Wallace stove question

Mason C. Bailey Jr. · Guest

I have a 22 foot 2002 C-Dory with a Wallace stove. It has always worked great until late last fall. I have always used "Kleen Heat" as the fuel. I believe it stopped working because it ran out of fuel. I went to buy some more Kleen Heat but couldn't find any, so I purchased kerosene. Was this a mistake? I though they could run off diesel, kerosene or products like Kleen Heat, is this not true? I guess I'll try replacing the kerosene with Kleen Heat, unplugging the power and then powering back up. Does anyone have any better ideas?

Thanks, Mason Bailey

baileymcj@comcast.net

localboy · Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 4:30 pm Post subject:

I remember a thread where the service rep from Seattle chimed in. Basically, he said you could use #2 diesel or kerosene. Klean Heat is a cleaner burning kerosene, if I understand it correctly. I've even burned mineral spirits in it in a pinch. There may be something else going on and I am not the guy to answer that. So far, ours had worked without issue. I'd probably get a hold of the company in Seattle that sells them and ask their input. The Wallases are notorious for "issues"....

williwaw · Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 6:59 pm Post subject:

Which model do you have? If you've been running Klean Heet then I'm guessing it's the single burner 800. That stove was designed for kerosene so that's not a problem.

If you ran it out of fuel then maybe the "fail safe" mode kicked in before you got fuel back to the burner. If you reset that and it still doesn't start then you may want to call Scan Marine. They're great on the phone and will have you up and working in no time.

bcassal · Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 8:44 pm Post subject:

I also have a 2002 C-22 with a Wallas that has had an almost exclusive diet of keen-heat. It is a pretty low use unit and I must say that it has performed flawlessly over the years I have had it. We had freezing weather in Florida last year and ran it all night on many occasions. When I see the frequent Wallas bashing here on the site, I thank my lucky stars!

From previous experience with other kerosene burning gizmos, I would suggest the wick may have been compromised when it ran dry. Especially at such age. I have paid attention to the discussion of these Wallas problems and Scan Marine seems to be the place for service.

I think its a dandy little device.

Carpy

Ron on Meander · Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 9:14 pm Post subject:

Kerosene works just fine in my Wallas 95du. Any time I have run out of fuel though it has taken several cycles (attempts to light) to get the fuel to the stove. Once the fuel is back in the line it works every time. With each cycle attempt taking 15 or more minutes it takes a while. If you can hear the pump working and fuel is moving up your line it may just take a few cycles to get it to the stove.
If you tried a number of start cycles with no luck check the line to see if there is fuel in it, be sure your kerosene is clear and not cloudy, discard if cloudy, check the fuel filter to be sure its not plugged, listen for the pump to be sure its working, be sure your battery is well charged. If none of the above help it may be time to call Scan.
Good luck.

thataway · Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 9:49 pm Post subject:

The fuel pump is very slow to pick up a prime. You can look at the fuel line and see if fuel is going up, or if there are bubbles. To reset, you have to remove the fuse, which is at the battery in most boats.

We have run our Wallas stoves off "Liquid candle" (super purified kerosene), #1 and #2 Diesel and Kleen heat…

Moxieabs · Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 10:09 pm Post subject:

You can assist the prime of the pump by pinching off the air vent tube and putting gentle pressure on the fuel container while in start-up mode. You can watch the fuel flow up the supply tube to the pump at which time you can release the vent and stop the squeeze on the tank. I have primed the pump in just one start-up cycle using this technique.

Mason C. Bailey · Posted: Tue Feb 11, 2014 11:50 am Post subject: Wallace 95DU

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. It's good to know I didn't mess things up by adding kerosene. I'll try the power reset, I assume that is the same as the "fail safe" reset. Also try the pinching off of the air line and squeezing the tank to assist priming.

Thanks, Mason

Mason C. Bailey

Well, I tried everything that everyone suggested with no luck. I finally called Scan marine in Seattle and they told me to bring it in. I thought I could just haul the boat to them, but no I needed to remove the stove and bring it to them. I removed the stove from the boat, pretty simple really but a bit tough to get to all the fuel line fasteners for an old man! Their repair only took 2 days and I picked it up this morning. The repair technician there was great and he explained a lot to me. First there is no "fail safe" or need to unplug from power, it doesn't do anything. You can't force a prime by closing the air line and squeezing the tank, the fuel pump won't let it through. He also did not recommend any fuel except #2 diesel. His reasoning is that everything except #2 diesel can catch fire and so it is not as safe. The actual problem with mine was a worn out wick but they went through all of it and replaced anything that looked like it was getting close to needing it. The price was $280 but it works great now.