The two wheels on the end where the pull handle is attached, these are the ones that have locking levers. There is an instructional label low on the cabinet as well. I've found it's a bit difficult to see and manipulate the levers, though, but they are there!

On the replacement issue, the best thing is to call Virco and explain to them your problem. They will advise you of the next step to take (usually to send them a copy of your receipt with a letter explaining what the replacement is needed for).

Is there an email address for Virco customer service/ warranty?

I am new to this forum and I must say that the bantering between some of the readers is quite hysterical. Do I dare follow such wit? Well, here goes.

From what I have read, I feel comfortable with my decision to purchase a Virco. I am a firefighter and we use our current unit endlessly at the station. Our two year old one is falling apart. Its time to upgrade to something that will last.

After reading the previous threads, it seems that I need to be almost as lucky as winning the lottery in order to find a unit in stock (CA, Bay Area).

I must ask, why hasent anyone suggested purchasing a unit 'on line'? I would appreciate any input from anyone who has gone through this mail order process and if they recommend it.

Thanks

I think it would be because of the $224.00 freight and the 4-6 week lead time.

Yep. That would do it!

Another positive word on Customer Service.

I just got my grill home an hour ago. The knob for the side burner was missing. Called Customer Service at the 1-909 number and a new knob is on the way. No hassle. Easy.

Another note: The grill got a lot of attention while I waited for a second friend to bring his truck (it didn't fit in the Trailblazer brought by the first friend).

Only one women commented, but a number of men stopped to look at the grill which was taken out of the box for loading. I commented to my friend that here we had wasted our younger years on makeup and fancy clothes, when all we had to do was either stand next to a gril or dress like one to get a man's attention.

My husband doesn't know I got the grill. I expect it will be getting a lot more attention tonight when he gets home.

Sue

Woo Hoo - Called all over the state and FINALLY was told that 4 arrived at my local store. By the time I got there 2.5 hours later - THEY WERE GONE. Saw a guy bringing one out as I was walking in. Decided to try one more store about 20 miles from this one - and low and behold --- They didn't put them out on the floor yet and a wonderful Costco employee wheeled one out right from the loading docks. NOW I AM COOKING WITH GAS!!!!
Comparing the Virco to the Member's Mark at Sam's though - I wasn't crazy about the ceramic grids and the ONE YEAR WARRANTY!!! Can't beat Virco's 5 year AND Costco's LIBERAL "INFINITE" return policy.
I have been buying ALL my major purchases at Costco because of that for years. I recently was able to returna 3year old Toshiba TV and buy a new one (returned a 27", bought a 32" - heehee)
I am so giddy or can't you tell???

WHERE DID YOU GET ONE IN NJ?

I'll go and pick one up tonight if you can tell me where to find one?

HAZLET, NJ. (732) 335-3804

He shoots....HE SCORES!

I actually called them before you posted! (I was calling all over NJ once you said one of the stores had them in.) Hazlet said they had one left in the box, and "Tanya" was nice enough to hold it for me until I got there.

Let me guess...you FIRST went to Edison. ;) I also called there, and they said they had a number come in today and were sold out. I currently live in Livingston, which is only about an hour from Hazlet, so not too bad. Much better than the 300 mile round trip I was figuring I'd be taking to Harrisburg, PA later this week...if they came in.

FYI, one of the CostCo reps (forgot which store) said they expected a large shipment near the end of August...in time for Labor day weekend. So for anyone else still looking for one of these grills around the U.S. you may need to wait another month, but they should be coming in.

Congratulations Joe.

To All:
I have a couple of questions.

First one is for grilling basics:

What do you do when cooking for 2? Do you pre-heat with all burners and keep them going through cooking or do you preheat then turn off the ones that will not have food cooking directly above?

Lighting the Virco burners:

When lighting the burners, only the first one that is placed on 'high' lights, the others don't when turned on after the first one is lit. It doesn't matter which one I select as the 'lighting burner', it is the only one to light.

We successfully did the flame adjuster thing (almost made the same mistake as another poster and adjusted the forward screws), and i can see starter sparks on all three burners. Any ideas?

First, I only use the burners that I am going to cook over, unless I am cooking indirectly.

Second, did the burners light ok before you adjusted the venturis? I ask because I had a similar problem after adjusting mine. I had opened them up all the way and was getting too much air. I only discovered this after lighting the burners manually and noticing that the flame near the end of the tube by the ignitor was intermitant. Once I closed the venturi just a bit, the gas traveled a bit further and lit fine. The other idea is to bend the ends of the ignitors a bit towards the holes in the burners, that seemed to help me. Good luck.

