I think this kind of thing could happen to anyone using any brand gas grill, so it's a good warning to check all connections carefully before grilling. I confess I only checked the tank to regulator and regulator hose for leaks prior to my first usage of the Virco. The manual did say to also check the gas control valves, but I couldn't figure out how to get to them. I guess I could see them from underneath if I lay on my back, so that's what I'll do next time. I also recall that propane is heavier than air, unlike natural gas, which is lighter than air. So the propane can settle in low places and collect and then explode. Also, as I have recently noticed, a new steel propane container may react with the odorant in the propane charge, and the result is that it can be harder to detect leaks. Lots of people are probably buying new propane tanks with OPD valves rather than retrofit their old ones, so perhaps some extra caution is needed for the first tankful or so. All this makes me wonder if perhaps I may be installing the natural gas conversion kit sooner than I expected...;-) Here is a link that might be useful: Propane safety

I don't know about the CharBroil, but I converted my Members Mark to NG a year ago by drilling the orifaces for the main burners to 5/64's and the back burner to 1/16th -- this may at least get you started in the correct direction. When you convert to NG you do not need a regulator. One less thing to go out. ;->

I bought the Jenn Air 720-0061 LP from Lowes at least 12 or 13 years ago -- must have been around 2005(?) -- I remember that Lowes had a great promotion going on at the time. Anyway - I'm surprised to see the negative experiences reported here (not disputing them at all, just surprised). My own experience has been the opposite. I've had the grill outside in my backyard, and only bothered with the grill cover for part of the first winter. So this grill has lived outside in central NJ for about 13 years. It was excellent for the first few years, after which I noted that the max heat I could obtain seemed to be dropping a bit year by year. This grill actually became something of an fan item on BBQSOURCE-FORUMS.com 13 years ago: you can find threads I participated in back then under the username "Jon". In discussions with others that I "met" on the forum, I learned about proper care of the grill, and a few of us actually got into "modding" the grill as well. The grill itself was made by NexGrill. Maytag owns the Jenn-Air trademark, and licensed it for use with Lowes to promote this product line. (how's THAT for confused branding???). Many many stainless steel grills in the US are actually made by NexGrill or another one of a tiny handful of factories in China that specialize in these. Apparently, the company in the US that sources these from the Chinese factories can spec out the grade of parts used to manufacture their branded product. A lot of the "stainless steel" in products sold here are pretty low grade stainless. For whatever reason, though, it turns out that the Jenn-Air 720-0061 LP from Lowes was built with all high-grade stainless -- and there are no enameled parts. This grill, sitting outside in my yard for 13 years, uncovered, used hundreds of times, has zero rust on it -- none at all. Once I decided that it was worth trying to improve on the cooking temps I was getting with the several-year-old grill, I started by partially dismantling it, removing the stainless steel grids, the "flame tamers" (the deflectors that sit on top of the burners, but under the cooking grids), and the burners themselves -- which are made, btw, out of cast stainless steel. I found that the cooking grids are discolored, but show NO pitting, rust, etc. These are virtually like new with some scrubbing. I cleaned out the Venturi tubes that combine are and gas on its way to the burners: spiders tend to build webs in these, blocking air flow. Once I pulled out the 3 burners, I upended them and tapped them on a large rock: years worth of corroded metal powder came out -- this is natural build up over a period of years, and had also apparently been blocking air/gas flow. The flame tamers (thin steel sheet metal) are definitely corroded -- but usable for now (however, I address this further down in this note). Finally - I decided to try improving further on the max heat situation (you'll see this discussed on the BBQSOURCE-FORUMS in my thread(s) and others). Anyone who knows gas burners already knows this, but I learned that the maximum gas flow is limited by a tiny brass valve orifice: this is a small brass cylinder with a tiny hole in the middle, threaded to fit into the gas line. When you turn the knob on your grill (not the propane tank), the gas flows from the valve and then through the orifice before it can get to the burners. Turns out that if you're a bit handy, increasing the diameter of the orifice every so slightly (we're talking hundredths of an inch increase), enough extra gas flows to yield a significantly hotter flame. I searched the web and found that among all the replacement parts available for this grill, I was able to order 3 brand new brass orifices -- undrilled -- for about $2.50 each (these things are tiny -- about the size of a Tic-Tac). I drilled them out with a hand held drill to a slightly larger opening than the original and then put them and all the other parts back together. All in all, I spend about $7.50 on parts, and put in perhaps 3 hours of labor. In return, I had the original grill -- now several years old -- working better than new, achieving surface temperature of about 650 degrees F. Still all working just fine. I just did another search (Nov 2018) by grill model number, and found that I can STILL get replacement parts for the cooking grid (stainless steel or cast iron -- I prefer steel, but don't need to replace these at all yet), the flame tamers ($60 will get me three of these in stainless steel), and the burners themselves: about $75 each for an exact replacement of the original cast stainless steel items. If the igniters stop working, they can get replaced for $15 to $30 dollars. In essence, my 13 year old grill is still working well, and for perhaps $300 I can replace the burners and flame tamers - which are the ONLY parts showing signs of aging - and make this like new once again. A comparable grill, out of the same quality stainless, would cost far more than that. Admittedly, I'm handy, and like to fix things when I can rather than just trashing and replacing them. This may seem like a bit of a stretch to some readers, but nothing I did was especially difficult, and really wasn't very time consuming at all. Sure - a shiny new grill is always nice, but this one still looks excellent, and works just about like new, after 13 years, with only a small amount of maintenance effort needed. I might replace it -- but I'm wondering how much I'll have to spend to get something that works at least this well, and will last as long as this one has. - Jon

You can make a metal "T" fairly easily from black pipe (not galvanized pipe) and fittings you can buy at the store. Make sure threads are good, use gas pipe joint compound on the threads as lubricant, and use two good pipe wrenches to get them tight. Leak test with soapy water when you get done. I would also figure out you how you want to support and protect the "tree" you make, since its going to be fairly large and heavy. You don't want someone to move appliances around to clean or get something out of the way, and end up damaging a valve or flexible line when they hit your "tree". Bruce