LP gas auxiliary port

[moisheh]

I was very pleased when I bought our Dynasty that it already was plumbed for an exterior propane appliance. I was surprised that Monaco provided an adapter fitting from 1/2 inch pipe to 1/2 inch flare. I already had a Marshall Brass exrendaflow kit from our previous unit. Naively I though I would not need the POL adapter that is part of that kit. I had the correct brass fitings in my shop to connect a hose to the auxiliary port. Tried to light the BBQ but no gas was flowing. Hooked the BBQ up to a portable cylinder and gas did flow. I followed the gas pipe to the DS of the unit and discovered that the auxiiary port is plumbed AFTER the coach regulator. Most portable BBQ's already have a regulator. Propane will not flow thru 2 regulators. On many portable grills you cannot remove the regulator as it is an integral part of the gas valve (High,Low,Off). I called Monaco and at first the tech thought it could be a code requirement but he checked and the answer was : That is the way do this. So, I am left with the choice of doing some plumbing and I am not a certified gas installer. Or I could search for another BBQ that has a seperate regulator. Ours is a suitase stainless model and we like the way it performs. Most of the portable units in the CW catalog are like mine. If Monaco would have turned the tank 180 degres the shut off valve and POL connection would be on the passenger side and it would be very easy to install an extendaflow kit. As it is you would need a 9 foot hose and it would be a pain to connect every time you needed your BBQ. I dont think you could leave a flexible hose on the unit and meet code. I would be interested in what others have done to utilize that port. Thanks

[moisheh]

I was very pleased when I bought our Dynasty that it already was plumbed for an exterior propane appliance. I was surprised that Monaco provided an adapter fitting from 1/2 inch pipe to 1/2 inch flare. I already had a Marshall Brass exrendaflow kit from our previous unit. Naively I though I would not need the POL adapter that is part of that kit. I had the correct brass fitings in my shop to connect a hose to the auxiliary port. Tried to light the BBQ but no gas was flowing. Hooked the BBQ up to a portable cylinder and gas did flow. I followed the gas pipe to the DS of the unit and discovered that the auxiiary port is plumbed AFTER the coach regulator. Most portable BBQ's already have a regulator. Propane will not flow thru 2 regulators. On many portable grills you cannot remove the regulator as it is an integral part of the gas valve (High,Low,Off). I called Monaco and at first the tech thought it could be a code requirement but he checked and the answer was : That is the way do this. So, I am left with the choice of doing some plumbing and I am not a certified gas installer. Or I could search for another BBQ that has a seperate regulator. Ours is a suitase stainless model and we like the way it performs. Most of the portable units in the CW catalog are like mine. If Monaco would have turned the tank 180 degres the shut off valve and POL connection would be on the passenger side and it would be very easy to install an extendaflow kit. As it is you would need a 9 foot hose and it would be a pain to connect every time you needed your BBQ. I dont think you could leave a flexible hose on the unit and meet code. I would be interested in what others have done to utilize that port. Thanks

[The Danes Are Coming]

Hi moisheh

Good job you didn't invite me over for a steak - we would have had to call for a pizza

I would also like to hear and especially see how this is done. Any pictures out there?

The Great Dane

[Robin_M]

Moisheh,

I did the same thing you did when I first got my Dip. I saw the fitting and went to the Coleman outlet and bought an extension kit and an adapter for the grill. Then I found out it was low pressure propane. If you do a search on "propane" in the Monaco forum here, you will find several discussions and suggestions. Some have bought the "Extend a Flow" kit pictured here and re-plumbed the fitting at the tank. In my coach, that wouldn't work as the same pipe also feeds the water heater. You are correct that this kit would work great if Monaco had just turned the propane tank around the other way. One can only guess why they had it open on the street side instead.

Weber makes a couple of models of grills that will work with low pressure propane. Others have figured out how to bypass the regulator on their propane grills.

As for me, I thought about all the options and decided that the best choice was to simply ignore the Monaco fitting, and return the hose kit I bought. With the money I was able to buy a whole case of those little green propane bottles they had on sale. I think that's easier than rigging a hose each time you want to grill anyway.

[Nonno]

I just called Weber (800-446-1071) and when I said I had a Baby Q and wanted to use it on my MH, their immediate reply was "no you don't."

According to the women I spoke with they don't have any that work with low pressure.

Soooooo, who has bypassed the regulator and is still alive to tell us about it?

[glennb100]

A good solution for providing propane to a portable grill is to buy a small refillable propane tank and appropriate hose to connect the tank to the grill. I bought a five pound (about one gallon) capacity tank and hose at Camping World. It doesn't take up much more storgae space than a couple of "throw-aways" and is a lot cheaper because it can be refilled anywhere there is propane service.

[AKBrick]

Moisheh,
I had to use the "T" fitting for a hose and put it between the coache's propane bottle and it's regulator. Yes, I had a couple of hoses screwed together to get it all of the way underneath the MH to the other side. I always unhooked it before moving the rig just in case there were any leaks.

