J/30 Class Association Forums J/30 Forum The Boat, Sails and Equipment Swap Origo for Propane?

I'm looking at a J/30 and know the boats well having raced them for years. However, most of my cruising experience on other boats is with LP/propane ranges. I know that the Origo and Hillerange stoves are low pressure alcohol.

I would prefer to do a retrofit of the alcohol with an LP cooktop option. (I've installed LP systems on boats before) I believe Force 10 makes a model that uses LP.

Does anyone have experience with this?

Also - any general opinions re: the alcohol ranges in general?

Any tips/experiences would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
- JB

In the Northwest, good heat is critical even during the summer. I had a Force 10 Diesel, since I loved the low profile "Charly Nobel".

At a boat show a few years back I found out that Force 10 made a conversion kit to change the Diesel to Propane. At the same time I changed out the alcohol stove for propane-also Force 10. The stove does not gimbal, but I have a Forspar "camping" stove that is gimbaled, and does the job.

I love the propane. Since I did all the work with the boat in the water, I made a propane enclosure to hold the bottle that mounts in the locker behind the head door, and which vents into the anchor outlet. I've got a Xintex sniffer in there. Mounting a propane locker in the rear of the boat would probably be utlimately safer, but I didn't want to give up all the space.

I redesigned the galley on #228{old Style}by mounting the sink in a box on triple draw sliding rails and recut the sink and stove area for a 2 burner propane range with oven. The tank is in a sealed area under the port cockpit seat. I fitted a small bulkhead in the front half of the area. The drain leads into the cockpit which is drained out the transom.

Thanks for the great info. Much appreciated.

Re: the heat: was looking at some of the new Espar units that are *incredibly* small. While I prefer keeping weight low and out of the ends, I'm thinking that a few pounds for heat sounds like a good idea.

thanks again!
-JB