Dotterel has an Indesit gas cooker converted for LPG. It was fitted by Calcutt a good few years ago. We had an interesting failure the other day. The grill was on cooking sausages and the front main burner was on cooking spuds, while one of the smaller ones at the back was cooking beans. Only the best for my crew.

 

Anyway I decided the spuds were cooked so went to turn off the front gas tap. It was seized solid on full power. In the end I switched off the gas at the bottles and had dinner while it cooled down. It then turned off successfully. 

 

Calcutt got a gas engineer they use (Calcutt no longer have a gas capability themselves) who said spares were non existent and he could take the stove apart and try to service the valve but there was no guarantee it would work. 

 

I don't trust it to keep the gas in the pipe and not in the boat at this point. 

 

I am tempted to get another cooker as the cost to taking the old one apart without any certainty is too high. 

 

Thoughts on that please.

 

And assuming I replace it can anyone recommend an engineer near Calcutt to connect it and test it for me?

 

Cheers Graham 

 

Some caravan places may have stock. If you know the make model have a ring around 

36 minutes ago, Graham and Jo said:

Dotterel has an Indesit gas cooker converted for LPG. It was fitted by Calcutt a good few years ago. We had an interesting failure the other day. The grill was on cooking sausages and the front main burner was on cooking spuds, while one of the smaller ones at the back was cooking beans. Only the best for my crew.

 

Anyway I decided the spuds were cooked so went to turn off the front gas tap. It was seized solid on full power. In the end I switched off the gas at the bottles and had dinner while it cooled down. It then turned off successfully. 

 

Calcutt got a gas engineer they use (Calcutt no longer have a gas capability themselves) who said spares were non existent and he could take the stove apart and try to service the valve but there was no guarantee it would work. 

 

I don't trust it to keep the gas in the pipe and not in the boat at this point. 

 

I am tempted to get another cooker as the cost to taking the old one apart without any certainty is too high. 

 

Thoughts on that please.

 

And assuming I replace it can anyone recommend an engineer near Calcutt to connect it and test it for me?

 

Cheers Graham 

 

Can Russel Fincham do gas work

58 minutes ago, Graham and Jo said:

I don't trust it to keep the gas in the pipe and not in the boat at this point. 

 

I bow to our gas engineers, but that sounds like an expansion problem. If the tap is of the conventional taper variety then as long as the chap cleans and regreases it using the proper gas grease I very much doubt it would leak for many, many years. If it were mine that is what I would do, but take care to test the tap where the spindle comes out for leaking with gas test fluid. 

 

Edited to add this further thought. Our gas cooker at home has a fan in the back of the grill cavity and as the previous one of the same make and very close model did not I must assume it is for cooling the taps and useless timer buzzer/clock. If yours has/had a fan is it still spinning and if not could it be gooed up with fat. The previous one insisted that you kept the grill door open when using the grill, the present one does not.

Edited September 10Sep 10 by Tony Brooks

1 hour ago, Tony Brooks said:

 

I bow to our gas engineers, but that sounds like an expansion problem. If the tap is of the conventional taper variety then as long as the chap cleans and regreases it using the proper gas grease I very much doubt it would leak for many, many years. If it were mine that is what I would do, but take care to test the tap where the spindle comes out for leaking with gas test fluid.

My thoughts too. Lubricant grease that has gone (or gone hard), maybe a bit of corrosion or dirt in the tap, and thermal expansion and it jams. But on cooling has freed up again. I would do as Tony suggests - dismantle the valve, clean the tapered valve plug and body, regrease and reassemble, check for smooth operation, then turn on the gas and check for leaks. Probably good for another decade or two.

I have lapped gas taps with a taper I thought looked a bit rough with Brasso before reassembling them with new grease.

 

https://www.cityplumbing.co.uk/p/regin-gas-cock-grease-50g-regz15/p/941164?clickref=1101lDPVbf3k&reqid=73466887&affid=1699&utm_source=conectia&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=1699#fo_c=2832&fo_k=ce14abbc8f987b129b8c980718c88011&fo_s=gsuruk?gad_source=1

 

I think City Plumbing have branches all over, but plenty of gas grease on Amazon and Ebay.

1 hour ago, Tonka said:

Can Russel Fincham do gas work

It may well have been Russel who fitted it when he worked for Calcutt. But yes that is a good idea .

 

1 hour ago, Tony Brooks said:

 

I bow to our gas engineers, but that sounds like an expansion problem. If the tap is of the conventional taper variety then as long as the chap cleans and regreases it using the proper gas grease I very much doubt it would leak for many, many years. If it were mine that is what I would do, but take care to test the tap where the spindle comes out for leaking with gas test fluid. 

I had read about the grease issue, I am a reasonably competent engineer but I do worry about gas. Aren't you supposed to be qualified to take these things apart nowadays. I cheerfully use my professional qualifications to take electrical systems apart but I have no gas experience. 

 

Thanks to Dave Mack for his thought too. 

