BeerBorg

the house I will be moving into soon has an outdoor gas line going to the patio for grill hookup. It has a flow shut off valve, and at the end it has a brass block like end...kind of like a cap. This isn't a quick connect fitting apparently. I don't want to go propane and think if I could get this set up it would be great. If I got a blichmann burner with the conversion port to run on gas, what would it take to get started? who would I hire to set everything up ie quick connects?

I know theres a loss in btu's but it still beats cooking beer indoors with no vent hood on an electric stove. propane tanks run out at the darnedest times and quite frankly scare the snot out me. induction plates are fine for very small batches but probably not for large. I could then run my chiller from the garden hose out back too.

any clue on cost to connect , gas use for 5 gallon batches ?

thanks

Take a pic of the fitting and take it to Home Depot or Lowes along with the burner's fitting. They should fix you right up, easy to do.

If you're not the DIY type, I'd suggest calling a plumber. They work with gas lines all the time, since they need to be familiar with gas-fed water heaters and furnaces. My house has baseboard heat, so I've got hot water heating pipes running throughout the house. I've also kept my plumber in the black for the past 14 years.....

While I wouldn't recommend, or do myself, a hookup to the main gas line, you're attaching fittings to an already in-place grill connection. It's very simple.

The beauty of this setup is that it's done properly, i.e. it has a shutoff valve and is already setup for the grill. Make sure that the shutoff valve is off, i.e. turned sideways on the line. If, at the end of it, there is a plastic cap that screws on or sits on it, remove that, then take a picture. If it's a screw on plastic cap, keep it removed and cover the fitting with a plastic bag and duct tape. Take the cap to Home Depot / Lowe's as it will show them the thread size you have. If it's not threaded, you could take it anyway.

Home Depot / Lowe's plumbing guys will be able to get you all the proper fittings, you simply use teflon tape on the threaded connections, tighten with two adjustable wrenches, and put all the proper pieces in place which will include a shutoff AT THE POINT OF CONNECTION, i.e. right where the fitting is today. You will then use a soapy sponge to test for leaks by turning that valve OFF and the valve further back ON. No bubbles, you're good. Then you'll add the quick release fittings and do the same test again (shut off the main valve, then open the new valve, vent the line and then close the valve). Once everything is hooked up, the inside valve will be kept OPEN and the outside valve will be kept closed. Then simply plug in the quick release hose end, hook it up to the burner, and then open the valve and you're good to go.

If the guys at Home Depot / Lowe's are unsure of size, buy every possible combination and return the ones you don't use. Also, dry fit the entire assembly at the store, then bring it home and attach piece by piece, using silicone tape on each threaded connection.

I'm sure that if you want to you can find videos online to do this also.

The understanding I have between natural gas and propane burners has something to do with the size of an orifice burner feed.

Dawg LB Steve wrote:The understanding I have between natural gas and propane burners has something to do with the size of an orifice burner feed.

See this post for an explanation of why natural gas "burns cooler" than propane - Natural gas takes 2.5 the volume of propane to produce the same heat.