Wallas 800

Joefairbanks

Joefairbanks

Member
Since purchasing our 2006 23 Venture, I have had quite a few projects that I have been tackling one item at a time.
Last night I decided to tackle the Wallas stove/heater that was in the boat. Before doing anything, I contacted Bill at Scan Marine. I told him what stove I had- Wallas 800- and asked for a list of things to look for/try before trying to start it for the first time. The previous owner couldn't give me much information on the condition of the stove/heater. When I asked him about it, his response was "When we first bought the boat new in 2006, we turned it on and it worked just fine. We haven't tried it since. It still has the fuel in it from when it was delivered."
So on Bill's advice, and common sense, I drained the old fuel out of it- it really looked pretty good and didn't smell weird. I inspected the fuel lines, added a fresh gallon of Kleen Heat, cranked the knob to max and turned on the switch.
Within about 4 minutes, I had heat and absolutely no smoke from the exhaust outside. I let it run for quite a while, to get good and hot. Then I shut it down, while still on high.
I know what you all are thinking- give it time and I will be using it for a new anchor! But for now, I am feeling extremely lucky, and happy!
We now have heat, and a place to cook inside if we want.
I know that Wallas stoves have been talked about many times in here, so I just wanted to contribute my experience of resurrecting one that hadn't been abused, just ignored.
Again, thanks to all of you for sharing your knowledge and experience with the rest of us!
 
We found the Wallas was a great addition to the boat: one device that could cook and heat. It was reliable and efficient. Scan Marine helped us diagnose problems twice - once I had to replace the glow plug, which they overnighted to me, along with instructions for install. The other time, it was a bad house battery in the boat (no problem with the Wallas).

It kept us warm at anchor when the Florida Keys had record cold; same when cruising in the Pacific Northwest during a "normal" summer. It handled our onboard cooking from coast to coast to coast.

Before we ordered the boat, we were told, "The Wallas is great." Twelve minutes after we picked up the boat, we heard, "That Wallas will give you nothing but grief." Turns out the former was true.

Sounds like you have been busy with improvements on your boat - glad to hear the Wallas was in good shape after that prolonged "rest." Enjoy!
 
Wow. After 19 years of a Wallas remaining idle along with the advice from Scan Marine, to now have a perfectly working unit today is amazing. We were told to run our Wallas for at least 15 minutes every month to keep the unit trouble free but your story is quite different. Enjoy!
 
Out of 5 CDories we have owned, 4 have had Wallas Stoves. I added one of thos, the rest came with the boat. The Last 25 had a single burner cartage stove--which I gave away, and went to induction burner (Makes sense in Florida, where you don't want to heat the cabin much of the year). We have used the Wallas from the Keys to Icy Straits AK, and had no major problems with oany of them.

1: use cleam fuel of the type of that model stove.
2. Be sure that battery is at max charge
3. Start on high
4. Stop on high.
5. The Wallas alone was not enogh to keep the boat warm in AK. even in the summer
 
I do feel very lucky that our unit fired up without problems.
I am really looking forward to trying it out this weekend for our second over-night on the hook! We are thinking somewhere around Port Ludlow...
Fairly good tides this weekend, so it will be a good test for our new Mantus anchor.
I appreciate all the good advice on the proper fuel, voltage and frequency of exercise.
 
I have the DT85 on my C-Dory. Had the pump seize up. Had to take it to Scan Marine. They replaced the pump and reprogramed the brain. (You do not want to mess with the module that programs the amount of fuel that feeds the burner. After they fixed it, I have not had a problem in a year. Works like a champ now.

Scan Marine said to run #2 diesel from the gas station. The diesel helps lubricate the piston in the pump and keeps it from seizing up. I run mine every couple of weeks to make sure it will work when I need it to. They also said do not let the diesel get old.

I had a problem with the heater starting from the house battery. After we rewired the system, everything works on the battery or on shore power now.

It is super nice to sit in a warm cabin when fishing for Spring Chinook.
 
My Wallas 800 is designed to run on kerosene, and Bill at Scan Marine said to use Kleen-Heat or 1-K. I found Kleen-Heat locally at Home Depot, so I grabbed a couple of gallons.
I was worried about voltage drop, hearing that they are sensitive especially at start-up. I have it wired to my house battery load center. Last night I was hooked up to shore power so the charger was running. When out, I plan on starting the Wallas while my outboard is running, so that my ACR will be throwing a charge to my house battery. Hopefully this will keep my voltage up. I should be able to shut down the outboard after start-up is complete. My batteries are brand new, but I have not installed a battery monitor for the house battery yet. I guess I will find out how this works on Saturday!
 
If it does not start on the house battery or the red 🔥 light starts blinking. Turn off unit and start again with the main engine running. They take some amps draw to start but once the heater is running it will take next to nothing (Amps) to keep running.

Scan told me to run diesel for this model DT85 over kerosene. There is a really good thread about Kleen Heat, Kerosene , or Diesel on the site. You should be really happy with the heat output in the cabin. I cooked some hotdogs to test out the cook top. Worked way better than I was expecting :thup

You do not want the heater running in heavy seas, or choppy waves. It will shut off the unit.
 
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