Natural Gas issue on new SE335

[JeremyStimpson]

New to the board, but long-time Weber owner. I did search the board for some info but need some guidance as wasn’t entirely sure what some of the solutions meant.

We built a new house in 2020, had the builder put a Natural Gas port on the outside of the house under the deck. I had a plumber run black pipe from the port to a corner on my deck two weeks ago. I had picked up an SE-335 in 2021 with the plan of running the line but just never got to it and my existing Genesis was running well but was getting tired of lugging tanks up to my deck or running out of gas on long burns.

Hooked up the new SE-335 and I am having difficulty getting to have all four burners remain on. The hottest I can get the grill is 275 degrees after 25 minutes. Even with one burner on it here is barely enough gas to get much of a flame. I am VERY BUMMED.

I checked my connection (see attached), I’ve soaped my lines for leaks but I am at a loss. My NG stove, water heater, furnace, gas fireplaces, etc. all run fine indoors (I’ve tried running the grill with everything off inside).

The line we ran outside was a 1/2”, that is what I had three different contractors recommend including the contractor that did the original build.

1) Is there an adjustment that I can make to the grill? I’ve read some posts about changing out the orifices(?) if your gas pressure available is less than desirable?
2) If I changed the outside black iron pipe to 3/4” would that help at all?
3) If I increased the gas pressure to the house would that help? Not sure if I can get a different regulator, etc and what impact that would have on other appliances.

Thank you all for your help.

 

[LMichaels]

You need to first off determine if you actually have a NG grill. Given Weber doing everything in China QC is a crapshoot in my book. So first you need to determine that. Because what you're describing is exactly what happens if you hook an LP grill to NG.
Next is to see if your grill has in inline regulator. Some do some do not. If it does, it may likely be faulty. Look too for any restriction in the ball valve in the line. But truly it would not surprise me one bit if the grill is an LP grill

 

[THyde]

I second the LP grill as the problem. It sounds like you have an LP grill hooked to the natural gas line. Did you buy it new? Can you track the serial number from the grill to see what fuel type it is?

Once you get it sorted out you will love it. My 2000 runs on natural gas and I am so grateful to be done with tanks for it!

 

[THyde]

I'll just add that in the case that the grill is an LP grill, if it is new, just take it back to where you got it from and get an actual NG model. If it is not new, and it is an LP grill, the best option is to get a natural gas manifold for it. This way, you solve the two challenges converting from propane to natural gas, which are the valves and the orifices. Plus, that is an easy conversion, and you end up with a propane and a natural gas setup. The bonus there is you keep the propane manifold somewhere and if you ever need to sell the grill you have both to go with it for your buyer, who most likely will want a propane grill.

Let us know what you find out, this is a common problem and it is one that is 100% able to be solved it can just be a little complicated because you can't just look at it and know what fuel type it is designed for. However, again, all indications are that it is a simple mismatched grill / fuel type issue.

 

[JeremyStimpson]

I bought the grill brand new as a NG grill. How do I know if it was NG or LP? It came with the NG hose, the NG instruction manual, etc? Is there a website to look up serial numbers? I’ve emailed Weber and have not heard back from them on this issue from earlier. The tough thing is I bought it last year thinking I would get it hooked up but I was being quoted $2000 to run my gasline (just the outside portion) and I felt that was unreasonable. Finally found a plumber that would do it for under $200. So my grill is a year old but has only been used once to make some really rare chicken

J

 

[THyde]

I bought the grill brand new as a NG grill. How do I know if it was NG or LP? It came with the NG hose, the NG instruction manual, etc? Is there a website to look up serial numbers? I’ve emailed Weber and have not heard back from them on this issue from earlier. The tough thing is I bought it last year thinking I would get it hooked up but I was being quoted $2000 to run my gasline (just the outside portion) and I felt that was unreasonable. Finally found a plumber that would do it for under $200. So my grill is a year old but has only been used once to make some really rare chicken

J

You'll probably hear back from Weber this coming week, but in the meantime you can go on the Weber website and register your grill. Once you input the serial number, you should be able to see whether it was a NG or LP model from the factory. I'm not sure where the Serial Number information is on your model grill, let the group know if you can find it. If you can (on the antique models like mine there is a sticker) take a picture of the sticker and post it up, you'll get the most help from us that way. But I'd start by registering it on Weber's site and seeing what you can find out.

You've got a couple increments to get past on this challenge, but again just stick with it and you'll be cooking with natural gas soon enough!

Edit: If you can, take pictures of the gas line from the manifold on the grill all the way until the unobstructed natural gas line, so that LMichaels can tell you whether there is a regulator on it. Should be intuitive, but I've never seen a NG regulator before so I wouldn't know what to look for.

 

[DanHoo]

How long is the run of 1/2 inch pipe? I would measure the gas pressure at the hookup.

Does your SE 335 have an in-line regulator ?

What gas pressure is listed in the the installation or assembly manual for your grill?

 

[JeremyStimpson]

I do not know the pressure at the hook up and don’t have a gas measuring device to check.
It is designed to run on 4.5” of water column pressure (4 burner grill).
Including the run in back (which was 16’ but I can reduce to 12’) the total run could be in the 80-90’ range from our meter…we have a finished basement so I can’t trace the actual gas line through the rafters from the meter. That seems like a long run for 1/2” but our kitchen is about 30 feet shorter than the total run and our high power stove doesn’t struggle with pressure.

I do not believe there is an inline regulator.

 

[JeremyStimpson]

Here are photos of the grill connections at the grill for LM Michels Per THyde. ALeo, as follow up, when I registered my grill it came up as a SE-335NG (also attached )
I

 

[DanHoo]

It is interesting. I am reading the owners guide for my 2016 E330 which is an NG unit.

