Gas grill help needed

[Vegasdan]

My wife and I want to have a small gas grill to take with us on our coach. I have a gas outlet in a bay on the passenger side. We looked at some grills at Camping World today but they mostly are set up to operate on the small bottles. The instruction booklets I read warn about only using 1/2 PSI of gas pressure. When I asked the help at CW she went into an explaination of BTUs and that she didn't know how many BTUs my large gas tank on my coach would have!?? I quickly realized she didn't know what she was talking about. What will we need to hook up these table top grills with a hose?

[mythplaced]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vegasdan ... I quickly realized she didn't know what she was talking about. ...

And this was different HOW??

[Bill Adams]

You need to find out if your gas outlet is before or after a pressure regulator from the propane tank. Ours turned out to be after the regulator and made using it with a grill impractical. Yes, it worked, but we had to remove the grill regulator completely. Still, there was very little pressure available and it was all on or off only. Even at all on it was only about 1/2 of what it should have been. We disconnected from that connection and attached a bottle and all is well. If your connection in that area provides full pressure and you can use the grills regulator then you will be just fine.

[Vegasdan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mythplaced And this was different HOW??

I hear you LOUD and clear.

[Vegasdan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill Adams You need to find out if your gas outlet is before or after a pressure regulator from the propane tank. Ours turned out to be after the regulator and made using it with a grill impractical. Yes, it worked, but we had to remove the grill regulator completely. Still, there was very little pressure available and it was all on or off only. Even at all on it was only about 1/2 of what it should have been. We disconnected from that connection and attached a bottle and all is well. If your connection in that area provides full pressure and you can use the grills regulator then you will be just fine.

Our outlet is after the tank regulator. So what you are saying is that a grill with it's own regulator will not work. We found one that did not have a regulator installed on it, so is it possible it would work? I'm not fond of the idea of buying those small LP tanks when I have 37 gallons sitting there. I wonder what the previous owner used it for?

[dkhender]

If your connection is after the regulator, you need a low pressure grill. I know quite a few people have used the Weber Baby Q grill and removed the grill regulator and it worked great. Personally I used the Camco Low-Pressure Grill and really liked it. This is the way many TTs are set-up from the factory.

If the connection is before the regulator, so it's a high-pressure grill, any "standard" grill should work.

[gresults]

Here is one option which has worked well for us, I know it is not the most fancy grill 35.00 WalMart job, But actually bought the DW a nicer grill thinking that would be the way to go, Guess what she perfers to cook on.

Stows easily, when you wear it out just chunk it..

[steelheadbluesman]

This may not be relevant, but it's an option. You don't have to use the little non-refillable bottles, which are expensive and environmentally wasteful. I often use multiple gas appliances outside, so I carry a 5-gal LPG tank and a hose "tree" with the appliances, all nestled into a compartment. I can run a stove, a BBQ, and a crab cooker all at once with standard hoses and regulators that come with the appliances. And I'm not draining my large tank, AND it's so portable I can run to the country store or gas station for a refill. Works for me.

[paz]

You could add an Extend-a-Flow adapter. The Tee goes before your existing regulator, and the hose will connect directly to your grill. This allows you to use the grill's regulator (which usually has a built-in flow valve) the same way as if it were connected to its own gas bottle.

[JimM68]

I'll second the extend-a-flow. Easy hookup between the RV tank and regulator, and the other end is exactly the same as a propane bottle, so it will screw onto any appliance in place of a bottle. Works real well with my coleman.

[Gary RVRoamer]

We carry a 5 lb bottle to operate the grill. Any extension hose will mate the big bottle to the grill, in place of the little one lb bottle.

Adding a second Extend-a-flow before the regulator (or moving the one you now have) is another option.

[HD4Mark]

I bought one of these - Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices Seems like it was much cheaper so shop around.

To fill it you get the small tank cold and have the big one warm. Warm not heated up. All I did was take a 20lb tank indoors and put the little one in the freezer. Filled outside of course. The instructions said to turn the large tank upside down but I didn't thin modern tanks with overfill protection would work. Hooked it up and sure enough the small cylinder filled up Maybe not to the top like new but it worked on the table top BBQ.

I am wondering if you could fill the small tanks from your on board outlet safely with one?

[Jim28730]

I am also a big fan of Extend-A-Flow. Install the tee, get an extension hose and any grill that uses a portable bottle will work just fine.

[Paul R. Haller]

Look here: Amazon.com: Camco 57305 Olympian RV 5500 Stainless Steel RV Grill: Automotive
I bought this bar B Q and love it. I'ts a well designed bar B Q and it cooks even. Reasonable and hooked right up to the existing RVQ mount and quick connect. Looks good too.
-Paul R. Haller-