Image
  • HOME
  • Happy Camping
    • A Westfalia Tour
    • The Kitchen
      • Setting Up Your Camper Van Kitchen
      • Using the Westfalia Refrigerator
      • Using the Westfalia Stove
      • Using the Westfalia Sink
      • Using the Westfalia Propane System
    • Instant Eats: Breakfast
    • Planning a Roadtrip, Part 1
    • Planning a Roadtrip, Part 2
    • Packing for the Road
    • The Routine
    • Essential Apps for Van-Travel
    • Making the Most of Stay-at-Home Orders, for Van-Campers
    • 10 Great Van Camping Accessories
    • Using RV Levelers
    • Staying Cool On Summer Road Trips
    • Winter Van Camping
    • Van-Camping with Your Dog
  • Journeys
    • Route 66 to Grand Canyon
    • Pacific Northwest 2
    • Seaway Trail to Nova Scotia
    • Superior State of Mind
    • Lake Superior Circumnavigation 2
    • Southwest by Westy
    • Great Northern Roadtrip
  • Workshop
    • Evolution of the Vanagon
    • Maintenance & Repair
      • Workshop Manuals
      • Essential Vanagon Tools
      • Emergency Vanagon Tools
      • Tracking Down Engine Leaks
      • Vanagon Cooling System Overview
      • ALL Maintenance & Repair Topics
    • Modifications
      • Replacing the Westfalia Tent Window Screen
      • Replace the Vanagon Cigarette Lighter with a USB Port
      • Add a Cabinet Lid Support
      • Using a Vanagon Engine Heater
      • Diesel Vanagon Coolant Expansion Tank Bracket
    • Fire Extinguishers for Your Camper Van
  • Product Reviews
    • Vanagon Workshop Manuals
    • Westfalia Closet Organizer
    • Dash Car Fan
    • “Little Buddy” Propane Heater
    • GSI Outdoors Bugaboo Folding Camp Fry Pan
    • Pioneer MVH-X580BS Stereo
    • Collapsible Gray Water Container
    • Thermos Sipp Travel Mug
    • Sports Imports Folding Cup & Beverage Holder
    • Audew 150PSI Compact Air Compressor
    • ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Mobile Tablet
    • Samsung Galaxy Note Pro Tablet
    • ZeroLemon SolarJuice Dual-USB Portable Charger
  • Galleries
    • Pacific Northwest 2
    • Southwest by Westy
    • Great Northern Roadtrip
    • Nova Scotia
    • Assorted VW Shows
  • Resources
    • VW Campouts
    • Discussion Forums
    • Mechanics & Volunteers
    • Vendors
    • Personal Sites
  • Shop
    • Book Shelf
    • Vanagon Coolant Pipe Mounting Bracket Set
    • Vanagon Westfalia-styled Porti-Potti Cabinet 
    • Cool Camper Merch
  • Blog
    • A Westfalia Reunion
    • Al Fresco Acoustic
    • Not Your Father’s Craftsman
  • About

Using the Westfalia Stove

By Jeffrey Lee 

The Vanagon Westfalia stove makes camp cooking easy and efficient.

The stove in our Westfalia Camper has enabled us to start countless days of roadtripping with a belly-filling breakfast, whip up a quick lunch or a hearty dinner, or to enjoy a cup of hot cocoa while watching snow flurries descend from the icy peaks surrounding Crater Lake.

The Westfalia galley kitchenette is one of the distinguishing features which truly makes a Vanagon a Campmobile!

Full operating instructions excerpted from the “Supplement to Volkswagen Vanagon Owner’s Manual” for the 1983 Camper can be found here >>

Introduction

The Westy stove is fueled by the same external LP (Liquid Propane) tank as the Dometic refrigerator. Just after the main shutoff valve and two-stage LP regulator attached to the tank, the supply splits into two copper lines: one feeds the fridge, and the other the stove.

Inside, prop the kitchen cabinet lid open to reveal the stove, right next to the sink. A large oval grate covers the two gas burners, and beneath that the large stainless steel base catches the inevitable spills.

Above, mounted to the kitchen cabinet lid, is a stainless steel heat shield to protect the underside of the cabinet lid. On Canadian models, this deflector is permanently affixed; on US models, this heat shield can be unsnapped and hinged downward to lay flat, to serve as a drain board when washing & drying dishes (note the angled surface and small drain slot over the sink).


