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Old 09-16-2020, 12:18 PM   #21
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I'm not sure what I'd do if I had it to do over again. We use a fire pit and Weber Q almost every time we camp here in the NW. Both have been converted to run off the quick connect. That took a little effort and quite a few hoses / fittings.

My wife didn't like to shut off the fire every time we cooked, so that required more hose and a quick connect tee fitting. It works fine and both appliances run simultaneously.

However, at this point we have kind of a rats nest of quick connect hose--I put it all under our outdoor carpet, but it's still a bit of a mess.

I also decided I wanted to run them both at home occasionally, which required a new regulator / quick connect assembly with an Acme nut attachment to connect to the cylinder.

I could have saved myself an awful lot of hose and effort by using a small 10lb cylinder the way many others are doing (though that would still leave me with the problem of not being able to run both appliances simultaneously without using extra hoses and/or cylinders).
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Old 09-16-2020, 01:28 PM   #22
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Originally Posted by cityofdestiny View Post
I'm not sure what I'd do if I had it to do over again. We use a fire pit and Weber Q almost every time we camp here in the NW. Both have been converted to run off the quick connect. That took a little effort and quite a few hoses / fittings.

My wife didn't like to shut off the fire every time we cooked, so that required more hose and a quick connect tee fitting. It works fine and both appliances run simultaneously.

However, at this point we have kind of a rats nest of quick connect hose--I put it all under our outdoor carpet, but it's still a bit of a mess.

I also decided I wanted to run them both at home occasionally, which required a new regulator / quick connect assembly with an Acme nut attachment to connect to the cylinder.

I could have saved myself an awful lot of hose and effort by using a small 10lb cylinder the way many others are doing (though that would still leave me with the problem of not being able to run both appliances simultaneously without using extra hoses and/or cylinders).
I have 3 appliances I run of the LP QC, BBQ, firepit and stove. Often I run two, mostly the BBQ and stove, at the same time and use a Tee between the two appliances with an additional 3' hose.

As the firepit is always a later in the evening thing, I have yet to run it at the same time as the other two. If doing so, one option is the Tee at the appliance closer to the trailer.

I carry one 12', one 10' and one 3' hose, along with the Tee, and have never had an issue with too many hoses running around. I mostly use the stove or BBQ near the trailer so the hose is no issue as most of it is run under the trailer. If away from the trailer I usually run it under the outdoor area mat, and if not the hose is real tough and not an issue.
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Old 09-16-2020, 02:12 PM   #23
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Originally Posted by medora View Post
How hard/costly is it to add a quick-connect to a typical duel-tank Escape setup?
As an update from my July post...

I'd looked at a variety of options to use the quick connect from my trailer, yet still use the original tank/regulator/hose/appliance combination set for both the Outlands Firebowl and Camp Chef grill.

I wouldn't be using both at the same time, so the propane demand won't be an issue.

As the 2 photos show, I put a male QC on the appliance side (Firebowl shown since I didn't want to unpack the grill).

I can now use a 12 foot gas line with male/female QC's between my 21NE's QC and the appliance.

I also added female QC's to both the firebowl and the grills original hoses so that if I wanted to use those appliances for picnics or in the backyard, I could use a spare 20 lb propane tank as the fuel source without the trailer attached to the end.
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CA620FB1-184E-4E3C-B91E-9D45863738A3.jpg   AD038473-E206-40E7-9273-2A61748DEAD9.jpg  
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Old 09-16-2020, 02:54 PM   #24
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I have 3 appliances I run of the LP QC, BBQ, firepit and stove. Often I run two, mostly the BBQ and stove, at the same time and use a Tee between the two appliances with an additional 3' hose.

As the firepit is always a later in the evening thing, I have yet to run it at the same time as the other two. If doing so, one option is the Tee at the appliance closer to the trailer.

I carry one 12', one 10' and one 3' hose, along with the Tee, and have never had an issue with too many hoses running around. I mostly use the stove or BBQ near the trailer so the hose is no issue as most of it is run under the trailer. If away from the trailer I usually run it under the outdoor area mat, and if not the hose is real tough and not an issue.
I've got a tee that connects to short (5 foot) hose that plugs into the trailer--I wanted to keep as much weight / strain off the quick connect plug on ttrailer as possible. I plug the two twelve foot hoses into the tee and usually run at least one of those those under the carpet.

