Help me restore a respectable grilling setup
July 1, 2013 6:27 AM Subscribe
My house came with a grill on the back porch. It wasn't well-maintained then and it's gotten worse through a few years of neglect. If I could easily and inexpensively repair it I'd like to, but if not I'd like to replace it. Complicating factors: it uses natural gas and is post-mounted.
So this is my grill (disassembled for an attempt to assess). It came with my house, and wasn't in great shape when I first got it --- I've used it infrequently and cleaned it less frequently, and now it's a godawful mess. Pretty much everything which can be wrong with it is: the burner cover is rusted, the burner itself appears to be warped along its length, and pretty much everything on the interior is coated with a thick layer of grime. I'd like to be able to grill at some point, though.
The options available, it seems, are refurbishment and replacement. If the first is at all plausible, I'd like to do it. But on the other hand, modern grills seem exciting, and there are grills out there for under $400 which I imagine are much better than this one would be even if fully restored.
The one confounding factor in a replacement plan is that this grill has two fairly conspicuous features that seem somewhat appealing. First: it runs off of natural gas instead of propane. Second: it has a permanent mount. Ideally, it'd be nice, even if I replace the grill to reuse the mounting hardware to the extent possible, but it doesn't seem like there are a lot of post-mounted grills out there any more. Should I just get one on a cart instead? I kind of like the idea of it as a fixture, although I find it difficult to explain just why.
As regards natural gas usage, I'm churning up a lot of fog on what grills are convertible. I'm looking mostly at Char-broils, as that's what I have and a lot of their units are entry-priced, and back in 2006 they had a model line labeled as "dual-fuel" which had an orifice adjuster you could apparently just pop out to convert it from propane to natural gas, but that's gone now and I'm confused as to whether now all of their models are dual fuel, or none are, or what.
The particular model I'm hoping to repair/replace has model number 4738602, if that helps.
So this is my grill (disassembled for an attempt to assess). It came with my house, and wasn't in great shape when I first got it --- I've used it infrequently and cleaned it less frequently, and now it's a godawful mess. Pretty much everything which can be wrong with it is: the burner cover is rusted, the burner itself appears to be warped along its length, and pretty much everything on the interior is coated with a thick layer of grime. I'd like to be able to grill at some point, though.
The options available, it seems, are refurbishment and replacement. If the first is at all plausible, I'd like to do it. But on the other hand, modern grills seem exciting, and there are grills out there for under $400 which I imagine are much better than this one would be even if fully restored.
The one confounding factor in a replacement plan is that this grill has two fairly conspicuous features that seem somewhat appealing. First: it runs off of natural gas instead of propane. Second: it has a permanent mount. Ideally, it'd be nice, even if I replace the grill to reuse the mounting hardware to the extent possible, but it doesn't seem like there are a lot of post-mounted grills out there any more. Should I just get one on a cart instead? I kind of like the idea of it as a fixture, although I find it difficult to explain just why.
As regards natural gas usage, I'm churning up a lot of fog on what grills are convertible. I'm looking mostly at Char-broils, as that's what I have and a lot of their units are entry-priced, and back in 2006 they had a model line labeled as "dual-fuel" which had an orifice adjuster you could apparently just pop out to convert it from propane to natural gas, but that's gone now and I'm confused as to whether now all of their models are dual fuel, or none are, or what.
The particular model I'm hoping to repair/replace has model number 4738602, if that helps.
If it were me, I'd take a sawzall to that post, chuck the whole thing, and replace it whichever propane grill strikes your fancy. If you like the location, just park the new one in the same spot. You can even get grills that will use propane/LP on one side, and charcoal on the other. Now that's dual fuel!
I digress.
You can get natural gas adapter kits that will fit almost any propane grill, and a plumber can make or adapt the existing LP connection for as you needed.
posted by jquinby at 6:34 AM on July 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
I digress.
You can get natural gas adapter kits that will fit almost any propane grill, and a plumber can make or adapt the existing LP connection for as you needed.
posted by jquinby at 6:34 AM on July 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
Yes, any gas grill should be convertible between one gas and the other. It's just different connectors and a different orifice in the carburetor. Gas appliances are really very simple, engineering wise. (The ones labeled dual fuel were probably for the circumstance where you have nat gas at home but also would want to drag the thing out for a picnic on occasion too.)
If it was me, I'd power wash the hell out of it, paint the outside with grill paint (Rust Oleum makes a version), and see how you like it for a season or two. I personally would hate to spend money on a nice grill and realize I bought a feature I didn't need, or forgot to buy a feature that I could really use.
As for the built in look, you are right that pedestal grills like that are not currently in vogue. But something I've seen that I like is some kind of permanent surround built to contain a grill on a cart. That way you can cart the thing into the garage during the winter so it doesn't weather as badly. The ones I've seen are made of brick or stone veneer over a steel and durock frame.
posted by gjc at 7:05 AM on July 1, 2013
If it was me, I'd power wash the hell out of it, paint the outside with grill paint (Rust Oleum makes a version), and see how you like it for a season or two. I personally would hate to spend money on a nice grill and realize I bought a feature I didn't need, or forgot to buy a feature that I could really use.
As for the built in look, you are right that pedestal grills like that are not currently in vogue. But something I've seen that I like is some kind of permanent surround built to contain a grill on a cart. That way you can cart the thing into the garage during the winter so it doesn't weather as badly. The ones I've seen are made of brick or stone veneer over a steel and durock frame.
posted by gjc at 7:05 AM on July 1, 2013
I have a natural gas grill at my house. For most Charbroil models, they sell a conversion kit with the new hose and some new knobs. For Weber, you buy it as a natural gas or LP gas version.
I spent $400 on a Weber Spirit E210. It was expensive and people with non-Spirit Weber models make fun of it but I love it. It's great never having to think about gas.
AFAIK, if the thing is to any kind of recent code, it should have a valve and quick release at the gas connection and there will be nothing required to change the grill besides unplugging the old one and plugging the new one.
posted by ftm at 7:10 AM on July 1, 2013
I spent $400 on a Weber Spirit E210. It was expensive and people with non-Spirit Weber models make fun of it but I love it. It's great never having to think about gas.
AFAIK, if the thing is to any kind of recent code, it should have a valve and quick release at the gas connection and there will be nothing required to change the grill besides unplugging the old one and plugging the new one.
posted by ftm at 7:10 AM on July 1, 2013
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Call your natural gas company and see if they have a recommendation.
That might be the way to go.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 6:32 AM on July 1, 2013