By Bob Difley
If you’re tired of having to buy those expensive propane canisters to operate your gas barbecue, and running out half-way through the campground potluck, then this adaption is just for you.
A gas connect kit, which comes with the fittings to connect to your rig’s propane tank, can fuel your barbecue right from your larger tank.
The cost of propane used will be cheaper than the canisters, and with the Quick Connect fitting it can be hooked up in seconds. You can leave it connected while you are camped and only need to pack it away when you move on.
Since I barbecue right next to my rig I installed two book shelf brackets above my propane tank so when I cook, I slip the extensions into the brackets and place a shelf on top. Voila! A place for holding utensils, tools, condiments, barbecue sauce, etc., right at hand.
Kits can be found at Amazon.com, RV supply stores and propane outlets.
You can find Bob Difley’s e-books on Amazon Kindle.
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I tried to do this after my first couple of camping trips. After all, I’m hauling 40 pounds of propane, so why do I need to buy a bunch of 1 pound cans? I had the same problem as everyone else, with my grille not being able to get hot enough. When I was an active Scoutmaster in Boy Scouting we used 20 pound tanks with a ‘tree’ to provide fuel for our grilles, so why wouldn’t it work on my RV? After reading a LOT of posts, and getting no answer that worked I started tracing the propane from my grille back to the 20 pound tank. It went like this: Grille, grille regulator, hose, RV propane port, propane pipe, RV propane regulator, hose, propane tank. Did you notice the problem? I did. 2 (TWO) regulators. The propane coming off my RV propane port is a regulated flow. Then that goes into the regulator of the grille. In the Scouting example, it goes from the tank, to the tree, to the hose, to the regulator on the grille. So, what I did was add a ‘Y’ adapter to one of my 20 pound propane tanks (with a fuel gauge). One side of the Y goes to my RV regulator. The other side of the Y is to bypass the RV regulator, and then I got a long hose to connect to the regulator on the grille. Viola! It works perfectly now! Here is a link to the Y adapter on Amazon. https://amzn.to/2NZZ9z0
Here is the long hose I got from Amazon to go from the unregulated ‘Y’ to the regulator on the grille. https://amzn.to/37t39jB
My Toy Hauler came with a dedicated propane line for a propane grill (screw wikipedia, they are not right about much of anything). The one that came with the rig never got hot enough to more than warm a hot dog. I tried my Weber, still wouldn’t get hot enough to grill. I had a RV mech work on the system to use with the Weber. A hundred bucks later, still, not enough heat to grill meat. I gave up and use the disposable bottles. (I tried refilling them, but life is to short to save a few pennies.)
s/f Steve
Sounds like you were running through two regulators, or sucking more gas to the grill than your trailer regulator could give you. I have a high-BTU home grill that constantly pops the OPD on 20lb tanks because it GULPS gas so fast the OPD thinks it’s an open line.
Refilling 1# tanks saves $3.50 per tank by me, and it’s technically legal to do so (for yourself, for free, on site). That said, you can’t resell them and it is DOT illegal to transport refilled tanks (no idea how anyone could tell that?), and refilling from bad gas can rust out the little tanks. Idiots may manage to overfill the tanks, or fail to leak-check them after each use. As usual, the problem is the people, not the hardware.
Disposable tanks are a serious environmental menace… 60 million tanks are used each year, and “most” are believed to end up in landfills and floating in waterways. Please recycle them correctly!
Had the same problem with my Weber. Bought a kit and removed the regulator from barbecue. [MH tank had one] Had to slightly ream out jet on orfice on grill and works fine now.
One caveat- be careful where the connection is made in relation to the pressure regulator on the tanks. Most BBQs have their own pressure regulator, so the gas connect kit should be installed prior to the PR for the RV. Running thru 2 pressure regulators can lead to issues.
BBQ is meat, the result of grilling or smoking meat. BBQ is NOT a device to prepare the meat. BBQ is also not a verb.
Hi, Barry. Here’s Wikipedia’s definition of BBQ: “Barbecue or barbeque (informally BBQ or the Australian term barbie) is a cooking method, a style of food, and a name for a meal or gathering at which this style of food is cooked and served. Barbecue can refer to the cooking method itself, the meat cooked this way, the cooking apparatus/machine used (the “barbecue grill” or simply “barbecue”), or to a type of social event featuring this type of cooking.” So, as I read it, “BBQ” can refer to a device to prepare the meet, and it can be used as a verb. Just sayin’. 😀 —Diane at RVtravel.com
Ah yes, the grammar police. Of course the word “police” can be used as a noun, a verb or an adjective. Thanks to my 8th grade english teacher, Sister Mary Charles.