Stanley oil stove problem - hard to believe!

tom leonard

About six months ago I had my mother's solid fuel stove in the kitchen replaced with a Stanley oil stove. The idea was to provide "push-button" heating as she was unable to cope with solid fuel anymore.

Unfortunately, it's been very troublesome from the start.
The stoves are very expensive and the installer had access to a second-hand one, which had been little used, so we went with that.
Initially, the installer advised that the stove should be kept on all the time in winter, on a low setting, as necessary, as the stove was sensitive and difficult to start. Starting it required turning on the oil for 10 minutes and then holding down the ignition switch for 30-40 seconds. This proved to be very hit and miss...quite often it would just not come on.

I was surprised to hear that Stanley had sold a stove which only worked reliably if kept on all the time!

Eventually, the stove would not come on at all. The installer investigated and said the oil was not getting through. He thought that this was because of another problem which has arisen in the last few years. The kerosene mix has been changed and now contains some ethanol. The ethanol causes the oil to "clog up" in the pipe and eventually it can't get through at all and needs servicing.

He referred us to a registered Stanley maintenance engineer. The engineer found that in addition to the pipe being blocked, the wick had also become completely encrusted with a residue from the kerosene/ethanol and would have to replaced. (All this after no more than 5-10 days actual use!!)

He said that Stanley no longer sold a wick-based oil stove because they had caused problems from the start.They now sold a newer version which contained a pot-burner and there was no wick involved.

He said that there would be ongoing maintenance problems with the version we have. It would be necessary to keep it on all the time and have it running at max for an hour or two each day, to prevent the corrosion building up again.

I feel I've been badly let down and intend to complain to Stanley. But before I do so, I wondered if anyone else has had experience with using a wick-based oil stove and come across similar problems or to hear of any other suggestions you might make.

Thanks for any help you can give.

heinbloed

This story about the ethanol in the kerosene is hard to believe.

If this was realy true then you're not allowed to burn this mixture in your oil stove.

Since this story isn't true but your installer has told it sack him, demand your money back and report him to the authorities.


It is illegal to burn ethanol (be it pure or in a mixture) in a device designed for kerosene. Kerosene and ethanol have different ignition points, different explosion ratings. You're risking your life ( your mother's) with such a mixture.

tom leonard

Thanks for your reply but I think you've missed my point a little bit. What I'm being told is that that constituency of the "standard" kerosene, sold by Irish (and presumably British) oil suppliers, has been changed in the last few years. Ane the effect of this is to make the kerosene much less suitable for oil stoves (particularly those which use wicks to conduct the oil), causing residues which block the supply and mess up the wicks.

Is this correct? Have people found similar problems arrising in the last few years, with oils stoves which previously worked ok?

TPM

to me it seems like the problem was why the stove was little used when you got it.
I am not familiar with wick burners. I havent noticed any problems with kerosene in pressure jet burners. There have been big changes to gas oil (diesel)I dont think there have been major changes to kerosene.

Might be worth giving Stanley a ring if you got to talk to the right person.

heinbloed

As TPM said: give Stanley a ring and ask for the manual.

The standards for home heating oil (kerosene, Diesel etc.) haven't changed at all, there is an EN regulation giving the parameters to which all fuel oil has to stick. Try google, wikipedia etc..
The viscosity (the 'runnyness') has not changed for sure, that would be a desaster for the industry.
There are 3-5 different standards for the viscosity (have always been in the past), but these are depending on the place of usage, the climate.
So in theory you might have been sold a fuel oil designed for the southern European market but imported to Ireland.
In theory that is.
In practical terms this doesn't happen, all batches of imported and home-destilled (!) fuel oils have to meet the Irish standard and are tested thoroughly before entering the market. An error there could run into a bill of millions of €s, so importers and traders are carefull there.

Check the manual of the stove, check for the demanded viscosity and ask your fuel suplier for the viscosity of his batch. There isn't much more you can do.
An impurity of the oil- have you thought about that? Water, grease from the frying pan...people try to cut on fuel and waste discharge bills by many means.
You can get the oil tested, your fuel trader will do that for you.It would be in his personal interest, protectim him against a bad name in the trade and compensation bills.
Or check with the Irish refinery in Whitegate/Cork.
There is also a test lab in Dublin as far as I know.

