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Thursday, March 27, 2014

When we clean our stove, we REALLY clean our stove!



Tell me.  Is that a clean stove?  Or, is that a clean stove!


It works again!!!



A couple of our winter projects got scratched off the list last week:  replaced the heating element for the dishwasher and figured out why the stove igniter was not working.






Replacing heating element in dishwasher
As I have mentioned numerous times over the years, we do not use the dishwasher; therefore, repairing it was not high on my list of priorities.   Up until last week I had only operated the dishwasher twice since first getting on this boat in 2005.  It is easy enough to wash dishes by hand for just the 2 of us.  When in Cairns, Australia, with large family group visiting us in August 2009 we discovered that the dishwasher would trip the breaker and not complete a wash cycle.  Okay; not a big deal; wash dishes by hand as normal.  In Cyprus in early 2012 we finally decided to take the dishwasher apart and find the problem; which turned out to be a tiny pinprick size hole corroded through the heating element.  As soon as water entered that tiny hole the breaker would trip.  We were unable to obtain a replacement heating element in Cyprus.  We reassembled the dishwasher and went back to using it for storage for eggs and a few large kitchen items.


Location of the dishwasher heating element
Bill finally located a replacement heating element and we brought it back to the boat when we returned in early February from our annual trip to Texas.  This non-functioning dishwasher bothered Bill far more than it bothered me.  He wants everything to work as it should -- even if we do not use it.  Last week we finally got around to doing this repair job.





New heating element installed
In order to access the heating element of the dishwasher we first had to remove the stove, which is very easy to remove as long as one has strong arms and good flexibility.  The process is simple and straightforward; the movements required in the space available are not so simple -- at least not for us old folks.  But Bill managed.

We placed the stove on top of the saloon table and had the dishwasher element replaced in very short order.  That part of the combined project took maybe 15 minutes.  Bill screwed the cabinetry back into place to enclose the dishwasher and then we started on the stove.

What a job!  Bill is now an expert on the 4-burner Eno stove!

A few notes to fellow sailors.  Do not leave your stove gimbaled when at sea or at anchor.

Allow the stove to swing on the gimbals only while in use; lock it into fixed position when not in use.  We learned this years ago but not before some slight damage resulted from letting the stove swing all the time.

We discovered 2 things when we removed the stove.


Note worn groove near bolt head





1.  One supporting bolt had a badly worn area from the swinging motion of the stove.











Gas hose chafed against hull lining.  Lock it in fixed position!!


2.  The orange gas hose had chafed because of the swinging motion of the stove, not badly but enough to leave orange residue on the interior hull lining behind the stove.  We had discovered this when we removed the stove in Cyprus 2 years ago, and we had placed a section of wire reinforced hose over the orange gas line to protect it from any possible future damage (even though we now keep the stove in locked position 99% of the time).




Finishing dishwasher; stove top on the striped towel


Bill took that entire stove apart.  He ordered 2 new burner pots, all 4 burner tops, the solid state igniter, and the special mounting posts and screws.  The mounting screws broke on the 2 burners most frequently used; likely from the heat making these brittle over the years.  So Bill replaced both the burner pots and the mounting screws.  Unfortunately, the igniter had to be ordered from a different source and we are still waiting for that delivery.




Rear of stove/oven.  Totally clean now!
We managed without a stove for 4 days while awaiting the parts to arrive from the vendor in the UK.  Surprised us that it only took 4 days!  That is very fast service to Turkey!  Bill did not want to leave everything scattered about any longer while waiting for the igniter (he hates messiness), so against my wishes he reassembled the stove and mounted it back in place.

Good thing he did not follow my advice.  As we are still waiting for that igniter.  It would have been uncomfortable to live without cooking for so long.  



Bill documents everything.  Helps a lot
of Amel owners.

For now, I continue to light the stove with a long-handled butane lighter rather than pushing the button to spark the igniter.  Big deal.  Isn't that just so hard!



Today the bimini was returned from having a zipper replaced.  The sun causes zippers to harden and crack.  Seems that this is a constant process.  Rarely a year goes by that we don't need at least one zipper replaced or a seam restitched. The bimini was replaced in August 2012; wouldn't you think it last longer than this without needing repair.   We have removed the winter cockpit enclosure and switched to the summer extension.  Getting closer and closer for sailing season to begin.

3 comments:

  1. Judy, Stove looks great!!!
    I cleaned our 'previously used but not by us' stove and it looks nowhere as sparkly as yours! What is the secret? Or are you the original owners and it's been cleaned correctly?
    Our interior is coming along very nicely. Bought a new Mantus anchor at the boat show this weekend along with a long skirt for me. (One for you, one for me. Mine was about 1/20 the cost!)
    Next, the batteries. Michael is taking off Wednesday this week, probably, to do the switch out. Then freezer. Then dinghy and motor. ahhhhhhhh !
    Somewhere in there will be the pots and pans.
    We will be easing into moving aboard this summer. Hopefully the house will sell in the next month or so. We are not trying very hard at this point because we want to go straight into AdventureUS2.
    Tell Mr. Bill 'Hello!' from the two of us.
    Hugs,
    Janet Lee and Michael

    ReplyDelete
  2. Judy, you can answer my question on PM on WWS or jleeenders@gmail.com
    Janet Lee

    ReplyDelete
  3. It certainly is that a REALLY clean stove! You sir, are a pro. Nice work! and nice tips :)

    ReplyDelete

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