First off, what a great site. Incredible resources here. Thanks for that!!
So I have a Kenmore grill that's about 6 years old. Sears told me that even though it's not officially listed as capable of being changed from LP to NG, that it would work. So I bought the kit. I replaced all the burners and the heat diffusers (mine were cracked and rusted out), and I switched out the orifices. What my grill seems to lack in regard to the Kenmore instructions is the ability to turn the valve stem counter clockwise twice. I tried this on the side burner and the brass valve stem broke. So I’m guessing that part can’t be done. And I think that is the root of my problem.
When I turn the grill on to light it I can tell that there is a HUGE amount of gas coming into the grill. It’s significantly louder than when it was on propane. And with the air shutters open 1/8th of an inch per Kenmore instructions they won’t even light. When I close the shutter all the way they do light up instantly, but the flame is bright yellow and about 2.5-3 inches in length. Not good. Even turned down to low they are still bright and still longer than 1 inch.
So I used the T-Valve coming from the house to lower the flow of gas thinking that would help. And it did. A bit. But while the grill heats up to 600 degrees, it’s behaving more like an oven than a grill. The grates just don’t heat up well. It took nearly 30 minutes cook a very small salmon filet that usually takes about 13 minutes.
I’m guessing that I’m just getting way to much gas coming into the grill. Some research suggests that a NG regulator may be necessary? Before I dump any more money into this old grill I'd like to know if that could work. I'm already into this thing for about $300 in the kit and the replacement burners and heat diffusers.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks
So I have a Kenmore grill that's about 6 years old. Sears told me that even though it's not officially listed as capable of being changed from LP to NG, that it would work. So I bought the kit. I replaced all the burners and the heat diffusers (mine were cracked and rusted out), and I switched out the orifices. What my grill seems to lack in regard to the Kenmore instructions is the ability to turn the valve stem counter clockwise twice. I tried this on the side burner and the brass valve stem broke. So I’m guessing that part can’t be done. And I think that is the root of my problem.
When I turn the grill on to light it I can tell that there is a HUGE amount of gas coming into the grill. It’s significantly louder than when it was on propane. And with the air shutters open 1/8th of an inch per Kenmore instructions they won’t even light. When I close the shutter all the way they do light up instantly, but the flame is bright yellow and about 2.5-3 inches in length. Not good. Even turned down to low they are still bright and still longer than 1 inch.
So I used the T-Valve coming from the house to lower the flow of gas thinking that would help. And it did. A bit. But while the grill heats up to 600 degrees, it’s behaving more like an oven than a grill. The grates just don’t heat up well. It took nearly 30 minutes cook a very small salmon filet that usually takes about 13 minutes.
I’m guessing that I’m just getting way to much gas coming into the grill. Some research suggests that a NG regulator may be necessary? Before I dump any more money into this old grill I'd like to know if that could work. I'm already into this thing for about $300 in the kit and the replacement burners and heat diffusers.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks