Camp Chef Ranger II Review

[C&G in FL]

At one point, I told my friend Jim Bennett that I would write a review of the Camp Chef Ranger II when I had enough experience with it. The Ranger II was a gift from my children. I probably would not have purchased one myself because I use a stove very little. Prior to receiving it, I used a Brinkman stainless steel stove with the same type of regulator as is used on the Coleman stoves.
First, I would make it clear that I am a short order cook, not a gourmet chef. Most of my cook stove usage is for breakfast fare on the griddle: eggs, bacon, and pancakes. Most off our cooking is done on a Weber Q100 which I converted to low pressure to use with the QD fitting on the Escape. So here are my impressions:

1. The Ranger II runs on low pressure making it usable with the QD fitting. I think most everyone here knows that. But that is a very handy feature. Now if Coleman or someone else would come out with a low pressure propane lantern.......

2. In order to get blue flame with a minimum of orange, the air/gas mixing disk had to be set to the most wide open position. This is easy to do BEFORE the stove gets hot, but it can be adjusted with a metal rod through an opening near either of the burner controls; just not as easy.

3. On high, the Ranger II will boil water a whole lot faster than my Brinkman would. It does have the ability to output the BTUs.

3. The settings on the burner controls are Off, Warm, High, Medium, and Low. The flame level is infinitely adjustable between the settings. Unless the cooking pot is offset on the burner, even on low whatever is in the pan/pot will eventually boil.

4. For those of you who are not short order cooks, you can simmer on the warm setting........BUT (there is always a but!)

5. The burners are very susceptible to moving air. I experimented for an hour inside the garage with the door open using an electric fan to simulate wind this morning. On High and Medium the flame is somewhat affected (you can tell the games are being fanned) by moving air, but they remain fully functional. On Low, the moving air was enough to extinguish a few of the orifaces in the burner, though most of them stayed lit. With the fan @ 4 feet away on high, the burner struggled to stay lit on low. On Warm, with the flame adjusted low enough to simmer, anything above the mildest of breezes blew out the flame. So the moral of the story is if you wish to simmer up a gourmet dish, it would be best to use the stove in the most protected area if there is any wind at all.

Finally, it is important to note that these are my observations/impressions. As Donna would say, YMMV.

[Jim Bennett]

Excellent review, Carl. Thanks for that.

It seems the biggest problem then lies with the lack of wind screen. Most times it would not be necessary, but there are a few times I do have wind to contend with. I imagine a simple two-sides folding windscreen would be beneficial.

It certainly still seems like the best option out there for a smaller sized stove that can be used with a low pressure quick connect.

[Greg A]

Thanks Carl, answered the questions I had about the stove. Think I'll go with this to replace the Coleman so I can use the trailer QC port. I'll be converting the Weber Q over to low pressure as well.

[C&G in FL]

Given Jim's post about a wind screen and my wife's suggestion of wrapping the base with aluminum foil, I tried both. The aluminum foil didn't work. I think it blocked air infiltration around the base to the point that the air/gas vent couldn't get enough air and the flames started displaying a lot of orange. I then placed my patio mat in its carrier bag (3 feet wide, 1 foot high) about a foot from the stove between it and the fan. I was able to get a very low (simmerable) flame on the Warm position with the fan on any speed, including high. So I would say set up in a protected spot and have a shield of some sort and the wind problem is solved.

[Jim Bennett]

Here is an easy, small, and inexpensive solution.
http://www.amazon.com/TALL-Compact-F.../dp/B006TI9KPS

Or for Canadians
http://www.amazon.ca/TALL-Compact-Fo...ove+windscreen

Lots of different ones out there.

[Jim Bennett]

Carl, do you find the distance between burners to be adequate. A couple reviewers online thought they might be a bit close together for a couple bit pots. Rarely would we ever have more than one big pot on the stove anyway.

[C&G in FL]

Originally Posted by Jim Bennett

Carl, do you find the distance between burners to be adequate. A couple reviewers online thought they might be a bit close together for a couple bit pots. Rarely would we ever have more than one big pot on the stove anyway.

I don't think it will be a problem for the way I cook or my wife may cook. You probably couldn't put a large pot on each burner but I don't think you could with a Coleman, either. We have the 7-piece Magma set and when we use the largest pot it is because my wife is making soup, chili, or pasta. We do not cook corn on the stove because we prefer to leave it in the husk and cook it on the grill. The large magma pot is not as large as some stock pots out there, but I would think, maybe wrongly, that most FGRVers do not use mega-pots. Of course if you are cooking for yourself and for everyone in the 10 adjacent campsites, it might not be sufficient.
Center to center, the burners are 9-1/2 inches apart, which is the same distance between the from and rear burners on our kitchen range. Then again, on the kitchen range the left and right burners are 16-1/2 inches apart. Hope this helps.

