Question for the outdoor grillemen/women (Small Grille with large Propane Tank)
I am getting a small, portable grille designed for use with the small propane tanks you can buy at Wal Mart, K-Mart and various other stores.
I want to use a full-size propane tank with it, however.
I've never done this, but I remember as a kid when we went camping, we had this setup with a couple Coleman Stoves and large, 20lb, Deck BBQ sized Propane tanks. I remember them talking about the use of a regulator valve to keep the big tank from busting the switch valve in the small gas grille/stove because of its design for the smaller/less pressurized propane tanks.
So, my question is: Is this just a Propane Regulator I can buy from Amazon, Home Depot, etc...?
Here are a few examples of what I found (but not sure if this is what I need):
I don't think you need a regulator, Ivan. The difference between the 5-gallon tanks and the little ones is a matter of volume, not pressure.
I have a manifold, or tree, for my propane stuff; it's basically a three-foot pipe with a fitting at the bottom for screwing into a 5-gal tank. It has fittings at one third and two thirds of the way up for hooking up hoses, and a fitting on the top. I screw my propane lantern onto the top of it, hook up my grill to one of the hoses, and my smoker to the other one. There are no regulators involved, beyond whatever's on each piece of equipment.
I also have a nifty little gadget for using the 5-gal tank to refill small tanks, and two small ones that are specifically designed to be refilled.
edit: Here's a link to an Amazon page that has several different types of the distribution trees:
Troy2000 you ever cook with a dutch oven dig a pit cook with wood?
Well, I have a bean hole in my yard. It used to be just a hole in the ground, until I lined it with a 24" steel pipe. Every now and then when I'm ambitious, I get a good layer of wood coals going, stick a dutch oven full of baked beans (or a chicken or whatever) in the coals, cover everything with a wet burlap bag, and bury it for eight or ten hours. Is that the sort of thing you're talking about?
Well, I have a bean hole in my yard. It used to be just a hole in the ground, until I lined it with a 24" steel pipe. Every now and then when I'm ambitious, I get a good layer of wood coals going, stick a dutch oven full of baked beans (or a chicken or whatever) in the coals, cover everything with a wet burlap bag, and bury it for eight or ten hours. Is that the sort of thing you're talking about?
when I lived in AZ I use to cook with mesquette,"Spelling?" southern cali you probably have access to the same?
I have honey locusts on my place, mym1a. Just trimming them or cutting one down now and then keeps me in more than enough firewood for that sort of thing; it makes good coals. Usually the only mesquite I have around is either bags of natural mesquite charcoal from Mexico, or bags of mesquite chunks I buy at the store.
What I really love to use is ironwood. Lasts like charcoal, and smells and tastes better than mesquite.
The reg you mentioned would be fine. You are going to have more pressure with a big bottle. I know one guy who uses Fruit Wood to BBQ with. Sweet taste he says.
I ended up ordering the long tube with the regulator from Amazon. I guess it will work, whether I need it or not. But, the way a small-grille is, I can't hook a 20-lb tank to it the way it is, so I would need a hose or extender of sorts anyway, so I can put the 20-pounder on the ground.
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Don't let their ignorance and hate intimidate.
A good regulator can't hurt, especially if your little grill has a cheap one. But I've hooked up big grills, little grills and medium ones to five gallon tanks with my tree for years, and never had a problem. I leave the existing regulators in place, and screw a hose to them.
i would go with the regulator . you see down here when you have a regulator hook into your live you get a natural gas flow witch is about 1lbs/2lbs and its perfect for cooking or a nice flame for a bbq pit . now without the reglator thats how we hook it to our boilers we run straight pipes so to speak . and you get this high pressrue jet afterburner type flame with about 25lbs of pressure comin out the valve. so for bbq pits you really need a regulator.lol or if not you'd probably lauch your chicken off the grill and into space.
Pressure regulators are designed to limit the amount of pressure for safety purposes. They also help maintain a steady flame so that once you set your flame height it remains constant untill pressure in the vessel drops below the pressure setting.
yep the only thing you don't want a regulator on is a crab/shrimp/crawfish boiling setup where you need the pressure but other than that i wouldn't use anything that dosen't have a regulator on it.
Ummm...I'm not recommending running anything without a regulator. My point is, I've never seen a propane appliance of any kind that didn't come with a regulator already on it or in it. I run every single propane appliance I own, from the smallest to the largest, on a five-gallon tank with no extra regulators involved. And I've done so for years.
Thanks all. I got the BBQ, and the regulator with the hose. The BBQ, I dunno if it is really cheap. It is a Perfect Flame brand tabletop grille. It was $80 at Lowe's.
We'll see how it works.
Again, thanks.
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Don't let their ignorance and hate intimidate.
if someone wants a regulator just let me know i have a few of them i scrap them gas grills and i cut them off. please don't buy any of them all you have to do is pay for the shipping and i can send you some.i get sometimes 2/3 a week.i don't know how much they sell for but i can hook you up. incaft i just threw away all that i had but one or two.
good lodr 34.00 dolars man return it and i can send you one for just the shipping it might cost you a total of 5.00. let me know so i can check it out and see what i got.
