Gas lines and regulators missing (Conversion?) and WHY male connection?

[Seth G]

So just this week i picked up two older Weber grills, Genesis 1000 and a Genesis Silver B. I bought them from a guy who said he buys lots from estate sales and has never personally ran them. Getting them home and cleaning them up a bit, adding new burners, i realized that there are no gas line or regulators attached to the manifolds. So, i've ordered both to be delivered next week.

So, my worry is, the reason there are no gas lines or regulators attached is because they were converted to natural gas. Is there a way to easily check? What will happen if i try to run propane through a grill modified for natural gas?

Also, i'm noticing that both of these grills have male connections for connecting the gas line to the manifold. This is strange to me, all i've ever seen is female. Does anyone sell a converter?

 

[THyde]

A picture is worth a thousand words ...

 

[Seth G]

Unfortunately, i'm at work for the next 6hrs and can't find any good pictures of where the gas line connects to the manifold on google. I'll get some pictures up when i get home.

Basically, is there a way to tell if an old weber has been converted to Natural Gas?
And Most grills i see have female gas line connectors to attach to the manifolds, both my grills seems to have male, is there an adapter made for weber?

 

[THyde]

Pictures will be really helpful here.

The gas line connections on the manifolds are female, meaning on the manifold itself it's a female. From there, I've just gone to the plumbing place to get whatever fittings I may have needed.

The propane vs. natural gas question is a different question. For propane, the orifices are smaller and the valves are different for each type of fuel. It takes less volume of propane to make more heat.

Again, pictures will help a lot.

Slainte!

 

[Seth G]

Ok, some information i found on google about adapting a modern Weber gas hose and regulator to an older Weber grill/manifold

the original hose and regulator is a Weber # 63419 which has a male 1/4" NPT thread on the manifold end. So that tells me your manifold currently has a female 1/4" NPT threaded inlet. Now a Weber 7502 is a 21" regulator and hose assembly with a 3/8" female flare connector on the manifold end and the standard qcc1 fitting on the other for your new tank. Soooo...what my suggestion is for you to obtain a 1/4" NPT male end X 3/8" male flare end adapter (can be found in the plumbing section of your local hardware store, will most likely be made of brass.). This will allow you to thread the NPT end into your manifold (using teflon thread tape or liquid thread sealant) and then connect the 3/8" flare end to the 7502 hose assembly (no sealant or tape on a flare fitting!.) On paper this should work!!

Now to check the online sites for Lowes, Homedepot and Ace for that adapter....

The propane vs. natural gas question is a different question. For propane, the orifices are smaller and the valves are different for each type of fuel. It takes less volume of propane to make more heat.

Thank you, this helps. When i get home i'm going to take some pictures and see if i notice any markings on the Valves the indicate what that are for.

 

[LMichaels]

Unless you can physically measure the orifices you will not be able to tell. Odds are they were NOT converted but perhaps originally NG grills and the hoses were left behind at the home they were removed from. If you run LP in a NG grill you will have a blow torch. If you run NG in an LP grill it will be very weak. If you hook these up to LP and have flames that are too high you have your answer. You can also look at the S/N tag and see if it was set up as NG or LP though this is not 100% accurate.

 

[Seth G]

Thank you LMichaels! So, i should be alright testing. A Blowtorch i can handle, as long as it doesn't cause some kind of explosion.

I ordered this manifold for my 2005 Silver B https://www.appliancefactoryparts.com/search/part/33752/135874/
and this hose for my 1998 Genesis 1000 http://www.grillparts.com/weber/genesis.asp?product_id=62565

I think the new manifold for the Silver B will help and i'll be careful (Maybe starting the 1000 in low) when testing that grill with LP next week.

These rebuilds are getting expensive! $410(including the cost of grills) to restore two grills already and i haven't even bought new grates or flavorbars yet!

 

[THyde]

Of course, with propane fuel in a natural gas setup you could cook a hot dog in 2.5 seconds!

 

[DaveW]

IIRC, the pics of the grills in question showed bot hto have tank holders on them, so they weren't NG to start. Hook everything up, remove the grates and the flavorizer bars then fire up a grill. Presuming the burners are clear and functional, flame height will tell you if the orifices are correct.