Cadac owners - how to undo the hose nut?

[flymartin]

Hi all,

I have been the happy owner of a Cadac Grillo Chef for a couple of years and now I want to use the dual power pak with C500 canisters instead of a patio gas cylinder.

But I cannot undo the existing gas hose. Apparently I have a “brass tailpiece with plastic handwheel”, which makes it easy to undo by hand. However it is jammed on tightly and there is no way to get decent purchase to be able use a spanner. Before I take the whole plastic assembly apart, and risk destroying it, does anyone have any tips on how to get it off? I know it’s a reverse thread so am attempting to turn clockwise to undo.

Video of happy cadac chap spinning this “male part” for pleasure, proves it should be doable:

Picture of mine below for info.

Thanks for any ideas!

 

[andyinluton]

Can’t you get a thin open ended spanner in the gap? I have one about 3mm thick & 75mm long that I thought came with one of our Cadacs.

Alternatively the blue plastic should slide downward off the nut & then use a normal spanner.

 

[flymartin]

Thanks - I can get a spanner in there but have nothing to hold on to so that the nut can turn relative to the unit. I’m bending the control knob spindle trying to grip on while i force a spanner round. Ideally I’d get at the nut on the inside and use two spanners against each other..

I will try removing the blue thing and see where that gets me but I think it will be the same problem..

 

[flymartin]

Got it. Thanks @andyinluton for the reply. In the end I used brute force with long mole grips. First weekend in new Beach Camper this weekend, this Cadac upgrade means even less to pack..

 

[Ting Tong]

Yes it’s a reverse thread.

Grip it with a cloth around it and turn clockwise.

 

[flymartin]

Yes it’s a reverse thread.

Grip it with a cloth around it and turn clockwise.

Thanks for replying - unfortunately this was way too tight for a cloth to work.. I got it in the end with big mole grips round the plastic thing. Took off the lower part of the grey plastic housing as well and found I could grip on to the metal body under there without risking snapping off the control knob.

I must say that if Cadac thinks that bit of blue plastic is a pleasant hand turn device, they are very wrong. It’s like they designed the blades to dig painfully into hands.

 

[The Saint Essex]

The Cadac hand turn device is great in my situation where I disconnect the gas pipe when I pack away from a trip (never connected for more than a few days), saves having to find a spanner. However, as you have found out it can be a pain in the arse if you leave the gas pipe connected for a long time and it seizes in position a bit (had that on my home BBQ that stays out all season)

 

[flymartin]

The Cadac hand turn device is great in my situation where I disconnect the gas pipe when I pack away from a trip (never connected for more than a few days), saves having to find a spanner. However, as you have found out it can be a pain in the arse if you leave the gas pipe connected for a long time and it seizes in position a bit (had that on my home BBQ that stays out all season)

Yes I think I’ll start doing the same now. To be honest I had no idea that it was designed to be regularly attached/detached. The hand turn blue plastic thing just look like a decorative petal shape, or a kind of shield to protect the pipe or something..

Given it’s actually easy to unscrew if it hasn’t seized in place, I now don’t see the point of the quick release devices you can get - I mean, they will save 10 seconds or so vs the screw fixing, but usually I’m not measuring my setup time in seconds on a camping trip!