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Old 04-21-2016, 04:30 AM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ATHiker View Post
Thanks for all the comments. My apology that I was away from the conversation. Like Greg A and C&G in FL, I was attempting to have a mix and match setup for the Spitfire grill, the Ranger II, and a fire pit. The system would be comprised of:
- I assembled a Y with one 1/4" male fitting and two 1/4" female quick connect fittings.
- The Camco quick connect hose.
- I have the hose supplied by Escape with a quick connect fitting.

I though this would give me the most flexibility. I was surprised that the Escape hose worked with the Spitfire and not the Ranger II, but the Ranger II worked with the Camco hose. I did not try the Camco hose with the Spitfire grill, plus I did not have a chance to test the Y that I assembled. I will note that the female quick connect fitting on the Camco has an on/off valve. You must close the valve to get the male fitting to engage. You then turn the valve on. I'm thinking, that maybe I need to change the female quick connect fittings to this style?
Low pressure female fittings are made both with and without the shutoff valve. Assuming (not a good idea to assume) that all your fittings are low pressure fittings, I have no idea why one of your hoses will work with one appliance but not the other. It makes no sense to me. If they are all low pressure fittings, they all should work, the operative word being "should." When I was initially "converting" my Weber Q to run on low pressure (using a "remote" regulator rather than its built in regulator), I inadvertently used a high pressure fitting with a low pressure fitting and the gas wouldn't flow. It was at that point that I closely examined the two and realized what the internal differences were.

As Brian stated above, he likes a system to use a variety of hoses in different configurations. It makes sense as it provides the flexibility you mentioned. While it is difficult to troubleshoot why you are having a problem, I would think that you might want to make sure all your fittings are compatible. It is convenient to be able to link a couple of longer hoses together should you wish to get the fire pit further away from the trailer. I also have a "Y" and it allows me to run one long hose from the trailer's QC to the Y fitting, and the second long hose and the shorter hose I have to the grill and stove at the same time. Reconfiguring hoses to use the fire pit is both easy and quick.
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Old 04-21-2016, 12:19 PM   #22
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Thanks to all for your input. I went to the camper today and inspected the fittings. You guys were right, the issue was the compatibility of high pressure and low pressure fittings. When I purchased the Spitfire grill, I took it and the quick connect hose supplied by Escape to a local hose shop to have quick connects installed. I'm sure that we discussed low pressure, but what I have found is that the fittings that they installed are high pressure. Hence, they work with the Spitfire grill, but are not compatible with the other low pressure fittings. I just need to change them out to low pressure and I should be good to go! Thanks again!!!
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Old 04-21-2016, 01:28 PM   #23
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I went to the camper today and inspected the fittings. You guys were right, the issue was the compatibility of high pressure and low pressure fittings. When I purchased the Spitfire grill, I took it and the quick connect hose supplied by Escape to a local hose shop to have quick connects installed. I'm sure that we discussed low pressure, but what I have found is that the fittings that they installed are high pressure.
Ah... there's the culprit! The extra fittings (allowing the hoses to quick-detach from the appliances) were not in the initial list of stuff used.

If you use the Escape-supplied or Camp Chef RV hose without extra fittings, you get a hose semi-permanently attached to the appliance. That works, but is harder to store and less flexible in use.

I would worry about that shop - if they don't understand that a grill without a regulator gets low pressure, any of their part choices could be suspect.
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Old 04-21-2016, 02:07 PM   #24
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Although I hadn't mentioned anything about it, and hadn't put much thought into it, I was wondering why people were building up quick-connect tees. The alternative would be to use an ordinary pipe-thread tee and one more female QC to put two permanent outlets on the trailer... especially since the quick-connect fittings are not really cheap.

Here's the answer, and it makes a lot of sense to me.
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Originally Posted by C&G in FL View Post
I also have a "Y" and it allows me to run one long hose from the trailer's QC to the Y fitting, and the second long hose and the shorter hose I have to the grill and stove at the same time.
Since the grill and stove are probably used in the same general area, this can mean less hose to carry and one fewer tripping hazard.

