Outdoor Propane cooking

[GMike A]

Decided to start a separate thread on this rather than pollute someone else's thread with a discussion that is not relevant to all of their work.

I'm hoping for some ideas and see if I can cash in if someone has done it already?

On one my stick campers the stove rotated inside and outside so you could cook outdoors when nice. I don't want to do that for obvious reasons on my Casita BUT I am not putting the 3way fridge back on the passenger wall ala the original Liberty Deluxe. Instead it will be under the galley side.

I was thinking that I could take the existing propane pipe since its already plumbed over there and using some kind of door - make a lockable recessed, access port with a propane quick connection.

Has anyone done this? If so do you have any pictures or at least comments. I am sure I am not the first to have thought of this. I would like to cook outside under a screened in awning and enjoy some bug free hamburgers or hotdogs while sitting outside.

[mary and bob]

I suppose you could tap into that pipe, I would put a gas valve there if I was to do it. What I have done with our popup and daughters popup is to put a "T" on the tank and run a hose to the Coleman Roadtrip Grill. Gave up doing that because we don't cook in the camper or near it, so now I have a couple of the 11 pound tanks and take one of them to run the grille. A propane tank, 11 or 20lb fits nice in a plastic milk crate. For the 3 months we just spent snowbirding in one location I rented a 20lb tank from the campground for $16 to operate the grill and didn't use all of it.

[Steve L.]

You (Mike) would be tapping into the low pressure (downstream of the regulator) side of the propane system and would need the appropriate stove/grill. Stoves using the 1lb bottles are basically high pressure devices and are unlikely to work well on low pressure gas. Depends, I suppose, on how the grill regulator does it's regulating (i.e. lower pressure passes through without further reduction).

I've done some fussbudgeting with spare stove regulators for my Coleman grill stove but wasn't able to get something to work to my satisfaction on the low side of the gas system. I gave up and tapped in at the bottles like Bob did.

[Ice-breaker]

Escape offers an exterior quick connect propane outlet as an option on their trailers. I ordered one on my trailer that is being completed in about a month.

[Brian B-P]

Low Pressure
RV parts suppliers sell low-pressure propane quick-disconnect outlets with shutoff valves for this purpose, and I think it makes a lot sense if you want to use the same stove inside and out; inside-style stoves run on propane at a low pressure from the trailer's regulator. This is commonly done in tent trailers (pop-ups). There are readily available barbecue grills that can run on a low-pressure supply, to share the connection; look for a design that places the regulator on the end of the hose, and ideally is marked as supplying 11" WC output pressure.

High Pressure
If not moving the same stove between inside and out, it is easier to tee into the propane supply where it is at high pressure before the trailer's regulator and use common hoses, connectors, and appliances. My Boler's stove could not be made removable (it's a range with oven) so even though my barbecue could easily be converted to low-pressure use, I use a tee on the tank and run it directly; I also have a two-burner campstove.

[Steve L.]

I made two of these (one for each tank). I included a 90 to route the hose out the back so I could put the cover back on. The existing trailer connector goes onto the fitting at the bottom left.

In passing, I'll also mention that I found that the plastic knob that attaches to the tank are rated in flow rates. Usually BTU/Hr. Often, but not always, indicated by the color of the plastic handle. I took some care to be sure that the tank fitting I bought was equal to or greater than the fitting that came with the trailer. Since this new fitting was going to be "upstream" of the trailer fitting, I didn't want it to be a choke point where if the trailer wanted propane (stove, heater, water heater, reefer, etc) while cooking, I could trip the flow rate limiter. I don't know the max flow rates of the individual propane using trailer devices but I opted to err on the conservative side.

I'm not saying that all of that had to be done. It's just how I personally go about one of these wintertime projects. I have as much fun in the research as the doing.

I rigorously tested all my connections for leaks. Both soapy water and a propane detector.

[mary and bob]

Steve and Brian bring up the point that I overlooked, that being the existing propane line is already regulated to low pressure, and many grills or stoves have a regulator, so connecting to that line would not work.

[rgrugg]

FWIW we have used folding camp stoves and grills directly from an external tank without any kind of regulator beyond what might be in the stove itself.

[Steve L.]

Originally Posted by rgrugg

FWIW we have used folding camp stoves and grills directly from an external tank without any kind of regulator beyond what might be in the stove itself.

Me too. That's what I'm describing, picking up the gas before the trailer regulator (where it's still at high pressure) and using the grill's own regulator.

In the Coleman Grill stove, this is what the grill's regulator looks like. The part that the bottle screws into is the regulator.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by rgrugg

FWIW we have used folding camp stoves and grills directly from an external tank without any kind of regulator beyond what might be in the stove itself.

Yes, those are high-pressure appliances, which do not need (and probably can't work with the low pressure output from) the trailer's regulator.

I added a couple of italicized phrases to my earlier post for clarification.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Steve L.

In the Coleman Grill stove, this is what the grill's regulator looks like. The part that the bottle screws into is the regulator.

The component which Steve illustrated is a combined regulator and control, which is the problem if trying to use this type of stove on the trailer's low pressure supply: there's no point to readily connect in a low pressure propane supply, and the pressure in the connecting pipe is not known (to me, anyway). Some appliances, particularly grills, have the regulator and control as separate components connected by a hose carrying low pressure propane, so the regulator can be removed to use low-pressure propane directly into the control.