Origo Stove Fire

piratecliff · Post by **piratecliff** » Sun Sep 10, 2006 7:36 pm

We had a bit of a scare on our last outing and one that involved the use of the fire extinguisher.

Until last weekend our Origo single burner stove performed flawlessly. This was the model that came with the Mac when we bought her new in '02.

We were boating on a mountain lake for the past week. The elevation was about 6600' and the temps were dropping to the low 30's at night. Each morning, as was our ritual the first mate would rise, start the stove and go for a morning hike. Once I could start feeling the chill ease I'd get up and start coffee on the Coleman Camping Coffee Maker. Ten or 15 minutes later coffee's ready and I shut the stove off by sliding the lever all the way to the right. I did not double check to see if the flame went out as the stove has performed flawlessly.

I did hear some unusual flame noises and didn't pay much attention. That was a mistake.

About 10 minutes later I walk by the stove and literally see flames coming out of the vents on each side of the control slider and feel an intense heat. Oh oh. I double checked the position of the slider and confirmed it all the way in the off position. I was completely dumbfounded and couldn't understand what I was seeing. How could a metal stove be on fire? I grabbed the fire extinguisher and in a moment it was over. The fiberglass in front of the stove was too hot to touch and the slide control for the stove was fused in the closed position from the heat.

We have left this stove on for hours in times past and never had an issue. We cooked dinner the prior evening and I figure that at the time of the incident we had the canister half full.

I did an inspection this evening to find what might have caused this and came up with zip. The stove is actually ingenious in it's simplicity. I did manage to free up the operating lever and with great effort slide it back and forth; everything falls into it's proper place. Perhaps the canister was tilted somehow that allowed flame to escape out the side and forced the flame outward. It seems when the stove lid is closed it's designed to level the fuel canister. I also found no evidence of food droppings or any other obstruction that may have caused the seal to fail. In fact, there's a clever shield that prevents obstacles from dropping onto the canister directly. There was also no grease or spillage that could account for this.

I'll be double checking stove operations more closely in the future. I do plan on replacing this one, probably with the same model unless I can just purchase the lid housing.

Fair winds,
Cliff
*After-You*

Post by **Hamin' X** » Sun Sep 10, 2006 7:57 pm

Good thing that you didn't follow the first mate, after you shut off the stove. I think that I would contact Origo and offer to send them the burnt up unit for examination. At best, they might send you a new unit for your trouble. At worst, they might figure out what went wrong and fix the problem, perhaps saving lives in the future.

Rich

Post by **kmclemore** » Sun Sep 10, 2006 8:14 pm

Glad it worked out without major damage!

Lesson learnt for me... although I do have adequate fire extinguishers on board the boat, your incident reminded me that I need to add a fire extinguisher to my 'camping box'. Of course we always have them when I'm camping with my Boy Scout Troop, but I just realized after reading your story that I don't have one for our own personal family camping trips.... it's been added to the list and we'll buy one and add it to the box this month.

Post by **kmclemore** » Sun Sep 10, 2006 8:14 pm

Hamin' X wrote:Good thing that you didn't follow the first mate, after you shut off the stove. I think that I would contact Origo and offer to send them the burnt up unit for examination. At best, they might send you a new unit for your trouble. At worst, they might figure out what went wrong and fix the problem, perhaps saving lives in the future.

Rich

Excellent idea, Rich.

Catigale · Post by **Catigale** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 4:05 am

That is one of things I like about my Propane stove...after I finish using it, the propane disconnects and goes back into the fuel locker - so I have no fuel below decks except when I am at the stove under direct supervision.

The preferred location for use is also in the cockpit under the enclosure if its nasty out.

That Origo is a nice and simple well-made unit though, please do post the analysis when you figure out what happened.

baldbaby2000 · Post by **baldbaby2000** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 6:09 am

Scary. At times I shut mine off the same way. Most of the time though I open the top and put the rubber disk over the top. Hadn't really done it for safety but so that less alcohol evaporates. I seem to recall the instructions saying that to shut it off you should move the slider all the way to the right and then open the lid to make sure it's off. I never did that before but I think I will now.

Had you just filled it and maybe there was some alcohol that had spilled over into the bottom?

Paul S · Post by **Paul S** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 6:53 am

pretty scary. I do try and follow Origo's directions that came with it..When you put out the flame..put the lever back to to high..if no flame ..it is out.. It has always went out on ours first time..but still I get in the habit of checking it.

we did have a different issue a couple weeks ago, sailing with Catigale to Cuttyhunk with the Origo. The CO detector went off.. I initially just passed it off as a false alarm..but in retrospect I did have the boat pretty sealed up..so I guess there was potential for harmful levels of CO to build as the stove used up the oxygen in the air. So now I do ventilate more when using the stove.

So as with any cooking appliance..be careful!! and ventilate!

Paul

Paul S · Post by **Paul S** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 6:58 am

piratecliff wrote:We had a bit of a scare on our last outing and one that involved the use of the fire extinguisher.

Until last weekend our Origo single burner stove performed flawlessly. This was the model that came with the Mac when we bought her new in '02.