It can still make sense to have two outside outlets on the trailer, especially if they are in different places (e.g. front and rear ends). Perhaps that's what Jim has in mind:
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We had it in the 19, and used it all the time. In fact, with the 5.0 I plan to install 2 of them.
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Old 04-21-2016, 02:39 PM   #25
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This is the Y connector and it plugs in right to the trailer QC. Costs about the same to try and build a T yourself and it works really well. These are really hard items to locate for resale.
Propane Quick Connect Y Adapter - RV Fitting - propanegear

I bought 2 Camco QC hoses and removed the regulators from all the appliances and put male QC fittings on the Weber and the Camp Chef so the QC hoses can detach and store separately. On the fire pit I used the Escape supplied QC hose and permanently attached to the fire pit because it coils right up into the fire pit storage bag.

Bought one of the folding tables like this:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Ozark-Trai...Table/45041725 which I setup right along the front of the trailer to setup the grill and stove for the kitchen. Awesome setup, and what I had envisioned when ordering the QC trailer option.
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Old 04-21-2016, 05:30 PM   #26
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My concern with on line feeding two appliances, is would there be enough capacity for both on the highest heat. This was my reasoning behind separate connections. If there is enough capacity in the one line to feed the 44,000 BTU's (10,000 Dickinson Spitfire, 34,000 Camp Chef Ranger II), I would definitely go with one line.

I will look into that later when I have more time.
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Old 04-21-2016, 06:09 PM   #27
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Jim,
No issue with running the Camp Chef and the Weber on the one line with the Y. The Weber seems to run much better than before when it had the regulator into a tank. However, I can't speak to the Dickinson Spitfire.
If we wait a few minutes, Brian should have us a complete technical breakdown on if it can...
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Old 04-21-2016, 06:36 PM   #28
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Jim,
I too, cannot shed any light on that issue. I rarely run the Ranger II and the Weber at the same time, and when I have, it has only been one burner on the stove. But I had no problem with both the burner and the grill on high using a single hose. I do not think it would be a problem, however, considering the inner diameter of the propane hose and the sizes of the orifaces in jets in the stove.
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Old 04-21-2016, 06:38 PM   #29
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I know Reace once told me that if the line was not too long, I should be okay. I just know there is limitations in line capacity, just don't know what they are.
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Old 04-21-2016, 08:29 PM   #30
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This is the Y connector and it plugs in right to the trailer QC. Costs about the same to try and build a T yourself and it works really well. These are really hard items to locate for resale.
Propane Quick Connect Y Adapter - RV Fitting - propanegear.
I agree that if those are the connectors you want, pre-assembled makes sense; this place sells that assembly for about the same as the two female and one male connector parts would be, so the manifold block (which you can't buy separately anyway) and assembly labour are effectively free.

They also have a version with shutoff valves - Torjik QUICK•Y+ - which makes sense to me.
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Old 04-21-2016, 08:30 PM   #31
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My concern with on line feeding two appliances, is would there be enough capacity for both on the highest heat. This was my reasoning behind separate connections. If there is enough capacity in the one line to feed the 44,000 BTU's (10,000 Dickinson Spitfire, 34,000 Camp Chef Ranger II), I would definitely go with one line.
That sounds like a valid reason, too. I notice that the supplier of that Y-connector (the Torjik QUICK-Y) has a 3/8" version called the Torjik QUICK-Y38 (rather than the base 1/4" version) that sounds like it would flow more freely, but from the photo it appears that they adapt the 3/8" connectors down to the same 1/4" manifold block... duh.

Low-pressure quick-connect hoses are usually 1/4" nominal diameter. For a shared hose, I would look for 3/8" nominal diameter. I know the local barbecue store sells 3/8" hoses with 1/4 MPT ends, so by adding fittings on each end 3/8" low-pressure extension hoses are available in a range of lengths. Even with the same connectors on the end as the smaller hose, it would be less restrictive. The output of an RV regulator normally goes into 3/8" line to handle the total required flow at low pressure; 1/4" is typically only used on the high-pressure side, and in these quick-connect appliance hoses.

