Converting ex-335 grill to propane


 
D

Dmitriy_NY

New member
Hi, new guy here. Owner of various Weber grill over the time (and occasional char-broil that went to trash after a week:)).
My current one is old Genesis, but recently i picked up ex-335 genesis ii smart grill. Story goes it got burned up, and the dude got it with an intent to fix from his client, but it was too much work. So yes, free for me...it was NG, so i will be doing the conversion to propane.
I do read a lot before bothering people, but instill have a few questions. Pretty much all the igniter wires are gone, as well as knobs. Cook box is warped at the bottom.
So far i fixed and painted the box, very small crack, but it works and accepts pan. All electronics work fine. I will be replacing the manifold to LP one.
Questions - tank scale, i think i can get any latest that accepts tank sensor, not specific genesis ii?
Burner tubes - same part number on all 4 for np. Lp are different parts, makes a difference and what is it? Maybe move spider covers a bit to adjust?
Gas regulator, i think i can get any weber model one?
I have an ocd and im pretty sure it will work fine without the tank scale or lighted up knobs, but i have to make it right:)
 
Dmitriy_NY said:
Burner tubes - same part number on all 4 for np. Lp are different parts, makes a difference and what is it? Maybe move spider covers a bit to adjust?
Gas regulator, i think i can get any weber model one?
Click to expand...
Burners are burners. IDK why except maybe to make things more "scary" or difficult for anyone who wants to do this. But a burner does not care what the fuel is (NG or LP), only that it is metered correctly. Since you will change the manifold and regulator to proper type fuel supply you will not have any trouble and no adjustment should be necessary. As for acquiring the necessary parts not sure what to tell you there. Others here are far more in the know
 
I agree burners are burners and adjust airflow identically once the proper nozzles are installed on the valves. It really comes down to size of the hole in that valve tip, and maybe not necessary to replace the entire manifold. I have rescued similar mode grills some NG and some LP so I've been able to swap things around for what i wanted for for a particular grill. The hole size for NG is larger than LP. On one grill I thought was LP, but was really a NG partially converted by added a LP regulator, once lit had 12 inch or so flames! Your probably best off to go ahead and swap out that manifold. Best of Luck.
 
I also thought that only orifices can be swapped, but apparently the valves inside are different as well..so new manifold is coming my way.
Also i bought a cheap igniters with wires, but looks like they are the same as weber sells for replacements, they got pink wires and no cups, that go into the igniter module.
I just need to find the right orifice for side burner, it is different size thread than others
 
Thanks, I will check out check out that tread ,this is great information. There are lots of conversion kits online that don't mention this. It certainly can be confusing, Why I said best to change the manifold.
 
Dan Martin said:
Thanks, I will check out check out that tread ,this is great information. There are lots of conversion kits online that don't mention this. It certainly can be confusing, Why I said best to change the manifold.
Click to expand...
It's not confusing if you come here and communicate with folks who've actually been through the wringer on it. Weber has gone out of their way to not only make it "hard" to convert but actually a bit dangerous to do it willy nilly with liers and crooks on YouTube and FleaBay
 
I can confirm this. Got my new manifold and looked at both valves. Np is bigger.
What i also noticed, sear burner has only two positions, open and close, and np valve has just one big hole in it, so either yes or no. Lp one looks the same as other valves, even though you can only turn it quarter of the turn.
Now the big question - burners work, grill is alive, but...the flames are still too big/high with a bit of yellow on the top. I think this can be adjusted by screens? Less air or more? Or new burners with i think smaller holes?

Answered my own question - a little more air. Moved the screen about 1/4 inch, up until the flames started to lift off the burner, and backed out a tad. Maybe some more adjustments later when all 4 are lit
 
Last edited:
Dmitriy_NY said:
I can confirm this. Got my new manifold and looked at both valves. Np is bigger.
What i also noticed, sear burner has only two positions, open and close, and np valve has just one big hole in it, so either yes or no. Lp one looks the same as other valves, even though you can only turn it quarter of the turn.
Now the big question - burners work, grill is alive, but...the flames are still too big/high with a bit of yellow on the top. I think this can be adjusted by screens? Less air or more? Or new burners with i think smaller holes?
Click to expand...
I would adjust the screen while running and start by opening it up a little at a time. That might sort it out.
 
Dmitriy_NY said:
Now the big question - burners work, grill is alive, but...the flames are still too big/high with a bit of yellow on the top. I think this can be adjusted by screens? Less air or more? Or new burners with i think smaller holes?
Click to expand...
The burner tubes are all the same regardless of fuel and they are adjusted from the factory so you shouldn't have to mess with them. Now, there is going to be a slight difference in flame height between just running the grill with the burner tubes and the lid open and having the flavorizer bars and grates installed. The important thing is that you see a noticeable difference between L/M/H.
 
Yes it is quite misleading when you're running the grill with no flavorizer bars and the lid up to how the flames behave with bars over them and lid down. I've found you can pretty badly misadjust air flow like this.
 
Yes that is normal. At issue with these "conversions" is simply slapping in orifices on an LP grill to convert to NG it will run fine flat out (full on). But it will falter and go into a dangerous situation on low-med settings where the burner(s) can go out (an inconvenience) or "partially" out potentially dangerous. The reason the latter is so potentially dangerous is gas is still flowing even though there is no visible flame. On a still day it potentially can build up under the hood and cause a "flashover". Especially if you walk up and lift the hood, which changes the air flow and can give you quite a surprise. So even if incorrectly done the temps and flame patterns will look and work fine.
On the opposite end (a NG to LP) again full on it will run fine but you will not be able to "throttle it down" properly at low/medium. Not "unsafe" but a PIA to deal with
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top