The ignitors are paired in circuitry, so if you bend one closer then it may spark but its "mate" may not. So all need to be adjusted carefully. Also check that the ignitor wires are firmly pushed into the ignitor module - if they are backed out at all the spark may short circuit at that point and never get to the burners.

Ron89xj or anyone else:

How do you replace the smaller orifices on the burners? I got them already, but if you can give some advice where to look for the originals. Thanks

Kimwipes,
1st-remove the burners. At the rear-bottom of the burner there is a nut and washer which needs to be removed from the stud welded to the bottom of the burner. At this point the burner is loose. Lift/twist the burner up and back (away from the front or the grill) to remove the burner. 2 of mine came right out, one had to be manipulated to get it out. If you look where the burner inlet was set around the valve, you will see the brass orifice facing directly to the rear of the grill. I used a small(don't remember the size-deep socket) to remove. This all took about 20 minutes. Good luck.

I have been lurking on this board for awhile. I just purchased a Virco about 3 wweks ago. BTW, the Brick Twp. store in NJ seems to have them routinely.

Anyway, now that people have had them for awhile, a few problems seem to be percolating to the surface especially re: burner operation.

I don't know, they are not really complex pieces of equipment and surely the quality appears to be there on the rest of the grill. I hate to think I have to return it because the burners do not function correctly.
Also, I tend to burn everything I cook.

Well, I've have ignitor problems, and the center grill (with the notch) warped a bit, and a few other relatively minor flaws, but I have no complaints about the burners. They seem to function perfectly well for me. The rotisserie/rear burner is fantastic; what a relief not to have to deal with indirect heat from below, either from gas or coals. I can use a disposable aluminum pan to catch the drippings. Viva Virco!

Overlord - I'm not seeing any burner issues. The only posts I see in regards to the burners are in regards to switching to natural gas, the kit, etc.

About the ignitor issues. I don't think they'd fall into the category of "problem". Seems they just need adjusting. When we first purchased ours, I *think* all 3 burners lit up the first time, but the 2nd and subsequent times, only one or 2. It seems they either need adjusting or fall out of adjustment a bit in the packing/shipping process.

All you have to do is remove the grates, bend over and with your thumb, push down the little implement to be closer to the other sparky thing (sorry for my terminology). They need to be a certain distance away for the mini-lightning bolt (sorry again but it's more interesting than saying "spark") to "talk" to the other sparky thing & make the connection. :) Since doing this, all 3 burners light instantly every time.

OK - Look, I didn't have my coffee yet, but I think you get my drift.

Overlord - did you get a Virco yet? Are you having problems with this? Not to worry!

Spambdamn - I'm finding the Rotisserie burner to be a godsend in cooking ribs, etc. I've been using it alot in combo with the bottom burners. I.e.; To cook 2 full slabs, I put each slab on the ends of the grill with the burners under them off, have the center burner on along with the rotiss. burner. They are coming out so perfectly even. Don't know how I lived without a rear burner as it is making all the difference in the world. Sorry about your warping problem. It's hard for me to fathom this is possible given the serious thickness of these grates.

Can you believe I've not used my rotissarie yet? Shame on me. I'm planning on trying a pork roast within the next few days. Would you all advise putting the bottom burners on low in combo with the rear burner? Or is full blast rear burner enough? The roast is relatively small. About the size of a more elongated honeydew melon.

Rear burner only, with a drip pan underneath it. Use a nice rub and you will get excellent results.

Meagain,

Got a few questions as I'm new to serious grilling.

About the ribs. Do you have the rotisserie burner on high to cook them? What is the setting on the center burner?

Also, are you using a rib rack or just placing them over the unlit burners.

How long did it take for the two racks to cook, and do you turn them or leave them be for the full cooking time.

I'm still having a problem with the igniters but have to give it more attention tonight.

I did have orange flames while cooking some marinated chicken last night. Not sure if the flame was reacting to the food or if it needs further adjustment. Is an orange flame expected during cooking?

Sue

Yes, I use the rotis rear burner only and get great results. Having the bottom burners on sort of defeats a large part of the purpose of having a rear burner, IMHO. With just the rear burner one can use a drip pan without having anything boil away or burn into the drip pan. Also, The Virco manual says not to use the bottom burners at the same time as the rear burner. The only time I'd use a bottom burner might be one on the left side, to heat a smoker box full of wood chips. I'd advise against using the right hand rear burner along with the rotisserie, as this can overheat the rotisserie motor.