We were out last weekend in the mountains and it got down into 41F/5C overnight--that meant that the firepit and grill/griddle were in use simultaneously a couple of times (early morning especially).

Had I wanted to do that with a portable 10lb tank, I'd have still had to disconnect one of the larger tanks and run a hose from the second device to it.

The quick connect in that scenario would still be my preferred option because of the "set it and forget it" aspect of the setup.

I shouldn't have sounded too sour on my setup because it works great and it met the goal of leveraging a single, standard source of propane. I think the process of re-plumbing my appliances is still too fresh in my mind (and the fact that I put my camp chef oven out of commission while trying to convert it).
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Old 09-16-2020, 03:32 PM   #25
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I am a user of a 5 lb refillable propane tank. As Iowa Dave mentions about the equivalent of five green bottles. I like the system and find that with frequent grilling we can last two weeks. Beside the benefit of refilling and conserving I have been burned several times with the green bottles loosing their mojo. No shutoff and removing them from the appliance seems the worst

One drawback of the five or ten pounders is storage. You need to have a place to transport them (ie front box). They should not be inside the trailer.
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Old 09-16-2020, 08:12 PM   #26
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I am a user of a 5 lb refillable propane tank. As Iowa Dave mentions about the equivalent of five green bottles. I like the system and find that with frequent grilling we can last two weeks. Beside the benefit of refilling and conserving I have been burned several times with the green bottles loosing their mojo. No shutoff and removing them from the appliance seems the worst

One drawback of the five or ten pounders is storage. You need to have a place to transport them (ie front box). They should not be inside the trailer.
We use a 10 lb tank, light and takes up very little room. I do carry a 1 lb disposable spare should the 10 lb run out.
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Old 09-16-2020, 09:20 PM   #27
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We use a 10 lb tank, light and takes up very little room. I do carry a 1 lb disposable spare should the 10 lb run out.
We use two 20 lb bottles mounted on our trailer, along with a convenient LP QC. No worries about running out, for either the trailer or exterior appliances. Nice, eh? [emoji4]
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Old 09-16-2020, 09:24 PM   #28
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Originally Posted by Ronn View Post
We use a 10 lb tank, light and takes up very little room. I do carry a 1 lb disposable spare should the 10 lb run out.
I think I’ve posted this before. I use the 10 lb vertical cylinder have had it a few years. It’s a Worthington cylinder. I have a plastic bucket that it fits in tightly. In fact I have a stack of shop towels to keep it lifted up out of the tapered bucket bottom. I put 4 screws with a washer through the bottom of the bucket to keep it in place. Cylinder does not get all scratched up. I quit caring the singles. I can and do pull a twenty off the camper if the little one runs out. When I go out for any length of time I make sure I have 50 lbs propane in three cylinders. I have about 6 or 7 cylinders for my cookers, large propane grill, weed dragon, heater etc. I use the partials on non critical devices. But my hardware store doesn’t mind topping off a partial if I bring one in, especially if I have an empty to fill too.
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Old 09-16-2020, 10:02 PM   #29
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I use my 10lb for camping, but it's also backup for 20 lb tanks for home BBQ.
Try that with a QC.
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Old 09-16-2020, 10:07 PM   #30
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Like pretty much everybody else, at home I connect the BBQ to the house natural gas, which connects to the city system, which is fed by the suppliers. Will never run out. Nice, eh! [emoji41]
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Old 09-16-2020, 10:48 PM   #31
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Like pretty much everybody else, at home I connect the BBQ to the house natural gas...
Jim, I assume that you mean "like pretty much everbody else who has gas service to their house and barbeques (or grills) enough to make the installation worthwhile..." There's a reason that those 20-pound tanks are commonly called "BBQ tanks", rather than "travel trailer tanks".
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Old 09-16-2020, 11:04 PM   #32
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Jim, I assume that you mean "like pretty much everbody else who has gas service to their house and barbeques (or grills) enough to make the installation worthwhile..." There's a reason that those 20-pound tanks are commonly called "BBQ tanks", rather than "travel trailer tanks".
You certainly enjoy stepping on my posts, don't you. Do enjoy.

