Ripped Off


 
R

Rod Clatter

New member
I recently acquired a Genesis 3 propane model from around 2011 to 2016. I wanted to covert it to NG. I bought all the recommended parts from the non-weber on-line store which consisted of new burner tubes, a new manifold, and a gas line. After taking it all apart, the only thing that looked different were the three tiny threaded brass bolts with the small holes which are the orifices. The burner tubes are exactly the same and so is the manifold except the size of the hole in the orifice bolt. All one needs to do to convert is those three little orifice bolts and a hose. I should have known because the only spare parts that came with my kitchen gas cooktop were 6 tiny brass orifice bolts in case I was using propane. Argh!
 
Welcome!

Yes, that sounds like it worked, but I'm not sure about those particular grills, I have a really old Genesis. But sometimes you have to change only orifices like you describe, and other times you have to replace the valves in the manifold. Since you said you got a new manifold, you probably have the correct gas flow for NG with that, but converting from one gas to another is not always just orifices. I'd encourage you to try your new NG setup and look at what kind of temperatures you are getting. Should be a good range of hot and low, if it's really hot or really low then the conversion was not completed.
 
THyde said:
Welcome!

Yes, that sounds like it worked, but I'm not sure about those particular grills, I have a really old Genesis. But sometimes you have to change only orifices like you describe, and other times you have to replace the valves in the manifold. Since you said you got a new manifold, you probably have the correct gas flow for NG with that, but converting from one gas to another is not always just orifices. I'd encourage you to try your new NG setup and look at what kind of temperatures you are getting. Should be a good range of hot and low, if it's really hot or really low then the conversion was not completed.
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It sounds like you did not do too bad. If your burner tubes are in good shape you did not need the new ones as propane and NG use the same tubes. The manifold and gas line you did need. the copper bolt things are orifices and you need those with the valves that are on the manifold. I don't know how much you paid but the only thing "extra" were the burners and you can keep those for down the road.
 
If it works the way it's supposed to I wouldn't feel too bad. There have been many horror stories on this site of only changing orifices and then not having the new set up function properly. You didn't need the burner tubes but now you have an extra set for down the road as Joe mentioned.
 
Hi Rod,

Welcome.

On the outside the valves may look the same, but internally the valves may be different. Unless you take them apart and compare its hard to say.
 
Welcome to the forum and all the responses above are good information on your situation. It is always best to swap out entire manifolds when converting NG to LP and vice versa. You might have gotten by with a simple orifice swap, but man times, you are just wasting time. Weber used different style valves on their grills and they didn't even settle on one style for a particular model. I don't know how much you paid for the conversion kit, but it is almost always cheaper to find a donor grill to strip the manifold from. Sometimes there are folks on this forum that are looking to convert the opposite of you and will do a straight up trade.

Good luck and enjoy your grill.
 
Well, life is a learning experience, what the (far more experienced, talented) folks have said is sage advice. Just keep the spare parts properly labeled for another time or for someone going the other way. Don’t feel too stressed by it. You’ve got spare burners and the stuff does not ”go bad” with time.
enjoy the ride and welcome.
 
Bottom line is you did not get "ripped" off. You may have fallen victim to Weber's crazy production practices but not ripped off. Weber uses 2 different styles of valves in production. One type (style) you can swap gasses to your heart's content by simply swapping (little copper bolt things) (orifices). The other type if you only swap orifices you will have a grill on which you cannot effectively control the heat (no variation from low to high). Or in the case of going from LP to NG insufficient flow to maintain flame on low and a VERY dangerous grill due to raw gas leaking through in the presence of flame.
In your case you MAY have gotten lucky. But, it's obvious you don't understand gas (LP and NG) or their characteristics or the dangers of not knowing those things. Bottom line it seems the people who sold you the items did so in good faith due to how Weber specs the parts themselves. So please don't spread opinions on someone who may have actually operated in good faith. That company did right by you.
 
