Kingfisher
Member
When ordering our Escape 21C, we knew we wanted a stove, but did not like any of the options offered by Escape Trailer. The oven space in the 17" high RV stoves is tiny, and there have been several recalls for stoves and cooktops in recent years. We did not trust the quality of the stoves offered by the RV appliance manufacturers.
On the other hand, we have a sailboat with a Force 10 propane stove and love it. Dickinson makes a marine stove that can be installed either in a boat or a RV. In fact, @Jim Bennett, @strawbarry (Barry), and @Yellowpoint (Scott) have all installed a Dickinson Caribbean stove in their Escape trailers. Their installation details are here, here, and here.
We studied their installations. Both Jim Bennett and Barry built custom kitchen cabinets to hold their stove, but this was beyond what we were willing or capable of doing. We did like that Scott started with the standard Escape convection oven cabinet option and then modified it to hold the Dickinson stove.
Dickinson sells a built-in trim kit for the Caribbean stove that bolts to the top and front edges of the stove. We preferred the look of the full built-in trim kit as installed by Jim Bennet, so our installation is a blend of what Jim Bennett and Scott have done.
We ordered our E21C with the convection oven cutout in the kitchen cabinet, no convection oven, and no cooktop. After questioning "What have we done?", I got to work.
I will add that I did a lot of planning and preparation before making this choice. I got CAD drawings for the different cabinet face choices from Escape and confirmed that a Dickinson stove would fit (with slight modifications) in the convection oven space. All other cabinet options would require extensive modifications to fit a 21” tall stove. But I believe this stove could be installed in any Escape trailer that offers a convection oven cutout. I made several trips to the Chilliwack factory to carefully inspect and measure various aspects of a stove installation. I also corresponded with Scott about his installation. He, too, made trips to Chilliwack and got CAD drawings to check measurements. Scott also warned me that his original installation was not quite rigid enough and the front of the cabinet between the stove and the cabinet underneath had buckled slightly on a rough road. He reinforced his installation and fixed the issue.
The built-in trim kit piece that bolts to the top edge of the stove raises the stove 3/8". The bottom of the convection oven space still needed to be lowered about 3/4" to accomodate the stove height of 21-3/8". The stove itself is 20-1/2" wide. The built-in trim kit side pieces add 1" of width each side, making the stove 22-1/2" wide. This is exactly the width of the convection oven cutout.
Removing the old floor
First step was to remove the convection oven floor and see what was there. The floor was two luan 1/8" plywood pieces that were just tacked down and they came out easily by tapping from underneath.
Adding new floor supports
The new floor needed to be 3/4" lower, and I planned to have a 3/4" plywood floor, so the existing 1"x2" support boards needed to come out. The Dickinson stove, unlike RV stoves, is bolted down only on the bottom. The sides of the stove are not bolted to the cabinet, so the floor for the Dickinson needs to support all the weight. After trimming the center luan plywood board, I installed 6(!) upright 2x4 boards to support the new plywood floor. There are two in the front corners, three along the center ridge, and one in the back right corner. You'll see later that the back left corner is supported by "L" brackets. I wanted to make sure the weight of the stove was securely supported.
Preparing the countertop cut
I cut and fitted the new plywood floor. I actually used 5/8" plywood, because that is what I had. I later added a 1/8" luan plywood piece on top of the 5/8" plywood, salvaged from the original convection oven floor, to make the final floor thickness 3/4". I taped off lines where I needed to cut the counter top. I cut the opening 21-1/2" wide. This is 1" wider than the stove, but also 1" narrower than the stove with the built-in trim kit pieces installed. These cuts would be covered by the trim kit, so I did not have to make absolutely perfect cuts.
The counter top has a 3/4" overhang on the front. The trim kit butts up against the front edge of the counter top, so this creates a 3/4" gap between the front edge of the trim kit and the front face of the kitchen cabinet. I planned to add 3/4" oak trim to each side of the stove opening that would fill the gap between the front trim kit and the cabinet face. I added two furring strips, one on each side of the opening, to provide extra support for the oak trim strips. You can see the furring strips in the photo above.
Test fit
Time for a test fit. The front cross piece between the stove space and the cabinet underneath has been trimmed and is now only 3/4" wide, so some white 1"x3" boards temporarily add extra support. The stove hold-down bracket is installed in the middle of the floor. I decided to add rubber furniture feet to the sides of the stove opening to provide extra side-to-side support for the stove. The "L" brackets are attached to the back left part of the floor.
Final installation
Ready for the final installation. Blue tape is gone, except where it protects the countertop edge. The floor is securely screwed down. A new propane gas line is installed. That process is described here. I took this opportunity to install a pop-up outlet in the back corner behind the stove.
The front face oak trim pieces are installed on each side. The oak trim is spaced horizontally to line up with the cabinet door underneath. I also added leftover 3/4" oak trim and "L" brackets under the cross piece to provide extra support.
