Galley stove on 2012 Bavaria Cruiser 32

[westward]

The galley stove on my Cruiser 32 is badly corroded in places. The burners are particularly bad and I would like to try to replace them. I can find no maker's name on the stove. Can anyone tell me what make of stove was fitted to Cruiser 32s in 2012 and whether you can get parts for them? I've looked at the SVB Bavaria web site but the only gas oven has three burners and no photo.

[Symphony]

It is a Techimpex and pretty rubbish. You will have difficulty in getting parts for it and the burners in particular are unique to this make. The same cooker has been fitted to Bavaria smaller models for almost 20 years. OK for cooking - but does not last if used a lot.

It is difficult to get a decent replacement if you want to keep the height under the level if the surrounding worktop as cokers with no grill are hard to find. I was lucky with my old 37 as I managed to get a Neptune 2 burner and oven which is an easy swap.

If you don't mind the hob being higher than the worktop then either a Spinflo Nelson or a Neptune 2500 will fit widthwise including the gimbals.

[Craig]

The burner is available from myyacht.com.au in Australia for $AUS92.00. ( about 60 British pounds) Their website lists a heap of unusual Bavaria parts.

My Yacht have a heap of Bavaria spares at "over the top" prices. SVB are usually the best in Europe so I can't understand why they can't supply.

Techimpex are based near Naples in Italy. When we were in Sicily a few years ago, one of our fellow sailors, frustrated at not getting a stove part after repeated emails,  actually drove to their factory on a road trip and got the part cheaply. I agree with Symphony about the general standard of the stoves and will replace the entire stove if anything further breaks.

We have not had a problem with the burners but replaced the oven door latch ( these break regularly)  and the scratched stove top. ( Scratched by a guest who used steel wool to clean) The wire grid was also replaced as it became rusty very quickly.

I have noted that one of our burners has some corrosion. I think this was caused by not cleaning immediately after boiling a pot over.

Cleaning the stove is an obsession for us, and I think that is the reason we have not had the problems other Bavaria owners have had.

Craig
"Shirley Valentine"
Gold Coast
Australia

[westward]

Thanks for this info. The Techimpex site looks pretty good. I'll try my luck.

[Salty]

Thanks for this info. The Techimpex site looks pretty good. I'll try my luck.

Before you buy, try taking the old one off. On my old Techimpex stove the hob burners could not be removed without causing damage. In particular the central securing screw had seized solid. This meant that even if I could buy a replacement, I still could not have fitted and secured it, and so a new oven with hob and a grill was purchased. That too didn't work properly, so the warranty agent was called out and he was unable to fix the problem. This resulted in a complete replacement for the new stove being sent out. It does work and I can now have a slice of toast with my breakfast.

The important thing is not to buy a spare unless you are sure you can remove the defunct part without causing any further problems.

The new stove didn't exactly fit the space left following removal of the Techimpex originally fitted so I made up some spacers and got the local fabrication shop to make a new stainless surround and apart from being a bit taller than the old stove it looks okay. The old fold out cover had been burnt by some charterers of the boat several years earlier, so it was pleasing to get rid of the old cover.

[westward]

Salty
Thanks for the advice. The screws on my oven are also seized solid. I was planning to break them off and if necessary drill them out and replace the whole assembly; the assemblies under the hob, the burners and the screws. Do you see any problem with this approach apart from maybe costing more than a new oven. What kind did you end up buying?

[Salty]

Salty
Thanks for the advice. The screws on my oven are also seized solid. I was planning to break them off and if necessary drill them out and replace the whole assembly; the assemblies under the hob, the burners and the screws. Do you see any problem with this approach apart from maybe costing more than a new oven. What kind did you end up buying?

The oven I bought was a Dometic Starlight with two hob burners, an oven and a grill. The addition of the grill within the overall height of the cooker meant that with the pan retainers, it protrudes two or three inches above the top of the worktop. Additionally and as mentioned in my previous reply, the cooker is slightly narrower than the old Techimpex cooker which meant making a timber frame to reduce the space across the top opening for the cooker and getting a stainless surround made up to fit the new opening. The extra work sounds more difficult than it was in practice, but having made the timber surround I was then able to hand that to the stainless fabrication shop so that they had a clear idea of the size of the opening for the stainless surround. The gimbal mountings for the stove were then added to the stainless surround, and I have used a long thin bolt to go through those mountings to ensure that the cooker cannot go "walkabout" in the event of a knock down.
I didn't think it worthwhile to try to sort out the broken off hob burner retaining screw, and so the old oven was removed and given to a friendly boatyard foreman who has a sideline in metal salvage.

I have a complete spare and virtually brand new Dometic Starlight gas cooker available for anyone prepared to have a go at sorting out a faulty thermocouple on the oven gas control. Make me a sensible offer and it's yours, with the proceeds going to the Lifeboat service in UK.