Cooker on my boat is... poor

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causeway

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Anyone know if you can turn up the pressure of the gas in a Cooker? Serious question, don't tell me to twiddle the knobs :cool:

Oven has two settings 'On' and 'Slow cook'.

Grill has one setting 'Warm'.

Burners are OKish.

Is it possible that the regulator out in the gas locker has perished somehow?

Maybe the oven/grill bits are crudded up after a long service life? Removal and cleaning a possibility?

Unsure of the brand as its pretty old and the writing on the front is gone, boat is a dufour 35 (old one), it might be an ENO as this is fitted to other Duffer35's
 
Could be all sorts of problems. Assuming your gas cylinder is full. Could you take your cylinder and regulator to a friend's boat and see how it drives their cooker? I've no idea if your regulator is adjustable, but new ones are not that expensive.
Removing and cleaning the burners might help. Maybe the pipe work is blocked. Hows big/long do the flames on the main burner get?
 
Think it's an ENO, not sure though as offending marks are missing!

Flame about 1cm long

It's campingaz smallish blue one, not sure if you can get these in adjustable form? I think the regulator and flexible hose would be a good start from a safety standpoint too.

It's the grill that's the main problem as the cooker cooks, albeit a bit slowly.
 
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The pressure is set as if increased it flares up and causes other problems apart from insurance. The regulator could be knackered and require replacing or the burners could be blocked. It does sound like an overhaul of the system is required.
 
I did once fit a replacement gas bottle and the burners wouldn't burn correctly or stay lit . I gave the gas bottle a shake to stir up the liquid gas and everthing was restored to working order. That doesn't quite sound like your problem but worth a try.

I would go with your thoughts on trying a new gas bottle regulator. I did have one that became faulty but not the same result as your issue.
Also could be worth a look at the orange gas hose . I guess they can perish inside and restrict the gas pressure. Bend the orange hose over and if there is any sign of perishing in the hose should be replaced.


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causeway said:
Flame about 1cm long.
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Mine is about 4-5 cm long, also camping gaz. So the gas is not getting through with enough pressure. Any flexible hose is supposed to be replaced by its marked date. So check that. If the weather is very cold and there's not much left in the cylinder, the pressure drops. But it sounds like a replacement regulator is needed.
 
It is recommended that regulators are renewed every 10 years If it significantly older than that replacing it would be a good starting point although I had a camping gas one in use for considerably longer. I replaced it when I broke it !

You might even consider one of the marine Annexe M regulators. All corrosion resistant internals and other features appropriate to marine use.

Flexible hose is marked with its date of manufacture it is recommended that it is replaced when 5 years old
 
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Will do, will try and clean the holes in the grill element too when it has cooled down again after my cheesy Hassleback potatoes are done

Ommm nom
 
Depends on gas supply . If Calor swap bottle to red and make sure you have red regulator. Check pipes for kinks. Make sure the gas pipes are in date they could have collapsed. Look for rubbish in pipes blow out backwards.
 
I've seen this twice with duff regulators (both times happened to be with my dad on board, who threw them into the harbour in frustration. He does stuff like that). If yours is old, a replacement would definitely be a good idea. They don't last forever.

Pete
 
Don't know about the grill but on my burners I removed the circular cover with the small holes underneath where the gas comes out, they were quite rusted up. A small round file removed all the rust and made a big difference to the flame height and pattern also made it a lot quieter
 
I'll see if i can get a hold of one in the caravan place near here tomorrow, Campingaz stuff is notoriously difficult to get around here.

Edit: think thats what i'll try on the grill then, i'd guess there is probably a lot of old grease/dripping/fat/whatnot up there too.
 
VicS said:
Flexible hose is marked with its date of manufacture it is recommended that it is replaced when 5 years old
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Just had my hoses replaced with a date of manufacture of 1982. The hose looked as good as the day it went in! One small issue with the cooker that will be replaced next year and I will be 100% compliant
 
The run of gas piping from stern to cooker on my benne was about 4.5 m long and was 1/4 inch copper pipe. Asking any amount of gas to flow that distance in that bore pipe under the influence of around 28mb of pressure is 'optimistic' at the very least. I replumbed the run with 10mm copper and it transformed cooker performance. I can now run all 3 rings and the oven and get clean, strong combustion.
 
think mine is about 3, maybe 3.5m long, wouldn't really want to replace the copper unless really necessary, would be a pain to get at!
 
I too have an old Eno and SWMBO wants to use the oven for cooking which I never do. Problem is, there is no way of telling the oven temp as with a domestic oven. Has anyone jury rigged an oven temperature gauge, perhaps using a thermocouple or similar?
 
no experience with that but I find with mine that the only time the temp seems to change is between settings '1' and '2' on the knob, after that it's the same the whole way to 6!
 
I had a similar problem on my force10 cooker . turned out to be poor conn of wire to the on/off rotary switch . It looked ok but it appeared a bit "varnished" but a quick rub with fine wet and dry solved the problem .

OOPS DISREGARD ........ WRONG COOKER THREAD!!!!!! DOH!!
 
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colind3782 said:
there is no way of telling the oven temp as with a domestic oven. Has anyone jury rigged an oven temperature gauge, perhaps using a thermocouple or similar?
Click to expand...

Simpler than that - you can buy small thermometers that you just place inside the oven and view through the window in the door. Some clip onto the rack, some stick to the inside of the window. Don't know how much they are as the cooker on Kindred Spirit came with one already inside, but they can't be much as it seems to just be a bimetallic strip with a needle on the end.

Worth noting that there's usually a significant difference in temperature between front and back, be aware of this when siting and reading any thermometer, and also be prepared to turn any food around during cooking to even it out.

Pete
 
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