Cooking on Diesel

Installing and Operating the Wallas Nordic DT and 86D

The Details/ Specifications:

Nordic DT

The Nordic DT is a single burner diesel stovetop/ air heater. It can be switched back and forth between cook mode and heater mode with the control panel.

Fuel Consumption: 3-6.5 oz/ hour

Fuel Type: Diesel #1 or #2

Power: 12v DC

Power Draw: Max= .75amps Min= .5amps Starting Amps= 9amps for first 5 minutes

Weight: 27lbs

Heat Output: 2,000 – 6,650 BTUs

86D

The Wallas 86D is a diesel convection oven.

Fuel Consumption: 3.4 – 7.4 oz/hour

Fuel Type: Diesel #1 or #2

Power: 12v DC

Power Draw: Max= 0.15amps Starting Amps= 9 for the first 7 minutes

Weight: 54lbs

The Install:

Installing these units into our 5th wheel took some cabinetry work, wiring, and plumbing. There were several modifications and some cabinet reconstruction as the old propane unit hung from the countertop and was a single unit. Due to space we would be mounting the stovetop directly above the oven. This meant that we needed to do some calculations to provide enough air flow for the stove and oven but also to determine the space required between the lowest point of the stovetop unit and the top of the oven. Once we figured out those dimensions we were able to determine how high from the floor to build the platform for the new oven (as the old oven hung from the counter rather than sat on a shelf) and then construct a countertop insert that the new stovetop would drop into. We also built a removable face panel so that we could access the wiring for the stovetop as it will have to be removed and sent in for service periodically. We mounted the controls to the side of the units and even wired in two switches so that we could activate the high altitude compensator for each of the units when necessary. Luckily we had already installed a fuel tank for our Espar D5 hydronic heater and were able to plumb into that tank. the most difficult part of this installation was retrofitting the cabinets to accept these new appliances. From there we need to figure out how to route the exhaust tube out of the RV and the rest was plug and play. The instruction manual is very detailed and this made it easier to make sure we were installing the units according to specs.

Operation:

Operation of these units has been fairly simple. The Nordic DT has two control knobs one is the power button which simply needs to be pressed for a few seconds to turn the unit on. The second knob is a dial labeled 1-6 to control the temperature of the stovetop whether it be in heater mode or in cook mode. When the dial is turned back and forth from 1-6 three times, the stove can be changed to or from heater mode. A light to the lower left of the dial indicates whether heater mode is activated or not. Operation of this stove while simple at the controls is different from having an induction cooktop, electric range, or propane/ natural gas stove. The unit does take roughly seven minutes to ignite the burner and get up to temp. In addition, the markings on the surface of the unit make it appear that there are two burners however, there is one single burner under the left side of the unit and the surface temperature across the surface of the unit decreases the further you move the pan to the right. The dealer recommended that for this reason, if we need to decrease the temperature of the pan to move it towards the right side of the stove rather than adjusting the temperature dial down, as the temperature of the cooktop will not immediately lower. It was also recommended by the dealer that temperature not be adjusted rapidly.

The Wallace 86D is has three buttons on the control panel. The first is the temperature control dial (temperatures in Celsius), the second is the power(On/Off) button, and the third is the On/Off button for the light located in the oven. Operation wise, the oven works very much like a convection oven.

What We Learned:

• Keep the cooktop clean! Clean after every use. I use a ceramic cooktop cleaner and polish. If I have made too much of a mess, I break out the baking soda and use that to scrub any remaining baked on spots off of the surface. I learned if I let something bake on the surface for a couple of uses, it is incredibly difficult to get it off.
• Because the temperature decreases from left to right, the temperature may not be completely even across the pan. In order to keep the pan evenly heated it may need to be rotated or contents constantly stirred. Cooking with one pan using this method has been very simple however, and you can see the temperature difference in the pan simply by moving the pan from the left side to the right side of the stovetop.
• As far as cooking on the hot side and low side of the burner to utilize the cook top as two burners, it can be done but it would depend on the temperature you have the cooktop set to. For example if you have the hot side set to medium/ medium low for your main dish the cooler side of the cooktop will probably not be hot enough the simmer rice or potatoes. What I have found though is if I start the rice on the hotter side and then move it to the cooler side of the cooktop while I am cooking my main dish, I can then move the rice back towards the hotter side to finish it once my main dish is cooked. Again, this is all very dependent on what temperature you have the cooktop set to.
• The stove top does not dissipate heat very well so it is easier to turn the heat up than it is to turn the heat down. For this reason I have found it easiest to set the temperature and then if I need to, I can decrease the heat for a dish by moving the pan to the cooler side of the burner.

• The oven works like a convection oven and other than having to convert temperatures from Fahrenheit to Celsius (I have miscalculated a few times) we have had no issues.

Conclusion:

The Wallace Nordic DT and 86D helped us to complete our goal of becoming a propaneless RV. There were other ways to go propaneless but this is the way we chose to achieve that goal. And, so far it has been working out really well. We are very happy with these units and have been excited to share about cooking with Diesel.

If you have eliminated propane from your rig or plan on going propaneless we would love to hear about it! Please share in the comments or send us an email.