# Conversion of a Kenyon 206 Alcohol stove to Kerosene



## Aswayze (Apr 5, 2015)

I figured I would post this here since when I was initially looking for details on this job it was tough to find a lot of info on it. Hopefully this will be of some use to another one of us down the road.

In a nut shell, you are basically replacing both of the burners which are for all intents and purposes "the stove" the rest of the actual stove is either structural bits holding things together, stuff that holds the frying pan above the burner or the tank and pump which provides pressurized fuel to the system. The tank and pump don't care a bit what kind of fuel you feed them, they would be just as happy pumping Gatorade as Alcohol or Kerosene so nothing of note is needed on them.

The burners I used were Patria 207s that I got off of Ebay. You can use Optimus/Svea burners, Patrias which are Portuguese copies of the Optimus/Svea burners, or you can use Indian made clones of the Patrias which are apparently usually just fine as well. Once you get your burners, all you really need to do is figure out how to get the fuel to them. The original alcohol burners had a handy compression fittings on the bottom while the Patrias had a less handy M14.5 x 0.75 threaded bottom which required me to manufacture something for it to screw into. I had to order a special tap from China as it's certainly not a common size then I used my lathe to adapt some sort of gas fitting from the cheapy bin at the hardware store. One side tapped with the goofy M14.5 threads, the other simply tapped 1/4 inch pipe thread. Note that I used a lathe because I have a lathe, this could have easily been accomplished with far more basic tools. From there, I just plumbed everything up with copper tubing about like the alcohol burner originally was and that was that.

Here's some pics of the process.









Original burner next to the replacement Patria










Close up of the top of the Patria










Original configuration top










Original configuration bottom










Facing off random brass thingy out of the sale bin at the hardware store to adapt










Drilling out random cheap brass thingy to thread onto the Patria burner










Threading thingy










Thingy installed










Tubing ran via thingy to burners.










Burner installed










Pumped up checking for leaks


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## Aswayze (Apr 5, 2015)

Initially I had some issues. The stove seemed to be sending in a lot more fuel than it should and the air flow was just not correct. I hopped over to the Classic Camp Stoves forum and consulted the guys there and it seemed like the most likely issue was incorrect jetting.









Happens a buddy of mine at the boat yard has a tabletop model Kero stove fitted with the same burner so I jimmied the locks on his boat and stole a jet out of his to compare with what was in mine. The jet on the left is what was in mine, the one on the right was what was in his. Now armed with the root cause of my problems, I went over to Tilly Lamps and Stoves and ordered up a new set of jets for mine.



















New jets showed up today and after install we are cookin with Kero!

All in all, the actual conversion work was pretty simple and I think the payoff is quite worth it. I much prefer cooking with a fuel that actually has some energy in it, the heat output is night and day different and the fuel consumption should be much better as well.

If you are thinking of doing the same, I recommend it entirely.


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## fryewe (Dec 4, 2004)

Nice job.

Nice posting.

Nice stove.


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## MastUndSchotbruch (Nov 26, 2010)

Aswayze said:


> Initially I had some issues. The stove seemed to be sending in a lot more fuel than it should and the air flow was just not correct. I hopped over to the Classic Camp Stoves forum and consulted the guys there and it seemed like the most likely issue was incorrect jetting.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Great job! I was lucky that my stove+oven already was converted. Kero is the perfect, safe fuel for boats.


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## deniseO30 (Nov 27, 2006)

Cost, if you include the labor would pass or be equal to a new stove is my guess. nice job!.. and I know about the gas jets and burners could never burn kero or diesel. the new burners heat the fuel to gasify it.


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## Aswayze (Apr 5, 2015)

Not even close. Even buying the more expensive Patria burners I am still into this for less than 200 and that's with buying new jets, tooling etc. 

Not likely to find any cooker I would use for that little. 

Labor is free if you take the time to learn skills rather than paying someone else for them. Generally speaking, where there is a will, there is a way.


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## hriehl1 (Aug 8, 2007)

Nice write-up.

For anyone else interested in burning kero in an alcohol stove, I can confirm it is a great upgrade. I have a Kenyon Mariner upgraded in similar fashion. Here are some further ideas.

1. Classic Camp Stoves / spiritburner com has a wealth of info and stove hobbyists very willing to help. You might even get someone to sell you a converted stove, as I did. Some of these guys own dozens of stoves, and kero-converted Kenyons seem to be very popular. The fellow who sold me mine sold me the converted complete stove and included some spare parts, all for $125.

2. An alcohol burner cannot burn kero but a kero burner can burn alcohol. I watch boat Stoves on EBay closely and perhaps one in twenty "alcohol" stove is actually fitted with kero burners. I assume the stove OEM just got a deal on a batch of kero burners because they are labeled as alcohol stoves. Those are the ones to buy, most go for under $100, sometimes way less.

