# natural gas to LP conversion



## 95025 (Nov 14, 2010)

johnl0958 said:


> My dad recently gave me his natural gas grill. My house is all electric, so I would like to covert the grill to run on LP. Can I just go to Home Depot or Lowes and *buy a hose and regulator for LP and put it on? * Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
> 
> John


No.

LP Gas runs at a considerably higher PSI, so the orifice will be smaller.


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## Jackofall1 (Dec 5, 2010)

The short answer is yes, first I would look online at the manufacturers web site, many will sell the conversion kit specific to your make and model. The difference is the size of the orfice, it needs to be the correct size for the BTU output of your BBQ, and I know brand "L" does sell the kits for the models they sell at least.

Mark


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## Jackofall1 (Dec 5, 2010)

DrHicks said:


> No.
> 
> LP Gas runs at a considerably higher PSI, so the orifice will be smaller.


LP Gas needs an orfice change due to BTU's/cf not for reasons of pressure.


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## johnl0958 (Mar 14, 2011)

DrHicks said:


> No.
> 
> LP Gas runs at a considerably higher PSI, so the orifice will be smaller.


I thought the regulator was to bring down the pressure from the propane tank to the grill. Is it possible to also control the pressure by not opening the valve on the tank all the way?




Jackofall1 said:


> The short answer is yes, first I would look online at the manufacturers web site, many will sell the conversion kit specific to your make and model. The difference is the size of the orfice, it needs to be the correct size for the BTU output of your BBQ, and I know brand "L" does sell the kits for the models they sell at least.
> 
> Mark


I have asked the manufactuer (Ducane) if they sell a kit, and they said no. Also the grill is like 10-15 yrs old.
How do I know how much BTU I need?


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## Jackofall1 (Dec 5, 2010)

NO, you cannot regulate pressure using a valve, you MUST use a regulator, the orfice is located down stream of the regulator.

Look at Ducanes web site and see if you can match your up (close to) whats available today, look at the btu rating, also, see if they have replacement burners for your, they are also rated in BTU output.

Mark


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## johnl0958 (Mar 14, 2011)

Jackofall1 said:


> NO, you cannot regulate pressure using a valve, you MUST use a regulator, the orfice is located down stream of the regulator.
> 
> Look at Ducanes web site and see if you can match your up (close to) whats available today, look at the btu rating, also, see if they have replacement burners for your, they are also rated in BTU output.
> 
> Mark


 
k, thanks for the help.


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## Jackofall1 (Dec 5, 2010)

You could look at these, see if you can match your model number.

http://www.appliancefactoryparts.com/gasgrillparts/brands/ducane/ducane-plumbing-valves.html


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## 95025 (Nov 14, 2010)

Jackofall1 said:


> LP Gas needs an orfice change due to BTU's/cf not for reasons of pressure.


Yeah, I should have been clearer on that. Thanks for the correction!


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## WirelessG (Mar 22, 2009)

From what I am seeing, the conversion kits run about $50. Does that sound right? My grill gave out and I bought a Weber charcoal grill for now. I would like to look around for a good buy on a Weber NG grill, but I want the ability to switch to propane without spending gobs and gobs.


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## VIPlumber (Aug 2, 2010)

WirelessG,

When looking for your new NG Weber grill just make sure that it comes with the LP kit. It should just consist of orifices, if I'm not mistaken.


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## DannyT (Mar 23, 2011)

this place had ducane orifice listed. said they would drill it to size


http://www.clagrills.com/allgrillparts/ducane/ducane-all-valves.htm


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## Mr Chips (Mar 23, 2008)

I had a grill at my old house ( Charbroil I think it was) and all i had to do to convert it to NG was remove the orifice altogether. Before you buy a new grill, take a look at the online manual to see if what's involved to change it over


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## Ron6519 (Mar 28, 2007)

You should be able to remove the orifice and take it to a grill parts place for a replacement to the gas you're planning to use. If you can't find it, you can drill out the orifice to the diameter needed.
I think this was discussed in the past on this forum with the drill bit diameter needed.


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## rjniles (Feb 5, 2007)

Ron6519 said:


> You should be able to remove the orifice and take it to a grill parts place for a replacement to the gas you're planning to use. If you can't find it, you can drill out the orifice to the diameter needed.
> I think this was discussed in the past on this forum with the drill bit diameter needed.


I used silver solder to close up the natural gas orifices and then drilled them out to the correct LP BTU rating. Here is sizing chart:

http://www.grillparts.com/howto/btu_guide.htm

A full service propane dealer can do this if you are not comfortable with it. You will also need a regulator and hose. 

For information, the reason you need different (smaller) orifices is that propane even after regulation is a higher pressure than natural gas.

Propane (LP) is 11" WC (11 inches water column) , about 1/2 PSI

Natural gas runs at about 5-7" WC , about 1/4 PSI (I have rounded off all numbers).


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## WirelessG (Mar 22, 2009)

thanks all


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