[C&G in FL]

Incidentally, this Sterlite storage container is a good fit for the Ranger II. I bought one at Walmart.

[Jim Bennett]

I have had a Magma pot set for a few years now. No massive puts, which we like. If the fry pan and the large pot fit at the and time, all is good.

[gbaglo]

Huh?

[J Mac]

Originally Posted by Jim Bennett

I have had a Magma pot set for a few years now. No massive puts, which we like. If the fry pan and the large pot fit at the and time, all is good.

well said!

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by Jim Bennett

I have had a Magma pot set for a few years now. No massive pots, which we like. If the fry pan and the large pot fit at the same time, all is good.

Darn text to speech. Fixed for all the English critics out there.

[ATHiker]

I have a Camp Chef Ranger II stove and I attached the Camp Chef RV connection hose (which has a male quick connect fitting on one end). When I tried to use it with the propane quick connect hose provided by Escape, attached to the low pressure connect on the Escape, the stove would not work. When I tried it with a Camco quick connect hose, the stove worked. Are there different types of male / female propane quick connects? BTW, the propane quick connect hose provided by Escape works great with my Dickinson Spitfire grill.

[Greg A]

I'm not sure I'm following, Tom. The Camp Chef QC hose should go right into the Escape QC fitting on the trailer, not into the Escape provided hose and then connected to the trailer. I bought a Y QC dual adapter, 2 Camco QC hoses and had the QC hose provided with the trailer for 3 appliances and I'm not sure which I used on which appliance but they all work great.

On an aside, the Camp Chef Ranger II is one of the best camp stoves I've ever used. Great simmer ability.

[C&G in FL]

Originally Posted by ATHiker

I have a Camp Chef Ranger II stove and I attached the Camp Chef RV connection hose (which has a male quick connect fitting on one end). When I tried to use it with the propane quick connect hose provided by Escape, attached to the low pressure connect on the Escape, the stove would not work. When I tried it with a Camco quick connect hose, the stove worked. Are there different types of male / female propane quick connects? BTW, the propane quick connect hose provided by Escape works great with my Dickinson Spitfire grill.

Tom,
There are low pressure QC fittings and high pressure QC fittings. While they look the same on the outside, they are not the same on the inside. The intent is to prevent the end user from connecting a low pressure appliance to an unregulated high pressure source. A high pressure male fitting appears to have a sleeve in the business end which makes the tubular shaped wall appear "thicker." This thicker wall is needed to "activate" the mecanism in the high pressure female fitting which allows propane to flow. I do not believe it will activate the mechanism in a low pressure female fitting. Conversely, the thinner walled male fitting will not activate a high pressure QC fitting but will activate the low pressure female fitting.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by ATHiker

I have a Camp Chef Ranger II stove and I attached the Camp Chef RV connection hose (which has a male quick connect fitting on one end). When I tried to use it with the propane quick connect hose provided by Escape, attached to the low pressure connect on the Escape, the stove would not work. When I tried it with a Camco quick connect hose, the stove worked. Are there different types of male / female propane quick connects?

Yes, but this sounds like it should have worked.

Originally Posted by Greg A

The Camp Chef QC hose should go right into the Escape QC fitting on the trailer, not into the Escape provided hose and then connected to the trailer.

That doesn't make sense to me. The Camp Chef Ranger II is a low-pressure stove with a hose and regulator assembly included to connect it to a high-pressure source. I don't see any quick-connect hose supplied with it; however, Tom & Linda are using Camp Chef's RV Connection Hose, which is a Camp Chef accessory, and presumably the same thing as supplied by Escape. My understanding is that Escape supplies the trailer with a hose that has a low-pressure quick-connect male on the trailer end, and a 3/8" female flare fitting on the other end, to be attached to the inlet fitting on an appliance such as the Ranger II stove; the RV Connection Hose or this Escape-supplied hose would be used instead of the Camp Chef-supplied hose-with-regulator, and I assume that's what Tom & Linda did.

The Ranger II manual only shows the use of the Camp Chef-supplied hose with regulator, and doesn't mention the use of a different hose to connect to a low-pressure supply; however, that alternative is clearly intended by them, as indicated in their description of the RV Connection Hose:

FEATURES

• 8 ft. long

FITMENT

• The hose has a 3/8 female flare swivel fitting for connecting to the Camp Chef Stove. The hose has a type 250 male quick connect fitting for connecting to the type 250 female quick connect on most RV's.

