Wallas Redux

My 85D manual says, use kerosene or diesel. I use kerosene because that is what the previous owner used. He said he was quite happy with kerosene so I just continued on.

Martin.
 
I have a cape cruiser 06 with a wallas single burner 800? I use only Kleen heat works every time . I put in new kleen heat every year and run the stove once a month or so and so far no problems . I turn the switch to high when turning off and keep batteries on . I keep the battery switch to 1or 2 and then hook up a solar collector when boat is not in use .
 
Yesterday I called Scan Marine about their instructions for using 100% mineral spirits. Told them the unit was 6 years old but had never been fired up, they said it probably wouldn't after sitting so long. I asked about their instruction to use 100% mineral spirits and was told that was old instructions. I should use either the best grade of kerosene or KleenHeet. Tried KleenHeet and the stove fired up but would only reach about 350 degrees indicated by my IR thermometer. changed back to 100% Mineral spirits and then the temp got up to about 420 degrees. Scan said maximum heat should be around 1000 degrees

Next step: send it to Scan Marine for service.

Gary
 
I had an interesting experience with my wallas. The former owner of my new to me c dory said that he had never used the wallas. I looked in the cabinet under the sink and noticed that the thru the hall exhaust wasn't in. the hose from the wallas was hanging loose in the cabinet through a hole cut in the top shelf. There was a hole cut in the hull with a white patch on the hole. When the wallas didn't start I took it to scan. They were very nice and said that the circuit board was bad and since it only had 2 hours was under warranty.
So got the wallas back, got the thru the hall exhaust kit and took off the patch and installed the exhaust . The whole thing with the patch on was kind of weird. Anyone ever heard of something like this on a previous C dory.
 
Kleen Heat is a substitute for Kerosene (more refined)--and should wouk in any kerosene appliance. I suspect that the failure to fire on Kleen heat is due to priming or voltage, rather than the fuel. Hopefully you didn't throw the kleen heat away.
 
I received my Wallas 800 back from Scan Marine this week and reinstalled this AM. Added some Kleen heat and it fired right up. Seems to work great.

Gary
 
Chester":3j3xfswx said:
Our model 95 hasn't failed completely but requires fiddling with and lately has decided an outboard motor (1500+ rpm, please) has to be running in order to start. After the Wallas has fired up the motor can be shut down. The batteries aren't old, the connections are clean and the voltage drop from the batteries to the stove is minimal. Still, I ought to clean every connection I 'spose.
Click to expand...

Update. I pulled and cleaned every electrical connection, nothing looked bad but the stove will now start without firing up an outboard motor.
 
Can people please post their repair costs when they had to send their units to Scan. My unit is removed from the boat and is getting ready for delivery to Scan. Want to get a better idea of how much it might cost to fix and whether it is better for me to go a different route for heat / cooking.

Just trying to get a ballpark idea of what to expect.
 
Earlier this year my Wallas 95DU went up to Scan. It had been working fine since 2007 until it quit lighting last February. They replaced the ignitor, the mat, cleaned the whole thing, put in a used fuel pump and a used combustion tube (or something like that). Total bill was $458.21, which included return shipping.

They are expensive little buggers but when they work they are great. It was sent up to them twice before since I bought the boat and it has probably averaged $100 per year to keep it going. They told me the unit is either a 1996 or 1999 model, but I don't recall which year for sure.
 
Considering what the Wallas costs, the repair costs are not a lot. But there are far cheaper ways to cook! Often if you don't want to keep the Wallas, it can be sold on this list (for far more if it works properly)
 
I dropped off the unit at Scan Marine. From what the shop person said, the stove is in good condition but in need of an overhaul.

I don't think this has worked for some time and unfortunate that we have to shell out for this as it was not in the budget. At least it was not corroded.

Will be nice to have a fully functioning stove/heater on the boat. The good news is that I will not have to spend additional hours on end trying to troubleshoot it. Hopefully it lasts for awhile.

I will post my repair bill once returned for future members reference.
 
I helped pull this unit out and the fuel line from the pump to the burn chamber had dried crumbly fuel in it and was decomposing. This unit must have sat unused for a long time. Never have I seen diesel turn to a hard crumbly state like that. I suspect that the fuel pump is toast if it contains the same old fuel.
 
Run your Wallas for a minimum of one hour a month, every month. That's what my Wallas chappy told me. Falls into the "Use it, or lose it" category.

Martin.
 
From dropping off the stove, it appears that my bill might be around $350-400 or more. This is considered a service visit from what they said.

Hard to believe that something used this infrequently is more expensive to maintain than the servicing on our house stove AND furnace.

I would have ditched this stove based on cost of repair, but the alternatives were also equally expensive if not more.

Will have it back on Tuesday so the turn around is definitely quick. Hoping for a working Wallace heater and low bills going forward though im thinking that the two may be mutually exclusive.
 
Scan Marine does good work and does it fast, but it is not cheap. Also, I get the feeling they are more apt to give you what they think you need rather than what you tell them you want.

When I sent the stove up there I included a note that was very clear about wanting to get a noise from the blower fan fixed. To show them what I meant I even left the stupid wedge in the thing that has to be positioned just right to make it quiet. Well, it came back with the wedge still in place and not fixed. Today it is louder than ever. I paid those guys $75 for the fan upgrade a few years ago. I would have paid them $150 to fix the stupid noise this time.

Also, as noted before, they put in used parts. Maybe the used parts are OK, but they should have checked with me first. I would have said no.
 
The same pattern for me Mike regarding Scan and my 1999 model 95DU. Enjoyed for the first couple years then one thing after another. It is in my garage in the Coleman cooler I mailed it in completely refurbished, including upgraded circut board. They said I should be able to use it or sell it which ever I choose. When the unit became more problematic, I started sending it to them per their reccomendation so nothing would be missed as they have testing equipment I don't have access to. If I remember correctly one such testing device would be precise exhaust/combustion measurement, which I would think be tied to calibration decisions.

Rather than see if the refurbished 95 would be more reliable or risk repeating what I have been through, I decided to stay with the Wallas brand and upgrade to the 85 a few years ago for several reasons. 1) efficiency of the fuel to weight/space factors 2) convenience of a combo. heater/cooker and 3) because I was told by Scan they are more robust in some ways, and less prone to the failures of the 95. We will see and the results asso. with my 85 will determine whether I will continue with Wallas.

I was told my newer model 85 gives them access to how many hours are on it when they test it on their equipment so it helps them with service decisions. I also need to be able to know when to service the unit since they have made it clear, if you want more reliability, treat the unit like you would any machine that needs routine maintenance, like your tow vehicle. So as some others have suggested on this site I installed my own hour meter so I have the opportunity to follow their servicing recommendations, and for me some way to monitor what is happening over time. I bought my hour meter through Napa and was instructed by Scan how to connect it.

My brother lives in Alaska within the Upik Eskimo culture. Years ago he told me a story I can identify with now as I apply it to my Wallas. I don't remember exactly how he told it but it went something like this. Someone would tell the elder eskimo this is what is best, and the old man would respond, "we will see".

I am hoping the hour meter will help me to more objectively do that.

Tom
 
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