Spinflo Nelson/Plastimo Neptune 4500. Opinions please.

My favoured is definitely the Nelson, bought two years ago (no doubt partly due to this thread) and used year-round since. Not the best-detailed...much of it is stainless sheet, folded and screwed, but it looks neat enough and works a treat. (Even the grill, amazingly for a boat cooker). Good oven thermostat. One of the flame-out sensors died shortly after delivery. Nelson replaced it at once, no quibbles, no request even to see the failed one.

On the other hand I haven't owned a Plastimo. (But, for a while, neither did Plastimo ;))
 
I'd still vote for the Nelson. It came top (apart from some ridiculous £2000 thing) in a PBO test a couple of years ago and when we bought ours the man at SoCal said it was an excellent choice that he'd had no complaints about.

We've done home-made pizza, various cakes, bread, roast beef, etc in the oven, and cheese on toast (and straightforward toast) on the grill, with complete success for the past two seasons.

Pete
 
We have a neptune 4500 - about 2 years old. No real complaints. Toast tend to get done in the centre, rather than the edges, but otherwise no issues. Probably doesn't help with your dillema, but if the price and size are right, I wouldn't automatically write off the plastimo.

Neil
 
My spinflo came with the boat (so at least 5 years old) and except for having to tweak the flame sensor in the oven it's worked fine. My objection would be that the OP of 3 years ago was probably right to be dubious about the power of the burners. yes they're fine for general use but they don't really work well for stir frying or anything where you have a biggish-pan and need a lot of heat. Grill is pretty weedy too although that may just need a bit of servicing.
 
Have just replaced my old ENO with the Neptune 4500. Only boiled a kettle so far but already like the the little button that ignites the gas and it certainly boils a kettle of water very quickly. Cost £499 which is crazy when you can buy a full sized domestic cooker for £150. Seems well built, certainly as good as the ENO and it had been used for over 20 years. Not yet used the grill or oven but hopefully get the chance this weekend. My only criticism is that there is no gimble lock.
 
Like much marine kit for the galley it's very poor quality compared to home appliances.

I do have a Nelson Spinflo and it is poor in many respects to our kitchen hob and oven but compared to other marine ovens it's reasonable.

You do have joins and crevices for food to collect around the hob edges, the pan stands are not extremely well supporting as you'd have on a

Bosch hob. The oven door does get hot and all in all they are extremely tinny.

S.
 
I have a triangular spinflo 3 burner hob (model 330) and just love it. There is also a matching sink unit.

Have you thought about using propane - burns hotter and cleaner, and works in very cold weather when butane runs out of puff.
 
DJE said:
A couple of things to note:-

Overall size is very similar but the hinge axis is higher up on the Spinflo so swinging arcs will be different (bigger at the bottom). I had to mount the new cooker further forward than the old one get enough swinging room on one tack.

The pivot locking system is inadequate I had to fit a conventional bolt to stop it swinging.
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+1 for this. I fitted a new spinflo 2 weeks ago and exactly these two issues. Easy to get round an likewise fitted a standard locking bolt to the rear. I'm VERY pleaed with it ....... well how it looks at least as not cooked with it yet :)

jr
 
Tryweryn said:
Nelson got a top review in pbo, best all round.
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NO!
Not in the Sept 2014 it didn't but shortly b4 I bought mine about 3 yrs ago it was best value.

Best buy in 2014 was the Bainbridge Neptune.

Lately the Nelson Spinflo lost out on not having ignition and admittedly it can be dodgy to light the oven whilst in a sea.

Having said that Spinflo Nelson is probably difficult to beat for current value, despite its pitfalls.

S.
 
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This probably won't help, but beware expecting improvements in all respects when replacing a Vanessa.

We're mostly very pleased with the Plastimo 2000 which replaced ours a few years ago. But the grill is not as good, only really cooks in the middle of the grill pan, particularly obvious when toasting. I never thought the Vanessa grill was much good but ...
 
I'm not able to compare the two ovens, but we have a Neptune 4500 that came with the boat. It was fitted new just before we bought the boat just over 3 years ago. As far as boat ovens go, we're pleased with it, having lived aboard for the last couple of years. The oven, as expected, does not rate when compared to a modern, fan assisted oven fitted in a house, but that's just the Mrs being pernickety! However, I find the hobs and grill work very well. The oven seems ok, as long as you turn things regularly.

What I can say is that compared to other boats we have met, our oven seems to be at the better end of the scale.
 
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