Tri-Cabin Princess Stove not working

Second Mate · Post by **Second Mate** » Sat Sep 27, 2008 7:49 pm

Hi fellow Trojan Boat Owners-

I'm new to the forum, owning a Trojan and owning a "larger" boat in general.

My wife and I bought a 1970 TriScabin earlier this year. It's a bit of a project and we've been staying on the boat when we've been working on it (half way through renovating the aft bathroom).

The issue is this - we can't get the 3 burner Princess stove to work. The survey says it works but I can't for the life of me figure out what the issue is. We're plugged into shore power (one side - starboard) and the breakers are all on. Am I simply missing a switch for the stove somewhere?

Thanks in advance!

rickalan35 · Post by **rickalan35** » Sat Sep 27, 2008 8:36 pm

Second Mate,

First of all, I'm sure you're already aware of the fact that there is a separation switch on the stove itself that designates power to either the three burners up top ... or....the oven down below. If switched over to the oven then the top burners won't work.

Second of all, the big 3 way switch on the fuse panel has to be switched to "shorepower" and not to "Off" or "Generator".

Thirdly, on my Tricabin, a couple of the AC breaker switches are installed upside down. Apparently they were replaced at some time in the past by an electrician who put them in upside down. Take a flashlight and read where exactly the "On" and "Off" switches are located on the stove breaker.

1967 seavoyager · Post by **1967 seavoyager** » Sun Sep 28, 2008 12:25 am

Princess stoves are made by Seaward Products now. The toggle switch for the burners is on the left side. When switched up all burners work. When down rear & right work along with oven, big burner on left is turned off. http://www.seawardproducts.com If you're anywhere near Rochester, NY, Ballantyne Marine in Victor is a Princess dealer.

prowlersfish · Post by **prowlersfish** » Sun Sep 28, 2008 8:11 am

If your only using 1 shore power cord are you sure you have power on both sides ?

Also when you lift up the cover and tilt it back you need to push down on it .there is a safty switch that won't turn on the burners unless the cover is in the fully seated in the correct postion

rickalan35 · Post by **rickalan35** » Sun Sep 28, 2008 9:00 am

Well, I just learned something new. Thanks for the clarification, I'd never heard of the safety switch relating to getting the cover properly seated and out of the way. Much obliged.

On my unit...... if you switch on the oven, no buners up top work. They all work when the switch is turned up though. Anybody else got this arrangement. I always assumed that his was the correct way and that it was set up this way in order to make sure we weren't blowing breakers.

Second Mate · Post by **Second Mate** » Sun Sep 28, 2008 11:05 am

Thanks so much for the help!

Yes, I have the stove switch in the left set to "stove top" position and the switch on the right to "off" rather than broil.

My fuse panel switch is on "Shore"

My breaker is also installed upside down and is the stove breaker is on

I only have one shore power plugged in but it says on the fuse panel to only have one set of breakers on at a time if only using one side for power and to flip on the crossover switch (which I have). My Starboard ampmeter shows 120 volts and the port side 0. Perhaps this is the problem?

Where might I find the safety switch exactly? I'm not sure what you mean by a cover. There doesn't seem to be any cover over the burners on my model. Also all 3 of my burners are the same size.

Thanks again so much for the help. We're getting tired of eating microwaved food and it's been too rainy to BBQ!

1967 seavoyager · Post by **1967 seavoyager** » Sun Sep 28, 2008 3:03 pm

i posted the schematic on my photobucket page for you. click on "Princess mod 1200

prowlersfish · Post by **prowlersfish** » Sun Sep 28, 2008 9:58 pm

The cover covers the stove top and tilts up to the back of the stove it may be in the up right posstion behind the burners ,if it's not seated the stove will not turn on . I don't think the made the stove with out the cover .

ltbrett · Post by **ltbrett** » Mon Sep 29, 2008 11:03 am

I own a 1982 10m, so the wiring may be a little different. That said, I suspect if you are showing no voltage on one of your ac busses, that is the problem. The shore power '1 only' vs '1 & 2' switch closes a contact after the port side breaker to engergize the inlet to the starboard side breaker when '1 only' is selected. The voltmeters read from the outlets of the port and starboard main breakers. Both port and starboard voltmeters should show 120 volts when '1 only' is selected. If '1 and 2' is selected, one side will show 120 and the other side will show 0 with only one shore power cable hooked up. Also remember that 120vac stoves take forever to heat up, although you should see an indicator light on the stove.

Brett