Eventually the fittings on the hose got a little tired and were leaking between the fitting crimp and the hose. I just recently bagged that hole idea and bought a small eleven pound propane tank. It's small enough to ride upright in the storage bay and doesn't take up much space. I'm glad we decided to go this route because it's a lot less hassle to hook the bottle up to the grill than to do the dance with the motorhome. We use the Coleman "Road Trip" grill.

BTW, 6-8 minutes on each side of a thick steak will give you a juicy tender steak.

Happy grilling,

AKBrick

[moisheh]

Thanks for the replies. I do have small, 8 lb. botle that I can hook direct to the BBQ. I just thought that since the hookup was there I would utilize it. I think that someone at Monaco was not thinking when they engineered that set up.

[Sixpack98]

I did the same thing that Rob did. I did not want the hassle of hoses to connect. I wonder if the reason Monaco engineered it this way is beacuse of some sort of code thing for motor coaches. High pressure gas is much more of a hazard than low pressure.


mark

[moisheh]

6 pack:

I agree. I looked at installing the Marshal Brass valve at the tank and then using a very heavy propne line that is abrasion resistant. These are used on our forklifts. But I bet it is against the code. I also thought of teeing in some black iron pipe to the high presure side. But I sure dont want my MH blowing up!!! All in all this is a collosal engineering mistake on Monacos part. They could easily have installed the tank with the fill valve on the right. Then we could use that extend a flow kit. From looking in the archives this has been a problem for about 4 years.

I noticed in one of your old posts you mentioned storing some parts in a compartment " behind the basement". Can you explain what you meant? Thanks

BTW: We also tow an 05 Taco!

[Les Stallings]

My 30 foot hose should be ready to be picked up from our local propane and propane products facility.

I installed the Extend-a-Stay and will use wire ties to run the hose to the passenger side bay door. There I have plenty of room to coil up the hose and use Velcro to store it above the fuel tank. I will not leave the hose hooked up. The Extend-a-Stay fittings are easy to use and are self sealing when the fitting is not connected to a hose. A cap goes over the fitting. I'll use a plastic bag over the ends of the extension hose.

I went for the extra length custom hose because the included 12 foot hose only got me less than two feet beyond the side of the coach, I wanted to be able to put the grill beyond the awning and many times I should be able to place it on a nearby picnic table.

The procedure will be to open the passenger side bay door and drop the hose out the bottom, close the bay door and hook the hose up to the grill. Open the driver's side bay door and hook the other end of the hose up to the Extend-a-Stay. It won't take a couple of minutes tops and will not require any tools.

We've got an IR sear grill and it really makes nice rare steaks with a charred outside. Gee, I'm getting hungry!

[Sixpack98]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by moisheh:
6 pack:

I agree. I looked at installing the Marshal Brass valve at the tank and then using a very heavy propne line that is abrasion resistant. These are used on our forklifts. But I bet it is against the code. I also thought of teeing in some black iron pipe to the high presure side. But I sure dont want my MH blowing up!!! All in all this is a collosal engineering mistake on Monacos part. They could easily have installed the tank with the fill valve on the right. Then we could use that extend a flow kit. From looking in the archives this has been a problem for about 4 years.

I noticed in one of your old posts you mentioned storing some parts in a compartment " behind the basement". Can you explain what you meant? Thanks

BTW: We also tow an 05 Taco! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Moisheh,
Probably going to get flamed but I think Monaco band aids a lot of bad engineering until they are forced to engineer it right. I bet I've got 200 lbs of wiring harness that is too long and simply coiled up somewhere, Modules that lie on top of stuff or held in place by the coiled up wiring. Heck, I bet I could gain 300 lbs of CCC weight. That said, they do a lot better job than most other coach manufacturers but that's no excuse for bad engineering and construction.
WRT storing some parts in a compartment "behind the basement" the only thing I can think of is a sealed up compartment behind the curb side basement that I converted to a storage bin. Don't know why Monaco did not choose to make it a an accessable compartment. Big space (28" deep and 22" wide and fully sealed. I store my spare parts there that I hope I never use. Things like engine and AC belts, oil and fuel filters, generator fuel and air filter, oil, antifreeze and distilled water plus plumbing and electrical parts. I bought a set of plastic drawers from Target to keep them somewhat organized.

Do you have the Remco disconnect on your Taco or is yours standard xmission. Great tow vehicle, keep the bikes, grill, etc in the bed - with bike locks of course.

mark

[Fossilhound]

I did the same as Les Stallings, have the Extend-a-Stay fittings and hoes. The hose stays up along the compartment and hooks up at the fittings on the driver's side and the below the passenger bay door. I had all of my BBQ's hooked up in a similar fashion and never had a problem. I got tired of carrying small bottles in the bays.

[brucemcdou]

This thread is very interesting and an example of why these forums are so great. We just picked up our brand new Monaco and I was happy to see the iron propane pipe to the curbside compartment and related hose. Like Moisheh I also assumed it was high-pressure and was planning to get a regulator to fit this weekend. Now I know not to bother. Think of all the time you guys saved me!

We already had a couple of the disposable green propane bottles for our Road Trip grill, but now we'll look to buy a small refillable tank and just ignore the pipe. Too bad, somebody at Monaco certainly must have thought they were doing something useful.