Monday, January 21, 2008

Origo 3000 Alcohol Stove


The stove I ordered for the minimal galley on my Tiki 26, Element II arrived Saturday. It is an Origo 3000, the ubiquitous non-pressurized alcohol boat stove made in Sweden and found on so many boats around Europe and North America. Marine alcohol stoves are criticized by many, and propane seems to be the fuel of choice for most modern cruising boats, but my reasons for choosing this type of stove are obvious when the focus of the boat and it’s intended use is taken into consideration.

First of all, there is simplicity. Simple, yet functional and efficient are the guiding themes of the Tiki 26 design in the first place, and something I want to adhere to in all systems and installations as much as possible. Sure, it would be even simpler to take a portable one-burner camp stove like I used on my sea kayaking trips and on my smaller Wharram cats, the Hitia 17 and the Tiki 21. But Element II will be going to sea, not just sailing from anchor to anchor in the course of a day. There will be a need to cook simple meals and make a pot of coffee or a cup of tea while underway, and this requires a dedicated stove mounted in a secure location out of the weather. The Origo 3000 is compact for a 2-burner stove and optional pot holders and gimbals are made for it that allow cooking in most any conditions. Camping stoves are fine at anchor, but I don’t want a stove with disposable propane bottles down below when it’s rough out. I’ve had too many leaks from these canisters in the past to trust them, and besides, all the camp type stoves I’ve used in the past quickly began to rust when used in the marine environment. The Origo 1500 one-burner stove I had on my Grampian 26 Intensity, however, is now 7 years old and still in great shape, thanks to the quality of the stainless steel used in its construction.

The great advantage of the Origo non-pressurized alcohol stoves is that they don’t use moving parts, or depend on secure seals or pressure pumps that have to be rebuilt often with everyday use. These stoves are as simple as it gets. Just keep the tanks filled with alcohol, open the burner valve when you’re ready to cook, and strike a match. It doesn’t get any simpler or more reliable than that. I especially like the fact that the stove is totally self-contained. No need for complex tank installations outside the cabin with hoses to the stove, as in propane, and no external parts or systems to worry about. If there is alcohol in the tank, the burner simply works, without fail. Another advantage of a self-contained stove like this is that just like the camp stoves; the Origo 3000 can be easily moved out into the cockpit or even taken ashore for cooking when the boat is not underway. I will probably do a lot of cooking in the cockpit under an awning or in a deck tent when I’m anchored someplace I want to stay awhile.

Cost is another factor in this choice. While the Origo stoves are more expensive than most camping stoves, they are still much less expensive than marine propane stoves and all the associated paraphernalia necessary for a safe installation. A two-burner model like the Origo 3000 falls somewhere in the middle of the price spectrum between the other two options. I got mine brand new from an EBay seller for about half the manufacturer’s retail price.

Safety is a topic much argued about among proponents of different types of marine stoves. I won’t get into this discussion, other than to say that cooking with any kind of stove on a boat requires common sense and a degree of caution. Propane can blow your boat and you with it to pieces. Spilled alcohol burns with an invisible flame and can spread before you know it is happening. James Wharram himself has stated that fire at sea is his biggest fear. It really is the one thing you have worry about most when your boat is as seaworthy as a Wharram. I’ll just say that I like alcohol because quantities of it can be safely carried in sealed containers down below, without the risk of explosion, and I don’t worry about it when the boat’s in a marina and I’m away from it for awhile.

Two other factors concerning alcohol are cost and cooking time, and these are both things I can’t do anything about, so I don’t worry about them. Denatured alcohol is ridiculously expensive, but if you shop around you can find large variations in price. The main thing is to stay away from places like West Marine, where it’s about double what I pay for it at a professional painter’s supply store. When factored into the overall picture, the cost of alcohol does not bother me, because I’m cruising on a simple boat that saves money in so many other ways, such as rarely needing to burn fuel for propulsion, and being able to avoid marinas by having so many anchoring and beaching opportunities due to shallow draft. I can set out with three or four gallons of alcohol and do all the cooking I want for many weeks.

And why should it matter if it takes a few extra minutes to cook a pot of rice or make a pot of coffee? When I’m on Element II I’ll be where I want to be and time isn’t going to matter. Using the Origo 1500 on Intensity I never seemed to notice that it took any longer to cook than on any other stove. Besides, while dinner’s on I’m usually busy doing something else anyway, like steering the boat or studying a chart.

21 comments:

  1. as someoone whose got burned at third degree with an alcohol stove, I will very strongely recommend against such stove on a boat. It is the most dangerous thing I have ever seen in my live..."Stove" is an usurpation, since it is barely able to boil a pot of water, and requiring constant combustible manipulation for normal cooking...

    Honestly I don't understand how this piece of crap is still allowed on boat...go with Marine Propane stove it is order of magnitude safer.

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  2. Sorry to hear about your injury and bad experience with an alcohol stove.

    You didn't say what kind of alcohol stove it was, but I would guess one of the older, pressurized models.

