Natural Gas instead of Liquid Propane?

[lts70]

A couple months back I ran a natural gas line out to the BBQ on the back patio as well as a line into my garage for a future heater. Would it be a good idea to find a turkey cooker that runs off of NG instead of LP? I ran the line to the BBQ because I got tired of running out of LP mid grill. I suppose it would be just as annoying or even more so running out mid melt. I had a friend tell me NG is cheeper to burn as well, which is always a plus. My BBQ conversion kit was not cheap but worth it. The kit came with a quick-disconnect so switching between the melter and BBQ would be easy as long as I got the same fitting.

Any down sides to using NG?

[CATS]

Air hose style Quick connects can rust up if left out in the damp/wet. Do you have a shut off valve in front of it so you can replace it in the future when it won't work and leaks?

[odfairfaxsub]

it might be benificial because instead of driving to the store (gas money) and dealing with the driving of haz material in a possible accident. and the bill for usage will just tack on to your monthly bill

[bearcove]

You should be able to change the oriface size and hook it up. If it has a regulator it might not allow enough flow. You don't need to replace the burner.

[lts70]

Here is a photo of the connection. I came through the wall and put a 90 degree elbow then a quarter turn valve then the female quick connect fitting that came in the conversion kit. I painted the exposed iron 90 and nipple in-between the valve and disconect this gloss black POR15 to help prevent rust. the valve and quick connect were brass so I let them be. It is protected by the roof line and does not get wet so I hope I will not have to worry about rust in my life time. I was hoping I could just get another (longer) hose that I could just switch out at the disconnect and rock and roll.

[MT Gianni]

The fuel to air ratio is different for Nat gas & LP. Lp is denser and needs to be pushed harder to burn @ the burner head. LP takes 11" of water column pressure to burn properly. Nat gas is lighter and burns @ 3.5" wc. The harder that you push those gases, the more air is drawn in. Unless you have an adjustable air intake as part of the burner venturi, you may not burn at the burner head [flames are in the air and very in-efficient] or you will soot up the burner. The orifice will need to be changed, it is larger for NG, smaller for LP. You can drill it out for a one time shot but that would mean knowing that your air intake will work. All manuals, dealers and gas people will tell you the Manufacturers say not to do this. This is because they have been trained that if they don't they will be named in the lawsuit. The answer is then probably but not certainly. An older gas man may advise you but will probably need to see it in person.

[cajun shooter]

The difference is as MT. Gianni posted and the jet has to be changed. If you want a lot more powerful set up then it is best to use a high BTU burner meant for boiling and frying turkeys. Most home stoves only have a regulator for 15.000 or so BTU and you need over a 100,000 for easy smelting. You could do it over a Coleman stove but you will be there for hours and hours.

[twotoescharlie]

used a burner out of an old hot water heater for many years, cast a lot of boolits over the years.

TTC

[lts70]

Water heater, I like that idea, already set up for NG. Anyone know what BTU a water heater runs at? Are there any other options for a melting unit that is setup for NG?

[uscra112]

used a burner out of an old hot water heater for many years, cast a lot of boolits over the years.

TTC

Heck of an idea. And I'm just about to replace my antique. I'll remove the burner before it goes to the scrapyard!

[GabbyM]

Water heaters are lower BTU than a turkey fryer.

[Sonnypie]

I was under the impression that Propane burned "hotter" that Natural gas. ???

I have my patio Bar-B-Que set up on Natural Gas and used the side burner to smelt down a few ladles of WW. Seemed to me like it took a fair amount of time trying to do it that way. (It probably has a 10 BTU rating. :groner: ) :oops:

Isn't the burner on a Fryer/boiler something like 100,000 to 150,000 or so BTU? (Holy Moly! I did a quick search and those things could heat up the Moon. One was 380,000 BTU!)
And something like a water heater burner 40,000 to 100,000? (I would have looked, but mine is all wrapped up with water heater blankets. I tried, honest.)
But, I like the water heater burner idea. About 2-3 years ago we replaced our WH, and the "burner" in the new one is odd. More like a Coleman catalytic heater than a burner. :sad:

[mold maker]

New burner styles are mandated for higher efficiency.
My turkey fryer has a 78,000 BTU burner. I improved its lead melting efficiency with an wind shield to hold the heat against the pot surface. It's also lots more comfortable to be near to.

[Moonman]

My new "KING COOKER" with a JET burner is 105,000 BTU's. I just got it several weeks ago.

[MT Gianni]

Water heater burners run from 28,000 BTU to 40,000 BTU per hour. That is enough to melt lead but will be slower than a turkey fryer. The tubing connection for a burner is very hard and can crack when bent so be aware if you try to use the gas valve as an on/off device. There is an energy cut off switch in the probe that will kill things if it is over heated so keep the probe away from the flame.

Sonnypie, LP gas is denser per cubic foot resulting in more btu's per equal amount of space. It would be good to know if LP was sold by the cubic foot but it isn't. One gallon has about 91,800 btu's. One therm Natural gas is about 100 cubic feet and has 100,000 btu's. It could be seen as hotter in that regard but the flame temperatures of both when properly adjusted are the same. Sideburners on a grill run around 8-10,000 btu.