Thetford midi prima oven not hot!

[jasonlovesthegroove]

Does anyone have this oven?
Thetford Midi Prima 7200

 

I recently put a new one in my boat and it doesn’t seem to get hot enough to even cook chips! 
 

Any info or tips welcome. 

[rusty69]

Is the regulated gas pressure correct? and have you got correctly sized pipes to the appliance with no restricted flow?

Edited November 7, 2023 by rusty69

[jasonlovesthegroove]

Hi. I assume everything is correct as it was fitted by a boat gas fitter. But wouldn’t know myself.. 

But at the same time a new regulator was fitted. 

[rusty69]

4 minutes ago, jasonlovesthegroove said:

Hi. I assume everything is correct as it was fitted by a boat gas fitter. But wouldn’t know myself.. 

But at the same time a new regulator was fitted. 

How is the flame on the hob? Did the oven ever work properly or is it something new? 

 

We have an older Thetford prima that works fine 

[MtB]

Well there's obviously something wrong. (Have you tried lighting the oven?)

 

Nevwr assume anything where boats are concerned. Or where gas is concerned either!

 

Presumably you've asked the gas fitter to come back and investigate. What did s/he say? 

 

 

[jasonlovesthegroove]

The hob wasn’t replaced, just the oven, but the flames are good on the hob. And seems ok I’m the new oven but there isn’t a difference when I turn it up from 150 to 240°. The flame stays the same. 
 

And my boat is a holiday rental boat so I don’t know if it’s a recent thing, but it’s been rented all over summer and no one else has mentioned it. So it could be a recent change. Not sure. 

MTB… I’ve just messaged the fitter so hopefully yes he’ll have some ideas. 
Yes the oven lights ok, but doesn’t get to a high heat. 
And you’re right, best not to assume anything! 

Again.. I expect the correct hoses etc are there as it’s had a gas safe certificate done recently to satisfy BSS and my hire boat status. 

[Tracy D'arth]

I have heard of several new Thetford ovens that don't get hot enough. The consensus is that there is not enough insulation around the cavity.

[jasonlovesthegroove]

Interesting. And would maybe explain why the separate grill above gets very hot, just from the oven below. Heat escaping 

[blackrose]

I understand why a boat has a Thetford toilet but I'm not sure why anyone would fit Thetford kitchen appliances when there are so many other better known household brands? Are Thetford kitchen appliances smaller than standard household appliances and easier to fit into the confines of a narrow boat?

[rusty69]

5 minutes ago, blackrose said:

I understand why a boat has a Thetford toilet but I'm not sure why anyone would fit Thetford kitchen appliances when there are so many other better known household brands? Are Thetford kitchen appliances smaller than standard household appliances and easier to fit into the confines of a narrow boat?

Our one is definitely smaller. It is one reason we bought it to replace the massive household style one we previously had that remained mostly empty when lit.

[jasonlovesthegroove]

Yeah that one was the only one we could find that was the same size as the last one, and therefore the cavity. 

[Sea Dog]

11 hours ago, Tracy D'arth said:

I have heard of several new Thetford ovens that don't get hot enough. The consensus is that there is not enough insulation around the cavity.

To add to this, where are you trying to cook? We have a Thetford which cooks quickly on the very top shelf, a bit on the middle and is hardly a plate warmer on the bottom. This, I suspect, is due to the issue Tracy raises above.

 

ETA: Ours is a Caprice III oven and hob. The diminutive size is awkward to find with flame failure devices and 12v ignition, but if I do ever find a decent oven which will slot in the gap, it'll be gone in a flash!

Edited November 8, 2023 by Sea Dog

[Tony Brooks]

29 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

To add to this, where are you trying to cook? We have a Thetford which cooks quickly on the very top shelf, a bit on the middle and is hardly a plate warmer on the bottom. This, I suspect, is due to the issue Tracy raises above.

 

ETA: Ours is a Caprice III oven and hob. The diminutive size is awkward to find with flame failure devices and 12v ignition, but if I do ever find a decent oven which will slot in the gap, it'll be gone in a flash!

 

Saame as our Caprice, right form new. Ignore the thermostat and cook on the hottest setting we found sort of worked.

[jasonlovesthegroove]

Hi.. 

Thanks for all of that info so far..

 

My customers last week said they cooked in the upper half of the oven and chips didn’t cook. 
I’m going to try myself this evening. 
 

When I lived on the boat with the old vannette oven I used that  method of everything has to be cooked at the top on the highest setting, so I understand that, but I expected spending £600 on this new oven that I would get better results, not worse

[nicknorman]

12 hours ago, jasonlovesthegroove said:

 but there isn’t a difference when I turn it up from 150 to 240°. The flame stays the same. 
 