I recently cooked a 14 lb turkey using the rear burner only on the rotisserie. It cooked in record time, about 2 1/2 hours. It was nicely browned and quite tender. I use a meat thermometer and cook poultry to a minimum temp of 165 for the white meat and 175 for the dark meat.

Wooo! Lots of info!

Bsbbq - Any suggestions for a rub for this pork roast? I haven't explored what I'll do with it yet.

Cookingrvc/Sue - On the ribs... I turn on the rotiss/backburner about 75% up. The center burner at about 50%. The ribs go right on the grates over the unlit burners. No turning. Bone side down. I've been mostly going by the thermometer on the cover with this to create an "oven" temp of about 375ish. Can't remember how long they took. I think about 1.5 hours? I really need to write this stuff down! I do a similar setup with wings.

I think I tried doing 2 slabs of ribs with just the center burner on full blast, but it didn't get quite hot enough? Also the inner edges of the ribs seemed to cook more. I suppose I could have rotated the ribs around, but found that cutting down the center burner & adding the back burner created a more even heat so I ran with that.

Sounds like you might need to push those ignitors in a bit more. I'm sure you won't have a problem after that. Did you 'open' the flame adjustor thing all the way? Seems like that's what people do to get the blue flame. I have a nice blue flame but still see an occasional piece of yellow. My DH did the adjustment so I don't know if he did it all the way or not and it's so minor that I've been lazy about checking it out.

I'm pretty sold on the rear burner/bottom burner combo, but I'm only cranking one bottom burner about 1/2 way. I suppose if I had all 3 burners on that that might be more of what the manual is referring to. Anyhoo - I'm going to keep using this method.

He's back, I figured as much when his memberpage said "Arizona", but he was talking about Vircos available in New Jersey. So let's see, we have Lpsage....cgirt172, .... and now overlord258. Obviously this guy has no life. TROLL ON sageman!! Or wait a minute...maybe it is Sagebitch!! Or maybe, nobody knows for sure. (except IT'S therapist) You just can't help yourself can you? Now, with this latest identity change, I doubt this entity even HAS a grill, much less the mental capacity to know how to operate one.

LLLLOOLOLLLLL!!!!! Good call bsbbq. Strangely however, the guy is actually growing on me. :) But my sense of humor has always been on the wacked side for a young lady such as myself.

I do want to thank lpsage and Alek (not exactly sure who posted it first & too lazy to look) for the Bar Keepers Friend suggestion. My grill looks like the day I unpacked it. :)

Meagain, are you using Barkeepers Friend on the outside only or are you cleaning the innards with it.

I have a stainless steel Dacor cooktop and backsplash in my kitchen, and I just use Windex to keep them clean. Used it on the Virco outer to remove fingermarks and schmutz from grilling.

Also, I hadn't heard from you so I went ahead and wung it. I did two racks of babybacks using the rotisserie and the back burner only. They came out wonderful. To feed a crowd though,the rotisserie doesn't do it. Your method may be better in that instance.

I have made the adjustments to the flames and have a nice quiet blue, however, we are still having problems with the ignition, even the rotisserie doesn't light consistently.
Will have to place a call to the technical support folks.

Sue

Some of the orange/citrus based cleaners work well to maintain the shine. Formula 409 Orange etc... Another solution is WD-40. It will clean your grill up pretty well, although the "oily" stainless cleaners tend to attract dust and airborne particulates.

Stainless Steel Magic is more of a wax/polish then a cleaner but it leaves the best protection.

Cookingrvc/Sue - Sorry I didn't see your post fast enough. How many slabs did you do on the rotissarie? How long did they take? I have a friend that does ribs on the rotiss but I figured setting up would be more of a pain & something more to clean. You have a Dacor cooktop? Nice! When the time comes to remodel my kitchen, I'm hoping to get a Stainless Dacor Epicure range. :) The Viking is nice but I have a problem with the concept of not having sealed burners.

I used the Bar Keeper's Friend on the outside. For the Stainless. I was getting some discoloration that 409, Fantastic et al didn't clear up. I couldn't find Stainless Steel Magic but purchased a similar product at Home Depot to finish it/shine it up. It was an oily type product that I felt was very similar to WD-40 - just maybe not as intense.

