadn't caught it when I did. All I can think is that somehow the metallurgy was bad, or perhaps there was a wrong "jet", for lack of a better term, in the regulator that allowed too much gas to flow (i.e. too many BTUs at once, more than the burner was designed to take), or something like that. It's all SWAG for me, just wondering out loud.

Nonetheless, Kenyon is rightfully interested to see the stove and figure out what happened. If they give me any further info, I will share it here.

All the best,
bmc

colbysmith · Posted: Mon Jul 01, 2013 10:26 pm Post subject:

Just going through some of the archives as I get ready to purchase some replacement fuel cylinders for my Kenyon Kiss stove. I find all of the messages here interesting. However, in the two years I've owned my 2007 CD-22, I've had good use of my stove. IT appears to be in like new condition as well. Just wondering if there are many others out here that have had the same good service from their Kiss stoves? I'm really not interested in replacing my working stove, and feel like anything, there can be lemons out there. I've used both propane and coleman camp fuel equipment in the past, and like anything else dealing with fuels....I think if you take care of it, it'll take care of you. Colby

potter water · Posted: Mon Jul 01, 2013 10:43 pm Post subject:

Our Kenyon has worked reliably for many seasons and we've not paid any attention to the brand of canister. I would not give it up at this point and I do like the built in nature of the thing.

Will-C · Posted: Tue Jul 02, 2013 9:54 am Post subject: Major Kenyon Kiss malfunction

We have had our boat since April of 2009. We used our Kenyon Kiss stove a fair amount never had any problems. We always left the fuel canister in place in the stove. Last year we changed out the canister and noticed we could not get a decent seal and heard and smelled gas leaking. We did not use the stove and sent it back to Kenyon after our trip. They resealed the unit with new o rings and checked it out for free. Frank said do not leave the fuel canister in place when you are not using the stove. A small drop of motor oil on the fuel canister tip helps lube the o rings etc. when you install the gas canister in the stove. No other trouble. The stove works like a champ. I keep a close eye on it as I do with any gas fueled device. I have a portable surface mounted back up butane stove which has a plastic carrying case. That stove has been used a lot in power outages,camping etc. Never had an issue. Always removed gas canister after each use. I think that's the key, remove gas canister after every use.
D.D.

colbysmith · Posted: Tue Jul 02, 2013 11:02 am Post subject:

I'm looking at the GasOne replacement cartridges from Amazon. Has anyone used these? They appear to be the correct style.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0022BUT2O/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A10QFO4IXVZNRN

Sasscom · Posted: Thu Jul 18, 2013 3:12 pm Post subject:

I also have had a problem with my KISS stove leaking fuel. I had left a fuel cylinder in the stove for more than a week...maybe a couple of weeks come to think of it....and when I put in a new canister I heard fuel leaking. Thank goodness I had the good sense (not always the case) not to try lighting it. I called Kenyon, and the VP of Manufacturing got right back to me and asked a few questions to make sure I was familiar with how to load the canister. When I explained I was about to leave on a summer cruise, he issued a Return Authorization and asked me to ship it back right away. It was returned 5 business days from when I shipped it, meaning that they turned this around in their service department in one day. The stove has a new set of seals and works like new. Now I'll just remove the canister on a daily basis. No big deal considering how well the stove performs. Oh, and by the way, the stove's serial number indicates it was manufactured in 2008. My 2009 TomCat was purchased "new" from Mark at Wefings in 2011. This was all done at no charge except for my shipping expense to Kenyon. I'd say this is pretty remarkable customer service.

colbysmith · Posted: Thu Sep 26, 2013 10:50 pm Post subject:

Just wanted to bring this thread back to life. I recently had a problem with my KISS stove, where when I inserted the butane canister, it started leaking. As some others have, I contacted Kenyon and worked with Frank Palmieri. He was very accommodating and helpful and agreed to repair my stove as warranty. (IT was manufactured in 2007, and I just purchased the boat used last year and was probably the only one using the stove...which I like very well.) As others have shared, many times the problem is with the seals drying out. Frank shared with me that butane really drys the seals out. He said the Butane canister should be removed from the stove after each use, and then to purge the butane in the system by opening the burner valve. Also, with each use, put a drop of 30 weight motor oil right on the tip of the butane nozzle. This will blast the oil thru the system (seals) when you install the canister, thereby keeping the seals lubed. Yeah, a little bit of a pain to keep these stoves working, but for me, it's a great little stove that allows me to leave the camp stove and marine grill at home saving a little bit of space. Colby

Jack in Alaska · Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2013 12:52 pm Post subject:

After hearing from Dr. Bob about his friend that was critically burned by a KISS I put mine in the garbage can. You should also. It does not appear to be a well engineered piece of equip.
Will "Frank" be around to help out with medical bills etc.
I do not want to take the chance. My Mr.Heater works great.

Sasscom · Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2013 1:41 pm Post subject:

As I recall, Dr. Bob said that his friend was injured by a PROPANE stove, not a butane fueled KISS stove.

colobear · Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2013 2:12 pm Post subject:

Our KISS, while we don't use it a lot, has worked well for 7 years. Just take the butane cylinder off after every use and, on recommendation from the dealer, every now and then put a dab of lube around the tip to keep the O ring flexible