NG to propane conversion - found grill


 
M

Mike Tee

TVWBB Fan
So after never seeing a grill on the street before, I’ve just gotten two!

questions -

one is a 1200 that was originally NG. It has the propane scale and propane regulator. Guy who tossed it was there and said it worked fine. Any way to feel safe passing this on? Also the firebox is not firmly attached to the frame. It lifted out slightly on one side when I lifted into car. Again - is this cause for alarm? I’ve never noticed this on another grill.

The other - I could only take the lid - but it’s blue!! it had a broken circular built in light handle - assume I just drill new holes in wood handle? Any other way to handle this? The bolt is rusty and not that good looking.
 
Mike Tee said:
one is a 1200 that was originally NG. It has the propane scale and propane regulator
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This statement is quite confusing. If it was ORIGINALLY NG why would it have an LP scale and regulator? Seems it's a hill billy hookup if you ask me. Some grills were legitimately converted by dealers properly. Like the Summit Jon got from me. With a full manifold swap. Some people (usually candidates for the Darwin Award) simply slap a hose from whatever they want to use on a grill. There are SOME grill companies that legitimately sell conversion "kits" Weber is not one of them. After about 2000 or so they refused to condone any conversions. Or sell the parts for it. It does NOT mean a conversion cannot be done....................PROPERLY. I do them all the time. PROPERLY being the operative here which = SAFELY
 
Mike Tee said:
So after never seeing a grill on the street before, I’ve just gotten two!

questions -

one is a 1200 that was originally NG. It has the propane scale and propane regulator. Guy who tossed it was there and said it worked fine. Any way to feel safe passing this on? Also the firebox is not firmly attached to the frame. It lifted out slightly on one side when I lifted into car. Again - is this cause for alarm? I’ve never noticed this on another grill.
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All the older Genesis grills were only attached on the right side to the cross member. The left side will lift up a bit, but should not come up too far as the burners will hold it down.
As Larry said, you need to be careful if someone did a hack job in converting that grill from NG to LP. You could hook it up and try it, but if the flames are real high, you know it was a hack job and you will need to be converted the right way, preferably with a real LP manifold.
Mike Tee said:
The other - I could only take the lid - but it’s blue!! it had a broken circular built in light handle - assume I just drill new holes in wood handle? Any other way to handle this? The bolt is rusty and not that good looking.
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Too bad that handle light is broken. Those are nice lights if converted to LEDs. You can swap in a regular wood or durawood handle no problem. If the bolt is rusty, just grind it off or better yet, if you can get a wrench on it, twist it off.
The blue lids are my favorite.
 
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Photos attached. I drilled new holes in plastic handle to test it out. I think the bolts are the same as from regular handle so if so will grab cleaner bolts and use those.

photo of undercarriage attached. I’ll hook it up and see what happens. The serial number is NG, but it looks like all else is propane. I’ve noticed both the side of lid and firebox got a ****ty flaky paint job so I may just strip it for parts and move on.
 
Well sadly the s/n is not married to the grill. It's a sticker on the control panel. That grill is so old who knows how many things may have been changed on it. No one except a total fanatic would bother to find a tank hanger and scale, and all the other necessary things to make it totally an LP from a NG. My guess is someone simply changed the control panel from another grill
 
Does the grill have the fuel level sticker on the right front leg? That would be one thing that a person might not have bothered to swap over if they did a conversion.

Otherwise, you can remove the manifold and check the orifices. If you can fit the shank of a 3/64" drill bit in the hole, then it is NG. Of course, someone could have swapped out orifices, but it is just another piece of the puzzle to figure out exactly what you have there.
 
Bruce said:
Does the grill have the fuel level sticker on the right front leg? That would be one thing that a person might not have bothered to swap over if they did a conversion.

Otherwise, you can remove the manifold and check the orifices. If you can fit the shank of a 3/64" drill bit in the hole, then it is NG. Of course, someone could have swapped out orifices, but it is just another piece of the puzzle to figure out exactly what you have there.
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No sticker! I will try the drill bit check and see if the manifold is LPG or NG.
 
Sounds good mike. It does sound like maybe the grill was converted.
Just keep in mind that if you check the orifices with the drill, it will only tell you if the orifice is LP or NG. They could have possibly just swapped in LP orifices into a NG manifold which will work on some grills, but not all. It depends on the valves used and I don't know much more than that.
But, if the orifice is too small for the drill bit, you will know you have LP orifices. In that case, there is really no harm in hooking it up and trying it out. But if you don't get correct flame size at lower temps, it is probably due to just swapping in orifices onto a NG manifold.
 
Bruce said:
All the older Genesis grills were only attached on the right side to the cross member. The left side will lift up a bit, but should not come up too far as the burners will hold it down.
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Well, all of mine were attached on the left side... You must be looking at it from behind?:)

Gerry
 
The orifices are slightly smaller than 1/16. Flame control seems good. Burners are prob original but also pretty good.
 
That is perfect. You're good to go. If the PO had a NG line on it I cannot believe he thought it worked fine
 
Yah, if that was a NG manifold, it would be throwing out serious flames.
Keep us posted.
 
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