SPECIFICATIONS

• 1/4" Hose
• Appliance End: 3/8" Flare Female Swivel (Connects to most Camp Chef stoves* and most BBQ Grills)
• Inlet: Type 250 Male Quick Connect for attachment to Type 250 Female Quick Connect only
• Max Pressure: 0.5 PSI

Originally Posted by C&G in FL

Tom,
There are low pressure QC fittings and high pressure QC fittings.

Yes, but there's nothing high-pressure involved in using a Ranger II with the Escape's low-pressure port, and no high-pressure quick-connect supplied with either that stove or the trailer.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Greg A

I'm not sure I'm following, Tom. The Camp Chef QC hose should go right into the Escape QC fitting on the trailer, not into the Escape provided hose and then connected to the trailer.

Re-reading Tom & Linda's post, I think I now understand what Greg caught and I missed: there shouldn't need to be two hoses involved, even if both are low-pressure hoses. I agree - the Camp Chef RV Connection Hose (not the one that comes with the grill) should work when plugged directly into the trailer.

Originally Posted by ATHiker

I have a Camp Chef Ranger II stove and I attached the Camp Chef RV connection hose (which has a male quick connect fitting on one end). When I tried to use it with the propane quick connect hose provided by Escape, attached to the low pressure connect on the Escape, the stove would not work. When I tried it with a Camco quick connect hose, the stove worked.

I think that this was likely intended to mean that two setups were tried:

1. stove <flare fitting connection> Camp Chef RV connection hose <quick-connect> Escape low-pressure outlet: didn't work
2. stove <flare fitting connection> Camp Chef RV connection hose <first quick-connect> Camco quick connect hose <second quick-connect> Escape low-pressure outlet: worked

For this interpretation to make sense, the Camco hose would need to be a QC extension, such as this one: Quick-Connect to Quick-Connect LP Gas Hose. The connections on either end of that hose are exactly the same type (just one of each gender), so whether it is in the chain or not should make no difference.

Tom, are we getting close?

[C&G in FL]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

Yes, but there's nothing high-pressure involved in using a Ranger II with the Escape's low-pressure port, and no high-pressure quick-connect supplied with either that stove or the trailer.

I agree entirely, but the question was asked if there were different types of QC fittings. I was addressing that question. I was in no way suggesting that the Ranger II used any high pressure parts. As a Ranger II owner/user, I am intimately familiar with its operation and its construction (component parts).

I would also note that I put a female QC fitting on the end of the hose provided by ETI. I also purchased 10-foot and 6-foot hoses with low pressure male and female QC fittings from Tejassmokers.com. I can use all 3 hoses seperately or in series and run the Weber Q100, the Ranger II, or the firepit with no problem whatsoever. Each appliance has a male QC fitting. These fittings were also purchased from Tejas Smokers. My Ranger II came with a hose with a flare fitting on one end, and a regulator with acme nut to connect to a propane tank. Obviously, I was unable to use the supplied hose to attach to the low pressure QC on the trailer. It was meant to be attached to a propane tank. All propane grills, fire pits, and stoves run on low pressure. It is the regulator's function to convert high pressure to low pressure, so every one of these appliances must have a regulator. The only difference is the location of the regulator. For example, when the Weber Q is converted, its regulator is removed, and the regulator at the tanks on the trailer is used in its place.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by C&G in FL

I agree entirely, but the question was asked if there were different types of QC fittings.

Absolutely right - I was just working on the troubleshooting, commenting that there should be no high-pressure fittings in what Tom & Linda were working with.

Originally Posted by C&G in FL

I would also note that I put a female QC fitting on the end of the hose provided by ETI. I also purchased 10-foot and 6-foot hoses with low pressure male and female QC fittings from Tejassmokers.com. I can use all 3 hoses seperately or in series and run the Weber Q100, the Ranger II, or the firepit with no problem whatsoever. Each appliance has a male QC fitting.

So those are extension hoses (like the Camco that I linked), and adding the female to the one from ETI makes it an extension, too. I like this system.

I put a male quick-connect on my Porta-Chef grill - same idea.

Originally Posted by C&G in FL

My Ranger II came with a hose with a flare fitting on one end, and a regulator with acme nut to connect to a propane tank. Obviously, I was unable to use the supplied hose to attach to the low pressure QC on the trailer. It was meant to be attached to a propane tank.

It appears from the Camp Chef site that they currently have the male flare fitting directly on the hard plumbing on the stove, but it's functionally the same setup.

The fact that the hose with regulator can't be used with a low-pressure supply is true, but isn't obvious to everyone.

[ATHiker]

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?