Gas BBQ conversion to natural gas

[Oldfart]

 Read the Rules first     AGA 601   …..   might pay to get a gas fitter to do your conversion as it will require a Gas system compliance plate after it has been converted.

The regulator needs to swapped and balanced also

[Hoony]

Let us know when you are going to fire it up Hoony,,, I will climb up and sit on my roof n watch 



Well what do you know, I have you to thank Hoony for learning how to post pics again,,,
now to remember it

Kaboomski...Ha nice.....i like it.

[pokey]

Gas threads got changed a few years back and besides the previous different LPG threads there is a new one that is in fact a very old one and i think its whitworth.

As with anything they probably did this to stop the unlicenced from blowing themselves up. Its still possible to find adaptors that will go from the new to what you have but its a royal PITA. Give a gas fitter a bell and save your headache or buy a dedicated Natural gas  unit.

[Hoony]

well done Pokey, i was wondering why my jets in the kit did not match the threads in my BBQ differnet pitch and indeed looked imperial.

i have done my research and conversed with a gas combustion engineer and can now make an informed decision for orifice sizing.

as Momus said i need a #54 drill to ream out my original jets. i guessing he (Momus) has this knowledge as well

[TT5 Matt]

Hoony
if you have access to a set of number drills try going up in stages and solder/redrill the 1st jet if you go too big

[frostype400]

The thing with bbq’s galore is they aren’t licensed converters so they don’t know what they are really doing they just chuck the reg on and a universal injector which drill 54 is close for a cast bar burner.

As Hoony said lpg has a higher heating value so when you convert you size on mj/hr so lpg and Nat using the same mj doesn’t necessarily equal the same heat you can go incrementally bigger bit go to big and it’ll burn floaty and even though there is more gas there won’t be enough air able to flow through the burner so it won’t get hotter after a point.

Also a lot of gas taps do or don’t have turn down adjustments this is the low setting so if you convert an lpg bbq to natural and when you turn it back to low it is to low and goes out this is the turn down sometimes there is a screw on the gas tap to adjust this some times it’s pull apart the taps and size the turn down hole that can be a pain.

But you won’t blow your self up with natural gas it’s heaps safer than lpg but there’s is differences like heat value products emitted from burnt natural gas is a lot more than burnt Lpg lpg is heavier than air natural gas floats away.

[Hoony]

The thing with bbq’s galore is they aren’t licensed converters so they don’t know what they are really doing they just chuck the reg on and a universal injector which drill 54 is close for a cast bar burner.

As Hoony said lpg has a higher heating value so when you convert you size on mj/hr so lpg and Nat using the same mj doesn’t necessarily equal the same heat you can go incrementally bigger bit go to big and it’ll burn floaty and even though there is more gas there won’t be enough air able to flow through the burner so it won’t get hotter after a point.

Also a lot of gas taps do or don’t have turn down adjustments this is the low setting so if you convert an lpg bbq to natural and when you turn it back to low it is to low and goes out this is the turn down sometimes there is a screw on the gas tap to adjust this some times it’s pull apart the taps and size the turn down hole that can be a pain.

But you won’t blow your self up with natural gas it’s heaps safer than lpg but there’s is differences like heat value products emitted from burnt natural gas is a lot more than burnt Lpg lpg is heavier than air natural gas floats away.

good info frosty its due to a test run tomorrow, thanks for the info on the low fire turn down. also good Info TT5 Matt re solder if too large.

[GMC]

Seems everyone agrees that you need a bigger orifice Hoony

If it burns a clean blue flame then you know you've got the gas:air ratio correct.

If it blows up then you know you got it wrong
From the same club as 'tighten it till it strips and back it off a turn'

Could be bigger than Boston

[Hoony]

if it blows up Mrs Hoony will sort my sizing of Orifice Geoff.