I'm afraid I haven't been too diligent in cleaning the inside of the grill. Have to get to it.

Question for the board: Has anyone followed Virco recommendations and put sand/basic kitty litter in the drip tray to collect grease? Is it a good idea?

Meagain,
I cooked two slabs of ribs and they took about 50 minutes.
I lined a cookie sheet with foil and used that as a drip tray under the rotisserie. The rotisserie is somewhat unweildy but was a quick cleanup.

I am curious how often folks cleans the inside of their grill and how they go about it. I was thinking that perhaps it should get somewhat grungy to impart more flavor but not to the point where there are hunks of pertrified food collecting on the burner covers.

Sue

The best way to deal with annoying insects here is to call in Spike the exterminator.

In regard to stainless steel cleaning, I found that Kitchenaid Stainless Steel cleaner/polish worked great on the exterior of my Virco.

I don't worry too much about the interior of the grill. I put the grill grids in the dishwasher once in a while; i'm not too worried about black carbon building up on them. It's like seasoning. The discoloration and buildup on the flame tamers and the grease deflectors under the burners is pretty much unavoidable and not worth trying to clean up. Of course large chunks of food are best broken off and discarded.

Speaking of annoying insects, I hope everyone is double checking for spider blockage if their grills have been left out for a while and they can't seem to light the burners. All it takes is one little spider to block an air intake and the gas can build up fast. (OK, spiders are arachnids, not insects, but that's besides the point).

Oh, and thanks to Spike for promptly handling the latest "case".

I'm rotisserying a 10 lb fresh turkey today... rubbed it down with McKormick Cajun spice and authentic Indian curry powder and let it soak in overnight in the fridge. Filled a Charbroil cast iron smoker box with wet hickory chips and put that over the left hand burner, got that going good and then added the spit plus turkey. I found the chips kept on going by themselves after the flames died down, so I haven't had to keep the left hand burner on during most of the rotisserying.

My office window is right by the Virco and I can tell you the combination of light hickory smoke, cajun spices, curry, and turkey smells great!

Sue, you should call the appliance store you purchased your kitchen appliances from. We were told never to use harsh chemicals such as Windex, Fantastic, etc. on our stainless steel. I imagine this is the same with an outdoor grill. The store recommended Bar Keeper's and any brand of stainless steel spray polish.

I generally clean the interior of my grill once or twice a year. I probably would just brush burnt residue off the flame tamers if it accumulates. My old grill had briquets and I used to just flip them every now and then.

Spambdamn, When cooking with the rotis. did you have the lid open or closed. I have not used the rotis. yet. With my old MHP, I used to leave the lid partially open by propping it up with a rock on the side between the grill and the lid. Is this neccesary with the Virco? Also, what temp. did you cook the turkey on?

spambdamn - Did you have the rotissarie burner on full blast?

Zbull,

Thanks for the info. I have been using Windex daily to clean my stainless cooktop, backsplash and monster Vent-A-Hood vent (of course this gets cleaned less often than daily) for 4 years and they look as good as the day they were installed.
It doesn't appear to harm the surface at all.

Sue

I usually follow the Virco instructions and leave the rear burner on full blast. However, this seems to cook larger birds perhaps a bit too quickly so I'm going to experiment with lower settings.

I leave the lid closed - there is plenty of air circulation throught the bottom and rear vents. The hood thermometer doesn't register more than about 150F, but since it's wildly inaccurate I'm not sure i believe it. I think I'm going to replace it with a better one, such as available fro the New Braunfels smokers. This will involve drilling out the mounting hole on the hood, but it should be ok.

Question about the smoker boxes. Would you believe I've never tried smoking before? Anyway - I ran across some at Expo and Home Depot and they are these tiny little boxes about 4-5" wide x 8" long x 2" tall.

Is that normal? They seemed so terribly tiny to me.

Also - where do you put the smoker box? Do you rest it under the grates on the tamers if the grill is full? And does it really impart some flavor? I need to broaden my horizons here with this. Is it possible to smoke say - a full salmon filet with these?

meagain,
Yes it is posible to do what you say. I have two of these smoker boxes from Lowes. I found though that they allow too much air to the chips and they burn too quickly. A way around this is to wrap the lid of the smoker box in foil and then use your bbq fork to poke a couple of holes through the foil and slots in the box, just enough to let the smoke out. I was able to get some nice smoke for about 30 minutes doing this. The size is fine, I found this size is adequate for imparting a smoky flavor in most meat items. For longer cooking I bought another one and I leave the left grate off when I do long cooking and rotate them using my spatula. I sit them right on the flame tamer on the left burner. I had real good smoke from hickory, apple and mesquite chips. See me site for more info.

