I don't have time to write it up right now as we are prepping for a (hopefully!) 8-10 month trip leaving in a few days. Deadline is that we have signed up and paid for the Escapees Escapade in the Tucson area starting in a few days. Much that I planned to do such are careful packing etc. will remain undone and some projects/maintenance will have to be deferred to the road. This was a fairly difficult project, and though I am okay with the overall outcome, I wasn't able to make the cooktop cover as precise of a fit as I wanted to. This was mostly do to my first time working with Corian and the unsuitability of using a hand held circular saw (even with an appropriate blade) to do the cutting. I would say that a table saw is the only way to go for cutting Corian, though a router can do a good job as well. Oh well... maybe I will find a cast off table form a 99' to 2000' Unicoach and I will be able to do it over. Not for a long time if Tys has anything to do with it :o
Though I don't have time to write it up, I know we all love pictures so here are a few... I will endeavor to answer questions as I get a chance and do plan to do a write up as I think there is some useful information to be gleaned from my experience. The project was complicated somewhat in that I had to make the opening 2" deeper and the fact that I wanted the cooktop to slide out to preserve as much usable counter space as possible. I think the slide out part of the project is very functional and the cover serves its purpose to provide horizontal surface area, even if I wish I knew then what I know now about working with Corian.
Don
Nice work. The stainless inside under the lid is a very good safety idea as Corian is flammable.
The 97 we have must have the cover removed to operate.
Later ones were hinged and had to be in the up folded back position to access the burners.
Blue birds external barbecues were in a fire brick box and had a gas shutoff operated with the bbq in its hole.
If possible i might hinge the covers together if possible.
Beautiful work. Wow
Nice job Don. What are your travel plans, are you going to Calgary then this way again?? We have a nice place for you if you are.
John and Ruth
Thanks John,
If B.C. fire season allows, we will be coming that way in the summer! Looking forward to seeing you and Ruth ^.^d
Don
Don, you are too hard on yourself! Very nice work!
Great work, Don! Always exciting to see your latest project!
Don: Outstanding! Thats one trick cooktop arrangement. One complaint about our factory range is not enough heat BTU's to cook things properly. This looks like it will solve that problem fast. Know you are going to do a full write up later but a quick question. Was the factory propane supply as plumbed adequate or did you have to up-size?
Also had never heard Corian was flammable.
Thanks, Steve
Thanks for the compliments. The Wolf cooktop instructions actually stated that the gas supply should be a half inch ¾" pipe. I tried it with the original stove supply and it seemed to work OK, but just to be sure I ganged up the former refrigerator supply (I had previously put in a marine compressor based fridge, so no longer use the gas supply for that) and tee'd it with the stove supply. At first I used a half inch flexible propane hose from the Tee, but it was fairly difficult to manage the hose while sliding the cooktop in and out. I then went and got a three eights inch flexible hose and put that in instead. I can't tell any difference in the performance. I bought the Wolf cooktop on eBay along with an LP conversion kit. There was a surprising number of jets and orifices that had to be changed out to make the conversion. I started the cooktop project in conjunction with changing out the furnace since I had to access that area anyway.
Don
Thanks Bob,
The stainless cladding on the bottom of the cover is mainly there just to protect the Corian from discoloring and to possibly strengthen it some. It is glued to the Corian with 3M fast cure 5200, which has a working temperature of 190º f, which I think will be adequate given the clearances in use. For maximum versatility, having the front part removable seemed to be the way to go. Though if I can figure out a concealed hinge which will allow the front section to fold back over the rear section, I might do that. We used to have the Magic Chef 3 burner cooktop with thin ¼" Corian glued to the standard steel cover. It was burned along the edge when we got it and subsequently cracked when a pan fell on top of it on a rough road. The Magic Chef was functional, but the flame wasn't very potent and not very adjustable. The Wolf has 12,000BTU and a 9,200BTU burners and can ramp smoothly from as low as 300BTU up to the max. It also as a flame sensor and automatic re-ignition. It is a big improvement over the Magic Chef that came standard in the 270's, though the Gaggenau that comes standard in the 320's of the same era is also very nice.
Don
Love the idea that the Wolfe's temp adjustment seems to be able to go to a lower burner heat than ours. Unless someone knows a burner adjustment?