LMichaels said:
Bottom line is you did not get "ripped" off. You may have fallen victim to Weber's crazy production practices but not ripped off. Weber uses 2 different styles of valves in production. One type (style) you can swap gasses to your heart's content by simply swapping (little copper bolt things) (orifices). The other type if you only swap orifices you will have a grill on which you cannot effectively control the heat (no variation from low to high). Or in the case of going from LP to NG insufficient flow to maintain flame on low and a VERY dangerous grill due to raw gas leaking through in the presence of flame.
In your case you MAY have gotten lucky. But, it's obvious you don't understand gas (LP and NG) or their characteristics or the dangers of not knowing those things. Bottom line it seems the people who sold you the items did so in good faith due to how Weber specs the parts themselves. So please don't spread opinions on someone who may have actually operated in good faith. That company did right by you.
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Larry, I can feel your blood pressure from here. Take a chill, Rod is new here. He did not even mention company name, or price, and the company if being reputable should have known that he had no need of new burners to do a gas swap.
 
BP is fine Joe. Odds are the company acted in perfectly good faith. Weber themselves specs different part numbers for the burners on that grill (why? I don't know but, perhaps to simply add to the confusion on purpose), They also spec different manifold and again as most all of us know for very good reason. As well as a different gas line for obvious reasons.
I think I conveyed information well :D Yeah I come across as a little "stern", but for good reason. Gas is not something you learn about on YouTube
 
I learned about gas a loooong time ago as a kid while road tripping in the family car with my dad. I think I have a thurough understanding of it and the implications. I didn't need no stinkin' YouTube.
 
I'm just glad he put the new manifold on, even if he felt like he got "ripped off" by ending up with an extra set of burner tubes. That's actually not ripped off at all, it's great to have two sets of burners. And unwittingly the gas conversion was actually done properly as far as the information given leads us to believe. Good work!

One day, perhaps this weekend, I'll swap out my burner tubes that are in the grill with the extra set I have. In fact, it is really nice out so perhaps that will happen really soon.
 
Bruce I like to swap them out so I can clean one set and use the other. I've rehabbed several grills and thus have ended up with extra parts. What with the 2000's slowly disappearing parts, I'm happy to have two sets so I can use one and clean the other. Don't worry, it only happens like once a year or so. I'm not even sure if the spare tubes are clean or not, I'll have to check!
 
OH, I get that. I thought you just had a new set laying around and were itching to replace the old ones.

Yah, the old 1000-5000 parts were discontinued by Weber long ago and then the aftermarket sources stepped in to fill the void. But with the number of those older grills dwindling fast, the demand is starting to dry up to the point that it is no longer profitable to produce and sell the parts for them any longer. It won't be long before we see the same for the Gold/Silver B/C grills.
 
I have several sets of each. All used. I guess I should take some time to clean up a bunch of sets. I need some new Cross Over tubes though or they don't do much good.
 
DanHoo said:
@Rod Clatter I hope we didn't scare you off.
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He's probably jubilantly grilling breakfast, lunch and dinner! At least I hope so. I hope we didn't scare him off either, I was just trying to say that I think it was one of those rare cases where you thought you got ripped off but actually got hooked up. I hope he didn't spend too much money for the conversion kit, maybe that's why he felt like he got ripped off. Anyhow, if it were me, I'd be happy that I did the conversion correctly. @Rod Clatter there are plenty of threads about this same goal going wrong, wronger and wrongest. Trust me, you had it easy!
 
Yeah, I recall being "scolded" in one of my early posts when I asked about low temps being a bit high on my NG to LP conversion for my E330 after swapping orifices and a regulator in.

I did orifices only because (at the time) I could not find a manifold from anywhere reputable. There was a used on on eBay for $200, which was too much. I've been looking for a cheap or free E330-LP to swap parts and I almost had one last weekend for free but was not fast enough.

I'm fairly certain the valves are different and one of these day's I'll compare a main valve on mine to an original LP valve.
 
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