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Originally Posted by C&G in FL View Post
I do not think it would be a problem, however, considering the inner diameter of the propane hose and the sizes of the orifaces in jets in the stove.
In a fluid transmission system, just like an electrical circuit, it isn't just the most restrictive component that matters. Each link in the chain adds resistance to flow and so drops pressure, just like with wire. The orifice is the controlling element, chosen to provide the right flow on the basis that it is supplied with 1"WC of propane pressure, so if upstream plumbing is too restrictive (even though it is less restrictive than the orifice), there won't be as much flow as intended.
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Old 04-21-2016, 09:13 PM   #32
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That sounds like a valid reason, too. I notice that the supplier of that Y-connector (the Torjik QUICK-Y) has a 3/8" version called the Torjik QUICK-Y38 (rather than the base 1/4" version) that sounds like it would flow more freely, but from the photo it appears that they adapt the 3/8" connectors down to the same 1/4" manifold block... duh.

Low-pressure quick-connect hoses are usually 1/4" nominal diameter. For a shared hose, I would look for 3/8" nominal diameter. I know the local barbecue store sells 3/8" hoses with 1/4 MPT ends, so by adding fittings on each end 3/8" low-pressure extension hoses are available in a range of lengths. Even with the same connectors on the end as the smaller hose, it would be less restrictive. The output of an RV regulator normally goes into 3/8" line to handle the total required flow at low pressure; 1/4" is typically only used on the high-pressure side, and in these quick-connect appliance hoses.


In a fluid transmission system, just like an electrical circuit, it isn't just the most restrictive component that matters. Each link in the chain adds resistance to flow and so drops pressure, just like with wire. The orifice is the controlling element, chosen to provide the right flow on the basis that it is supplied with 1"WC of propane pressure, so if upstream plumbing is too restrictive (even though it is less restrictive than the orifice), there won't be as much flow as intended.
That is absolutely true. Laminar flow is affected by fricton between the fluid or gas and the wall of the pipe/hose, and the smaller the diameter, the larger the percentage of the liquid or gas that will be affected by that friction. And the longer the pipe/hose, the greater the resistance to flow. Gas, however, is less dense than a liquid and the friction has somewhat less of an affect. Gas mains are a lot smaller than water mains serving any populated area. And in the practical application which Jim is addressing, it would be my expectation that he might be running the grill at its highest setting, but it is unlikely he would be running both burners of the Ranger Ii at the highest setting. Those puppies put out a large amount of heat. They will boil water rather quickly and I have found that most of our actual cooking is at or below 1/3 of what would be the stove's maximum flame. In order to simmer anything, we have found the burner must be adjusted way down. Then again, 85% to 90% of our cooking is done on the grill. We do not cook multicourse meals. I know some people prepare more elaborate meals, and might find a need for the grill and both burners at the same time, but I really doubt the Ranger II would be at the maximum output.
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Old 04-21-2016, 10:15 PM   #33
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.....but from the photo it appears that they adapt the 3/8" connectors down to the same 1/4" manifold block... duh.

Low-pressure quick-connect hoses are usually 1/4" nominal diameter. For a shared hose, I would look for 3/8" nominal diameter. I know the local barbecue store sells 3/8" hoses with 1/4 MPT ends, so by adding fittings on each end 3/8" low-pressure extension hoses are available in a range of lengths. Even with the same connectors on the end as the smaller hose, it would be less restrictive. The output of an RV regulator normally goes into 3/8" line to handle the total required flow at low pressure; 1/4" is typically only used on the high-pressure side, and in these quick-connect appliance hoses.
That certainly does look like 1/4" nipples to the manifold. There still would be a bit of an advantage to using a 3/8" hose off the trailer, even if there is a short piece of 1/4", as even though there is a flow restriction in that 1/4" piece, there would be less in the 3/8" line compared to the 1/4". Pretty minor though.

