Drilling the gas orifice from propane to natural gas
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- Опубліковано 13 вер 2024
- Before I wasted money and bought the natural gas orifice from williams brewing, I wasn't sure what part I was supposed to drill. I made this video to help you guys out if you were in the same boat as me. Works like a champ, great blue flame on 3 burners at the same time.
Life is simple. 😂. Love the camera work! 😳🤪😂🥳🤓
Hello Blake
Thanks for the informative video. Definitely makes DIYers more easy with the video and instruction. I thought I'd add some information to try and make more sense of the LP to NG conversions people are making on other gas equipment.
Thanks again!
I thought the orifice hole was 1/8" and so thanks for confirming this!!
1/8" worked like charm, slightly excess gas (some orange flame) but I just turn the control down a bit. It also means I can get the absolute max heat out of my grill.
You can also adjust your oxygen intake at the burner to reduce the orange flame.
@@TrespassersWillBeShot true and I tested this without any adjustments and am getting 700 degrees which is more than I need
Just a follow-up for all you tech heads: Orifice sizing is based upon gas operating pressure and the BTU needed. Equivalent BTU for propane verses natural gas, the propane orifice is always smaller. Standard natural gas pressure delivered is usually 7 inches water column pressure, where as propane operates between 11 and 14 inches water column pressure. However some natural gas appliances such as natural gas lights operate at 4 inches water column. But in this situation the normal standards would be 7 inches natural gas, 14 inches propane. A .129" orifice for natural gas would be about 59000 BTU. whereas this size for propane would be 115000 BTU. The propane orifice size should be .089" (55000 BTU) or .094" (61000 BTU) to rate the same. A .075" propane orifice would be 40000 BTU where as a natural gas one this size would be about 20000 BTU.
The key item is the original size of your LP orifice to determine how much larger to drill for NG. Use the chart to convert the orifice size at 11-14 WC in BTU's to a drill size of similar BTU's at a WC of 7(NG). Most orifices have a stamp on them. This stamp is usually in millimeters. So you need to convert mm to decimal inches to use the chart correctly.
7 inches water column is 4 ounces (1/4 PSI) 14 inches water column is 8 ounces (1/2 PSI) Absolute value is that 1 PSI equals 27.7 inches water column
Frank Farconie what if my grill uses 48,000 btus at the main. What size do I drill?
All Do-It-Yourselfers. Be sure to measure your LP orifice to make sure it's approximately the standard/common .089"-.094" of an inch at 11-14 wc before drilling a .125" inch hole for the conversion to NG. Your grill may have a regulator lowering or increasing the standard 11-14 wc LP to a different level(say to 4 WC or 3.5 WC or 18-20 WC). Or the manufacturer just decided to make the LP orifice smaller for whatever reason. If the LP orifice is smaller use a more specific conversion chart(I've included one in my comments). Also, this conversion assumes at sea level to about 2,000 ft. The holes will need to be slightly bigger if you live above 2,0000 ft. depending upon your altitude. Happy Grilling!
More detail:
A .129 of an inch orifice for natural gas would be about 59000 BTU. whereas this size for propane would be 115000 BTU. The propane orifice size should be .089 of an inch(55000 BTU) or .094 of an inch(61000 BTU) to rate the same. A .075 of an inch propane orifice would be 40000 BTU where as a natural gas one this size would be about 20000 BTU.You may want to reference your grills advertised Total BTU's divided by the number of burners (assuming no rotisserie)to give you a reference point on the chart of conversions for orifice size and WC for LP to NG.
For example: If you have an advertised 48,000 BTU grill with 4 burners. This would be 12,000 BTU's per burner. So chances are your LP(11 WC) orifice is approx. .040" of an inch. .40" of an inch is 1.016 mm. So in a 48K total BTU grill(12k BTU per burner) chances are your orifice is probably marked with a number around 1.016 (mm). Finally you would want to drill a .052" to .070" hole to get equivalent BTU's for you new NG(7 WC) gas. The .052" to .070" NG BTU's are 10K to 18K rounded. Thus, the two drill sizes closest to the 12K BTU's on the LP(11 WC).
Example 2:
Hi Frank, thanks for clarification. The four orifices in my LP BBQ show 1.04, which is 0.041" of an inch (11742 BTU @ 11WC). So I assume I need to confirm that the gas pressre is regulated at 7WC and if this is the case, according to the chart, the closest orifice diameter to produce 12K BTU would be drill bit size #53 (0.0595"). The next one though is 1/16" producing 14K BTU @ 7WC. I'll probably go with the 1/16" then since I got this drill bit......
Hello Frank, i know i'm dredging an old thread, but am desperately in need of help and it looks like you might be able to give me that. I am needing to replace the orifices for my BBQ grill back to LP from NG, but cannot find anywhere (including the manufacturer) what size to drill these to. My current stats are:
Kirkland Grill 720-0432 (made by Nexgrill)
Operated at 11 inches water column
Total BTU 96,000 BTU/Hr
I have 5 types of orifices that need to be changed from NG to LP, current sizes:
Main Burner x4@10,000btu/hr - 1.55 (current NG size)
Side Burner x1@12,000btu/hr - 1.7 (current NG size)
Rear Burner x1@15,000btu/hr - 1.55 (current NG size)
Searing Burner x1@18,000btu/hr - 2.1 (current NG size)
Oven Burner x1@16,000btu/hr - 1.98 (current NG size)
Hopefully this gets to you and you may be able to help. Thank you so much in advance.
