MZr7,

I had a similar problem with my stove, Princess double burner/single oven model. I had no problem getting either of the burners to light but the oven was a different problem.

I got on the net and went to the Seaward site. It had section to identify your stove and it's valve setup (good pictures) as well as a trouble shooting guide for a quick fix or to identify your problem.

After determining my oven valve was not working I contacted Seaward by phone and was told they had had replacement valve/parts for the stove. If I remember right they wanted me to remove my valve and send it to them for a replacement. The reason they want your old valve was for its core. If your valve was usable they would refurbish it and have a valve for future stock. If your valve was rebuildable you got some cash back along with the purchase of you refurbished valve. If it was not rebuildable you paid the full amount. At the time I contaccted them they only a few valves available and I was told sometimes there was a waiting list.

Here's the problem why they only had a few valves in stock. Since the older model stoves are no longer made of course wouldn't you guess the valves are't either. When they were still being made no one thought there would be a demand to save the valves thus the old cores were tossed as scrap. Now they are in demand and not many are around.

After looking at the pros and cons my solution was to bite the bullet and purchase a new stove. The replacement is a perfect fit and the push button igniters are handy. I didn't want to spend the money on a new stove but I really didn't want to spend money for the refurbished valves and have to work on my stove. It was uncharted territory for me and all I needed was to have a stove on board that was either too hot or cold which would frustrate the chef. You know, "Happy wife, happy life!"

Note: I kept my old stove. Now that it's winter I am going to remove the cores and send them them in for their core value... The remainder of the stove will head to the recycle bin... If the cores are usable the money I might get will at least off set the cost of the new stove... :)

Chris

MZr7,

Can we be less formal, may just I call you MZ?

In answer to your question, your pilot lite heats mercury in a tube that applies pressure to a valve the allows the gas to flow to the burner. It is called a thermocouple and keeps gas from going to the burner if the pilot goes out.

Be careful with the mercury, or you will never get out of the maze, same thing happened to the Mad Hatter.

PS: My thermocouple does not work either.

Maze,
In the Technical section of the website (under Upgrades) there is an article on how to make a CNG adapter so you can fill your CNG tank from filling stations that cater to fleets (taxi's, etc.). I know this doesn't help with the tank test date, but it sure does help with the cost of CNG refills.

Maze,

I found the site regarding the valves. Sure has updated its site since my last visit. It seems to have a lot more info than when I was having problems with my stove. I don't know if it will help you out but here's the site...good luck.

[url]http://www.suremarine.com/stove-repair.htm[/url]

Chris

Maze

Welcome to the forums. It is nice to have a fellow C-36 owner in the neighborhood. Do you keep your boat at Travis or down at the coast?

Bill

[url]www.safgas.com[/url] has where to refill. Tom already covered the how to make a refill connector link. The stove needs to have the right hand burner hot before you try to light the oven. There should be instrucgtions inside the stove for that.

The oven on our '00 MKII hasn't worked in years. I took it apart once and cleaned the orifice. It's one of those not very satisfying jobs. It's difficult to work on in place - the galley floor area is not exactly wide open.

It worked for about two weeks and then clogged up again. Any idea what replacement parts cost assuming a valve is bad? Wonder if I would be smarter to just save up for a new unit but then I'd miss the joy of solving this problem - again. Builds character.

I am not familiar with the issues that Chris discussed regarding cores etc. I had the same problem last year and since we live close to the Seaward factory I stopped in and purchased a completely new valve and replaced it with ease. Only issue was routing the thermocouple down the inside space of the oven wall that is insulated. I used a small wood doul to open the space. Call Seaward and see if they have the valve assembly, it was $100. The tech at Seaward said that the reason they fail is not that they are overworked but just the opposite - he said to light the oven and excersize the valve on a regular basis and that would prolong life. The mercury is as previously stated from the inside of the cooper TC- mine broke while removing the old one and dripped some mercury in the oven. I forwent a complete haz-mat remediation with a paper towel. Don't tell any one. Call them at (562) 699-7997, [url]www.seawardproducts.com[/url]

The valve replaced is the one that has that has the thermocouple running to the pilot light, not the one that the knob attaches to. It also has a TC that runs to the cooking space on the back wall of the oven. The Sure Marine site has good pictures and documentation of the various parts. It seems that the core issue may relate to SureMarine and not Seaward. If I recall, Seaward took my core but did not ask for it as a prerequisit to me purcashing the new one.

Good luck, Mark