Light my fire!!

For some time now I have been toying with the idea of converting my grill to natural gas. The bother of having to go fill propane tanks, the concern that you might run out in the midst of a steak fry, the idea that natural gas as you buy it for the home is much cheaper than propane by the little tank -- all those were motivators. I struggled with how I was going to do it. Some people said that you had to drill out the orifices in the grill. Nobody seemed to have the parts I wanted, at the price I wanted to pay. Something had to be done, though, because the grill just was not working right.

So I took it all apart. Took out the grates, the lava rock, the burner, ... uh, oh ... the burner was rusted out and coming apart. A prime example of Chinese stainless steel. Took off the knobs, and removed the gas valves. Look Ma, no orifices!! Ha.

I put together a parts list and headed for Ace Hardware. They had parts. They were expensive. A little five foot hose with connectors was about $35. I was advised to go to a welding supply company and have them make up a hose set for me, that it would be cheaper than trying to put one together myself, and cheaper than the store's short hose set.

Why not just use an air hose? That might have worked, but those hoses are only 1/4" in inside diameter with 1/4" NPT fittings. You need more volume to get natural gas to the grill. Besides, the skunk oil that is put in natural gas would eat the hose.

Then, at Lowes, I saw a ten foot hose with connectors for about the same price. Today I made my move; went to Lowes. Bought the hose set, and bought a new Chinese stainless steel burner bar. Home again, home again, time to go to work.

I immediately knew I would have to alter the front panel of the grill. The flare fitting from the valve came straight down, and the front panel folded inward just below that point. There would be a clearance problem. I needed to drill a little hole :

Small enough for the job, I thought.

Having drilled the hole, I then needed to address the valve body.

You can see the orifices. Such little things to have made me so concerned. I read somewhere that for small grills it was no big deal if the orifices were left at the propane gas size. So I would ignore the potential problem, and hope it would go away. No drilling here. It was time to open the hose kit.

I connected the hose kit.

Then I reattached the valves to the front panel. Uh, oh. Problem area. Hose is touching the edge of the metal at the bottom of the hole.

Better hog this out with another hole beneath the first one, and some sheetmetal bendery.

Ah, that's better. On to the next problem. With the old burner bar, the piezo electric ignitor was not working. The little clip that held it in place had rusted away. I grabbed a piece of scrap galvanized sheet and made a new bracket, then screwed it to the burner bar.

Just a couple more small adjustments, and the grill is back together.

On to finish the hook-up. The female connector had to be attached to the 1/2" NPT via a 1/2 to 3/8 reducer and a 3/8" close nipple. Once I finish the skirting on the deck, this will be less obtrusive.

So I plugged it in and opened the valve (hidden behind the deck boards).

Back on the deck, I turn on the burner valves and listen to the hiss of escaping air. When I smell gas, I push the ignitor button. Blue flames!!! The guy was right, it wasn't necessary to drill out the orifices.

Yum! Let's do this more often. That's homemade sausage patties grilling beside my pork shoulder steak. It did take a bit longer than I liked to cook this. Maybe I will drill out the orifices, just to make the grill pump more heat. Works OK like it is, though, if you aren't in too big of a hurry. These cooked up just fine.

Now we are ready for Michelle's cookout next weekend. Y'all come, now.