Galley Changes

[bigd14]

As described in another post in the For Sale section, I managed to lay hands on a lightly used Origo 3000 alcohol cooktop. These are quite scarce nowadays so I was delighted to find one without even trying.

The boat is currently equipped with a Force 10 Propane oven/cooktop combo. The propane system had decayed to the point of hazard prior to our purchase of the boat, so the stove has been inoperable this whole time. I have been waffling between replacing it with an alcohol cooktop or re-doing the propane system since then. In the interim we have used our featherweight MSR backpacking stove to boil water and cook meals which has proved highly unsatisfactory on a boat.

After having little success finding an Origo, I had gone right up to the point of having some propane replacement equipment sitting in an online shopping cart. However; I really liked the Origo cooktop in our past boat, I didn't really want propane on the boat, I figured I could use some extra storage space where the oven is now and my wife said she would never use an oven on a boat. So when I found the Origo on Sunday, the decision was relatively easy.

Now, for the install. I have read on this site about the challenge of gimballing the Origo 3000, which I am sure I could overcome, although I am still debating whether to install gimbals or not. I am very interested in trying to gain some storage space in that cavernous area underneath and behind the Force 10 since storage is limited on the 30+.

So I have some questions for the group, especially for those who might have be using a similar cooktop:

-If you have a gimballed cooktop, how happy are you with it and how much space does it take up? My plans eventually include longer trips but for now we mostly day sail and anchor or dock overnight where gimbals are not necessary. But maybe its worth planning for them long term?

-How have other owners incorporated the Origo 3000 into the galley area, gimballed or not?

-How have other owners making similar oven-to-cooktop conversions modified the space beneath the stove into storage?

Thanks in advance for any ideas and photos.

Doug


The current Force 10




The new to me Origo 3000

 

[gabriel]

I haven’t done this so I have to practical experience other than my observation:

The lazy way: The existing range/oven combo is already gimbaled. Why not gut it while leaving the gimbal function intact and secure the origo to the top? The oven can even be used as storage space for pots/pans or cut away? Any ugly exposed stuff can be covered in wood.

congratulations on your alcohol stove, it will provide many years of reliably weak flame : )

 

[bigd14]

Thanks Gabriel, that's an interesting thought. I'll have look at that option.

And yes I know propane would be quicker heating. But I like simple, and it's a sailboat, I'm not in a hurry for anything when aboard!

 

[mjsouleman]

Hi Doug, Discovery is also an E-30+ but it came with no stove or gimbal. I also went with the Origo 3000. In the empty space, I built a simple Maple cabinet with plexiglass door, hinge, and latch for easy access and viewing. I purchased a simple gimbal assembly from Hodges Marine.
All simple and easy to do.

 

[G Kiba]

My partner has lived on various sailboats over 18 years and has sailed to Tahiti, Hawaii (several times) and the PNW. She said she rarely used the gimble and didn't have a oven all that time. The storage was more important. On my boat, we use the oven! Nothing like fresh baked cookies after a race night.

 

[Loren Beach]

Our Origo 6000 galley range produces great cinnamon rolls, too....

 

[Christian Williams]

You can't cook anything at sea without gimballed burners. I will attach a demo video.

The gimballed cooking device needs mass to balance pots of boiling water and the more mass the better. And it needs lots of room to swing, at minimum the design space provided by the designer.

I'm with Gabriel in Message #2. Lots of storage in the existing stove, and you gotta put pots and teakettle someplace anyhow.

 

[Dave G.]

Agree with Christian, if you are going to cook at sea a gimbled cooktop without counterweight below will swing wildly & with pots of stew on cooktop it will be top heavy, not good.

 

[JPS27]

If memory serves, the guys on Sailing Uma used a stove similar to what Doug has acquired and added mass underneath it.

 

[mordust]

We replaced our propane stove with an Origo 3000 cooktop a couple of years ago and love it.
We bought an Origo gimbal kit made for the 1500 and 3000. I just checked, there is at least one on Amazon for about $114.00. We used the flat side pieces that came with it, but wound up being able to hang those onto the original gimbal axle thingies. They also have some of the pot holders if you need them.

 

[bigd14]

Great input, thank you all. Lots to consider here.

