mike avery

Mostly I've been a lurker here. A few stray posts while gathering
knowledge from others. But today, I'm looking for specific information.

Some friends were moving and were selling everything they owned at their
garage sale. (Money is easier to move than stuff.) Among other things,
they had a Weber 1100 natural gas powered grill for $75.00. It seems to
be a decent grill that was made just for Home Depot. About 11 years
old, in good shape (no rust and clean inside and out) with all the
original manuals, books and a ton of newsletters from Weber.

Even though we don't have a natural gas hookup outside, I snapped it up.
In the past, I've converted other appliances from natural gas to lp or
vice versa.

A check with google showed a wide variety of answers on how to convert
it to LP. Some said, "No way jose!" others said, "put a regulator on
it and change out the orifices" and others said, "Just put a regulator
on it, the orifices are a bit large so it'll burn hotter - just turn it
down a bit, you'll be fine."

Has anyone changed a grill from natural gas to LP? Any advice?

Thanks,
Mike

edwin pawlowski

Never changed a grill, but I've done kitchen ranges. Natural gas usually
need a regulator for 4"WC while propane needs 11" WC. Ranges usually have a
changeable regulator but grill need a change. The orifices also need to be
changed. Weber should have the parts you need, as should many gas service
outfits.

My new gas range will be hooked up tomorrow, in fact. The store lost a
fitting on the gas train so it could not be attached to the regulator.
Pissed me off. This is what I got, but at a better price
http://www.us-appliance.com/x304ggvxbne.html
The black paint is applied at the Lamborghini factory.

kent

Weber has excellent service for this kind of query. I'm not aware that Weber
ever made a specific Home Depot product. Interesting!

dave bugg

That's a nice hunk-o-steel, Ed. How did you come to pick that brand? I
hadn't heard of them before.

--
Dave www.davebbq.com

What is best in life? "To crush your enemies, see them driven before
you, and to hear the lamentation of the women." -- Conan

nonnymus

Mike, assuming you're pretty adept at modifying things, I'd consider
getting a new regulator and modifying the orifices. The new
regulator/hose/connection would be needed for an LP tank anyway. The LP
orifice is smaller than the one for natural gas, since NG has less
energy per volume than LP. To be honest, I'd try just the regulator
first and open up any air intakes to their fullest. Work outside, don't
lean over the grill <grin> and give it a try for a while. IMHO, at
worst, you'll end up with some soot on the burners, pans etc. Then, if
you can't get enough air to burn all the LP, you might need to "small
up" the orifices. You might try locating new ones, but might also be
able to braze over the old ones and drill them out to the smaller size.
Use a drill bit shank first to see the diameter of the old, then
calculate its "surface area." Reduce that number by around 20%, go back
to calculate the new diameter and you have your new bit size.

Nonny

--
Nonny

Nonnymus
Never believe a person who is
Drunk, Horny or Running for Office.

edwin pawlowski

Our old range needed work after 21 years. My wife wished for, of course, a
Viking or Wolf, but they are out of the budget. There are plain ranges from
$500 and rather nice ones at $1500 with lots of gadgets.

We had some idea of what we wanted. This is going to be probably the last
range we will ever buy so let's do it right. We wanted a full top grate so
moving pans is simple, no controls on the back panel where you'd have to
reach over the hot pots to adjust the oven. minimal electronics that will
cost $1000+ to repair five years from now, good looks, and of course ability
to cook.

I went to a local appliance dealer to see what they had on the floor so I
could fondle one. Over on the side sat a Bertazonni and the style and solid
looks caught my eye. I too, never heard of them. At $2500 it was as close
to a Viking as I could find in terms of ruggedness, power, etc. I did a
little research and found they have been around for 125 years. There are a
few dealers in the area so service should not be a problem. Since it is a
mostly manual setup it should last for many years. Event he oven can be lit
when power is out.

mike avery

In article <_xHVj.2824$hJ1.1190@newsfe17.lga>, nobody@cox.net says...


I'm adept, but I am short on tools. Never owned a welding/brazing rig,
always used my employer's. Never had a real need to own one, except
when I had to fix a bicyle frame. I was using my employer's rig. The
repair wasn't pretty, but it held for about 4 years.... then I got a
better bike, but the braze was still good.

Got that part taken care of.


That's what I was worried about...


I don't see any adjustment space. I've owned commercial ovens and have
a vague idea of what to look for. Looked at the manuals, and all I saw
there was a "spider baffle" where I'd expect the adjustment to be.


I'm attached to my eyebrows and want to stay that way...


The flame is definitely yellow, not blue. Well, there's a lot of yellow
on a blue base in any case.

Drat... wish I had the brazing rig... and my drill press (lost it in the
last move).

Another person in the list suggested calling Weber, which I did. Nice
guy answered. Said I need to replace the manifold for $66 plus
shipping. This will include the regulator (I already bought a
regulator, of course). I guess I'll look for soot and then check with
neighbors on the welding/brazing rig option.

I've avoided gas grills for years, and am eating crow. Three tries,
three nice meals. Not as good as low'n'slow q, but still (sorry) good
eats.

Thanks to all for the advice,
Mike

nonnymus

I no longer have the room for a rig, so I used silphos and MAPP gas in a
torch. Check at a plumbing supply house for a low temp silver
solder-type medium and MAPP gas. Heck, if the brass of the venturi
isn't too brittle, why not use a pin punch and peen it closed, then redrill?

If the air inlet for the manifold has no adjustment, and if you still
have a flame producing carbon, how about drilling some 1/4" or 3/8"
holes in adjoining metal to let in more air? The downside to this
experimentation, outside of the danger aspect, would be that you have to
invest the $60 or so in a new manifold.

--
Nonny

Nonnymus
Never believe a person who is
Drunk, Horny or Running for Office.

kent

It sure does look great. How did you decide about its capacity to brown,
simmer and bake? I look at these high buck ranges, cooktops and ovens and
worry that it won't bake a pizza as well as our old GE Americana. I think
minimizing the electronics is exactly what one should do.

Kent

edwin pawlowski

I took a chance. The range is very new (only a few days) so I can't give a
very accurate review yet, but so far it is excellent. The front left burner
is both the most powerful and the one with the lowest possible flame. It
has a dual control burner of an inner 3000 Btu and outer 12,000 Btu ring.
We made pasta tonight and after the water boiled, I dumped in the pasta and
it came back to a boil much faster than the old range.

Tomorrow my wife is going to bake in it for the first time. We've not tried
the broiler yet. This weekend I'm going to slow roast a pork picnic. The
oven gets hot fast but I've not done pizza yet either, but I don't
anticipate a problem.