We were boating on a mountain lake for the past week. The elevation was about 6600' and the temps were dropping to the low 30's at night. Each morning, as was our ritual the first mate would rise, start the stove and go for a morning hike. Once I could start feeling the chill ease I'd get up and start coffee on the Coleman Camping Coffee Maker. Ten or 15 minutes later coffee's ready and I shut the stove off by sliding the lever all the way to the right. I did not double check to see if the flame went out as the stove has performed flawlessly.

I did hear some unusual flame noises and didn't pay much attention. That was a mistake.

About 10 minutes later I walk by the stove and literally see flames coming out of the vents on each side of the control slider and feel an intense heat. Oh oh. I double checked the position of the slider and confirmed it all the way in the off position. I was completely dumbfounded and couldn't understand what I was seeing. How could a metal stove be on fire? I grabbed the fire extinguisher and in a moment it was over. The fiberglass in front of the stove was too hot to touch and the slide control for the stove was fused in the closed position from the heat.

We have left this stove on for hours in times past and never had an issue. We cooked dinner the prior evening and I figure that at the time of the incident we had the canister half full.

I did an inspection this evening to find what might have caused this and came up with zip. The stove is actually ingenious in it's simplicity. I did manage to free up the operating lever and with great effort slide it back and forth; everything falls into it's proper place. Perhaps the canister was tilted somehow that allowed flame to escape out the side and forced the flame outward. It seems when the stove lid is closed it's designed to level the fuel canister. I also found no evidence of food droppings or any other obstruction that may have caused the seal to fail. In fact, there's a clever shield that prevents obstacles from dropping onto the canister directly. There was also no grease or spillage that could account for this.

I'll be double checking stove operations more closely in the future. I do plan on replacing this one, probably with the same model unless I can just purchase the lid housing.

Fair winds,
Cliff
*After-You*

Call Origo, I am certain they will replace or fix the stove for free. They have a great reputation. I am sure they will want to see what any issue is

Paul

Chip Hindes · Post by **Chip Hindes** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 11:32 am

I'm pretty happy with my Origo safety-wise, but I still don't trust it enough to leave it lit when unattended for more than a minute or two.

Would be very interested in what Origo says might have been the cause. My only suggestion would have been spillage from filling, but I seriously doubt enough spillage would remain to cause a problem from a fill the day before.

piratecliff · Post by **piratecliff** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 9:11 pm

Certainly, it was an unsettling experience (at best). Great advice on contacting Origo for further investigation. It's harder for me now to just replace the stove and not know what happened, and if I do learn the cause, how is is prevented in the future. I'll post any useful responses here.

Thanks, Cliff

Duane Dunn, Allegro · Post by **Duane Dunn, Allegro** » Tue Sep 12, 2006 4:56 pm

I assume you are filling it correctly, holding the canister on it's side and only filling until the fluid becomes visible in the indented fill area.

What you experienced has the sound of an over fill where the fluid level was too high as it would be if the canister was filled flat.

We've had no problems in 6 years with our two burner origo. The instructions do say to open the shutter back up after closing for a few seconds and make sure that the flame has gone out. Perhaps this is because you can have cases where the flame is not completely snuffed the first time.

piratecliff · Post by **piratecliff** » Tue Sep 12, 2006 5:54 pm

Hey Duane.

I'm pretty sure I'm not overfilling. After a filling I stand the canister on its side, let any excess fuel out, then wipe down and let it air for a moment. Besides, the stove was used the night before for dinner and some heat. We're pretty cautious in that regard and like you never experienced an issue with the stove which is why I was so shocked.

I'll be the first to admit though, I've not opened the lever after the initial snuffing to see if the flame was out. The design of the stove looks like closing the lever provides an almost *foolproof* seal.

Mark Chamberlain · Post by **Mark Chamberlain** » Wed Sep 13, 2006 3:56 pm

I have had the same fire on the stove as you have, Over filling causes the fuel to boil over and spill into the compartment.. After I watch that it has never happened again.

R Rae · Post by **R Rae** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 7:31 pm

I had a look at the Origo web site and read the notice cautioning against overfilling as the alcohol will expand, boil over and possibly ignite.
In the event of this happening, they claim that plain water is capable of putting out the flame. A little bit easier to clean up after........... However, how do you judge during that moment whether the flames are caused by grease, spilled food or what? A class A extinguisher is the other option they recommend, and should the stove have some sort of electrical control, then they advise using a class B unit.

Zoran · Post by **Zoran** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 11:50 am

I purchased my boat used and when I was taking it over previous owner reminded me several times about rubber cover that goes on top of the burner. It's function is to prevent alcohol from evaporating when stove is not in use. And ever since I have the boat just few minutes after I turn the stove off and allow it to coll down I would be returning the rubber cover. Now it looks like he gave me a good safety procedure, I am now used to attend the stove minutes after it is turned off and with the rubber gasket I do not have unwanted alcohol fumes around the stove.

Zoran

MacGregorSailors.com

MacGregorSailors.com

Origo Stove Fire

Origo Stove Fire

Re: Origo Stove Fire