Natural Gas vs. Propane

[singpilot]

Ok, I suspect I know the answer, but the brain trust here always has the answers, as long as it doesn't involve bush of any kind. Pictures of bush are interesting, but inevitably lead to discussions of who knew the bush before Saddam, geez.....

Ok, I have a natural gas clothes dryer, and want to put it where there is no natural gas (except the kind I get when I see another thread about who lied again....).

Can it be converted to propane, or does it need to be?

[red-beard]

Propane contains a lot more energy than Natural Gas. You have to get an orifice kit to restrict the flow of propane. Go to the manufacturers web page and look for the kit. Most Propane Dryers, or other appliances for that matter, are Natural Gas and converted to Propane.

One question though. Is there Natural Gas in the house or in the area, just not that spot? I ask because you can just have your gas line extended to that area. NG piping is pretty darn easy (screw together). You just put pipe dope on before scrwing them together so they won't leak. Much easier than sweating copper pipes, and if you make a mistake, you can unscrew them.

James

[Joeaksa]

Red,

Believe he is talking about putting it on the boat.

JA

[onewhippedpuppy]

Typically changing the orifices are pretty easy, I've done it on furnaces and water heaters. Cheaper than a new one too.

[singpilot]

Thanks Joe, no, not on the boat, but in the hangar. No natural gas anywhere.

I suspect, the dryer being a Kenmore (Sears) I can find the kit. Thanks everyone.

[dhoward]

Was there ever any question?

Taste the meat, not the heat....

[RickM]

Here are the instructions for the reverse conversion. Seems there's a leak limiter plug and pin involved as well.

"Re: Kenmore Dryer LP to Natural Conversion

Hi,

You should have gotten a leak limiter in the Nat kit,
with the orifice. Just a small brass plug that screws into
the top of the regulator. The LP version has a pin
attached that holds the reg open, the Nat version's just
a plug, with no pin.

Be careful handling the igniter when doing the conversion.
These are very brittle, and shouldn't be dropped or
bumped.

Most guys pull the entire valve/burner assy to do this,
but it's unnecessary. I only pull the burner itself to do
this job. Prevents any possibility of gas leaks at the union.
You can do it this way without even turning off the gas.

Basically two 5/16" screws and just the burner assy -
with igniter attached - comes out, after which you can
replace the orifice using a little 3/8" box-end wrench.
The leak lim can just be grabbed with a pliers. Not a
tough job, this one's easier than it sounds.

Hope that's of some help.

God bless,

Dave Harnish
Dave's Repair Service
New Albany, PA
www.DavesRepair.com
drs@sosbbs.com
570-363-2404 "

[Taz's Master]

My dryer was converted from natural gas propane. At our previous residence we had gas, we moved and now have propane, my wife actually did the conversion while I was at work. She's probably more able than I, but usually if not very simple leaves stuff like that for me. So I expect this to be a rather straightforward operation.