Help! Low NG Supply Pressure


 
T

Tommy G

New member
Hi. I just bought a new 2019 Genesis II E-310 natural gas. The grill is still in the box, so I could return it if I had to. I've come to realize that this grill has no regulator and is designed to operate at 7.0 in wc. My supply pressure at the meter is 6.0 in wc, and assuming a 0.5 in drop in the piping to the grill, I have 5.5 in wc at the grill connection. I asked weber for a solution and they told me to find someone to help me raise the gas pressure.

I wanted to find out if anyone else has dealt with this issue and if I'm on the right track with my own solution. Based on reading lots of lp to ng conversion examples, it seems I should be able to fix my problem by increasing the orifice sizes and/or adding a regulator.

I've seen several ng orifice charts, and most seem to indicate the current size would be a #53 for 13,000 btu/hr per burner. If I were to add a regulator to 4.5 in wc the equivalent size would be #51. This would solve my low supply issues and level out the pressure as other appliances cycle on and off.

Am I on the right track here?
Is there anything that I'm missing?
To change the size, can I simply buy a #51 drill bit and open up the holes with a hand drill?
Are there other better solutions?
 
You are absolutely on the right track. The issue will be finding the correct size orifices. Also you would NEVER want to let on to Weber you have changed them out.
 
LMichaels said:
You are absolutely on the right track. The issue will be finding the correct size orifices. Also you would NEVER want to let on to Weber you have changed them out.
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Larry, please correct me if I am wrong, but I wanted to add that I think Larry is saying this because it might invalidate your warranty for the entire grill.

That was probably obvious, but I've been reading on here long enough to know that Larry has been burned by an expensive Summit in the past, so that's probably why he's giving you that advice.

Otherwise, your plan sounds reasonable. Just make sure you're in the "Goldilocks" zone when you work with orifices. Always better to work your way up. You don't want too hot, don't want too cold. You want it just right. If you have a whole set of those small bits, you might think about opening the orifices slowly, step by step until you get the max temp you are looking for. Remember, the low heat settings are really what you want to control. Once you can hit 500 plus, I don't really think there's any benefit to grilling hotter. If you are too hot, you will lose control at low temps, and if you ever get into rotisserie cooking, or ever cook indirect you will be really frustrated if you adjust it too hot.

My two cents.

Slainte!

Tim
 
THyde said:
Larry, please correct me if I am wrong, but I wanted to add that I think Larry is saying this because it might invalidate your warranty for the entire grill.
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No. Look up the Magnusson-Moss Act. In short, an entire warranty or guaranty cannot be voided due to single change. Parts of a warranty can be voided if the issue can be shown to be directly related to a change or modification. A caster failure cannot be tied to changing the orifices. A scorched lid, if the changed orifices fed too much fuel would be an example of a voided warranty part.

The problem is that fighting this sort of thing can be tremendously expensive. What are you gonna do, sue us?

One other thing the MM Act is good for.... if the item in question requires consumables, the manufacturer must provide an acceptable spec for those consumables. If they try to require you to purchase consumables through them only, they have to supply all of the consumables. Cars..... the various lubricants all have published specs. If GM tried to say that you can only use GM 0W40 oil in this engine, by law, they'd have to supply it.
 
My being burned on my Summit had nothing to do with it. Only that if he made it known to Weber that he had to change orifices to keep BTU in spec due to excessively low gas pressure Weber would void warranty (not sure about casters and stuff) but they would definitely not warranty it if there was a failure due to him indicating in passing "Oh BTW I added a regulator and modified my grill to run on 4.5" WC).
Now I don't know if Weber would do this, but, suppose he buys the grill notes it does not get hot. Weber sends tech who measures and indicates low pressure issues. Tech looks into bag of tricks and adds regulator and larger orifices than Weber assumes responsibility.
Sadly I don't think they would though. I think they would simply tell him your house is not in spec for this grill so maybe here is your $$$ back buy an LP grill. I honestly don't know. I would just say that with how adamant Weber is about not converting from LP to NG or vice' versa' I'll lay odds they would void his warranty. Best to just do it and keep one's mouth shut
 
Thanks for the great advice here folks. I'll likely try opening the orifices one size at a time, and maybe one burner at a time to have the best chance for success. I figure I can verify I've got it right by clocking the CF used at the meter to check the BTU used. It does make me wonder if anyone else in my area (most of Indiana supplied by Vectren) has had an issue, or if no one really notices the difference in pressure/BTU.

I also find it interesting the manual states the 4+ burner grills are set to 4.5" wc (2019). I guess they must still have a regulator, or expect the customer to add one....
General Specifications
• Three burner grills are designed to operate at 7" of
water column pressure (0.2526 psi).
• Four burner grills are designed to operate at 4.5" of
water column pressure (0.16245 psi).
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I agree with the keep quiet approach. I've no plans of further discussions with Weber regarding any changes, especially if any warranty issues were to come up. It seems pretty clear from their first response that they have no intention of offering other solutions. Hopefully, I never need the warranty at all.
 
My advice here is buy new orifices and keep the OEM ones (just in case). Oddly Weber on the large grills (Summits) supplies them with a regulator. I guess they can justify it when they're selling a product with that high a profit margin. I would bet it's WAY higher than on a Genesis. Big reason is the cast fire box is way more expensive to produce than the stamped mild steel in the Summit. So on that $3k Summit I bet the cost on it is only $500 so for $2500 profit they can include a $10.00 regulator :D
 
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