 

Cheers Graham 

5 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

I have lapped gas taps with a taper I thought looked a bit rough with Brasso before reassembling them with new grease.

 

https://www.cityplumbing.co.uk/p/regin-gas-cock-grease-50g-regz15/p/941164?clickref=1101lDPVbf3k&reqid=73466887&affid=1699&utm_source=conectia&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=1699#fo_c=2832&fo_k=ce14abbc8f987b129b8c980718c88011&fo_s=gsuruk?gad_source=1

 

I think City Plumbing have branches all over, but plenty of gas grease on Amazon and Ebay.

Thank you. 

1 hour ago, ditchcrawler said:

Some caravan places may have stock. If you know the make model have a ring around 

It's actually a house hold cooker converted for LPG. Knowing Indesit they have used bespoke gas taps to make them hard to service and replace without going to them. They no longer list spares for that model! 

 

I actually don't like it much as despite the heat shield the taps get too hot to touch if you are using the grill. 

 

Cheers Graham 

7 minutes ago, Graham and Jo said:

I had read about the grease issue, I am a reasonably competent engineer but I do worry about gas. Aren't you supposed to be qualified to take these things apart nowadays.

 

The only stipulation is that you are "competent" as long no money changes hands. The Gas Safe qualifications seem to be deemed to imply competence.  One finds out if a person is competent after an event, but as far as gas taps of a taper variety are concerned I feel any engineer with hands-on experience of dismantling and reassembling things could do it perfectly safely as long as they checked for leaks from the barrel of the tap when turned on and off, and possibly the injector when it is turned off if you were super safety critical. 

1 minute ago, Tony Brooks said:

 

The only stipulation is that you are "competent" as long no money changes hands. The Gas Safe qualifications seem to be deemed to imply competence.  One finds out if a person is competent after an event, but as far as gas taps of a taper variety are concerned I feel any engineer with hands-on experience of dismantling and reassembling things could do it perfectly safely as long as they checked for leaks from the barrel of the tap when turned on and off, and possibly the injector when it is turned off if you were super safety critical. 

A bit similar to to the electrical regulations I guess. I have loads of experience playing with electricity and have survived so far but none on gas. I actually have some of the spray leak detector

 

Cheers Graham

You could use the oven, just start the sausages in a frying pan if in a hurry. 

5 hours ago, Tony Brooks said:

 

The only stipulation is that you are "competent" as long no money changes hands. The Gas Safe qualifications seem to be deemed to imply competence.  One finds out if a person is competent after an event, but as far as gas taps of a taper variety are concerned I feel any engineer with hands-on experience of dismantling and reassembling things could do it perfectly safely as long as they checked for leaks from the barrel of the tap when turned on and off, and possibly the injector when it is turned off if you were super safety critical. 

 

As a gas bod myself I'd agree and second everything Tony has said so far in this thread. 

 

Gas work is not difficult for anyone with an engineering sensibility to carry out safely. Its all very obvious but the quals are needed because plenty in this industry have NO engineering sensibility at all. So they have to be given rules to follow as a substitute, with serious consequences if they ignore them. 

 

 

 

10 hours ago, MtB said:

 

As a gas bod myself I'd agree and second everything Tony has said so far in this thread. 

 

Gas work is not difficult for anyone with an engineering sensibility to carry out safely. Its all very obvious but the quals are needed because plenty in this industry have NO engineering sensibility at all. So they have to be given rules to follow as a substitute, with serious consequences if they ignore them. 

 

And not just for gas, unfortunately... 😞 

Edited September 11Sep 11 by IanD

I had a chat with Kate Boats who couldn't have been more helpful. Their gas engineer rang me back in about an hour and popped in on Dotterel in his way home. The final decision is to replace it, he has worked on these cookers and the spares are no longer available. Taking it apart could work but trading his labour for the low cost of a replacement - I might as well get a new cooker and peace of mind. I have also asked him to replace the hoses in the gas locker as they are truly ancient! I am taking Dotterel down there in a few weeks.  I will put on a happy snap afterwards!

 

Cheers Graham 

Thanks for the feedback. Many CBA'd

Glad to hear you got it sorted with Kate Boats, Graham. As a marine gas engineer, I think you made the absolutely right call here.

While stripping and regreasing a valve can sometimes free things up, doing it on an obsolete converted unit with zero available spares is always a gamble. By the time you factor in the call-out and labour charges to take an old cooker apart with no guarantee it won't just develop another fault due to age, it usually turns into a false economy.

On the topic of DIY gas work mentioned earlier—while it's tempting to have a go at fixing these things yourself, it is genuinely incredibly risky. Even if someone feels "competent," proving "competence" without qualifications after an incident is practically impossible. Plus, DIY gas work on boats often instantly invalidates your marine insurance if something goes wrong, and can cause major headaches when your Boat Safety Scheme (BSS) examination comes due.

On 10/09/2026 at 15:44, ditchcrawler said:

If you know the make model have a ring around 

Pun intended?

