- Joined
- Mar 17, 2012
- Messages
- 4,405
- Location
- Australia
- Vessel Name
- Insequent
- Vessel Make
- Ocean Alexander 50 Mk I
I was intending to reply in a thread in the Marlow-Mainship forum that was discussing 'Change Electric Stove, Install Gas Stove'. However, that thread drifted off topic (badly), and many regular & knowledgable contributors ceased posting. It was basically trashed. A reminder - if you see that happening use the Report Post function so the Site Team can review and take action if required.
Back to gas stoves. I bought my boat in 2012. It had an older combo 4 burner cooktop and oven, with pilot light in the oven. A PITA to use, because if you used the solenoid shutoff the pilot light went out. Then if you used the cooktop to boil a kettle of water without re-lighting the pilot light, it had ejected enough gas to trigger the gas sniffer alarm. Obviously no thermocouple, so it had to go. Looking a bit further there were copper pipes for the gas, a couple of joins, and a gaping hole in the propane locker leading into the galley/salon area. Then, the propane locker itself was full of PO clutter, when it is supposed to be 'sole purpose' for gas. When the clutter was removed I found some DC breakers, and AC outlets to plug in the 120V crane motor. A new locker, and piping etc was required....
As I was importing into Australia I checked the relevant Standards, for the locker and the gas line, to be sure I complied. Here in Queensland a boat sale requires a gas certificate from a licensed professional gas contractor before the sale can be registered. Some years back there must have been serious problems with gas on boats i guess. I did have to replace the regulators and solenoid during the inspection, despite installing new ones in the USA, since the ones I installed did not have "meets Australian Standard' blah blah stamped on them. So very fussy. I installed an Eno 3 burner cooktop that was 'marine certified' and has the thermocouple cut-off facility. I'm still not sure whether an RV or domestic cooktop (with or without oven) and even with thermocouples meet the Standard. So for locals, check before installing! For an oven, I'm using the Ziegler & Brown Triple BBQ on the boat deck with hood. Roasts OK, but for bread its the breadmaker.
Based on some of the info in the trashed thread I noted above, I may well replace the Eno with an induction unit at some point. I have a 1700Ah (12V) house bank, 2 x 200A alternators and 2000W of solar. I'm never short of power, and lately have not even bothered to plug into shore power at the dock as it not necessary. One reason to go induction would be to eliminate the gas from inside the boat, but keep the BBQ which is external and adjacent the propane locker.
Why do it? Well, I have now had 3 alarms from one of the gas 'sniffers', I suspect the one just outside the ER door, just above the bilge. The first alarm occurred the day after I had connected a new house bank, so I suspected off-gassing from a fully charged bank (on shore power) that was being over-charged when the solar kicked in first thing in the morning and insisted on a minimum period of absorption charging at a higher voltage than a bank only needing float VC was happy with. I had another alarm a couple of days later. I then re-programmed all charging sources (Balmar Dual 612, Victron Quattro and a pair of Outback FlexMax 80 solar controllers) to have the minimum possible bulk or absorption times, on the basis that they are all smart enough to measure the battery voltage and go into bulk/absorption if the bank voltage indicated that it was required. No more alarms, at least for a month.
Until mid afternoon at anchor a couple of days ago. This time there was no chance of excessive charging and battery off-gassing. Although I did have to deal with a failed bellows in a vacuflush pump the day before. It was still emptying the head just fine, but putting half into the holding tank, and squirting the other half into the bilge. I noticed a bit of a smell.... I'm still not finished cleaning it all up, and wondering if there is enough 'gaseous odour' (incl methane I guess) from the bilge to trigger the propane alarm, even though I can't smell any sewage at present. They are sensitive, and it goes off if you use more than a couple of brief squirts of bug-spray from an aerosol can.
