1970's Calor Cookers Oven - remove and use as fridge space ?

[Refueler]

I have the typical 1970's Calor Cooker .... that's twin hob, grill under and oven.

When I bought the boat - Brian waqs proud that he used to roast Chicken in the oven ... but TBH - apart from keeping bacon / toast warm while doing the eggs .... heating up the odd Fray Bentos ... I have never used the oven seriously.

It has crossed my mind whether to remove the old Cooker ... get a hob / grill only and use the underspace for a box fridge.

Anybody done this ??

 

[Refueler]

OK ... then if no-ones done it .... which I find hard to believe ..... what box fridge could fit the space ??

 

[lustyd]

Where would you put your electronics in a thunderstorm?

 

[Refueler]

Where would you put your electronics in a thunderstorm?

Funny you say that ..... I have never put them in the oven .... I know what you are referring to......

My reasoning is that - when you are not on board - what do you do with the gear then ? I bet most people leave gear in-situ ? Except for a helm mounted plotter / display ....
Why doesn't the gear get zapped then ? Lightning strikes don't actually care about whether gear is on or not ... I know this for fact after having been blown out of my chair in office many years ago.
I used one of my old VHF's for a shore base in my office - we were Cargo Inspection Company and needed to listen into Ship / Pilot traffic as to when our ships would move.
One of my Managers was chatting with me when an unholy big BANG ...... the VHF was fried ..... all our desktop PC's on the old style coax network had their network cards and hard drives fried ...
Andrey and I were literally blown out of our chairs .... as we were sitting right next to the window where the VHF was.

The lightning had struck the VHF antenna on the roof - down the short coax - from the VHF it had jumped to nearest PC and blown the f******* lot !

So I ask - would a Calor Gas Oven have saved that ??

 

[lustyd]

So I ask - would a Calor Gas Oven have saved that ??

Not necessarily a Calor one, but yes a faraday cage is a well understood method to protect electronics, hence the recommendation to put them in a metal box like an oven.

 

[lustyd]

Needless to say my original comment wasn't serious, I think I agree with you, the oven isn't heavily used on ours either and I've had similar thoughts

 

[Refueler]

I realised it was a but tongue in cheek and took is as such.

I've been on ships struck by lightning .... ST Partula -

in Port Harcourt Nigeria ..... now if you've experienced Lightning in West Africa - you have truly seen POWER !!

We were discharging Bitumen ... so not exactly the most explosive of cargos. Lightning struck midships mast .... and lit up the whole accommodation. Two of the wives were standing at the rail looking ashore when it hit ..... their hair stood up all frizzed .... their skirts and general clothes were literally abuzz with static .... I was halfway along the deck towards aft and the ozone smell was amazing.
On the bridge - the Sailor VHF (yes that big dial job so many yearn after !!) had melted inside and run down the bulkhead ... leaving just the case.

It was literally like a 4th of July all in one second ..... the whole world lit up for an instant.

 

[Pete7]

Anybody done this ??

Yes, last winter and haven't looked back. The old stove had no flame failure devices and the grill rusty which wasn't great for making toast.

Just be aware the gimbal bearing position is different for a hob and grill only, compared to a hob and oven, because you don't have 14kgs of oven hanging beneath to stop a hob from tipping with a heavy pan on it.

Pete

 

[Refueler]

Gimbal ... point taken .... something my 'cooker' does not have ..... it used to have the 'pan bars' but they have been lost over the decades ...

Its funny really .... I've never had problem cooking while sailing ... but I always tried to delay it until on a long leg tack .... to avoid 'changes'. Most trips - I can go without cooking while moving ... as I try to split my routes into segments allowing rest and sustenance .... making do with pre-prepared sarnies etc while sailing.