NOTE: Many new Westfalia owners mistakenly assume this heat shield/drain board is a griddle or hot plate, and commence to fryin’ bacon or flippin’ flapjacks on it. This will quickly discolor and buckle the heat shield, and food will stick and burn. DO NOT USE IT AS A COOKING SURFACE.

If your Vanagon’s previous owner neglected to remove the blue plastic protective film from your heat shield, do it now.

Lighting

The burner controls for the stove are located on the front kitchen panel. Look for the three flame symbols on the edge of the control knobs, indicating OFF, HIGH, and SIMMER.

To light the stove, first make sure the main valve is opened on the external LP tank. Depress and turn the stove burner knob to HIGH, and listen for the quiet hiss of gas from the burner. Use a butane lighter or a stove ignitor to ignite the flame, and adjust for cooking. Just as with your home barbecue grill, if it’s been awhile since your stove was used, or you ran completely out of LP before refilling the tank, you may need to run both burners for awhile to prime the supply line before it will light.

Once lit, simply adjust the flame for whatever type of cooking you’re doing. A larger pan or pot on the stove can block your view of the flame, but the flame can be seen reflected in the stainless steel base beneath the burners.

Cooking

On some Westfalia stoves, the SIMMER setting may allow the flame to go out, so set the control knob just a little higher.


Note that the burner grate stands on ten short ‘legs’; two of these legs engage in a couple of holes in the lower stove base. To remove the grate for cleaning, grasp the leg nearest you when standing in front of the stove, and firmly pull toward you to disengage the leg from the base, and lift the entire grate free.

Propane generally provides very even heating, but hot spots and scorching can be further prevented by using pots and frypans with fine heat-dispersing grooves engraved on the bottoms. We typically use lightweight nesting backpacking pots and frying pans with folding or detachable handles to save space. Be careful when using very small pots on the stove though, as these may tip or topple through the rather large central gaps in the grate. You can add versatility to your stove by adding a double-wide griddle for large-volume frying.

We also use a vintage teakettle for heating water for tea, instant soups, dishwashing, etc.. When not being used, it rests inside the sink, wrapped in a dish towel to prevent rattles.

Always allow the stove to cool after using and before stowing away for travel. To prevent annoying metallic rattles of the grate and the heat shield while underway, lay a couple of hot pads or dish towels over the grate before closing the lid.

Finally …

The stock stove is a crucial feature that adds great utility to the Westfalia Camper. We use ours on a daily basis when traveling, for everything from simple hot water to full-on multi-course meals. With adequate ventilation and tidy cooking habits, you can avoid lingering food odors unless you enjoy a lot of bacon or fried fish.

A comparable Coleman two-burner camping stove requires frequent refills of a highly flammable fuel which must be handled and carried somewhere on board. By contrast, the Westy stove-and-fridge combo will run on LP cleanly, safely, and economically for at least 30 days and nights before requiring a $7 refill.

I will never forget the taste of a pair of fresh pan-fried brook trout, resting on warm beds of wild rice, accompanied by cold bottles of beer, enjoyed with a longtime friend on the grassy banks of the very stream in which he’d caught them only minutes before.

Few things bring together family and friends like good food, and the Westfalia stove often makes it possible …

Have any questions or comments about the Westfalia stove? Post ’em below, and use the social links to share with friends!

You may also dig these!

Setting Up Your Camper Van Kitchen Using the Westfalia Liquid Propane System Default ThumbnailInstructions for the Westfalia Liquid Propane System Using the Vanagon Westfalia Refrigerator Using the Westfalia Kitchen Sink
17 Comments
Categories : Happy Camping, Kitchen
Tags : Kitchen, LP, Propane, Stove
← Next Post
Previous Post →

Comments

  1. Peter Stock says:
    March 16, 2018 at 6:16 pm

    Greetings.
    We have just imported (from France/Austria to Canada) a 1995 Westfalia equipped T4 Caravelle California camper.
    All is great so far…. except! working out a conversion/modification to allow our 2-burner cooktop to work in North America.

    It was designed (obviously) for Europe and took a CampingGaz r907 refillable butane tank (about 10.5″ diam by 16″ tall).
    I am 99.5% sure these are not available in NA and not refillable if they were.

