replacing/reparing a propane range

[dang]

greetings! a 2-part question for the group:

my wife and i live aboard our Formosa Ketch, and this vessel came with a Mariner Regal propane 3-burner range (with an oven).

This range has started giving us problems - including, but not limited to a gas leak (from within the oven itself, not the external gas lines - we checked), frozen knobs, and a non-functioning oven (problems with the thermopile/pilot light, etc).

i have discovered, much to my dismay, that Mariner, a company out of New Zealand, has since ceased to exist - and finding parts (or indeed, ANY information on these guys) has been very difficult.

So... 1st question: have any of you heard of this company or it's products before? If so - do you know where to get information/parts?

if not, here comes the 2nd question:
we're probably going to end up replacing this range. we've looked at some Force10's, and some Seaward products (Hillerange, Princess). so far, we really like the Force10's we've seen, but they seem to be quite a bit more expensive than the Seawards.

so - before we drop a lot of money, we're putting a poll out to the group. what ranges do you have? what should we look for/avoid? any thoughts/recommendations?

thanks!!
-Dan

[Capt Hook]

We replaced our old stove. It worked ok but looked very tired and didn't have flame failure.
One thing we didn't consider when we bought new was checking for sharp edges. Our new stove looks and works great but put your hand under the grill to clean it and it shreds the back of your hand!

[dang]

what kind of stove did you buy?

what kind of stove did you replace?

thanks!
-dan

[Alan Wheeler]

I would suggest you replace. In my experiance, once a gas appliance gets to the state you described, even if parts were available, it is not really worth the hassles. Corrosion is a killer of gas appliances.

[Capt Hook]

I can't remember the make of the old stove. The new one we've fitted is a Nelson Spinflo. Works great, comes complete with a gimbling kit and the flame failure cutoff is nice and quick but watch out for the sharp bits when you're cleaning.

If you're replacing the cooker also replace all of the pipework and regulator back to the bottle. It costs so little to do so it's well worth it. Also something to watch for and very important - The rubber washer that sits between the regulator and the gas bottle should be black. When this washer gets worn people often replace it with the red one that comes in the plastic cover that protects the gas bottle threads when in transit. This red washer rots and turns to gunge when it perishes whereas the black ones do not.

Chris

[RaptorDance]

FWIW - We have a Seaward Princess 3 burner model with Oven, model 3174...

Love it, she works great. Ours is over 7 years old with no signs of corrosion.

We've also cooked on other vessels with a similar Force10. Liked those too!

The only downside is that the Seaward stoves have 3 - 7,000 Btu stove top burners and the Force 10's have 2 - 4100 BTU and 1 - 8200 BTU burners. That's awfully small to do serious cooking - so you have to make do and be patient. By comparison, the burner on our home stove is over 14,000 Btus.

Regards,
Bill
p.s. we are (light hearted) serious cooks! see our website for our audition videos for the "Who Will Be The Next Food Network Star" TV show.
SV Raptor Dance - Mary Mack & Bill Finkelstein's Valiant 50

[Pblais]

This is our second boat with Force 10 3 burner with oven stove. The last one had a real thermostat in the oven and the new one just has a gage. Aside from that they both work great with both well over 15 years old and you can still get parts for them. Thats says something.

One factor to consider is the removal of the old stove (remove it when they start to leak propane) will leave a hole to fill. Depending on what stove fits might be a factor in choosing one. Enlarging the hole may prove more costly in time and effort. Making it smaller probably would be easier.

[multihullsailor6]

Whilst on the subject of replacing, have you considered a diesel cooker? - look at the other thread in this section. Wallas and Webasto are just two name brands which spring to my mind.

[svbeausoleil]

Hi all,
We had a kerosene stove when we bought the boat and instead of buying a new stove (the outside was still good) we visited the graveyard behind rv stores and dug ourselves up some propane parts. We fixed and matched, shoved and warped till it looked right and then blew up the garage. No, No, just kidding. We ended up sailing around the world with the same frankenstein stove with only a few burps. Cost? Free.

To hear the whole story visit:

education.of.a.falcon - Â*Â* Â*Â* The Education of a Falcon

Capt. Mike

[dang]

i'd like to thank everyone for their responses!

we've decided to go with a force10 - this seems to be a unanimously chosen "best of" wherever i ask! that seems worth the extra money to me for sure, especially given that this is something i will be using at least once a day!

our propane is hooked up to our stove and our water heater, which means that right now i can't take a shower - that's the other reason for the rush to get a new stove (or i'd be a little more inclined to wait for a good deal). this is also the reason we're not as interested in looking into a diesel range (although for the record, we've got a diesel heater, and man that thing cooks!)

as for pilot lights...

yeah, gas is a little (a lot?) scary on a boat.

however - both our water heater and this new force10 we're looking at have gas shutoffs - if the pilot light goes out, the gas turns off.

for the record - we've also got a gas control valve with a sniffer - so theoretically if there's a leak, this turns the gas off at the source (i'm a little wary of this since it DIDN'T shut the gas off when our NZ stove went tits up - but i'm looking into it).

and for the record - the NZ stove leak wasn't from a pilot light, one of the knobs froze, and when i "fixed" it, it started to leak... so it's not just pilot lights to be wary of - it's the entire gas system.

in my opinion, this is another reason that it's worth it to buy new equipment... expensive tho it may be

thanks again guys! i'll let ya know when everything's all hooked up!
-dan

[s/v Breakaway]

Hi all,
We had a kerosene stove when we bought the boat and instead of buying a new stove (the outside was still good) we visited the graveyard behind rv stores and dug ourselves up some propane parts. We fixed and matched, shoved and warped till it looked right and then blew up the garage. No, No, just kidding. We ended up sailing around the world with the same frankenstein stove with only a few burps. Cost? Free.

To hear the whole story visit:

education.of.a.falcon - Â*Â* Â*Â* The Education of a Falcon

Capt. Mike

Capt Mike - that is exactly what I plan to do. My existing stove looks hardly used, but all of the old supply lines are rotted. I plan to scrounge up some LPG parts for the stove - put in all new plumbing, solenoid, etc - and save myself the $1000-1100 bucks!

[SkiprJohn]

I truly love those kind of solutions. Good job Capt. Mike. I've got all burners and oven working on my old Shipmate by doing searches for old parts and such. It can be done as you so ably pointed out.
Kind Regards,
JohnL

[Celestialsailor]

I vote that you replace it. If you consider what the propane will replace if it should happen to fill the bilges with gas and ignites. Your Force 10 was an excellent choice.
I took my 300 lbs fixed mount diesel stink stove out and replaced it with a force 10, 2 burner with broiler. I had rarely ever used an oven and found this one on e-bay and it works GREAT!!!

[Steve Pope]

You can still get mariner stoves repaired in NZ but it is pretty low key and some of the parts are in short supply. look at a Wallas diesel stove, dear, but all reports are good.

[reflectionsv37]

Way back in 2003 we had our Mariner stove complete rebuilt in New Zealand by the original creator and manufacturer of the Mariner stoves. They sold the original company to Broadwater, who is also now out of business but they have a different company now and are still refurbishing their old original stoves.

The burners for the original are no longer available, but he rebuilt our stove with a new type of burner that would take some metal work to do on your own.

They have a website with before/after photos. Our stove is nearly identical to the one they have pictured on their site. Both before and after photos! I don't think there has ever been a better stove made for the marine environment. As long as I can continue to get parts and fix this stove, I'll never replace it!!

If anyone is still looking to repair their old Mariner stove, here is their website:

Steel Fabrication and Fitting Auckland | Stainless Fittings & Fabrications LTD - Services


Gene