I would bet Escape uses a 1/4" tap off the main 3/8" line to feed the QC, which would render any use of 3/8" line beyond it nearly useless.

On the 5.0, it would be quite easy to tap off the LP side of the regulator and run an extra QC though. If one was to use a couple moderate length hoses for most occasions, then if distance is needed, run one appliance at twice the distance out. We do mostly cook by the trailer, even if the table is a ways away. I like to set up with some wind and rain protection most of the time.

I actually foresee putting the stove or BBQ under the loft sometimes when raining. Does anyone with a 5.0 do this?
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Old 04-21-2016, 10:32 PM   #34
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.....
I bought 2 Camco QC hoses .......
Hey Greg


this model?

Amazon.com: Camco 57282 10' Propane Quick-Connect Hose: Automotive

thanks

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Old 04-21-2016, 10:55 PM   #35
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Hey John,
I checked my Amazon orders and that's the one I bought. You got to see the setup at my trailer at Quartzsite, but not sure if you were thinking about QC setup then. How's lil Camper doing?
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Old 04-21-2016, 11:02 PM   #36
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Hey John,
I checked my Amazon orders and that's the one I bought. You got to see the setup at my trailer at Quartzsite, but not sure if you were thinking about QC setup then. How's lil Camper doing?
Thanks man

Lil Camper is great.

Hope you all are well.

I am in full time research frenzy - as you wisely predicted would happen to me.

;-)

Thanks. Much appreciated for all the info. Always. :-)
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Old 04-22-2016, 05:19 AM   #37
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I actually foresee putting the stove or BBQ under the loft sometimes when raining. Does anyone with a 5.0 do this?
I find it extremely uncomfortable to try to stand under the loft. I am 5'9" (@ 1.75 m) tall and have to "crouch" when underneath. And I wouldn't want to reach under the loft while standing in the rain to cook. So if it rains, we either nuke something, eat something that does not need to be cooked, go out to a restaurant, or use the awning for shelter (typically, in that order). I have made a small modification using two stainless steel I-bolts and the king pin that allows me to put a clothesline under the loft. It allows towels and bathing suits to continue drying, or at least not get soaking wet again should it rain. For us, anyway, it is the best use for the space under the loft.
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Old 04-22-2016, 07:45 AM   #38
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I find it extremely uncomfortable to try to stand under the loft. I am 5'9" (@ 1.75 m) tall and have to "crouch" when underneath. And I wouldn't want to reach under the loft while standing in the rain to cook. So if it rains, we either nuke something, eat something that does not need to be cooked, go out to a restaurant, or use the awning for shelter (typically, in that order). I have made a small modification using two stainless steel I-bolts and the king pin that allows me to put a clothesline under the loft. It allows towels and bathing suits to continue drying, or at least not get soaking wet again should it rain. For us, anyway, it is the best use for the space under the loft.
I almost always use the BBQ on the ground, so need to crouch anyway. My young knees are good with that for now anyway. I could definitely see it being handy for stowing or hanging stuff out of the rain.

We used to use the awning rafters for hanging towels to dry, but this will not be an option with the new awning, so under the loft would be a really good place, especially when wet out.

Our typical cooking eating scenario if it is raining, in order, is under the awning, inside, in our Clam shelter. For lunch it is not usually cooked. We didn't and won't have a microwave, and a round trip to a restaurant is usually an hour plus eating time, so that is out.
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Old 04-22-2016, 04:03 PM   #39
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For those of you who have put male QD fittings on your grill, stove, or firepit and if those fittings do not have a cover, the large sized caps for Closet Maid shelving sold at most building supply stores (Lowe's, Home Depot, etc.) fit over the business end nicely. They are inexpensive, easily replaced if lost, and the keep small critters out of the appliance when in storage.
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Old 04-22-2016, 09:27 PM   #40
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Thanks, Carl. I've got a few of those hanging around my workshop and will put them to use.
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