    So, I am trying to figure out the retrofit I need to do to make coffee on the road.

    could someone show me a photo of, or describe the couplings their NA Westfalia burner system has?
    my orange gas line seems to be 1/2″ male one end (normal thread), 1/2″ female the other (reverse thread, where it connects to the regulator.
    https://photos.app.goo.gl/A8s1KuGbjJHWJMej2

    What kind of tank do you use?
    and what kind of fuel? (propane?)

    many thanks

    Peter

    Reply
    • Jeffrey Lee says:
      March 16, 2018 at 8:15 pm

      Peter, sounds like a nice Camper!

      As for the thread sizes on the LP lines, you can find more info here:
      https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=674984

      In fact, since yours is a T4, you may want to post your question in the Samba Eurovan forum, as you’ll probably find a larger audience of knowledgeable T4 owners:
      https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewforum.php?f=48

      Those thread sizes sound correct, and adaptors & couplings should be available from a good RV specialist, or a hardware store.

      Also, keep in mind that CampingGaz r907 is a blended fuel of butane AND propane; before proceeding, make sure the stove you have will indeed safely run on whatever fuel you decide to use.

      Good luck!

      Reply
      • Gary Ramey says:
        June 15, 2018 at 9:54 am

        Hi Folks:

        I’m looking for a gas valve for one of the burners on my Westfalia camper stove and can’t find one anywhere. Do you know where I could purchase one, and if so, how much it would cost. I have already gone to the Go Westy site with no success. I don’t even know who made the stoves nor do I have any model numbers. Any advice/help will be greatly appreciated.

        Warmest regards,

        Gary

        Reply
        • Jeffrey Lee says:
          June 15, 2018 at 1:41 pm

          Gary,

          Not sure if you’ve already determined to replace an entire burner valve, but I’d start by contacting Dometic, the original mfr.. They’re still in the business and may be able to at least direct you to a source for parts:
          https://www.dometic.com/

          You could also watch or search the Samba classified ads for someone selling an original valve or stove parts:
          https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/cat.php?id=57

          Here’s a tutorial on rebuilding the original burner valves:
          https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=544333

          And if you only need to replace a broken stem, these are available here:
          https://www.vancafe.com/VCSTOVESTEMPOSTLT_p/vcstovestempostlt.htm

          Hope this helps!

          Reply
    • Gary Ramey says:
      June 17, 2018 at 4:50 pm

      HI :

      Where can I get a burner valve for one of the elements in the stove for my 1989 Westphalia. I can’t even find the manufacturer of the stove. Any advice will be appreciated.

      Best,

      Gary

      Reply
      • Jeffrey Lee says:
        June 18, 2018 at 1:14 am

        Gary, please see my reply to your earlier post above.

        I believe the stove mfr is Dometic.

        Reply
  2. Leeda Safa says:
    July 18, 2018 at 9:09 pm

    If my 1984 Westy stove knob does not turn anymore… It pushes in but it does not turn… would you know what this would indicate and what part I would need to purchase or how I could fix this? I can’t even determine how I can get back in there to see the mechanism behind the knob.

    Reply
    • Jeffrey Lee says:
      July 19, 2018 at 3:59 pm

      Leeda,

      Sorry to hear of your stove troubles.

      Are both burner knobs stuck, or just one knob?

      Here’s a good write-up on how to clean & lube your burner valves:
      https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=6813795&highlight=#6813795

      If needed, the valves can be completely disassembled too:
      https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=544333

      Good luck!

      Reply
  3. Sean Kohl says:
    October 11, 2018 at 8:40 am

    How do I get to the gas fitting on the stove of my 85 Westy. I’m smelling gas even with the burners off and I would like to tighten and test the connection but I can’t figure out how to access where the fuel line connects to the stove. Bentley was useless in that regard.

    Reply
    • Jeffrey Lee says:
      October 11, 2018 at 3:36 pm

      Sean, sorry to hear of your stove troubles!

      From the external regulator, the LP supply line runs up through the under-sink cabinet. Just before the line passes through the cabinet wall to connect to the stove manifold, there is a hex flare fitting joint. When looking into the cabinet with the cutlery drawer removed, you can see the joint high and to the left-hand side. Please see Figures 77-073 and 77-074 on Bentley page 76.21.