This is to be expected, at least when you first light the oven. The knob controls the thermostat, not the gas flow directly. So if the actual temperature is less than the set temperature, the gas flow will be on maximum regardless of whether the knob is set to 150 or 240.

[MtB]

12 hours ago, blackrose said:

Are Thetford kitchen appliances smaller than standard household appliances and easier to fit into the confines of a narrow boat?

 

Yes.

 

A built-in oven for a house is 600mm wide and typically about 500mm deep front to back. Boat ovens are generally 500-ish wide and typically 400 to 450mm deep. A "slide in" format of cooker will usually be 500mm deep. 

 

House worktops are nominally 600mm deep and narrowboat worktops are generally nominally 500 deep.

 

 

Edited November 8, 2023 by MtB

[nicknorman]

We have a domestic sized oven, but it’s up against a bulkhead not the cabin side, so the extra depth isn’t an issue.

[Sea Dog]

5 minutes ago, nicknorman said:

We have a domestic sized oven, but it’s up against a bulkhead not the cabin side, so the extra depth isn’t an issue.

A far better solution than a sub par boat or caravan oven. I'm not sure why the manufacturers think it's ok to sell such poorly perfoming ovens, nor how it doesn't fall foul of being "not fit for purpose". Surely it's not beyond their capability to make one that works properly?

[jasonlovesthegroove]

I agree. I just spoke to Midland Chandlers, where I got the oven from and he kind of fobbed me off saying that’s what it’s like with those kind of ovens, LPG.

 

It does seem strange that they are happy to take £600 in return for something that doesn’t work very well at all.
 

[nicknorman]

7 minutes ago, jasonlovesthegroove said:

I agree. I just spoke to Midland Chandlers, where I got the oven from and he kind of fobbed me off saying that’s what it’s like with those kind of ovens, LPG.

 

It does seem strange that they are happy to take £600 in return for something that doesn’t work very well at all.
 

Maybe put an oven thermometer in it and see how hot it can get. If it is well below the max on the dial (240 or whatever) even after a lengthy warming up time, I think you could reject it as being defective or not fit for purpose. Any non-fan oven is going to be much hotter at the top than the bottom though, so you reasonably need to have the thermometer on the upper shelf. This being why we have a domestic sized gas fan oven!

 

There is probably some caravan website/forum where these things get discussed and reviewed, maybe you could find a make/model that actually works properly!

[Tracy D'arth]

6 minutes ago, jasonlovesthegroove said:

I agree. I just spoke to Midland Chandlers, where I got the oven from and he kind of fobbed me off saying that’s what it’s like with those kind of ovens, LPG.

 

It does seem strange that they are happy to take £600 in return for something that doesn’t work very well at all.
 

Welcome to the wonderful world of retail.  It being LPG has nothing to do with it. They are poorly insulated ovens. If you cannot put up with it reject the purchase as unfit and demand a full refund. You will not be the only one.

I know of one where Thetford sent a rep to inspect, he admitted that there was no fault component and he could not make it any better. His advice," just cook on a higher setting" which is no answer at all. The oven went back for a full refund.

[nicknorman]

https://www.caravantalk.co.uk/community/topic/49991-cooker-thetford-midi-prima-mkiii-expectations/

[MtB]

53 minutes ago, Tracy D'arth said:

Welcome to the wonderful world of retail.  It being LPG has nothing to do with it. They are poorly insulated ovens. If you cannot put up with it reject the purchase as unfit and demand a full refund. You will not be the only one.

I know of one where Thetford sent a rep to inspect, he admitted that there was no fault component and he could not make it any better. His advice," just cook on a higher setting" which is no answer at all. The oven went back for a full refund.

 

The killer question is though, did they find something to fit instead that actually worked?

 

 

 

[Alan de Enfield]

1 hour ago, jasonlovesthegroove said:

I agree. I just spoke to Midland Chandlers, where I got the oven from and he kind of fobbed me off saying that’s what it’s like with those kind of ovens, LPG.

 

It does seem strange that they are happy to take £600 in return for something that doesn’t work very well at all.
 

 

When we had the restaurant the cooking was LPG powered (no mains gas out in the sticks)

 

It was a 6-ring commercial cooker and everything cooked as per the 'dials'.

 

Worst case was probably a Christmas dinner for over 100 people across 3 or 4 hours. But it was fine.

 

We still have it in our domestic kitchen.

 

Make is Parry (and they do smaller 4 ring 'domestic size' ovens and hobs.

 

Commercial Gas Ovens | Parry Catering Equipment

 

LPG ovens can cook properly !

[IanM]

2 hours ago, nicknorman said:

This is to be expected, at least when you first light the oven. The knob controls the thermostat, not the gas flow directly. So if the actual temperature is less than the set temperature, the gas flow will be on maximum regardless of whether the knob is set to 150 or 240.

 

This.  When the flame in the oven dies down it is up to temperature.