There might be different types of wicks for different types of fuel, check that with the stove manufacturer.

And there is certainly no ethanol in the Diesel/kerosene. Your stove installer should know this.

shane0007

I agree that there is no ethanol in kerosene, however, your issue is not here. Kerosene is continuously changing as the EU is lowering the sulphar content within the fuel. This is good for the environment but bad for vapourizing burners, especially on low burn. The quality of kerosene over the past few years has been seriously compromised as it is getting more expensive for refineries to refine to the required standards. There are additives you can add to improve the quality but many are hit and miss. You could try products such as Topanol if you can get them but they can be sometimes counter-productive. Put a decent fuel filter on the line or perhaps 2, one at the tank and one at the burner. Filters such as Crossland as best. They have a paper filter rather than a gauze filter as it will then filter water & debris.

The answer really is to service the burner and control valve more often (probably 2 - 3 times per annum). My advice is learn how to do this yourself as it is not a difficult process. The key is to remove every trace of the carbon deposits left on the the burner and surrounding pipework. Change the wickes only when needed.

DGOBS

To be honest, they way I would look at this installation is 'it's not working as intended' when sold to you, and installed for you, you should have some protection here under the 'sale of gods acts' or even 'duty of care' and I would seek legal advise, or even go though the small claims court.

10 hours use is unacceptable, where is your installers warranty here?
have they now just left you high and dry?
dont stand for it, demand a replacement or your money back!

TPM

I would guess that the stove was second hand and one the installer had "access to" it was possibly a cash job, and if the installer was willing to install a 2nd hand stove that in my opinion wasnt working in the first place and that the installer knew this there wont be too much joy looking for warranty of money back.
I am not saying that there is no entitlement to it or that it shouldnt be looked for.

Was there any mention of a warranty with the stove or that it was in working order?
Did you get any invoice/documentation regarding the supply/installation of the stove?

DoneDL

The Stranley that was installed sounds like a vapourising burner. It is an older type burner type that is both inefficient and obsolete. I doubt that installing it six months ago would meet the current regulations on heating efficiency. They are still in use but only by owners who refuse to change as they are happy to endure the extra cost of running them.

TPM

I am always sceptical of "nearly new" "Hardly used" "great value" 2nd hand boilers/burners/stoves, its very seldom any heating appliance that is working well is taken out.

tom leonard

Thanks for all the helpful comments and advice. I spoke to John McGrath, the service manager at Stanley. He confirmed that the newer version of the Ashling stove is based on a pot-burner without wicks, but the design of the wick-based previous version whihc I have, is still used in many of their appliances and should be reliable.

He confirmed that the problem has almost certainly arisen because of the constituency of the kerosene batch. There is a relatively wide range of quality legally allowed when kerosene is sold to the general public. At the lower end, one of the side-effects can be a build up of residue in the supply pipes and in the wick. If the stove is turned off a lot, this residue can cause the wick to harden so that it will no longer absorb the oil. This seems to be exactly what's happened in this case. The only other variable is the air/draught supply which could affect the "mix" being burned...but this seems unlikely in this case.

My only option seems to be to get a full service including wick replacement from the Stanley engineer and then to keep the stove running to prevent residue building up again.

inafield

Hi everyone,
We have had a wick burning stove for the last 15 years which we kept on all year at the lowest setting - kept kitchen warm and constant hot water - getting expensive !! It went out in February this year and has been very difficult to light ever since and it will only run medium or high.
Every time we try to turn it down it goes out.

Tried to relight it last night, no joy and it seems to be clogging up really fast it has gone out several times in the last few weeks.

It is no longer working can we change the fuel or the burner

Its an old Stanley

Thanks for any suggestions

farmhouserose

hi, looking through the forum I think ye might be able to help me with something. does anyone know if I can use my stanley oil range for heating even though the water has frozen in my pipes with this snow. ??