    There is nothing dangerous about the Origo non-pressurized stove. I have to disagree and stand by my opinion that it is the safest stove you can have on a boat. And, though a bit slower than propane, it is an excellent and reliable cooker that will never let you down. Propane can be safe with a meticulous installation, but it can also blow your boat out of the water.

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  3. Please apologise Voony .You got it wrong about the Origo

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  4. Dear Scott,

    Just purchased a used, but in good condition, Origo 3000. It did not have the filling instructions. Any comments on how to fill the canisters and what type of fule to use would be appreciated. Thanks George, Mariner 36 "Georgie's Girl"

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  5. Hi George,

    The fuel to use is Denatured Alcohol. You can get it at marine supply stores, but it's cheaper at hardware stores or places like Lowe's or Home Depot. You just remove the canisters and use a funnel to pour the alcohol into the top where the screen is. You'll notice an indented area on one side of this circular screen. That's the place to pour it to keep from spilling. Fill it nearly full and put it back in the stove. That's all there is to it.

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  6. Scott. Who on E-Bay did you get your stove through? Thanks, Jon

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  7. Jon, I don't remember off hand, but I can go back through my Ebay transactions and probably find it. Send me an email and I can reply that way.

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  8. Better than a funnel, I read elsewhere about this product for safe pouring of alcohol and found it cheapest here...
    http://www.discount-auto-center.com/ToolsEquipment-15706941-B000EH2SMC-Hopkins_FloTool_10106_Spill_Saver_Trans_FluidGear_Oil_OnOff_Filler.html

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  9. Methanol flames are hard to see. Ethyl alcohol flames burn more yellow and have more funk. This claim of the insipid, creeping, unseen flame lurking in the bowels of the boat are silly to say the least. It should be obvious if you splosh alcohol everywhere. At the minimum, darken the room and you can see the flames quite fine.

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  10. OK, I guess I just don't get it and can't find any info on line, but these rubber gaskets are just to "seal" the fuel cannister when not in use? You obviously have to remove them before use. Are they that necessary?

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  11. Yes, they are necessary because the alcohol will evaporate out of the canisters when not in use. That's one drawback of alcohol as a fuel - it evaporates rapidly if a container is left open and it's too expensive to waste that way.

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  12. Any reason not to use home made alcohol?

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  13. Charlie, I don't see why you couldn't, as long as it will burn.

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  14. Fuel alcohol made at home is fine as long as you use a reflux still

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  15. go on amazon.de ! 149 euro cant beat that canyou !

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  16. We cruised for 2 years / 12,000 miles on our Morgan 38 from 2007 - 2009. I removed the propane system completely from our boat and replaced the stove with an origo 4000 (just like the 3000, but flush mount). The stove is very safe, and it's also quite efficient, I'm not sure where the misconception about alcohol being 'cold' burning comes from, our Origo would boil a liter of water for our french press in about 7 minutes. maybe only 30 seconds slower than the original propane cooktop.

    Also, re: the question about how to fill the canisters, the instructions with the origo 4000 were to tip the canisters about 45 degrees and fill till full (such that when they are laid flat again they would not be completely full), this is to prevent spillage when the boat heels, and also to account for possible expansion of the alcohol as the burner heats up. I have to say, I was never all that careful when filling mine, I usually just left the canisters flat and filled them 80% full or so, and I never had any problems at all, the wicking material holds the alcohol well enough that no spillage ever occurred.

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  17. One other comment on fuel for the origo. We used denatured alcohol (when we could find it, I bought it by the gallon, would typically buy 12 gallons at a time and store them it in 2 6 gallon jerry cans, the plastic kind rated for kerosene work fine). I also tried some 'mystery' alcohol purchased from a boatyard in Colon Panama, and it heated/cooked just fine, but made a royal mess of the stove and pots (soot all over everything). After that experience, I stuck with denatured alcohol, we only used 2 gallons a month or so, and even though its not available everywhere, I had no problem at all finding it often enough with 12 gallon storage capacity (any town with a store that sells a decent amount of paint and stain, even in central america, will have it).

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  18. Thanks for sharing your experience with the Origo 4000, Jason. The tip about storing the denatured alcohol in larger jerry cans is a great idea. You usage of about 2 gallons a month is right in line with my experience living aboard with two other people and relying on the stove exclusively for all cooking.

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  19. Please be advised that the distributor for ORIGO stoves in New Zealand is unable/unwilling to source product in a timely manner. Their delivery time for a set of potholders is 7 weeks so far.... and counting.

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  20. I have just purchased the Origo 3000 stove . before installing into my yacht I have done testing using methylated spirits. I found that the stove sooted .It takes 9 minutes to boil 1 litre of water, the smell was nauseating and am thinking that I made a mistake purchasing this product. is there some other fuel to use that does not have this effect or is there some method of using this stove ie preheating prior to placing pot etc on top

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  21. What's the difference between the stove pictured above and the ones without the large base? They're both called Orig 3000 but one is twice as tall as the other.

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"A boat is freedom, not just a way to reach a goal."
Bernard Moitessier - A Sea Vagabond's World

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