The owners manual refers to using the included 1/2 inch supply hose ( vs 3/8 inch on 310 and 320 models) and the owners manual also mentions 7 inches of water column for gas pressure.

I asked about a regulator because the sticker inside my grill said "summit models include a regulator set for 4.5 inches of water column" I was wondering if this was something added in newer models.

@JeremyStimpson do you have the owners manual for the grill? Page 9 of my manual has the gas instructions. If that states 7 inches water column, then I suggest getting your gas plumber / installer to measure the pressure at the hookup line.

I've read you can measure these with a gauge, but I've also read that the accuracy of some of these is questionable. I can't comment as I've never measured NG pressure.

 

[THyde]

OK, so it's supposed to be a natural gas grill. It will be interesting to see what Weber Customer Service says, they very well may advise that it must be an issue with the natural gas supply.

Crazy idea, but inside the house where that NG line originates from, is it piped directly on the NG supply without any inside the house shutoff valves? My hookup has a shutoff inside the house, and then I have a local shutoff outside where I hook up as well. I like to shut it off outside when I'm not using it, and the inside shutoff is extra insurance. What I'm getting to is, I would go look at the line too, and probably shut off the gas and turn it back on at the shutoff you provided a picture of in your first post, then trace the line all the way inside, and all the way until I was convinced that there wasn't another shutoff valve somewhere along the line. I know you said that the line is in a finished basement, so this may not be possible. In that case, pending what Weber says, you may have to get a gas guy to come use a manometer to verify gas pressure at the grill hookup.

 

[DanHoo]

I believe this link is for the owners guide for that model

Interesting wording... I am curious if they consider the 335 a three burner ( plus sear ) or a four burner (including the sear)

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).

edit: I agree it will be interesting to see what Weber says for this specific model.

If the grill needs 7 inches of WC and is only getting 4.5 inches, then I could see that would be a legit reason why it is not working correctly.

 

[Ed P]

Measuring gas pressure at such low levels requires a manometer that measures in inches of water. You can make a simple and accurate manometer if you're handy, or you can just watch the video to see how a manometer works. It is a very simple device and not much can go wrong with it. Some people go for a mechanical pressure gauge but because of the way that mechanical pressure gauges work that overly complicates things IMO.

 

[Scott Smith]

I will differ with the others. We built our house in 2013. Lots of gremlins. I would trust a grill made assembly line style over the work of multiple tradespeople who couldn't hook up a grill to check their work. We have ng to the house, but propane only on the deck. When we connected to the gas main, we did upsize the pipe a bit to allow for future expansion. Could you connect the grill temporarily to your kitchen stove connection and verify correct operation there?

 

[Tony-Chicago]

Good ideas. But connecting to the kitchen might prove dangerous. Could prove there is an extra regulator though.

 

[LMichaels]

Sorry I was busy all day yesterday. So, first and foremost, you need to be certain you have proper pressure to the grill. Maybe that $200 piping job is to blame? At your grill you should have about 7" WC. If you're not comfortable working around gas DON'T DO IT!!!! I cannot stress this enough. I too was uncomfortable with it until a licensed fitter taught me a lot on how to work with it. Am I a pro? No. But I know enough to not blow my house up
So get someone to your house that KNOWS what they're doing. Explain the situation. They will use a manometer (or some other type gauge) to check pressure. Once you know you have sufficient pressure than you can troubleshoot the grill. It's very possible the person who did the plumbing was careless and did not clean things out. Possibly left metal shavings behind which got caught in the grill BTW.
Anyway, you need to start with supply and work your way to the grill.
The disparity between a $2000 and $200 plumbing job is pretty alarming.

 

[Mack Manning]

Edited to clarify:
These are troubleshooting steps, not suggestions to modify the grill.

Here are some tips from Weber. They say minimum 7in WC for all.

Why Won't My Natural Gas Grill Get Hot? | Burning Questions | Weber Grills

There’s a misconception that natural gas grills can’t reach the same temperatures as a propane model. Try these tips to help your natural gas grill get nice and hot.

www.weber.com

The quick disconnect male and female sides are matched pairs. If someone mixed and matched, it may lock but not open the self-sealing valve completely. Try eliminating those if you can.

It's a longshot, but perhaps your grill was assembled with propane orifices. They should be about 1.62 or 1.68mm (I've seen both in my grills). The side burner is easiest to check with a magnifying glass or zoomed photo. Mine is blackened, but you should be able to read a new one. Or, try to insert the blunt end of a 1/16in drill bit. The blunt end should just barely fit. It it's not even close, it's likely a propane office. Main burner orifice is about the same size and can be accessed by removing a burner tube.

If you're comfortable with basic plumbing, open each exposed joint and check for damage, excess pipe dope or tape, other obstructions and poor workmanship, working from home to grill.

 

[LMichaels]

Bottom line, start with the supply. Work your way to the grill. Once you have eliminated the supply call Weber and make it their problem. Even though it is not fresh out of the box it's still under warranty. If you start doing things to it trying to guess at the issue you could end up with more issues than you have now and Weber blaming you for them. This is why I fully recommend going from the supply TO the grill. The gas fittings and hose BTW are standard off the shelf products. If you want to you could simply try replacing them with ones picked up at say Home Depot, Lowes, what have you

 

[Mack Manning]

One more photo to clarify the Weber tip about the "bridge" of self sealing quick disconnect. The projection on the male end opens the self sealing valve. If it's bent, broken, or mismatched (too short) for the female end, it won't fully open.

 

[JSalley]

One crazy idea: while you are grilling, is someone inside making the side dishes on the stove?? Maybe the stove is using up all the available volume/pressure?? Have you tried it 100% for sure knowing that the stove was not being used?