2 hours ago, MarineHeatingSolutions said:

Plus, DIY gas work on boats often instantly invalidates your marine insurance if something goes wrong, and can cause major headaches when your Boat Safety Scheme (BSS) examination comes due.

Looks like interpreting regulations to the benefit of the trades person to me rather than strict interpretation.

Says he, having suffered a potentially serious gas leak caused by a qualified person who fitted a test point with a fitting that had a faulty thread, so the installer just used a load of Calortite. Ditto a cooker retaining chain secured into foamed concrete building blocks with a single standard wall plug and 1" screw. As soon as I tried to unhook it for cleaning it pulled straight out so if the cooker had tipped in use the chain would have been no use.

Exactly how can a competent job done, perfectly legally, by the boater cause a problem with the BSS, as the incompetent job would have done on mine if I had not identified and rectified the problem?

2 hours ago, MarineHeatingSolutions said:

Plus, DIY gas work on boats often instantly invalidates your marine insurance if something goes wrong, and can cause major headaches when your Boat Safety Scheme (BSS) examination comes due.

Errant nonsense and blatant scaremongering...

Evidence please ?

I've posted on here previously I won't allow any so called gas safe bod to enter my home (or boat) unless they are personally known to me or recommended by someone I trust. My experience is similar to Tony's and in my experience many "gas safe" folks are anything but. Obviously not all there are good ones about for sure, but randoms are more dangerous than the problem they are fixing (or making up usually)

Edited September 27Sep 27 by jonathanA
Sp

1 hour ago, Tony Brooks said:

Looks like interpreting regulations to the benefit of the trades person to me rather than strict interpretation.

Says he, having suffered a potentially serious gas leak caused by a qualified person who fitted a test point with a fitting that had a faulty thread, so the installer just used a load of Calortite. Ditto a cooker retaining chain secured into foamed concrete building blocks with a single standard wall plug and 1" screw. As soon as I tried to unhook it for cleaning it pulled straight out so if the cooker had tipped in use the chain would have been no use.

Exactly how can a competent job done, perfectly legally, by the boater cause a problem with the BSS, as the incompetent job would have done on mine if I had not identified and rectified the problem?

My insures are happy with a self fitout and have no idea if I have gas or not. As for the BSS inspection, provided its gas tight will he ask for proof of who installed and has worked on the system since? I think its more Bull S than Boat SS

In the late 1970's, I quite legally completely rewired my house and installed gas-fired central heating myself. I got the electricity company to check and connect the electric, ditto the gas company for the gas. There was no charge for them doing it.

At the time, my public library had a selection of books on how to install central heating, and also had the HNC text book on gas fitting, written by the old North Thames Gas Board. As my late father had been a pipe fitter at the local gas works, I had most of the right tools and knew how to use them, but the book was extemely well-written and had lots of useful practical advice about things I had been unaware of.

Edited September 27Sep 27 by Ronaldo47
Typos

11 hours ago, MarineHeatingSolutions said:

Plus, DIY gas work on boats often instantly invalidates your marine insurance if something goes wrong, and can cause major headaches when your Boat Safety Scheme (BSS) examination comes due.

In addition to all the other cobblers by this poster, these bits grates with me in particular.

I'd be most interested to see a list of the insurance companies who disbar competent DIY gas work.

And I'd challenge any BSS examiner to work out who had previously carried out gas work on a boat and what qualifications they held, or didn't hold, leading to "major headaches". I've seen plenty of truly grim gas work in boats done by qualified installers, and some excellent work by unqualified DIY-ers.

Edited September 27Sep 27 by MtB
Add a bit.

44 minutes ago, MtB said:

In addition to all the other cobblers by this poster, these bits grates with me in particular.

He seems very keen to publicise what the "trade" would like the regulations to say, rather than what they actually do. He also seems to confuse advice on best practice with actual regulations.

1 minute ago, Tony Brooks said:

He also seems to confuse advice on best practice with actual regulations.

Indeed he does. Not only with gas, but ISTR does the same with that Soliftec 'advice' document on installing solid fuel stoves. All good advice but simply not mandatory.

Which incidentally sums up my concern with IanD's advice document on LFP installation. It will be seized upon by the likes of MarineHeatingSolutions and pumped up to consumers as being mandatory in exactly the same way.

33 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

He seems very keen to publicise what the "trade" would like the regulations to say, rather than what they actually do. He also seems to confuse advice on best practice with actual regulations.

and of course plug his own business /commercial activities....

29 minutes ago, MtB said:

Indeed he does. Not only with gas, but ISTR does the same with that Soliftec 'advice' document on installing solid fuel stoves. All good advice but simply not mandatory.

Which incidentally sums up my concern with IanD's advice document on LFP installation. It will be seized upon by the likes of MarineHeatingSolutions and pumped up to consumers as being mandatory in exactly the same way.

to be fair its not IanD's document but i fear you are correct otherwise....