Here is a link that might be useful: Smoking on a gas grill

meagain
I have used basic kitty litter in the drip tray to collect the grease for the past year. Works great and is very easy to clean up I just dump it in the garbage can and then add more.

I have used "sheila shine" to keep the stainless steel looking good. But it is a little oily and I have found it attracts dust outside. But you don't have any finger prints showing. It was given me by my salesman when I bought my kitchen Dacor Epicure oven range.

GrillIt - How do you like your Epicure? What size did you get. That's the range I plan on getting if/when I remodel the kitchen. What a treat that must be to have!

The Epicure oven range is great. I have the 36 inch oven range. With the dual fuel the oven heats up super fast and I find that everthing I cook in it turns out great. The gas range is super fast heating up and the control is amazing. I thought that my Thermador barbecue with it's 2 burners were going to be similar to the Dacor - its burners don't even compare to the Dacor even though the BTU's are comparable. It may be because Thermador spent more on prefecting the grill than on the two side burners.

Drool drool drool

This thread is rapidly approaching the 100 message limit, so I created part 3. The link to it is below:

Here is a link that might be useful: Virco Grill Part 3

Received my knobs from Virco and still had a problem with the rotisserie knob. Seemed the stem was different and therefore the standard knob did not fit.

Turns out the stem was broken (where it has that slit, the top part was missing). Had to send them a copy of my receipt and their sending me a new rotisserie valve.

Ceasar over at Virco has been very helpful and said he would walk me through the valve change once I received it.

Sue

Kitty litter in the grease try. Any chance of that catching fire? ALthough, I guess the grease can catch fire too.

Anyone have an opinion on safety issue?

Sue

This thread has reached its message limit. Please post any new Virco messages in Part 3, which has already been created.

Here is a link that might be useful: Virco Grill, Part 3

Well, 100 is *supposed* to be the limit, LOL!

Maybe it was all those messages from "lpsage" and company that had to be deleted...?

Please Post Cooking experences. ie
does the grill sear well? does it get to 600+ temp
how does it look after a few months of grilling?
how about low & slow cooking?
are you owners still happy after a few months?

Thank You!
Pete_l

I wonder if anyone might be willing to share with me what they know about the Virco natural gas conversion kit for The Classic? I would like to convert my Classic to natural gas, but the kit is no longer available. I've watched a very informative video on youtube behind the general process of doing it yourself from scratch, but someone did post a reply to that video, mentioning the need to also change the burners to natural-gas-friendly versions to prevent "yellow flames" and "sooting", which the video did not address. So it gives me pause. It would sure be helpful is someone could tell me what parts their Virco natural gas kit included. I would be very grateful!

Many thanks,
David Noble
Sammamish, WA

I purchased the Costco "Classic" back in the early 2000's - I think it was 2000 to be exact. I am STILL using it in June of 2019 (love to read the "I'm afraid of this new product's longevity / reliability" comments posted in 2002). Went through several grill covers - I leave it out all year long - much too heavy to move around and I am in NJ so we don't use it after November open it in late April/Early May. A good Quality Cover is important to keep water out of the side burner compartment (does not drain at all) and main burners - water is bad. But if I took some photos of this grill you would think it was only a few years old. It is by far the best grill I ever owned - replaced the heavy duty high BTU side burner once because of water damage (found an exact replacement - you need to search for the specific model to buy quality parts - not the imported junk sold on Amazon) and the main burners once in 18 years - one of them needs replacement again - I did find the CORRECT heavy gauge stainless main burners on line at a BBQ parts store. As a comparison (you get what u pay for) the thin gauge stainless burners that u get from Big box or Amazon cost around $20 or less for all 3 burners - the correct heavy gauge SS replacement burners cost over $20 each - if u but the cheap ones they will rot out in a season or maybe two - the heavy gauge replacements will last 5 to 10 years. Other than trying to find a quality cover that will last more than 2 years (I am trying a new "King Kong" brand cover - it's more $$$ than the run of the mill types but fit, feel, vinyl thickness seems to be of a much higher quality - last one was a top of the line Sears brand - got about 4 years out of it before it rotted away. The grills are indestructible as is the frame, cover and other parts that fall apart on other grills in 5 years or less, no rust or corrosion anywhere, easy to clean,

