How To Connect a BBQ Grill to an RV’s Onboard Propane Tank

When you drive a vehicle with a large built-in propane tank, carrying around small disposable propane cylinders for your barbecue grill somehow seems, well… wrong. We’ll show you exactly how we set up our RV to allow us to connect our grill to our on-board propane tank.

While small portable grills are often designed to use disposable propane canisters, we have a whole list of reasons we object to doing that.

First, there’s nothing much worse than thinking dinner’s ready, only to discover that the propane ran out right after you put your food on the grill. Since those little canisters are so… little, that seems just about as likely to happen as not.

Second, we’re full-timers, so space is at a premium. Removing disposable propane cylinders from the list of gear we need to keep on board saves space, and of course avoids running out of them, too (the best way to exacerbate objection #1 above: rummage around for a fresh canister to finish cooking dinner, then find that you already used the last one). Even though you could connect the barbecue to one of those larger 20 lb portable tanks typically used for grilling in a sticks & bricks house, those of course take up even more of that precious storage space. And… they run out, too.

Third, there are the dual evils of waste (the type that ends up in landfills) and waste (spending money unnecessarily). Those little canisters cost more and are bad for the planet.

Lastly, a prime directive of a do-it-yourselfer is to identify ways of improving the RVing experience through simple modifications. How great is it to be able to eliminate a redundancy, while improving functionality and reducing costs. So having the grill connected to the RV’s propane system is a triple win. A quadruple win if you do the modification yourself. ;-)

Because we’ve received so many questions about this, we’ve added some additional details. Besides the video above, we’ve diagrammed out every part we used to modify our propane system to make grill connection (and disconnection) quick and easy. You can click on the two images below to view larger versions of the diagrams.

And if you want to download a copy of these images & the parts list, here’s a PDF document that contains both:

Downloadable PDF with Parts Diagrams and Shopping List

Of course, your system may be a little different, but these details will hopefully make it easy for your to get your grill connected to your RV, and toss those canisters (figuratively, of course).

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Please Note: the parts listed here worked for us for connecting our Weber Q1000 grill, but that only has an 8,500BTU/hour output. If you are connecting a higher-output grill, or a propane fire pit, the PRESSURE output using these components will be sufficient, but the FLOW RATE may be too low to support the full output you require. Larger diameter hoses and/or connection parts (be sure they’re for high-pressure propane) may be needed to supply what you need, but the list below & diagrams above should help you to piece things together successfully.

• Extend-A-Stay with 12′ Extension Hose
• 1″-20 Female Throwaway Cylinder thread x 1/4″ Male Pipe Thread Adapters – you’ll need two
• 15psi Propane Regulator (provides plenty of pressure for our 24′-long hose, but prevents oil build-up)
• 1/4″ NPT Brass Male-to-Male Nipple
• 1″-20 Male Throwaway Cylinder thread x 1/4″ Female Pipe Thread Adapters – you’ll need two
• 12′ Propane Extension Hose (if you need more than the one that’s already included with the Extend-A-Stay)
• 1.5″ Desk Hole Grommet (you only need this and a 1.5″ hole saw if you’re going to cut through a panel like we did)
• Propane 1/4″ High-Pressure Quick Connect – Female with Shutoff Valve
• Propane 1/4″ High-Pressure Quick Connect – Male
• Yellow Gas/PTFE Tape (YELLOW for propane. Use 4 0r 5 wraps on all threaded connections)
• Weber Q1000 Portable Grill (Manual igniter. Ours is a slight Frankenstein job, with electric ignition)
• Rolling cart for Weber Q1000
• Cover for Weber Q1000
• Table Kit for Weber Q1000

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