I noticed that Costco is selling a slightly different version of the Virco this year. The main changes are it now has two storage drawers that roll on ball bearings, two doors (the one on the left stores the tank and has a paper towel hanger on the door, and the door on the left is for storage. It also has a little tray you can pull out for wood chips for adding some smoke. My 8 year old Weber Genisys ran out of gas last week and Home Depot does not carry the filled tanks with the QDC (Quick Disconnect) fittings any more. That did not help the chops that were sitting on a cold grate. I told my wife it was an omen and she agreed to let me buy the new Virco at Costco. An hour later, we were at Costco, but they were sold out. Such is life. In the mean time, I've changed the fitting on my trusty old Weber and I'm back grilling several times a week till Costco gets the new Virco back in stock. Has anyone seen or purchased the new style Virco? The info here has very handy.

Delray, I think the 450 max is what you get when (if) you convert to NG. I have been able to get over 500 as you have with LP. I am in the process of converting to NG now, so I will keep you posted as to the accuracy of this claim. I got the NG line ran to my "Q" yesterday and purchased the 12' NG line with quick disconnect from Home Depot. I am just waiting on the kit from Virco now. As far as the flame adjustment goes I had the same yellow tips on my flames. After adjusting mine, it did not seem to make a difference in the color of the flame. We are at the same altitude so I am sure that your results will be the same. As long as you are not getting soot anywhere then I would not worry about it. If you do want to try and experiment, you can adjust the venturis for the burners as follows: Remove the drip pan, open the doors and lay down, looking up into your grill with a phillips screwdriver. Where the burner meets the valve, you will see a small screw in the venturi adjustment. If you undo the screw, you can rotate the short tube around the venturi, thereby increasing or decreasing the amount of air. If you increase the air flow it will decrease the yellow tips. Like I said, I have mine on wide open and didn't notice any difference. I called Virco on this and they suggested it might be the altitude here, and suggested some smaller orifices to compensate. I haven't really worried about it because the amount of yellow is minute and I don't have any soot. I do know that blue flames do get hotter, but my grill gets plenty hot so I don't think I am going to worry about it. At least not until I do complete my NG conversion and readjust if needed. Good luck. bsbbq

I believe this is done on purpose as I had discovered the same issue with mine when I was on LP. A good friend of mine has a Weber Silver C Series with a side burner and it does the same thing. I think the intention was that if the burner was allowed to run too low, it might blow out. Since the grill comes as an "LP" model, the gas is heavier than air. If the burner was to blow out easily, the gas could build up somewhere lower than the burner and then it could migrate to the mains if they were on. The next thing that could happen is obvious. When I converted to natural gas, I found the low on my side burner to be much better. Of course, natural gas being lighter than air, if it blows out, the gas just dissipates upwards. I don't know if that is a lot better, but at least I know I won't get an explosion. A couple of things you could consider, one would be to convert the grill to natural gas. The other is to make the valve smaller. The way to do this is to first remove the front cover of the grill by removing all of the knobs, then the screws holding each valve to the cover. Next, remove the four screws holding the panel on (two on each end) then you can pull the front panel forward, exposing the wires attached to the igniters. Once you gently pull the wires from the igniter modules, the front cover is free to be removed. Now, you can disassemble the front of the valve for the side burner with two small screws then remove the stem and front of the valve. When you do this, be careful not to lose the spring or "D" ring when you remove the stem. Once this is out, you can remove the brass cone inside the valve, it simply pulls out. If you use needle nose pliers to do this and to hold the cone, this will keep the grease on the cone for smooth turning. If you look at the cone, you will notice a small hole and a large hole. The large one is for the high setting and when the valve is in this position it allows the flow of gas to be controlled by the orifice. When the valve is turned to the small hole, this hole size controls the low setting. I did this successfully on my friends Weber and it worked out nicely. Once you have located the small hole, you have to make it smaller. The only way I have seen this accomplished without replacing the cone, is to solder the small hole shut, and then re-drill it to a smaller size. You will need a numbered drill bit set for this project and (Of course) you will want to turn your gas off first and disconnect and remove the tank just to be safe. I have included a link below, which will show you pictures of what a similar gas valve looks like apart. It is from a Members Mark, but the internal portion of the valve is identical. I would recommend probably starting with a #70 and trying that first. If it blows out too easily then increase it (lower drill number) one size at a time. A #70 should yield about 5500 BTU's with 11" of LP. I am running a #60 on my low setting which yields about 5750 BTU's at 7" of NG, so this should be fairly accurate. I hope this helps and there is also a chart to show you these BTU figures at the link below. Good luck. Here is a link that might be useful: BTU charts and valve pics

Here is a good recipie for my grilling friends! Title: Bbq Chicken And Andouille Hash With Poached Eggs Yield: 1 Servings Ingredients 6 oz chicken breast 1/4 c prepared bbq sauce 1 salt and pepper 2 tb olive oil 2 c diced cooked potatoes; -1/2-inch dice 1/4 c small diced onions 2 tb minced shallots 1 c chopped andouille sausage; , - (8 ounces) 1 tb minced garlic --------------------------POACHED EGGS-------------------------------- 4 eggs 3 tb sliced green onions -------------------------SAUCE PIQUANTE------------------------------- 1 tb olive oil 2 tb chopped onions 2 tb chopped green onions 2 tb chopped celery 2 tb chopped green bell peppers 1 tb minced shallots 1 tb minced jalapeno peppers; -seeded 1 tb minced garlic 1 tb chopped fresh basil 1 ts chopped fresh thyme 1 ts chopped fresh oregano 2 bay leaves 1 c peeled; seeded and chopped -italia 1 c chicken stock 1/2 ts salt 1/2 ts cayenne pepper 2 turns fresh black pepper 1 tb unsalted butter Instructions Heat the grill. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Brush the BBQ Sauce on the chicken, coating the breast completely. Place the chicken on the hot grill or broiler and cook for 5-6 minutes on each side. Set aside and cool. For hash: In a saute pan, heat the oil. Add the potatoes and saute, shaking the pan occasionally, for 2 minutes. Add the onions, shallots, and andouille and stir-fry for 1 minute. Small dice the BBQ chicken and add to the andouille mixture and saute for 1 minute. Add the garlic and season with salt and pepper, stir occasionally for 4 minutes. For poached egg: Bring 3 cups of water to a boil with 1/2 teaspoon white vinegar and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a small saucepan over high heat. Crack an egg into a cup and slide the egg gently into the water. Crack another egg into the cup and when the water returns to a boil slide this egg into the water as well. When the water returns to a boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer until the eggs are set, about 2-2 1/2 minutes. Drain on paper towels. Yield: 4 servings SAUCE PIQUANTE: In a sauce pot, heat the oil. Add the onions, green onions, celery, bell peppers, jalapenos, shallots, and garlic over high heat. Add the basil, thyme, oregano, and bay leaves. Saute for 2 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, stock, salt, cayenne, and black pepper and bring to a boil. Cook over high heat for 2 minutes, reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes. Stir in the butter and remove from the heat. To assemble, spoon a small amount of the sauce in the center of the plate. Place 3/4 cup of the hash on the sauce. Top with the poached egg and garnish with shaved green onions.