BTW - I converted mine from propane to Natural gas after the first 3 or so years once NG was available in my neighborhood, I also converted a 40 year old Propane fireplace to Natural Gas.. You don't need a "special kit" from the manufacturer - all that is needed is either replacing the venturi valve orifices on each of the burner controls including the 3 main burners, the rotisserie burner and the side burner, or you can carefully drill out the old orifice to support NG (Propane is under higher pressure and uses a smaller hole than NG) - I did this on the fireplace - you need a special sized (numbered drill bit) drill bit used by machinists - they use numbered bits as opposed to what most people are familiar with like 1/8" may be a #34 in numbered bits - they can be had just google - I think Harbor Freight may carry them as well since they are used by the automotive repair industry as well. Once you look up the correct size hole for Natural gas in your area (sometimes extreme elevation may require a different size than sea level - easy enough to research) I recommend using a drill press (I have a small one that cost under $100) for a perpendicular hole - but the orifice metal is soft brass - this isn't rocket science. If you want to purchase replacement venturis - especially if your not sure if u may move and convert grill back to propane) they are very inexpensive for the kit, size / threads are pretty much standard - any good Fireplace, Professional Plumbing that deals in gas appliances, or BBQ grill stores (on line or retail stores) can provide you will the venturis u need based on the model grill - or worst case - u may have to remove an old venturi and take it to the store or measure it using a caliper or precision ruler & a photo to send to on-line store. There are only a few different sizes & most BBQ grills are one size.

The post that said " I heard you need to change burners if u convert from propane to N.G. or u get a yellow flame" is total nonsense - if they were told that by a salesman - they were being ripped off. The burner doesn't care if the fuel is propane or NG - that is ridiculous when u consider how many other gas appliance can run on either fuel and imagine having to change the burners in a 600,000 BTU Pool heater because you changed from propane to NG or visa versa - that would cost about $500... I converted both my fireplace & grill to NG and did not change either devices burners - the FP I drilled out the venturi and the grill my local FP store/repair shop (been there for 40 years - an old timey type shop) had the 5 venturis needed for the grill - again not special for my grill - same size as Weber and other big USA name brands (Ducane, Viking etc...). I think they were something like $2 to 3 dollars each.

Taking apart the gas control valve is easy once you get it out of the grill - a bit difficult cause you have to lay on your back to access the valves. REMEMBER you also need to remove the old Propane feed hose assembly from the main valve assembly that has the gas input male flare fitting (should be 3/8" male flare - if you measure the outside diameter of fitting it will measure 1/2" !! that is 3/8", a true 1/2" fitting would measure 3/4" outside diameter - I don't know why gas fittings are listed by INSIDE DIAMETER when all other plumbing is measured by outside diameter - anyway - if it measures 1/2" then it is 3/8" that you would need to order/buy - this can be purchased on Amazon - the hose comes in 6', 12', 25' & 36' either 3/8" or 1/2" fitting - one end - the female 3/8" flare - screws onto grill 3/8" male flare - the other end is a two piece quick connect safety push & click connector - u need to have an outside male NPT (pipe thread) connection from you on/off ball valve - I believe it is 3/8" also (not flare - NPT) - the hose comes with the quick connect adapter that screws onto the 3/8" male NPT - the other end is the "quick connect" female - the hose has the male push on quick connect. The rubber hose is actually 1/2" even though they list this as a 3/8" (I accidently ordered the 1/2" hose & Fitting - 2x as expensive - longest = 24', and huge in comparison to what I needed - as I said before the 1/2" is much less common - harder to find and measures 3/4" fittings, hose etc... - had to send it back to amazon and replace with a 36' x 3/8" worked perfectly & extra length was needed. Having an outside ball valve allows me to shut system off when not in use - in case a critter chews thru my hose - but if you disconnect the quick connect fitting it has an automatic shutoff at the fitting - good if someone pulls off hose at house but doesn't help if vinyl hose is cut or eaten. The hose I have is 15 years old - no leaks.

o conversion is relatively simple 2 step process - replace the 5 venturis or remove and drill with correct numbered drill bit sized for NG & replace propane high pressure hose with low pressure 3/8" x length needed - 3/8" flare on grill end & quick connect on hose end - recommend installing outside ball valve to shut of gas when not in use.