 

[Kenneth K]

I'm in the same "boat." Never trusted the original propane setup so the oven/stove is still sitting unused in the galley.

 

[toddster]

That looks similar to, if not identical to the galley on my E29. With some manual manipulation, I concluded that the Force 10 doesn't really use all of the space behind there to gimbal, but you can judge that for yourself. Making use of the extra space though, is a difficult proposition.

My vague ideas:

1. Use to install "black box" electronics that seldom need direct access. e.g. the ICOM M802 base unit and its cabling might go well there. Or a subwoofer. Or seatalk network boxes. etc. Junction boxes for gizmos sometimes take up a lot more space than the units themselves.

2. Make a "basement" for the galley cabinet, for extra stuff. Access by making a hatch in the bottom of the cabinet. Problem is, one would have to pull everything out of the cabinet to get at it.

3. A simple shelf to hold spare parts and things unlikely to be needed, but critical enough to take on a cruise. e.g. spare engine parts.

Come to think of it, one of the YouTube boaters replaced their gas range with a custom gimbaled box that had a cooktop over a (convection? microwave?) oven, such that the microwave provided the counterweight for gimbaling. Looked like a neat solution.

 

[toddster]

On this topic, it might be worth noting a safety rule I came across: stove gimbals shall be equipped with locking bars such that the stove cannot come loose if inverted. Having an unmoored stove rattling around the cabin in a knock-down would be a bad thing... Sure enough, the Force 10 gimbals had no such thing. Not hard to make from a couple of pieces of bar stock.

 

[Christian Williams]

MIne has a simple door latch to restrain the stove and stop the swinging.

Super important. If you put the Ericson formica stove cover over the burners, and the stove swings in a seaway, it flings the stove cover across the saloon.

 

[toddster]

Yes, but this rule wasn't about the gimbal latch - it was about, in case of sudden shock or inversion, the stove coming completely out of the gimbals. Some of them have spring-loaded clips that prevent this from happening. Mine did not.

 

[Loren Beach]

On this topic, it might be worth noting a safety rule I came across: stove gimbals shall be equipped with locking bars such that the stove cannot come loose if inverted. Having an unmoored stove rattling around the cabin in a knock-down would be a bad thing... Sure enough, the Force 10 gimbals had no such thing. Not hard to make from a couple of pieces of bar stock.

Our surveyor told us about this requirement several years ago. I believe that many stock gimbal assemblies do have such a provision. (?)

 

[Sailingfun]

There are an opcional gimbal for origo

Search results for: 'dom9581482 01 dometic origo gimbal mounts for 1500 amp 3000'

www.hodgesmarine.com

 

[bigd14]

After thinking about this for awhile and further research, and based on all the excellent comments here, I have decided to try to secure the Origo to the top of the Force 10 as initially suggested by Gabriel. This will provide immediate use of the Origo, and preserve the gimballing function, which I think I should keep intact. I'll store pots and pans in the oven. Hopefully this will overcome my natural tendency to make irreversible and/or stupid modifications and I should be able to easily resurrect the Force 10 should I feel the need. Thanks everyone!

And Toddster and Loren, thanks for the gimbal lock requirement discussion, I'll make sure something is done, although the chances of a knockdown in the river are quite low (impact from a powerboat is the most likely scenario I think but the stove will be the least of my worries then). For the future...

 

[bigd14]

After a season of using the Origo 3000 on top of the inoperative Force 10, I have decided to refurbish the propane system. It was all just a little too cumbersome to manage getting the Origo out of its storage locker, fitting it on top of the Force 10 and using it, then putting it all away again. Of course once the decision was made and some parts acquired the challenges began. The primary challenge is that the threads on the stove end seem to be buggered. Of course this fitting is some complicated piece of proprietary bent tubing and will be difficult to replace. In the photo you can see that the tops of the threads are flattened. The existing fitting screws on easily when it should start compressing after a few turns. A distant previous owner used some thread sealant to fit a NPT/Flare fitting, but I'm not sure it made a good seal.

So I am looking for a solution. Ideally some kind of special sealant that could lock the fitting to the pipe. Or perhaps trying to re-tap the threads. Or last resort would be to remove the pipe from the stove cut the old threads off and try to tap some new threads.

Any suggestions? This can't be a new problem.

Thanks