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Post by hilldweller on Feb 17, 2013 13:02:14 GMT 10
Hello all Mabel the 1930s/40s van has this gap for a stove, and I’m trying to figure out what would have been there originally.   Edit: Oh the joy of photobucket. The photos are there, right where I linked them from.....   Uploaded with ImageShack.us Uploaded with ImageShack.usThe space is 620x395 and there’s a chimney hole above the back left corner. I don't think the bits of quarter-round are anything to do with the original layout. Does the presence of a chimney imply a coal/wood burning stove (something like this perhaps www.trademe.co.nz/home-living/heating-cooling/other/auction-563035729.htm ) rather than gas or kerosene? Or is there some other form of cookery device I'm unaware of (highly likely LOL)? All thoughts and links to pics of vans with chimneys very welcome as I just can’t get my head around putting something that needed a chimney in such a small simple caravan! |
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Post by Roehm3108 on Feb 17, 2013 20:09:11 GMT 10
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Post by seeshell on Feb 17, 2013 20:19:38 GMT 10
Hi HD The Blue Flyer had a chimney - it acted as the breather for the original installed Electrolux fridge, as well as the cooker. Inside you can see the fridge breather (made of mesh inside the door):  Rising up from the breather (in metal which the cup holder is mounted to) is a flue which joints to the cooking hood. They join in the upper cupboards and vent out the roof in the chimney. I think the porthole provided additional ventilation:  It had a big flue through the above cupboards that let out on the roof (see the little crooked vent next to the monster hatch):  We've removed the chimney (and flue in the upper cupboard) when we repaired the roof, but the hood etc are still in place. Cheers Seeshell |
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Post by Don Ricardo on Feb 17, 2013 21:45:25 GMT 10
Hi Hilldweller,
I don't think there were any Australian or New Zealand vans which had coal or wood fired stoves, unlike British vans which were built with coal fired furnaces - makes you feel a bit nervous just thinking about that in a wooden caravan doesn't it?
Vans the age of yours would most likely have come with a petrol or spirit stove, and I think the quad you can see in the stove alcove was most likely installed at some point to stop the stove sliding around while travelling. The chimney would have served as a vent for steam and heat from the petrol/spirit stove.
Some Australian vans also had a chimney above the stove alcove. Our 14 ft Don is a case in point. It has a quite large hood the same size as the alcove (in area) which vents into a chimney that has holes in the side of it (above the roof obviously) and is topped off with a "chinaman's hat" on top. There is an inner sleeve in the chimney which can be turned by a handle to close off the vent holes when travelling, etc. It's quite effective.
The smaller Dons didn't have a chimney because the stove alcove was directly below an opening window, which obviously was used as the vent for the stove.
Many later model vans of various sorts were built with a small rectangular window (or in some cases an opening porthole window) above the stove alcove which when opened served as a vent for the stove.
Don Ricardo
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Post by seeshell on Feb 17, 2013 22:00:11 GMT 10
Hi HD and Don Ricardo
Just as an aside, many American "travel trailers" used to have a gas-fired heater just inside the door. They had ceiling flues - and you can see them on everything from Shastas to Airstreams.
Cheers
Seeshell
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Post by hilldweller on Feb 18, 2013 17:49:44 GMT 10
Thanks for the replies. There are so many variations! Perhaps something like this then: www.trademe.co.nz/sports/camping-outdoors/cooking-food/two-three-burner-cookers/auction-564032170.htmThough I don't think that would really necessitate a chimney  I'll have to take a closer look at Mabel next weekend for evidence of a hood above the alcove but I'm not sure there will be because there's already quite a big a mesh-covered vent in the wall there. Don Ricardo I'm sure you're right that wood/coal stoves weren't common in NZ vans but there certainly were some, so I'm not ruling that out yet, and the chimney hole is quite large (that little thing of Reddo's wouldn't go anywhere near it  ). Also the working assumption on Mabel is that she comes from Bluff, and if there were anywhere in the country where you'd put a 2ft coal range and no ice box in a 10ft van, Bluff would be it LOL. A kero or petrol stove would be a lot more practical and much easier for me to reinstate though, so I'm hoping you're right. The placement of those quarter rounds looks about the right size for a 60s gas stove (Falks etc) but not whatever was there originally, and the timber just looks much newer than the rest of Mabel (probably not apparent in the pics). |
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Post by Roehm3108 on Feb 18, 2013 20:04:05 GMT 10
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Post by humpty2 on Feb 18, 2013 20:14:55 GMT 10
Got one here with 2 chimneys. One is for the stove which is a 3 burner Kero job. The other one was for a heater for the hot water system.......one would hope it was kero fired too and not the old 'chip heater' When people refer to petrol stoves it takes in a wide range..Shellite springs to mind first as it was just unleaded petrol with no colour. Coleman stoves were the most common user of this  I think I will eliminate the heater one.....less holes in the roof the better |
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Post by humpty2 on Feb 18, 2013 20:17:01 GMT 10
My Carlight also has a gas heater come clothes dryer in it, with a chimney.
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Post by seeshell on Feb 18, 2013 20:25:07 GMT 10
Ok... Am I the only one seeing a van with Devil Horns? What's the number on the drawbar?   Seeshell |
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Post by humpty2 on Feb 19, 2013 8:22:57 GMT 10
Homemade 1952..........I will think of something  |
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Post by barkpaint on Feb 19, 2013 19:29:38 GMT 10
aaah Shastas..... before I found the wonderful site this is, I used to look at the American sites. Shastas were a favourite. I noticed how they just had to have heaters in their vans. It just goes to show, in our wonderful country, we can get away with very small supplementary heating. I write this of course, having just turned off our airconditioner. But at lest we do not have the extremes of cold and snow to bother about. ;D ;D |
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enidb
New Member
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Post by enidb on Feb 20, 2013 15:41:28 GMT 10
My caravan has a chimney and it works really well. Its a modified 1966 Franklin Supreme 15 ft that is now horse drawn. Works like a charm. If I knew how to post a photo I would show it to you :-)
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Post by hilldweller on Feb 24, 2013 12:23:33 GMT 10
Hmmm well the mystery of Mabel's cooking arrangements remains. I had a good look yesterday for signs of a hood and there's nothing and no real space for it. So I don't think that's the answer. I will keep my eye out for vintage stoves of various descriptions in the hope I stumble across something the right size that looks right in that space. I love the look of little chimneys with 'chinaman's hat' covers and think one should definitely be reinstated  |
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I'll have to take a closer look at Mabel next weekend for evidence of a hood above the alcove but I'm not sure there will be because there's already quite a big a mesh-covered vent in the wall there. 
). Also the working assumption on Mabel is that she comes from Bluff, and if there were anywhere in the country where you'd put a 2ft coal range and no ice box in a 10ft van, Bluff would be it LOL. 