But then in the trashed thread, there was mention of gas sniffers only lasting 5-7 years, with replacement the only option. Mine are now 7 years old. I don't think I can get the detectors seperate, and would need the whole solenoid device etc
So, although I like gas cooktops, and am not at all nervous about a professionally installed and tested system, I might make a change. But first I'll finish cleaning the bilge and try to locate some replacement gas detector modules....
Back to gas stoves. I bought my boat in 2012. It had an older combo 4 burner cooktop and oven, with pilot light in the oven. A PITA to use, because if you used the solenoid shutoff the pilot light went out. Then if you used the cooktop to boil a kettle of water without re-lighting the pilot light, it had ejected enough gas to trigger the gas sniffer alarm. Obviously no thermocouple, so it had to go. Looking a bit further there were copper pipes for the gas, a couple of joins, and a gaping hole in the propane locker leading into the galley/salon area. Then, the propane locker itself was full of PO clutter, when it is supposed to be 'sole purpose' for gas. When the clutter was removed I found some DC breakers, and AC outlets to plug in the 120V crane motor. A new locker, and piping etc was required....
As I was importing into Australia I checked the relevant Standards, for the locker and the gas line, to be sure I complied. Here in Queensland a boat sale requires a gas certificate from a licensed professional gas contractor before the sale can be registered. Some years back there must have been serious problems with gas on boats i guess. I did have to replace the regulators and solenoid during the inspection, despite installing new ones in the USA, since the ones I installed did not have "meets Australian Standard' blah blah stamped on them. So very fussy. I installed an Eno 3 burner cooktop that was 'marine certified' and has the thermocouple cut-off facility. I'm still not sure whether an RV or domestic cooktop (with or without oven) and even with thermocouples meet the Standard. So for locals, check before installing! For an oven, I'm using the Ziegler & Brown Triple BBQ on the boat deck with hood. Roasts OK, but for bread its the breadmaker.
Based on some of the info in the trashed thread I noted above, I may well replace the Eno with an induction unit at some point. I have a 1700Ah (12V) house bank, 2 x 200A alternators and 2000W of solar. I'm never short of power, and lately have not even bothered to plug into shore power at the dock as it not necessary. One reason to go induction would be to eliminate the gas from inside the boat, but keep the BBQ which is external and adjacent the propane locker.
Why do it? Well, I have now had 3 alarms from one of the gas 'sniffers', I suspect the one just outside the ER door, just above the bilge. The first alarm occurred the day after I had connected a new house bank, so I suspected off-gassing from a fully charged bank (on shore power) that was being over-charged when the solar kicked in first thing in the morning and insisted on a minimum period of absorption charging at a higher voltage than a bank only needing float VC was happy with. I had another alarm a couple of days later. I then re-programmed all charging sources (Balmar Dual 612, Victron Quattro and a pair of Outback FlexMax 80 solar controllers) to have the minimum possible bulk or absorption times, on the basis that they are all smart enough to measure the battery voltage and go into bulk/absorption if the bank voltage indicated that it was required. No more alarms, at least for a month.
Until mid afternoon at anchor a couple of days ago. This time there was no chance of excessive charging and battery off-gassing. Although I did have to deal with a failed bellows in a vacuflush pump the day before. It was still emptying the head just fine, but putting half into the holding tank, and squirting the other half into the bilge. I noticed a bit of a smell.... I'm still not finished cleaning it all up, and wondering if there is enough 'gaseous odour' (incl methane I guess) from the bilge to trigger the propane alarm, even though I can't smell any sewage at present. They are sensitive, and it goes off if you use more than a couple of brief squirts of bug-spray from an aerosol can.
But then in the trashed thread, there was mention of gas sniffers only lasting 5-7 years, with replacement the only option. Mine are now 7 years old. I don't think I can get the detectors seperate, and would need the whole solenoid device etc
So, although I like gas cooktops, and am not at all nervous about a professionally installed and tested system, I might make a change. But first I'll finish cleaning the bilge and try to locate some replacement gas detector modules....
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