I already have a natural gas stub on the back of my house and I am about to buy a natural gas BBQ. The stub as a metal cap that is screwed onto the stub right now. Is it a simple process to remove this cap and connect the BBQ (or valve) to the stub or do I need to find a qualified contractor to do this ? Does anyone know if the BBQ will come with all the necessary things to get it connected or will I have to visit Home Depot to pick up some more things ?
You can do it yourself if you follow a few rules. Working with gas lines requires more safety than water, etc.
1) Make sure the valve (petcock) is OFF leading to this capped line. In most cases it should have one just below the cap. If you cannot find one, then you will have to turn off the entire supply to the home, and possibly let the gas burn out on a stove top burner to try and empty the lines. If there is no valve on the line to the grill - INSTALL ONE!
But - assuming there IS a valve....
2) Use 2 wrenches to undo the cap. If you just grab the cap and turn it, there's a good chance the valve will begin to unscrew instead, leading to a potential leak. Holding back on the pipe below the cap with one wrench while you turn the cap with another will prevent this.
3) You may need a piece of flex gas line - some grill makers provide it, but most do not. Get one that is long enough to reach the grill inlet with some room to spare to ne able to move the grill and get to the fittings, but not TOO long that it's bent and curled all over the place.
4) Use a pipe compound recommended for GAS on the threads.
5) After you are done with your connections, do a leak test on all the connections. Easiest way is to make up a solution of soapy water in a spray bottle, or brush on soapy water. Wet down all the fittings, turn on the gas supply, and watch for any rapid bubble formations. (small bubbles popping here and there may just be the soap bubbles disappearing naturally) A leak will show up as a bubble producer.
And of course, no smok> I already have a natural gas stub on the back of my house and I am
I'll tell you right now, this isn't gonna be as easy as you think....
I had the exact same situation with my new house last year when I went to attach my new propane grill to my household propane supply.
Underneath my deck there was already an outlet into the propane feed, with a value and this "slip collar" attachment.... anyway, I thought it would be easy to walk into HD and find the right hose to hook into it...
No dice.
I called a local fireplace place retailer in town, and the directed me to Eastern Energy Fuels who are a big propane, oil, natural gas supplier in my area (seacoast NH).... so I called them up and asked if they could help me out... anyway, the long and short of it was that I took about 5-10 digital photos of my "outlet" and brought them in to their HQ. I talked to one of the guys from the shop floor (these guys do manufacturing, BBQ sales, energy supply, you name it)... so he came out, checked out my setup on my laptop, and then went back into the shop to fashion me a custom made hose (all this time he didn't mention ONCE how much it would cost)... well, he came back with the hose and he also gave me a new slip collar attachment in case the nipple of the hose didn't fit into my existing slip collar... all that for $45... not too bad as I was getting scared there for a minute.
Sure enough, the nipple did NOT fit, so with the valve off and using a pipe wrench, I took off the old slip collar, pipe doped up the new slip collar and put it in... soapy water tested it to make sure there were no leaks and then snapped in the hose's nipple and voila! I was grilling within minutes.
Your situation sounds a little different since it doesn't sound like you have a valve which you can use to turn off the gas while you work... you'll probably need to add a valve, then a slip collar, and then the hose with the nipple. I leave the hose always attached, but I open and close the valve as needed (same as you would on a propane bottle), when I'm done with the BBQ I turn off the valve first so that all the propane is burned off out of the lines.
What I would do is call your gas company and tell them your situation,... depending on what kind of business they do, you might be able to go in there with some pictures and have them fashion you a hose and fittings as well... unfortunately, I think you'll have to get a contractor in there if you don't have an easy way to turn off the gas in that part of the line.
It's simple as unscrew the cap and screw in the new connector with some liquid pipe stuff (I forgot exactly the product name). The BBQ doesn't come with the "snap on" connector. I couldn't find the connector at Home Depot. I found it at a local gas hardware place catering to contractors. I also pick up the liquid pipe stuff there. I did the bubble testing afterwards. Actually, I do it before firing up BBQ once every year.
A contractor is not a bad idea either. But then again, the contractor I I saw used teflon tape to hook up the gas dryer. From what I read, the teflon tape are not supposed to use in gas pipe.
The downside of doing it yourself is if the BBQ explode along with your house, I'm not sure whether your insureance company is willing to pay for it.
The grill will come with very little as far as a connect hose or pipe. You will need to buy more valves and/or fittings to get it hooked up. If you are unsure of what you are doing, it may be best to call a HVAC company to do the gas for you. It also may be a local code requirement to have a licensed contractor do it for you. You maybe unable, legally to do it yourself. Greg
What he said, plus- Does the stub have a shutoff valve, either at the wall or on the end of the riser? You want a close-by shutoff in case you have an oopsie while cooking. And unless the grill will be outside all winter, you also want some sort of quick-disconnect. If this is a permanent install, you want weather-rated fittings. The place that sold the grill should have all this, or be able to tell you what to buy.
It would have been easier had you known the difference between natrual gas and propane:)
You had PROPANE grill to PROPANE supply, according to you.
The original poster plan to hook up GAS BBQ to GAS supply. If you buy a GAS grill, it usually comes with the hose. If not, don't buy it. Didn't your washer come with the right hose? Didn't your TV come with the power cord? Didn't your phone come with a phone line?
Forget photo, I'd take the hose and the cap off the gas stub cap to the supply shop and get fitted right there.
That may not be allowed by some codes. When I check intoit, the requirement was hard piped and the grill must be bolted or lagged in place, no portability.
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