Hooking up grill to natural gas

D

DJ

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I'm moving into a new house. The old house was all electric, and the new one is electric/nat. gas.<br /><br />The new house has a natural gas "main line" on the front of the house. I will have a "feeder" run to the back, where the grill will be.<br /><br />The grill is a BBQ's Galore all stainless model that is supposed to work on either.<br /><br />So, what do I do to the grill?<br /><br />1. How do I change the orifices? Leaner or richer?<br /><br />2. Anything to lookout for?<br /><br />I'm thinking bye-bye, to propane tanks (nothing wrong with propane-Hank Hill). :D I grill allot, so this is huge, to me.
 
Boomyal

Boomyal

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Re: Hooking up grill to natural gas

Contact the vendor/mfg of your barbeque and they will be able to supply a natural gas conversion kit. Most likely all it will be are the orifices. I think that natural gas has a bigger molecule than propane so the jets are larger. You won't have to guess at the sizes, they will know.
 
J

JRJ

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Re: Hooking up grill to natural gas

Contact BBQ Galore and they should sell you what you need. Good luck and better grilling :cool:
 
sangerwaker

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Re: Hooking up grill to natural gas

I can'yt remember wether the orfices are larger or smaller for natural for sure. I would think you can just buy a new one from the manufacturer set to the correct spec for natural. <br /><br />My dad worked for the gas co. here for over 30 years. He could have answered your question immediately if he were alive today. ANyhow, he hooked mine up to natural and had some great ideas. Use a air line quick coupler on the outside of the house and a piece of rubber airline to supply the grill. That way you can move the grill around to help protect it from wind and things.<br /><br />P.S. You will find the grill is not as hot on natural vs LP. Not a huge difference, but plan on things taking slightly longer to cook.
 
K

KRS

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Re: Hooking up grill to natural gas

Biggest difference is flow rate, the propane stored in your bulk tank is LP, Liquid Propane. LP expands at a rate of 270x (if my mind remembers it correctly) into a gas. That's right, one gallon of LP will make 270 gallons of propane gas.<br /><br />The natural gas will flow as a gas thru the regulator into the burner.<br /><br />Good luck, and remember to use a spray bottle filled with water and some liquid dish soap to spray on all of the connections while under pressure, if a connection leaks you will see bubbles. Don't count of the company... it's your life and your family and your home and your neighborhood, and..... well you get the idea.
 
Dunaruna

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Re: Hooking up grill to natural gas

azfyrfyter63, propane is a byproduct of gasoline production, its actually a mixture of propane and butane. Its referred to as L.P. or Liquified Petroleum gas. <br />Before it became popular it was the flare you would see atop the refinery towers - it was rubbish.<br /><br />Aldo
 
D

DJ

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Re: Hooking up grill to natural gas

Hey, Y'all. Thanks for the great advice,<br /><br />I know that the grill is set up for natural gas, it says so, on the manifolds.<br /><br />But, what do I do to make it burn efficiently? Lean it, richen it, etc?<br /><br />I have alraedy contacted BBQ's Galore. There answer was----Huh-what? :rolleyes:
 
Dunaruna

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Re: Hooking up grill to natural gas

NG burns colder than LP therfore you need to use more of it - larger holes.<br /><br />L.P. produces about 2 and a half times the energy of natural gas, The differences in the grill will be the burner(s) orifice and the feed jet (usually inside the control or where the hose connects). NG jets are roughly double the size of L.P. jets. Natural gas will work with the L.P. jets just not very efficiently.<br /><br />If the manifold says NG then it probably already has the larger holes - dunno. Just remember that NG will run o/k (no danger) through L.P.G. jets & orifices but not the other way round, putting L.P.G. through NG jets is dangerous.<br /><br />So to be sure you need to confirm what jets are currently fitted. With mine, I drilled the input jet and the holes in the burners, I couldn't find a conversion kit.<br /><br />Aldo
 
Bob_VT

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Re: Hooking up grill to natural gas

Good luck, and remember to use a spray bottle filled with water and some liquid dish soap to spray on all of the connections while under pressure, if a connection leaks you will see bubbles. Don't count of the company... it's your life and your family and your home and your neighborhood, and..... well you get the idea. <br />
Click to expand...
Ditto on the good advice. That soapy dish water is the greatest leak detector.
 
K

KRS

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Re: Hooking up grill to natural gas

Dunaruna, thank you for the correction, next time I see our instructor from Blue Flame (the propane company) I will ask him to stop teaching the people who put out fire the wrong stuff.
 
Boomyal

Boomyal

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Re: Hooking up grill to natural gas

Originally posted by DJ:<br /> But, what do I do to make it burn efficiently? Lean it, richen it, etc?<br /><br />I have alraedy contacted BBQ's Galore. There answer was----Huh-what? :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
DJ, once the proper jets are installed, there should be a rotory air vent at the base of the the burner control knobs to control the air/fuel ratio. As for BBQ's Galore, I'd find a new vender. All that has been discussed here, is basic info. If they can't answer they shouldn't be in the biz.
 
K

KRS

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Re: Hooking up grill to natural gas

Duna, I re-read my post, I sounded like a jerk... no hard feelings.<br /><br />The production of propane isn't where my interest lies, I focus (and our instructor probably) on how it behaves under pressure, temperature, humidity, altitude, etc.....<br /><br />Thank you for the info.... and the pun (it was funny).
 
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