Every gas burner I've seen is able to achieve minimal flame by turning the knob CW towards OFF rather than CCW towards LOW.
Another nice job, Don. Well done.
Low is still too hot on our coach. Are the burners adjustable?
To my knowledge the only way to get less heat is to change the orifice to a smaller one "IF they can be changed I've never looked"
But other gas appliances that I have worked on the orifice was changeable.
Chris
Try turning the control knob slowly to OFF. The flame should diminish to a usable setting just before reaching OFF.
We have had to use that technique on most (if not all) our gas ranges up to now. What I like about the Wolf is that you can get a reliable, repeatable, very low simmer. And if a breeze should somehow blow it out, it re-ignites... even on the lowest simmer. No having to play with the knob. It actually has two zones on the controls. The first is from max to quite low. Then a blank spot on the dial at which no gas comes out. But the igniter still tries to lite it, so it is not the same as off. I assume this is some sort of safety feature to make sure you turn the valve to the full off position, at which point the back light goes out and the gas valve is fully closed. On the part of the dial labeled simmer, the flame comes out of a different set of holes lower down on the burner. It took me a bit to figure out the way it is set up, but now that I understand, I really like it. I just hope Tys likes it as much, because I spent way too much time on this project :o
Here are a couple of pictures. One with the small burner on high, and the large burner on low. You can see the flame comes out of different sets of holes. Maybe the Gaggenau operates similarly, but this is the first modern high end unit I have ever played with. The previous units I have had have been downright primitive.
Don
I bought a "simmer pad" on Amazon for use when I wanted to simmer something on a burner. It is a heat diffuser, and worked very well!
We have cast iron heat diffusers at home on the gas cooktop. We have one like the picture in the coach.we have had it for more than 30 years in our RVs. In a pinch you can make toast on it.
Thanks. Bought two simmer pads.
Can you post the Wolfe number? Appears to be too large but would like to look at it closer
It is the Wolf CT15G/S 15" Stainless Steel Gas Cooktop. It has since been superseded by a newer but similar size model. The one I got still shows up on eBay occasionally.
Don
Looks NICE!
I just wish that Gaggenau built a 3 burner with a 21" gas oven.. would swap out the Atwood in a heart beat..
As I mentioned in the thread starter post, I planned to do an actual write up on the Wolf cooktop installation. I tried various techniques to integrate pictures into the narrative, but was unsuccessful. So I decided to do it in Pages on my Mac and export as a PDF. Sort of an experiment, but I managed to get the most salient information in what I hope is a coherent form, but you can be the judge of that. Though it is long, I attempted to be as concise as possible while including as much detail as I thought would be useful to someone contemplating a project of this type. Bottom line, there is no one size fits all in the coaches. Each upgrade requires some creative problem solving, and this project, required more than most that I have completed. I realize that there aren't many who will want to read the full description, but there are many pictures that follow a progression. Ideally, this write up would be on a web page where each of the pictures could be clicked on to view in higher resolution where desired. Maybe I will do that someday as I would like to make some kind of blog to catalog the journey owning this coach has been. Time will tell if that ever happens... As an interim solution, I will make an album in my gallery on the forum of the pictures in the PDF plus a few more of the overall project. A screen shot of the first page of the PDF is attached to this post, but to read the PDF, you would need to download it.
Don
Edit: to add link to Wolf Cooktop Project Gallery (https://www.foreforums.com/index.php?action=media;sa=album;in=558)
Great writeup Don as usual.......Amazing work..!!
When Don was here a couple of weeks ago I was able to get a close up of the stove and you can take it from me that this is not a do it yourself replacement for the average handyman. The finished product is very professional and looks as if it was done by OEM . A testament to Dons thoroughness in everything he does. There are so many side issues that he covers in his planning most of us just shake our heads in the planning that goes into it.
Tys puts up with a lot of inconvenience while these jobs are done but knows the finished product is very professional and benefits both. Plus Don would go nuts if he did not have a project that takes a long time.
One other issue is that most people don't have a center bay totally devoted to tools of all kinds. Literally nothing else but tools and parts.
JohnH
I will steal his towel dispenser idea.
Thanks for the kind words John... I thought the center bay was for tools & parts. :o Next trip, I will try to devote some space to non tool items. And yes, Tys does put up with some project generated inconvenience... I am a lucky man!
Don
Very impressive Don !