Done!
We are very happy with the result and will be preparing many fine meals with it in the years ahead.
On the other hand, we have a sailboat with a Force 10 propane stove and love it. Dickinson makes a marine stove that can be installed either in a boat or a RV. In fact, @Jim Bennett, @strawbarry (Barry), and @Yellowpoint (Scott) have all installed a Dickinson Caribbean stove in their Escape trailers. Their installation details are here, here, and here.
We studied their installations. Both Jim Bennett and Barry built custom kitchen cabinets to hold their stove, but this was beyond what we were willing or capable of doing. We did like that Scott started with the standard Escape convection oven cabinet option and then modified it to hold the Dickinson stove.
Dickinson sells a built-in trim kit for the Caribbean stove that bolts to the top and front edges of the stove. We preferred the look of the full built-in trim kit as installed by Jim Bennet, so our installation is a blend of what Jim Bennett and Scott have done.
We ordered our E21C with the convection oven cutout in the kitchen cabinet, no convection oven, and no cooktop. After questioning "What have we done?", I got to work.
I will add that I did a lot of planning and preparation before making this choice. I got CAD drawings for the different cabinet face choices from Escape and confirmed that a Dickinson stove would fit (with slight modifications) in the convection oven space. All other cabinet options would require extensive modifications to fit a 21” tall stove. But I believe this stove could be installed in any Escape trailer that offers a convection oven cutout. I made several trips to the Chilliwack factory to carefully inspect and measure various aspects of a stove installation. I also corresponded with Scott about his installation. He, too, made trips to Chilliwack and got CAD drawings to check measurements. Scott also warned me that his original installation was not quite rigid enough and the front of the cabinet between the stove and the cabinet underneath had buckled slightly on a rough road. He reinforced his installation and fixed the issue.
The built-in trim kit piece that bolts to the top edge of the stove raises the stove 3/8". The bottom of the convection oven space still needed to be lowered about 3/4" to accomodate the stove height of 21-3/8". The stove itself is 20-1/2" wide. The built-in trim kit side pieces add 1" of width each side, making the stove 22-1/2" wide. This is exactly the width of the convection oven cutout.
Removing the old floor
First step was to remove the convection oven floor and see what was there. The floor was two luan 1/8" plywood pieces that were just tacked down and they came out easily by tapping from underneath.
Adding new floor supports
The new floor needed to be 3/4" lower, and I planned to have a 3/4" plywood floor, so the existing 1"x2" support boards needed to come out. The Dickinson stove, unlike RV stoves, is bolted down only on the bottom. The sides of the stove are not bolted to the cabinet, so the floor for the Dickinson needs to support all the weight. After trimming the center luan plywood board, I installed 6(!) upright 2x4 boards to support the new plywood floor. There are two in the front corners, three along the center ridge, and one in the back right corner. You'll see later that the back left corner is supported by "L" brackets. I wanted to make sure the weight of the stove was securely supported.
Preparing the countertop cut
I cut and fitted the new plywood floor. I actually used 5/8" plywood, because that is what I had. I later added a 1/8" luan plywood piece on top of the 5/8" plywood, salvaged from the original convection oven floor, to make the final floor thickness 3/4". I taped off lines where I needed to cut the counter top. I cut the opening 21-1/2" wide. This is 1" wider than the stove, but also 1" narrower than the stove with the built-in trim kit pieces installed. These cuts would be covered by the trim kit, so I did not have to make absolutely perfect cuts.
The counter top has a 3/4" overhang on the front. The trim kit butts up against the front edge of the counter top, so this creates a 3/4" gap between the front edge of the trim kit and the front face of the kitchen cabinet. I planned to add 3/4" oak trim to each side of the stove opening that would fill the gap between the front trim kit and the cabinet face. I added two furring strips, one on each side of the opening, to provide extra support for the oak trim strips. You can see the furring strips in the photo above.
Test fit
Time for a test fit. The front cross piece between the stove space and the cabinet underneath has been trimmed and is now only 3/4" wide, so some white 1"x3" boards temporarily add extra support. The stove hold-down bracket is installed in the middle of the floor. I decided to add rubber furniture feet to the sides of the stove opening to provide extra side-to-side support for the stove. The "L" brackets are attached to the back left part of the floor.
Final installation
Ready for the final installation. Blue tape is gone, except where it protects the countertop edge. The floor is securely screwed down. A new propane gas line is installed. That process is described here. I took this opportunity to install a pop-up outlet in the back corner behind the stove.
The front face oak trim pieces are installed on each side. The oak trim is spaced horizontally to line up with the cabinet door underneath. I also added leftover 3/4" oak trim and "L" brackets under the cross piece to provide extra support.
Done!
We are very happy with the result and will be preparing many fine meals with it in the years ahead.