How is that Escape holding up for you? [emoji6]
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Old 09-17-2020, 12:01 AM   #33
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Relax Jim. Having another opinion is not stepping on your post.

I have gas service, but I use 20 lb. tanks. I'd have a hell of a time dragging the BBQ to the middle of my yard to smoke pork butt ( so I don't annoy the neighbours ) if I was tethered to a gas line.
Freaked them out once when my smoke entered their kitchen through the patio doors and set off the smoke alarm. They thought their house was on fire.
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Old 09-17-2020, 01:56 PM   #34
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Originally Posted by Jim Bennett View Post
You certainly enjoy stepping on my posts, don't you.
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Originally Posted by gbaglo View Post
Relax Jim. Having another opinion is not stepping on your post.
... and neither is pointing out the reality of the rest of the world. While most Albertans have natural gas service, even in rural areas, that is not true in many other areas. Hooking up a home grill to natural gas service is certainly both desirable for most people, and common... but for this and other reasons it is not universal, and that's all was saying.
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Old 09-18-2020, 10:23 AM   #35
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Originally Posted by Jim Bennett View Post
We use two 20 lb bottles mounted on our trailer, along with a convenient LP QC. No worries about running out, for either the trailer or exterior appliances. Nice, eh? [emoji4]
Yes, very nice!
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Old 09-18-2020, 10:27 AM   #36
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Originally Posted by Brian B-P View Post
There's a reason that those 20-pound tanks are commonly called "BBQ tanks", rather than "travel trailer tanks".
Considering this is the very first time I've heard them called a BBQ tank, rather than a 20 lb propane tank, it can't be too common.

What's more common in my experience is people, incorrectly calling them 20 gallon propane tanks.
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Old 09-18-2020, 11:54 PM   #37
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Considering this is the very first time I've heard them called a BBQ tank, rather than a 20 lb propane tank, it can't be too common.
Possibly a local thing... but the point is that there are huge numbers of 20-pound propane tanks hooked up to barbecues (or grills) at homes.

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Originally Posted by TTMartin View Post
What's more common in my experience is people, incorrectly calling them 20 gallon propane tanks.
While I have rarely heard that, it's a sad statement about people's understanding of a gallon (assuming that this is in the U.S., where gallons are still used).

A properly filled 20-pound tank has a volume of nearly 6 US gallons and contains 4.73 US gallons of propane.
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Old 11-13-2020, 07:51 AM   #38
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I normally run my Weber 1200 bbq on a 20 propane tank, with the regulator on the tank, using the propane quick connects. I’d like to have the option of connecting it into the trailers propane supply. I bought the fittings to do this and feel I’m quite capable of doing it myself. My question is, I’d like to mount the quick connect on the frame between the front box and the propane cover. I’m looking for a metal or plastic box to enclose and protect the quick connect, any suggestions ?
Thanks Bob
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Old 11-13-2020, 09:18 AM   #39
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I have had good success using JB weld to attach brackets to the trailer frame. A little sandpaper to remove the paint, attach the bracket with JB weld applied to the frame and bracket, clamp or tape it in place until dry, and paint.

Brackets are available at any hardware store - look in the lumber section for framing braces. If you wanted a box, it could be attached to the bracket with screws.
https://www.amazon.com/Plastic-Enclo.../dp/B07GFPTTG3

The installed bracket with a propane connector would look like this:
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Old 11-13-2020, 03:48 PM   #40
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I have had good success using JB weld to attach brackets to the trailer frame. A little sandpaper to remove the paint, attach the bracket with JB weld applied to the frame and bracket, clamp or tape it in place until dry, and paint.

Brackets are available at any hardware store - look in the lumber section for framing braces. If you wanted a box, it could be attached to the bracket with screws.
https://www.amazon.com/Plastic-Enclo.../dp/B07GFPTTG3

The installed bracket with a propane connector would look like this:
Thanks. Nice clean install. I thought there must be an off the shelf product specifically to do this job. Ill make a bracket like yours with a piece of aluminum angle I’ve got around, then order a plastic box as you suggest. Good tip on the JB Weld, excellent product.
Thanks again, Bob
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