3. Kero burners can flip between alcohol and kero with a simple switch of the jet. The OP provided a source.

4. Kero burners differ from alcohol burners in the underside piping, kero burners have more u-shaped piping because kero requires more intense pre-heating to vaporize the fuel. Look at the OP's side by side photo to see the differences in the undersides.


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## Aswayze (Apr 5, 2015)

Good info! 

In fact, it seems that the burners I got were actually set up for Alcohol the way I got them so I can vouch for the jet swapping. It would have been delightful to have just lucked into an alcohol cooker that just happened to already have the right burners on it, that would have made this about a $10 5 minute conversion!


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## Aswayze (Apr 5, 2015)

Update: 

After a summer of use I must report that I am still quite pleased with the results I have been getting from this guy. It lights easily, cooks well, and has had no mishaps at all. If you are considering this route, go for it! You will have no regrets.


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## John Mercer (Apr 7, 2019)

Hey thanks for a really great post. I recently was given an Ericson 32-2 which has an old 70s GalleyMaid stove in there, I want to convert it over to Kerosene and I found this post very useful: Quick question though: do you have any experience converting the oven burners over? I know Kerosene oven burners are harder to come by then camping stove-top burners. Do you, or anyone else know where I might find the right piece? I love cooking and definitely want a working over as well. Thanks in advance for any tips!


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## John Mercer (Apr 7, 2019)

Thankyou so much, really useful post! Quick question please: I have just been given an Ericson 32-2 with a 1970s GalleyMaid Alcohol Stove/Oven, converting the stove top will be easy enough (there's plenty of Kerosene camping burners and such like) but I am wondering what to do with the Oven and where I might find the right burner - any ideas? I love cooking and want to cruise with the Ericson when she's ready so definitely need that over up and running. Thanks in advance for yours (or anyone else's advice). Great and much needed post as you're right there's very little online about this.


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## MastUndSchotbruch (Nov 26, 2010)

John Mercer said:


> Thankyou so much, really useful post! Quick question please: I have just been given an Ericson 32-2 with a 1970s GalleyMaid Alcohol Stove/Oven, converting the stove top will be easy enough (there's plenty of Kerosene camping burners and such like) but I am wondering what to do with the Oven and where I might find the right burner - any ideas? I love cooking and want to cruise with the Ericson when she's ready so definitely need that over up and running. Thanks in advance for yours (or anyone else's advice). Great and much needed post as you're right there's very little online about this.


I have a Galleymaid kerosene stove. The oven is heated by a burner that looks just like the ones for the stove. I think conversion would be exactly the same as for one of the burners.

(don't have first-hand experience with conversion, mine was designed for kero from its inception.


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## Aswayze (Apr 5, 2015)

I do not have an oven so I cannot speak from experience however, it does seem to just be the same burner reapplied so it seems like the same thing played out over again. 

MastUndSchotbruch, can you snap a pic of your burner when you get a chance?


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## MastUndSchotbruch (Nov 26, 2010)

Aswayze said:


> I do not have an oven so I cannot speak from experience however, it does seem to just be the same burner reapplied so it seems like the same thing played out over again.
> 
> MastUndSchotbruch, can you snap a pic of your burner when you get a chance?


The burner in the oven looks EXACTLY like the ones in the very first posting.


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## hpeer (May 14, 2005)

One of the nice thing about Kero cookers is that ALL the spare bits are available from either 
https://www.base-camp.co.uk/stove_in.htm
Or 
https://www.sparesmarine.co.uk/webshop/cookers/?brandFilter=Taylors

Basecamp will look at your order and make suggestions. Both shop internationally and are surprisingly fast.

For a while Taylor was hawking some "new" burners that really sucked. The bases were very heavy and in my experience would not stay sufficiently hit to properly agonize the gas unless rung full open. In the last few years Hanse (?) has come out with some "new" burners that seem to work just a great. Kinda expensive but they are now what Basecamp and I think spares both sell. Better than both the Patraius and Indian burners, although the Patraius burners work pretty well also.

I have a 2 burner self table too cookernin my hunting cabin and each boat has a kero cooker with oven AND a bulkhead heater. In short I have 8 burners all told. Obviously I'm very happy with our kero decision.

The cooker in our big boat came out of an early or sunk wreck. It might be 50 years old, i cleaned it up and it works a great.


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## paulinnanaimo (Dec 3, 2016)

I've been following this thread with interest because our boat had a pressure alcohol stove which I kept working really well. However, I acquired a very nice Origo non pressure alcohol/electric model for next to nothing. I do not advocate for the Origo because it works better, but the silent operation is beautiful. The Kenyon stove was simply very noisy...does this not bother you people?


