Diesel Cookers

[Assassin]

Has anyone installed, or uses a diesel cooker and hob; and what do you think of it compared to gas, and what type and make is it.

The reason i ask is because a freind came cruising with us several years ago, he bit the bullet and bought his own boat and is now undertaking cruising over short distances on his own, but has never done a long cruise on his own. He is very cautious by nature and asked be to yake his boat instead of ours so i could give it long runs at high speed to ensure there were no problems, and put his mind at rest before embarking on longer cruises himself.

During the fortnight with his boat we had a gas scare, one of the flexible hoses came loose and gas began leaking, although an easy fix it reinforced my decision to abolish gas altogether. We have two large battery banks installed, very large banks, one maintains the 12 volt systems, the other runs a couple of inverters, and the usual suspects are electrical powered. The remaining gas powered items are the cooker and hob which are to be replaced.

This frees us from the usual constraints of carrying gas, particularly as we often avoid marinas and prefer the seclusion of more remote sea moorings.

 

[raggy]

I have been on a friends boat a few months ago and used one. I have to say they seam great there was no deisel smell and it was very easy to clean. It also warmed up quick.
His model also supplied cabin heating and hot water for an extra bonus. Did look expencive though.

 

[PCUK]

I fitted a Wallas Hob and Oven but have hardly used the boat since, (nothing to do with the cooker!) It was a straightforward but long winded installation. The hob has only one burner over the entire top, with a hot end and a cooler end. This is fine once you get used to it although we bought one of these three way saucepans that fit onto one ring. The oven is superb although at the moment it makes a squeaking noise as it warms up for a few minutes due to expansion of the new parts but I am assured that will stop once it has been used for a while. OVerall it is a very smart and modern looking installation with a wipe clean glass top (with Hob-Brite). The hob is used like an electric hob in that if milk is boiling it must be lifted off to prevent boiling over rather than turning the heat down. It takes a few minutes for ht hob to warm up and that takes some getting used to as the gas was instant.
Best part though, as you say, no more gas on board!

 

[Nick_H]

Has anyone installed, or uses a diesel cooker and hob; and what do you think of it compared to gas, and what type and make is it.

The reason i ask is because a freind came cruising with us several years ago, he bit the bullet and bought his own boat and is now undertaking cruising over short distances on his own, but has never done a long cruise on his own. He is very cautious by nature and asked be to yake his boat instead of ours so i could give it long runs at high speed to ensure there were no problems, and put his mind at rest before embarking on longer cruises himself.

During the fortnight with his boat we had a gas scare, one of the flexible hoses came loose and gas began leaking, although an easy fix it reinforced my decision to abolish gas altogether. We have two large battery banks installed, very large banks, one maintains the 12 volt systems, the other runs a couple of inverters, and the usual suspects are electrical powered. The remaining gas powered items are the cooker and hob which are to be replaced.

This frees us from the usual constraints of carrying gas, particularly as we often avoid marinas and prefer the seclusion of more remote sea moorings.

We have a Wallas hob, and it works very well. The square frying pans you can buy from chandleries fit perfectly, so with two pans we can do a full fry up.

 

[scubaman]

We also had a Wallas diesel cooker on our previous boat. As with diesel heaters it's quite sensitive to low voltage. We later draw a direct cable from the batteries to the hob to improve start-up and it improved things slightly.

We didn't have a generator and after anchoring for a night or two, the blinking light of the hob (for low voltage) became a familiar sight. Of course starting up the engine cured this, but it got somewhat tedious and we were quite happy to have it replaced by gas on our current boat. Fires up every time.

 

[Nautorius]

Yes, I had a Wallas 85DU hob on my Aquador and loved it. Always worked, was clean and easy and used it as heating in the winter! I have Gas now on my sailing boat but would have Diesel again!

Paul

 

[Al Dickson]

gas or diesel

Cant comment on ovens but we had a Wallas hob on our Nordstar 31 - it looked good and was easy to clean but took about 10 minutes to get to working temperature which was a pain when all you wanted was a quick cuppa.

Also it took ages to cool down which was a bit dangerous in that particular boat as the galley was on a narrow aisle.

Initially we had a problem with it not firing up - spares are very expensive - ours had a problem with the PCB and cost over £300 to repair.

We are now back to gas on our BT 35 and its quick and easy - the boat has a sniffer and the gas bottle is located in its own special deck locker which seals at the top & has a drain hole so any leaks disperse out through a small hull port.

All we need to do is make sure the hose & coupling is in good nick and employ usual good practice switching off the gas bottle at night.

 

[gjgm]

We have a Wallas hob, and it works very well. The square frying pans you can buy from chandleries fit perfectly, so with two pans we can do a full a la carte

 

[Nick_H]

We have a Wallas hob, and it works very well. The square frying pans you can buy from chandleries fit perfectly, so with two pans we can do a full a la carte

With red wine, or do you only throw that around on other people's boats?

 

[Assassin]

Thank you for all your informed comments, i have noticed there is only one burner with a hot and cooler end, i suppose i coulf fit two hobs instead of one.
Electricity is not a problem as i have two very large battery banks, one with inverters and the other for supplying the 12 volt systems, our microwave is 12/240V and we have a 240v kettle and a spare 12V kettle. In addition we have a large diesel generator which is more than capable of running a large house let alone a 47' boat, so a surplus of electricity.

My own gas bottles are housed in their own locker and have a gas sniffer installed, but this happened on a friends boat and his sniffer is mounted in the galley.

 

[Nick_H]

In addition we have a large diesel generator which is more than capable of running a large house let alone a 47' boat, so a surplus of electricity.

Then why not get an electric hob and combi oven?

 

[Assassin]

Because i always like two options and not be tied to one power source. Some of the equipment is electrically powered including the microwave.

 

[Nick_H]

Because i always like two options and not be tied to one power source. Some of the equipment is electrically powered including the microwave.

Well I also like a bit of redundancy in stuff that matters, but we're only talking a cooker here, not life and death. If the genny wont start, have sandwiches. Most mobos over 45 feet rely solely on electric for all domestic stuff.

 

[Assassin]

Thats as may be, but i like my food when i am boating, its one of the few times when we can eat at fairly regular times unlike when i am working, eating is dictated by irregular working hours. She does not like cooking on electric.