Hey frank, you’re a genius
People, please be careful watching a non-pro doing this. One size does not fit all and doing this wrong can get you seriously injured. A .125 bit on natural gas is good for 40,000 btus @ 3.5" wc. Most complete grills are 35k btus. So this orifice he drilled is severely over sized!! If the grill has a total of 30k btu's (Look on the tag) and you have 3 burners, then you need 10k btu's per burner. Look up a natural gas chart for orifices and size the hole/drill for that 10k btu's per burner!!!! Then you may have to adjust the air on the burner to get the flames between jumping and yellow tipped.
A 2-10 minute video is NOT sufficient enough to teach this lesson!!
I have propane orifice from other units and they fit in all the naturals like butter,no drilling
say anything about using auto focus on the camera :P
put a "Y" at the input, a propane orifice and a natural gas orifice, a valve and quick connect on each. 1 burner, dual gas.
I’m currently designing a compact portable gas grill for my internship and am hoping if I can ask for your help. I’m making a 2 lp gas burner BBQ. I built the manifold, the BBQ module and cover but everything else are universal replacement parts: tube burner, valve, igniter kit, hose, regulator. The BBQ module’s dimension is 16” x 16” x 2.5” and it has two 16-1/5" X 1" Stainless Steel Tube Burner. I was using a replacement valve with #53 orifice size but due the depth restriction of the BBQ module I replaced the brass spud with #69 orifice size to get much smaller flame size. However, the current issue that I’m experiencing is when I turn the valve to high or low the flame size hardly changes. Thank you in advance for your help!
I thought you're video was excellent short and simple i got the idea but for some people i think they would have trouble trying to understand it but nice job thanks
3/32" is actually recommended for NG
Gerard St-Cyr I drilled the 1/8 hole and it now shoots flames a foot high. I corrected the others by drilling the 3/32 hole and now the rest work great. I luckily had a doner BBQ to replace the orfice I drilled too large.
I did use a 1/16 on a past BBQ. You confirm 3/32? I have a 5 burner 55000 total 11000 per burner. 1/8 is way too big.
@@petermalone5780 - I’m about to convert and found for my water column (4) and BTUs per burner (12k) my orifice size is 51, which I worked out to be 1/16 min to 5/64 max. I’m going to start with 1/16 and jump to 5/64 if needed.
@@nja3224 So what drill size did you end up using? I have a 6 burner 60,000 Propane and want to convert to NG am leaning on 1/16 as per chart it is close to 10,000 per orifice
@@allyirfan8663 - 1/16 worked for me. I am no expert, but I checked my areas water column and looked at a chart which I believe recommended a drill bit size of 50. 1/16 is a little larger, but it was within range so I felt comfortable starting there.
Can use a socket to hold while drilling
Ng for all three burners. Hlt, mash, kettle. Boil time isn't the much longer, maybe 15~20 depending on patch size. Not sure on how many btu's I lost cause I don't know what my original was.
Focus! Dude-focus
Very Good!..
What size drill you used?
Blake, bottle gas is also known as propane, because they call the tanks bottles. Just an old saying. I think a lot of people call them tanks and cylinders now.
Orifice size for typical propane is .82mm in size? I'm looking to convert a natural gas barbeque to propane.
Question: I have a 40,000 BTU LP fire pit that I want to convert go NG. The factory placard says it has a 1.96mm orifice & 11” water column. According to the charts, the drill bit size needed is a #48 or .076.
1.96mm divided by 25.4mm per inch = .077 which is 1000th of an inch larger than the actual drill bit size needed. That means the factory orifice is basically the correct orifice size for NG & I don’t need to mess with it right???
FOCUS!!!!!
Did you have to change the regulator
are you using NG to boil wort. do you now how many BTU you get and how long does it take to get a boil?
What size of drill bit do i use for a 3.66mm orifice?
much thanks
5/64 is a better size thanks for sharing
This ok for uk gas cabinet heater 4.2kw ? Thanks ;)
Bottle gas? Like propane to natural? that's what this video is about.
can't you just buy the right one from the hardware store?
Andrew, sometimes heaters come with both orifice jets in a little cloth bag attached somewhere. You should really check with the manufacturer for the proper size, or the gas company. Better safe than sorry. Heaters are a little different than an open burner. just sayin'
+Gee Dubb Do you have information about the mr heater blue flame on changing the orifice size?
hey guys I am having my entire house converted over from propane to natural gas I live in Madison Wisconsin who can I get to do the whole conversion ? thanks
I missed most graphic information as a regular orange flame, would be of great importance
Flame is blue with orange tips around a foot up.
Hi am baker blaker I want u to work with meat my store taker maker this aplomb
i need to switch a gas heater from bottle gas to natural can you tell me what i need to do or if it can be done. please
Same here any joy ?
you should never use a power drill to drill an orifice.
You can use a variable speed drill. Just don’t press and use weight of drill to drill through.
You didn't say anything about using the propane regulator with natural gas. Propane gas has about 3 times the pressure as natural gas even if you drill the hole bigger you will still not get enough natural gas pressure to get a good flame plus propane burns much hotter than natural gas
Nope, this is connected straight to my home natural gas. No regulator need. The piping on my rig is still sized for LP, everything thing seems to work fine. Only thing is I can't usually do long burns (more than 30 minutes) on full flame for CO worries. I have 3 monitors in the basement, one about 10 feet from everything that is digital. After about 30 minutes at full flame I'm around 45ppm CO. I'm not comfortable with that so I usually cut it back to 2/3 flow, and after about two minutes my exhaust system brings it back to 0ppm.
Bullshit a NG is in NO way supposed to be 1/8th ......wrong - wrong - wrong - way too big
Lol
Graphic Titler Guy... Orfice is spelled Orifice>