We were concerned that our gas hoses might be out of date and so we asked Apollo Gas to look at them. They were indeed out of date - but the much more alarming discovery was that the Plastimo cooker was found to be leaking significantly. We had no idea there was a problem - we hadn't smelt gas - though, with hindsight, perhaps we should have guessed there might be, as it did always take quite a while for the gas to ignite at the burner when we'd been away for the boat for more than a few days. As far as we know, the cooker is the original one supplied with the boat so it's not surprising that spare parts for it are now difficult to find. We therefore expect to buy a replacement - and we shall continue the practice that, fortunately, we've always followed, of turning off the control valve on the cylinder overnight and when we leave the boat.

The other thing we learnt is that the CO alarm we had beneath the cooker wasn't in a good place. Because CO mixes with the air, the recommended height is around knee level, or at the level of a sleeper. And if we'd had an lpg alarm as well as the CO one, we'd have known about the gas leak.

We feel fortunate not to have had a real problem - and we're posting this in the hope that our experience might be of use to others...

Gilliane

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Thanks for your post.

I was thinking of moving to a gas hob from the original meths burners as I am now using propane for the outboard. (See post on Propane outboard).

Any advice you have on best replacement would be much appreciated.

Regards

Steve

Parker 21 (Aries)

I don't feel qualified to advise on a gas hob for a Parker 21, I'm afraid. The choice of replacement for us is easy, as the Neptune 4500 cooker is very similar to the original Plastimo and is widely stocked and seems reasonably good value in comparison with other models. Other people may be able to offer advice about a hob...

Gilliane

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Sorry to hear about your problem cooker. I would be interested to hear if your service agent told you how bad the leak was. I have just replaced the pipes on my own cooker and am a bit concerned that I have a leak, too. I have a bubble leak detector in the gas line and it shows a bubble every four seconds, which is about twice as fast as it was two years ago.

Neil

Andiamo Seal 28 No 27

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The original report said "Unable to complete tightness test due to significant gas leak. Under took test with air. Traced significant leak in cooker. Slight drop in copper pipe work. Removed regulator from boat. Gas system FAILED".

They explained on the phone that when the leak turns out to be substantial, they test with air instead, so we only know that it was a serious leak somewhere in the cooker. They said they'd try to locate it more precisely in case it was repairable. We emailed them a week or so ago to ask how they were getting on with this, but haven't had a reply. When we do, I'll post the results here

Gilliane

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