Cooker removal on 97 Bavaria

[AB1707]

Hi,

Seems simple but I'm stuck. I can't lift my gimballed cooker off to clean the detritus behind it.

The cooker sits in two slots either side. Their are two inverted plates holding it in place. These obviously need to be removed to lift the cooker out but that's beating me. I'm sure it's something very simple but I can't work it out.

I've attached a photo of one of the brackets.

Thanks in advance

Adam

[Salty]

Hi Adam,

Each side of the cooker you have a gimbal mounting that consists of two distinctly separate pieces, one of these is securely fastened to each side of the cooker, while the other part is attached the sides of the opening in your galley furniture. The part attached to the furniture consists of two pieces of stainless steel that are spot welded together, and it is this part of the mounting that I'm going to discuss with you. The part of it which is nearest the cooker is made of the thicker of the two pieces of stainless, while the part nearer to the woodwork is thinner. The weight of your cooker is carried by the thicker part, while the thinner part will, when the cooker is lowered into place, spring back over the ends of the trunnions on that part of the mounting that is attached directly to the cooker. The reason for this is to prevent the cooker from becoming detached from its mounting in the event of a knockdown while out sailing. To get the cooker out of its mounting, you need to prise the thinner piece of steel away from the thicker part at its top edge, and this will then allow the trunnions to slide out as the cooker is lifted. The mounting bracket attached to your furniture will remain in place, while the cooker and the trunnion mountings then lift free. Be aware that the gas hose behind the cooker is of limited length such that once lifted free from the gimbal mount that you may need to lower the cooker onto the base of the cut out in your furniture in order to release the hose (don't forget to turn off the gas before you do this). While the cooker is out, this is a good opportunity to check the gas hose for any wear. I can't remember the recommendation, but I think it has been suggested elsewhere that these should be replaced every five years. Mine was a lot older, nearer to fifteen years and was very badly worn where it rubbed against the inside of the hull while gimballing at sea.

[AB1707]

Thank you so much.

I knew it would be something simple but was getting frustrated.

Thanks again

[JEN-et-ROSS]

Hi. Salty is absolutely correct in his description of the cooker mounting.
 The tricky part is separating the two plates to permit the pivot to be lifted clear of the slot.
 The only way we managed was to use two suitably sized screwdrivers, and, from above, insert  one on each side of the pivot, between the thick and thin plates, and then levering the two plates apart long enough (for a second person) to lift the pivot clear of it's slot............Then repeat on the other side.
Once one side is out, support the cooker underneath to prevent it dropping back in again while you do battle with the other side. (as happened to us, very frustrating.)

[Salty]

I guess I was lucky, as mine came out quite easily with a bit of a side to side shuffle, but it had been out while under previous ownership and that thin plate on each side had some odd bends in it which may have made things easier. My cooker needed a new thermocouple for the right hand top burner, but because of age and neglect it was not possible to get things apart, so I replaced it with a new cooker. The new one was a Dometic Starlight which was taller and not quite as wide as the original cooker. It has a grill which should be handy if I want some toast, but being taller it did not allow the folding worktop on my B36(2002) to lay over the top of the cooker when it was not in use. I'm not too bothered about that having never used the cover for the last five years that I've had the boat. The one thing that did cause some agro was that the gimbal mountings supplied by Dometic did not have that safety feature which would prevent the cooker from lifting out of the mounting during a knock down. I got some small pieces of tube welded across the top of the fixed parts that attach to the sides of the cupboard through which a 4mm bolt is passed once the cooker is in place. I'll post some photos of the modification after my next visit to the boat. Making up for the new cookers lack of width was done with wood, and covered over with some brushed stainless steel angle that the local fabrication shop made up for me, so it all looks fairly tidy.
Herewith the photo as promised, the tube was added as a single length across the top of each of the fixed part of the mounting that attaches to the side of the furniture, then the centre part of the tube was cut away to allow the gimbal trunnions to enter when the cooker was put into position. Fitting the tube originally as a single piece before cutting away the central part ensured that the two remaining pieces were properly inline with each other so that a single bolt would pass easily through. Finally I've to get some 4mm bolts which will be fitted as described above.