BBQ Grill & Propane?

[maximo]

I have a Weber Q 200 BBQ I bought last year from Camping World and have been using the 6.4 oz. propane cylinders on it and it is great. Several months ago I decided to buy a Worthington 2 1/2 gal propane tank and a 5 ft propane hose from Camping World to use on the BBQ. First time I hooked the new tank (full) and hose to the BBQ nothing worked, no gass to the BBQ. I hooked and hooked the set up several times and still no gas to the BBQ. Hooked up one of the small 6.4 oz cylinders to the BBQ and everything ran fine. Called Camping World and they told me to bring the 5 ft hose back as some of the hoses did not work. Next time out same thing, hose and 2 1/2 gal tank hooked up and no gas to the BBQ. Called Campling World again and the told me to bring the hose and tank back and they would check it on one of their BBQ. Store manager said I may have to go to a bigger gas tank to get it to work right. QUESTION: What would the size of the tank have to do with working right on the BBQ. The BBQ has its own regulator on it and I told him that the tank would only effect volume but he still said some BBQ need a bigger tank. Am I right or is he right? It is also 50 miles to the Camping World and this will be my third trip to try ang get this right.

Frank

[Carl n Susan]

Let see if I got this right. The little green propane bottles work fine and the larger 2 1/2 gal. container doesn't? And this expert at CW thinks you need a bigger tank?

I am with you, the regulator controls how much gas is released (14.5 column inches I read here the other day). The tank (regardless of size) provides much more pressure, hence the regulator. I suspect the OPD valve in your new 2 1/2 gal. tank may not be allowing the propane to flow. Have you bounced the tank on it's head a couple of times? To check the hose, connect it to one of the propane tanks from the Montana (use the one the RV is *NOT* drawing from ) and see if the Weber works.

[ole dude]

Open the valve on the tank real slow, so as not to alert the safety valve in the tank. Maybe ??

[HamRad]

I'm with Carl on this one.... So the small tank works and the larger one doesn't and the CW guy thinks you need an even BIGGER tank?! Now that is funny! Wonder if they ever try to apply logic to anything they say?

Anyway it sounds like you have a hose problem or as suggested a defective safety valve as others have suggested. Good luck and let us know what happens. Dennis

[trfield58]

It's most likely NOT the tank, it's the hose. I had the same exact issue. If you open the valve quickly, the saftey mechanism in the hose shuts down and won't let the propane through. It's supposed to open after a certain amount of time..??? some hoses work much better than others. I know this because I ended up trying a couple different brands of hose and one of them was more sensitive. So the proper procedure is to open the valve a LITTLE bit, wait a few seconds and then open the rest of the way and THEN wait a minte or so befor trying to light the grill. That works for me.

Good Luck,
Tim

[PapaBeav]

I use a 1 gal tank with a 5ft hose on our BBQ and never have had a problem. I can turn it on fast or slow and it always works.

[sailer]

I have my BBQ hooked to the 30 gal TV tank with a 12' hose and it works great as we don't have to haul a extra tank, you need to get a Y connection so you can hook it up but Lowes or Home Depot has it all
sailer

[brooksider]

I also have a webber and a 5 lb tank with a 8' hose. When first started with this combo, ran into the same problem. The fix was turn the tank on very slowly to keep the OPV(overflow protection valve) from sensing a free flow of propane. Every once in a while I forget and have to shutoff the bottle and disconnect and start over.
happy BBQ ing
Joe

[WeBeFulltime]

We have a Weber 220 and use 30 lb bottle from fiver and 12' hose. Have to open very slowly and then wait about 10 minutes to light. Works great after this procedure.

[Lambchop]

Since we do all our cooking outside, I use a 20# tank from our gas grill at home. I put it in a milk grate that I borrowed from a convenience store.. Stores easy..Never a problem

Roy

[hookman]

I had problem and phoned Weber and the lady said that if you open the tank to fast the safety valve will shut down also Weber has a safety valve in the BBQ regulator. You open the tank real slow and wait a few minutes then open the valve on the tank and it should light.

[jackandh2o]

Carl n Susan, thanks for that reply. I always wondered why my wife was banging on my head with a 2x4.

Ray

[dandt]

To elimate having a third propane tank, we just use one from the rig. Works greats, when we need propane tank that stays in rig filled we rotate BBQ tank to it's place and fill rig tank. We don't use much propane and find filling every 5-6 months works great for us. Teresa

[hunts800]

Had the same problem. Besides the advice to open the tank slowly, I solved mine by buying a Weber hose instead of the camping world generic hose, and it has worked fine since. I use a 1 gal tank.

[pbahlin]

Another thing that you might try is the tightness of your connection. I've found on my tank that tightening makes a difference. If I stop when I first feel significant resistance my tank won't always deliver gas. It's a touchy feely thing but I tighten until I fell 'hard' resistance. I can't really explain it but the 'feel' goes from where you feel you are smooshing rubber to where you feel like the smooshing is over.

You don't ever want to overtighten of course but you need to make sure all the check valves at the joint are fully open.

[jackel1959]

We have a Weber Q200 and use a 1 gal. tank with an adapter hose from CW. It works fine now. We were having a problem where only about 1/2 to 3/4 of the burner would light and sometimes would not stay lit. This was with the disposable tanks, the 1 gallon or a 5 gallon tank. I first replaced the regulator and still had the same problem then I replaced the burner and everything works fine now. Only thing I can think of was there must have been some kind of obstruction in the burner tube.

Jack

[Rondo]

Jack-- It could have been or could be a nasty little spider in the burner that has built a web in there. I've seen it on the furnace and the water heater not lighting because they had a spider web in the burner. IF you have a baby bottle brush or a brush with a longer reach the burner can be cleared and it will work fine! Just a thought!
Frank-- Nobody has mentioned this but the larger bottles have a small flapper inside the tank and if the liquid propane is still moving inside the tank because of the movement of the bottle to the area where you are BBQing, it will not let any propane out the valve either. I always let my bottle settle down for about 10 minutes after moving it before hooking up the hose to the tank and opening the valve(slowly that is).

[nosticks]

I had the same problem with a 10 lb. tank when I hooked it to my Coleman Tailgate grill. The manual that came with my grill specifically 'X'ed out the use of larger tanks and to use the green 1 pounders. Well, I guess I had to save myself from the over regulating of safety concerns brought about by those who want to keep us from harms way. The simple solution is a 3/16" drill bit run right through the center of the green hose fitting on the tank connection end. Problem solved.

[maximo]

I went to Camping World today and took my Weber Q 200 BBQ, my 5ft hose and my 2 1/2 gal propane tank for them to check. First the manager hooked my propane tank to a store BBQ and it worked just fine. He then used my 2 1/2 gal tank and my 5 ft hose to the store BBQ and it would not work. He then got a new 5 ft hose that had a male end instaed of a female end to hook to my tank and everything worked fine. I then took the new hose and my tank outside to my truck with my BBQ in the back and hooked my tank with the new hose up to my BBQ and everything workrd fine. He said they have had many hoses with the female tank end returned. I also questioned him again about saying I may have to go to a larger tank and that I thought a larger tank should not make any differance. He took me over to a new BBQ and sure enough on the BBQ and the instructions it had a picture showing the small tanks X out and that the smallest tank that the BBQ could use was a 30 lb tank.

Frank