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## roverhi (Dec 19, 2013)

Our Shipmate kero stove with oven used the same burner for the cook top and the oven. From memory, it would get up to around 350 degrees in the oven. My wife turned out some great meals and baked goods from that stove.

Just out of curiosity, does anyone make the conversion reducer to do the swap??? 

Wanted to go with either kerosene or a non pressurized alcohol stove and the ungimballed Homestrand didn't have fiddles to hold pots while heeled. Didn't know about the conversion possibilities of the Homestrand so Ebay'd it with cutting board and bought a NOS Origo one burner and modified the countertop to fit the new stove. I've never used more than one burner on any boat I've owned so the Origo works fine for me and gives me a bunch more counter space which is sorely needed. Bought a piece of 1/2" cutting board plastic from a plastics supply house and trimmed it to cover the two burner opening. FYI, if you are replacing a Homestrand two burner with an Origo two burner, the Origo requires a deeper cut out so you'll need to do some saber saw work to drop it in. Width is the same and the overall dimensions of the stove are close enough to be a drop in. The latest version of the Origo 2 burner cooktop has a larger foot print so may not work. The older ones are fairly common on Ebay or Craig's List so don't despair if the new Origo doesn't work for you.


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## Aswayze (Apr 5, 2015)

I added pot holders to my homestrand just this spring










I got some generic ones off Great Lakes Skipper and modified it to work shifted 90 degrees. That way, it does not screw with the balance of the unit when gimballed.

Just have the pot holder on the one side for now

As far as the noise goes, there are plenty of things that make noise in my life so the kero stove does not really bother me. I prefer the heat output of kerosene and am willing to tinker a bit for the optimal system.


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## Aswayze (Apr 5, 2015)

Quote:

"Just out of curiosity, does anyone make the conversion reducer to do the swap???" 

I have not seen anyone selling them but there is just not that much to it. Like I mentioned, I did the work on my lathe simply because I own a lathe, I would stir my coffee with that thing if it happened to be near the coffee pot... 

In reality, just about any random chunk of brass will do the trick, order up a cheap M14.5 x 0.75 tap from eBay and you could do the work with a Dewalt drill and a pair of channel lock pliers in your cockpit. 

One follow up worth mentioning. I am perhaps a bit overly neat and tidy with my routing. The easier and likely smarter approach to doing the piping is to intentionally NOT have the outlet from the tank and the burner line up straight but instead set the burners offset by 90 degrees or so. This makes the routing actually quite a bit easier since you have a bit more play in addition to making it easier to tighten things a smidge more or not tighten them as much as needed. We did this on Staggs cooker, I'll see if I can get him to post a picture.


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## stagg (Dec 7, 2015)

It is a good thing we coiled them this way too. Much easier to make. Can disassemble it without damage. Remaking one was relatively easy.








Just doesn't look quite as elegant as the other version.


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## vanguard64 (May 13, 2016)

Good afternoon,
I am interested in knowing the brand name of the pot holders and how you modified them to fit the Homestrand stove. I like your gimbal frame too. What did you use for counterweight and how does it latch for non-gimbaled use?
Thanks,
Marcelo


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## Aswayze (Apr 5, 2015)

I honestly do not remember. Great Lakes Skipper no longer has them on their website. I don't know that the specific type matters much. Starting with a blank slate, you can make just about anything work. I can say that I have gotten some very good use out of the pot holders banging around the Chesapeake Bay in cooler weather. 


The gimbal actually came with my stove. Not much to it in all reality though. Just a frame the stove screws onto, an outer frame with a pivot pin in the middle. The counter weight assembly is just screwed to the inner frame and has a weight at the bottom mounted in a slot so that you can shift it one way or another to get your initial balance right. 

The latch is not terribly complex either. Just a pin with a set screw to hold it in or out as needed. 

I'll try to take some measurements and pictures once we are not stuck in the house.


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## vanguard64 (May 13, 2016)

Thanks for your response. I was thinking about replacing it with an Origo to gain the gimbals and the pot-holders but since Origo no longer makes them, I will make this one work. I have not had any problems with this stove as others have but I do maintain it.


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## Aswayze (Apr 5, 2015)

Pretty much anything will become unreliable or troublesome if not maintained. I suspect that the issues people tend to have issues with them due to lack of understanding of the basic operational principals. If you just pump it up and turn it on, you are going to have a very exciting then sad day.


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## SVTatia (May 7, 2007)

Lets all get together and revive the Kero stove!

There is no better, more economical and safer fuel for a boat, full stop.

I converted a 3-burner alcohol Shipmate to Kerosene back a few few few years ago, and believe it or not, I purchased a Kero conversion kit from Force 10 - they were the good old days.