      It can also be seen here in the upper-right of this photo, and of course should be checked.

      Westfalia Stove Assembly

      But there could also be a leak further downstream, somewhere in the burner manifold assembly, so if the errant gas leak persists, you’ll need to check there too. This area is best accessed by removing the front kitchen stove panel.

      Westfalia Stove burner & manifold

      I don’t know how you’ve capped off your fridge supply line, but this should be double-checked as a source of your gas leak, too.

      Does this help?

      Reply
      • Sean Kohl says:
        October 12, 2018 at 6:36 pm

        Got it! Thanks. I had followed the fuel line all the way into the back of the stove and somehow missed that there was an inline connection.

        Reply
  4. Jessi says:
    April 26, 2020 at 6:59 pm

    I took my stove apart for cleaning (was having some burner issues) and during reassembly, I cracked the metal housing that holds the valve stem. Looking for replacement part and coming up empty handed. Ideas? Recommendations?

    Reply
    • Jeffrey Lee says:
      April 26, 2020 at 10:37 pm

      This older Dometic stuff is getting harder to find. I suggest contacting the Bus Depot. Even if they don’t have something on their website, they may have some older parts around, or a source for them.

      https://www.busdepot.com/camper-parts-accessories/camper-propane-stove-and-refrigerator-parts

      Good luck!

      Reply
  5. Paul Peel says:
    May 19, 2020 at 4:57 pm

    Hi all I’ve been looking for an after market replacement burner top for my Westfalia 1989 cooker they are very rare to find, and seem expensive I’ve been quoted $35

    Reply
    • Jeffrey Lee says:
      June 14, 2020 at 3:18 pm

      Paul,

      I don’t know of any source for many of the replacement parts for these Dometic stoves. Those available are rare and expensive.

      You might contact Dr. Bjorn’s:
      https://vanagonwestfaliaparts.com/collections/camper-parts-and-accessories/Appliances

      Or, try contacting Dometic directly:
      https://www.dometic.com/en-us/us/support/spare-parts

      Hope this helps!

      Reply
  6. Ruben Bacon says:
    March 29, 2021 at 2:11 pm

    I have just purchased a Westfalia and have discovered that one of the previous owners must have used the shield/drainboard as a griddle. There appears to be some bowing and discoloration. Is there any known way to fix this and will it affect the way that the shield/drainboard works?

    Reply
    • Jeffrey Lee says:
      March 29, 2021 at 3:27 pm

      Ruben, as long as the panel is able to be clipped up to serve as a heat shield, and it sits relatively level at the end nearest the sink to drain water, it should continue to function as intended.

      You could always watch the Samba classified ads for an original replacement:
      https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/cat.php?id=57

      As for un-warping it, I have no experience with this, but one could hypothetically try clamping and heating it in a household oven to straighten the panel.

      Good luck, and keep on vannin’!

      Reply

Leave a Reply

Click here to cancel reply.


Recent Articles

  • Winter Van Camping
  • Instant Eats: Breakfast
  • Tracking Down Engine and Other Fluid Leaks
  • Essential Apps for Van-Travel
  • What’s Your Van Plan for This Year?

Topics

Search Camp Westfalia

Get the Camp Westfalia newsletter!

* indicates required



Email Format

View previous campaigns.



Unique and custom VW Bus & Vanagon camping designs, available on a variety of tee shirts, hoodies, mugs, and more.

Wear your love of VWs and van-camping with pride!

Merch Store

CampWestfalia-Sidebar-Graphic-LifeIsRoadtrip2

Amazon Associates Disclosure

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Camp Westfalia
Copyright © 2023 All Rights Reserved
CONTACT
Advertising Disclosure, Privacy Policy



Camp Westfalia is in no way affiliated with or sponsored by Volkswagen Group, Westfalia-Werke, or Westfalia Mobil. All brand and model names are trademarks of their respective owners. The use of "Volkswagen," "VW," "Vanagon," "Transporter," or other Volkswagen model names or part numbers, or "Westfalia," is for reference and application purposes only. No inference should be drawn that there is any connection either direct or implied between Camp Westfalia and Volkswagen Group, Westfalia-Werke, or Westfalia Mobil.
0
0
0
0
0