going from propane to natural gas

[rufus]

I have a propane gosm and want to convert it to natural gas.I have the nat gas hose and hardware.I also know I need to drill out the ports on the burner.Has anybody done this and know what size drill bit to use and any other help,

thanks

 

[mossymo]

rufus
I am not an expert on this so it would be best to wait till you hear from one before playing with gas and flame. With that said, I have always been under the impression that switching propane to natural gas was generally just an orifice change in the burner, nothing to drill?
I switched and natural gas stove to propane, but the burners and pilot light all had adjustment screws on them which made it easy.

 

[graybeard]

Rufus, best thing to do is to contact your local gas company and tell them what ya got and they will tell you the correct size bit to buy. The whole process is fairly simple and only takes a few minutes. You do not use a regulator.

beard

 

[rufus]

thanks Graybeard,so is it the main orifice I drill or the many holes that the flames come out

 

[graybeard]

Rufus, I'm glad you asked! Just drill out each orifice. (one for the main and one for the side burner). If you have an average grill, say 36000 btu's a number 43 drill should be good. (.089). If you want to try a .078 go ahead and if you find that it is not enought heat go to the .089. Orifices are usually brass and are very easy to drill. You'll love the money you save on NG and you will never have to swap another tank.......ever!

beard

 

[rufus]

graybeard thanks,I have a natural gas weber grill genesis and love the no bottle deal.What I'm doing the mod on is my propane gosm smoker so I guess the same thing as if it was a grill.Thanks for bit size,what I might do is start a couple sizes smaller then test and work my way up till I get proper result as the smoker might not need as much flow as a grill.You are right about bottles if this works Im giving my 3 away

 

[rufus]

graybeard just noticed that you have a gosm lp have you thought about changing

 

[graybeard]

Yes, I will convert mine as soon as I use up all my LP tanks.

 

[rufus]

well thank you for the advice and hope we both can say goodbye to the tanks soon I'm going to start drilling this evening will let you know how it turns out.

 

[rufus]

hey graybeard took me 20 minutes,I have more flame control than I did with LP.Went a size down at least from 43{can't, read the index} Im at almost 7,000 ft elevation and thought that might affect what size to go with. But it works perfect.If you are ever crossing Wyoming on I-80 stop in I owe you a beer and a Q

 

[salsashark]

Rufus/Graybeard,

Thank you for this thread, it is exactly why I logged on this morning. I was planning on ordering a GOSM this week and was just getting ready to start searching through threads to find out about NG conversions.

 

[rufus]

ive smoked several times since I switched to ng and it works great