I tried hard to find a good candidate stove for conversion for my current boat, but the price of the burners turned me away...

So I ended up with a propane stove... I hope I won't fly unintenionally.:grin


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## Lazerbrains (Oct 25, 2015)

I love my Kerosene stove. Great heat, and I don't worry about any explosions or leaking gas.


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## Minnewaska (Feb 21, 2010)

Kerosene is very safe. I've never had a kero stove aboard. I'm recalling the old kerosene heaters that were the rage, back in the 70s, during the fuel crisis. Great heat, easy to maintain. I know the kero stoves work differently, but I recall that you'd get slight soot build up on the ceilings and walls over time. It was not like burning coal or diesel inside, but it wasn't as clean as LPG or CNG either. 

Is this a kero stove issue? Obviously, weekend warriors probably woujdn't notice, more of a question for live aboards.


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## Aswayze (Apr 5, 2015)

I tend to keep my boat pretty clean on the whole and I don't tend to see any soot build up but I am particularly careful to be sure that the burner is well heated before lighting it up.


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## Lazerbrains (Oct 25, 2015)

I have been using mine for three years and have no soot buildup.


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## Minnewaska (Feb 21, 2010)

Lazerbrains said:


> I have been using mine for three years and have no soot buildup.


That's good to hear.

Just to level set my question, I would not call what the old heaters caused to be soot buildup. You'd never notice it, unless you actually ran a sponge across the crown molding. Then you'd realize there was some.


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## MastUndSchotbruch (Nov 26, 2010)

Minnewaska said:


> That's good to hear.
> 
> Just to level set my question, I would not call what the old heaters caused to be soot buildup. You'd never notice it, unless you actually ran a sponge across the crown molding. Then you'd realize there was some.


I am using my kerosene stove for nearly 20 years. I have had soot on the ceiling (ceiling in the house sense; what is the nautical name for this?) but that was due to a malfunction. Never during normal operation.

Admittedly, I am not even a weekend-warrior, as you called it, in terms of cooking on the boat. Quite likely there would be more build-up if I cooked daily on board. Then again, we get buildup of 'stuff' in our kitchen, despite a high-powered (muchos cf/m) over-the-range exhaust.


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## hpeer (May 14, 2005)

Yeah, we get some soot. User malfunction.

I get growth on the bottom too, more troublesome.


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## roverhi (Dec 19, 2013)

24/7/365 live aboard and cruising for two years we had some soot buildup on cabin side and overhead in the immediate vicinity of our Shipmate Kero stove. Didn't notice till I wiped a spot on the cabin side with a rag and 409 for some other reason. Rag came away with soot and where I wiped the wood was lighter. Lightly sprayed the overhead with 409 and wiped the area down and was done in 5 minutes.

My wife made some terrific meals and baked goods on that 2 burner stove with oven. We did have some learning issues with the stove. Someone said we could burn #1 diesel in it. Uh Uh, burners clogged up right quick and had to be replaced. Tried heating the gunked up burners with a propane torch but couldn't degunk them. We ended burning odorless mineral spirits in the stove. At that time Mineral Spirits were readily available in 5 gallon tins way cheaper than kerosene. Don't remember why but we always ran the burners flat out on high and used a couple of heat disbursing pads to get lower temps. I only made coffee so no problem for me but wife made just about everything in the Joy of Cooking on that stove. After the initial teething issues stove was dead reliable till we moved off the boat more than 2 years later. Still have the burners we bought as spares and never used somewhere.

Biggest argument we had cruising was over her plans to make Lobster Newberg. I'd gone diving and caught this huge lobster and wanted to boil it immediately and eat with butter. It was after 9:00pm by a the time we got back to the boat and she wanted to go to bed and cook it the next day. She won the argument. She made Newberg with coconut cream we hand pressed from coconuts we'd picked up onshore the day before and 5 month old eggs that were beginning to show their age if cooked sunny side up. An outrageous meal anchored in Hanamenu Bay, Hiva Oa, Marquesas, FP.


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## hpeer (May 14, 2005)

Roverhi,

If you want to part with those burners I’ll take them. 

Between three stoves and 2 heaters I’ve got 8 burners I keep running. Just not all at once.


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## roverhi (Dec 19, 2013)

hpeer said:


> Roverhi,
> 
> If you want to part with those burners I'll take them.
> 
> Between three stoves and 2 heaters I've got 8 burners I keep running. Just not all at once.


Still have a Taylor Kero stove on the Pearson35 so will hang onto the burners just in case. Will get in touch if I sell the boat.


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## hpeer (May 14, 2005)

roverhi said:


> Still have a Taylor Kero stove on the Pearson35 so will hang onto the burners just in case. Will get in touch if I sell the boat.


Thanks.


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