Scored a Summit S420 for $200, need help with natural gas connection…


 
John Lipari

John Lipari

New member
Hey guys,

Was able to score a Summit S420 in great condition for $200 from a couple doing a home renovation. It had been a part of an outside kitchen custom install so it’s missing the left wing, but I’m not worried about that.

My natural gas connection coming out of the ground is a quick connect 3/8inch line and I use both my Blackstone and old Weber with those connections as well. The problem is that the Summit has a 1/2inch line installed.

What’s everyone’s opinion on the best way to handle the conversion? I can’t find a quick connect 1/2 to 3/8 adapter and if I did, would I need a new regulator on the grill?

Looking for any and all advice. Thanks!
 

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The summit needs the larger diameter flow to get to proper cook temps. It won’t work well on 3/8th flow. I’d recco you rethink your plan and either build a tee to have both 1/2 and 3/8 fittings, speed connect, concurrently.

And your main line supply should be 3/4 or 1 inch. Your stub and line don’t appear to be to code. But I’m not a plumber and cannot comment with advice further.
 
Brett-EDH said:
The summit needs the larger diameter flow to get to proper cook temps. It won’t work well on 3/8th flow. I’d recco you rethink your plan and either build a tee to have both 1/2 and 3/8 fittings, speed connect, concurrently.

And your main line supply should be 3/4 or 1 inch. Your stub and line don’t appear to be to code. But I’m not a plumber and cannot comment with advice further.
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Thank you Brett, so you recommend contacting a plumber? This may be a dumb question, but is that who would handle gas line installation?
 
John Lipari said:
Thank you Brett, so you recommend contacting a plumber? This may be a dumb question, but is that who would handle gas line installation?
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There are no dumb questions. They’re all valid and safety is key.

A plumber would be the correct trade for this job. Do you know the diameter of your line coming up from the ground?
 
Brett-EDH said:
There are no dumb questions. They’re all valid and safety is key.

A plumber would be the correct trade for this job. Do you know the diameter of your line coming up from the ground?
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I’m not sure, but to your point, I’ve always thought the connection looked sketchy. I will get a plumber out here asap.

Once that’s handled, I’ve got to figure out the best way to clean the stainless steel exterior of the grill.
 
Unfortunately, installing a larger gas line won't be as cheap as a couple of quick connect adapters. This will eat into the money you saved on the grill. However, in the end, you'll have a better gas line and a better grill.
 
Scott Smith said:
Unfortunately, installing a larger gas line won't be as cheap as a couple of quick connect adapters. This will eat into the money you saved on the grill. However, in the end, you'll have a better gas line and a better grill.
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and an improvement to the home should he ever sell it. plumbed NG stub, to code, is a huge resale value. one can run a NG fireplace, grill, wok or any other backyard do-dad. i bought my current home because it was plumbed with a NG stub to the backyard. haven't had to hump a tank in 22 years and don't miss doing so one bit.

he can save some money if he trenches the main line himself. that could be $500 in labor, depending on market. just ask you plumber what the req's are for a trench and sand base, if any local codes pertain. or just pay the price the plumber quotes for the stub, plumbed and installed.

i did my own trenching before we pour our patio. that saved me over $1,000 in labor. and with a SDS hammer drill, the work was pretty easy. and i got a tool at the end of it too which wound up being a great investment for other work/digging.
 
My experience was building our current house right after natural gas was piped to the neighborhood, so we had to engineer everything from scratch. There are formulas to estimate how large of a line you need, but my advice is to ignore the formulas and spend the very few extra dollars for larger pipe and upsize everything to handle future expansion to a jacuzzi, pool heater, bigger furnace, whatever. Upsizing an existing gas line can be an expensive pain in the a$$.
 
BTW that gas connection does not look "sketchy" that's how they were done years ago. It looks like you have 3/8" copper to it. This was very common and in some places still is. And honestly will carry a whole lot more gas than you think it will. I'll lay odds it'll handle your Summit just fine. Will it handle multiples? Likely not. But you would be surprised how much a 3/8" copper line will flow. Me? I would simply install the larger fitting and give it a whirl. It won't hurt anything. IIRC I could swear I saw a chart that gave the flow characteristic of copper vs black iron and I seem to recall the chart showing 3/8" copper being equivalent to 1/2" iron. When I chimed in the first time I had not realized you included a photo of the hookup. I guess I was still a little "punchy" from everything I had to do yesterday :D
 
LMichaels said:
BTW that gas connection does not look "sketchy" that's how they were done years ago. It looks like you have 3/8" copper to it. This was very common and in some places still is. And honestly will carry a whole lot more gas than you think it will. I'll lay odds it'll handle your Summit just fine. Will it handle multiples? Likely not. But you would be surprised how much a 3/8" copper line will flow. Me? I would simply install the larger fitting and give it a whirl. It won't hurt anything. IIRC I could swear I saw a chart that gave the flow characteristic of copper vs black iron and I seem to recall the chart showing 3/8" copper being equivalent to 1/2" iron. When I chimed in the first time I had not realized you included a photo of the hookup. I guess I was still a little "punchy" from everything I had to do yesterday :D
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This is a fair point. Trying the old pipe wouldn't hurt anything. Get the adapters from Amazon or whatever. I would put all the adapters on the grill side because the house side already works as-is with your other stuff and that would give you the flexibility to change grills out easily if you ever wanted to.

I don't know for sure, but I would expect that if you see any problems, they would only show up with everything wide open. You might be able to live with that because most cooking is not at all burners full power.
 
Put me in the book of go for it.
Get a 3/8 x 3/8 x 1/2 brass tee, put it on the 3/8 nipple, then put on your 3/8 QD and 1/2 QD adapters. Running one at a time I highly doubt you wouldn’t get the gas you need. Pipe size is only one part of the equation, it all depends on the pressure you’re getting. That’s tougher to measure but I think you would be in great shape.
Get the yellow gas Teflon tape and some pipe dope. You can do this, your valve is close, fill spray bottle with water and a little dawn soap and check for leaks. I’d be more than happy to walk you through it.
 
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i deleted this video link to avoid confusion. the rest of the below info is germane to the topic.

my SIL and BIL have a 3/8" line like yours in NJ and it doesn't deliver enough pressure to run their grill correctly. The grill, on full blast cannot get above 350F. No so good when you have a $3k grill and cannot cook chicken in time to eat it today.

we can sit here and DX this till the moon rises 100 times, or more. reality is, know the numbers and size the line correctly. the majority of this cost is labor and the license. the materials are inexpensive but that doesn't mean do this job unless you're fully skilled at working black pipe, hanging it and mounting it to code.
 
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I would replace the 1/2" on the summit with a 3/8 from one of your other grills and test it out before spending a lot of money on upgrading it.
 
That video is kinda weird. But, it's meant more for pressure testing to look for leaks. We'll assume since the OP's house has not launched into space it's likely not leaking. So the worst case thing would be the grill will not run up to full temp. I've seen entire homes plumbed in 3/8" copper in Minnesota
 
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