easy or hard to convert ?

I have searched the board, and found posts that say it is easy to switch a B to propane, and other posts which say the parts needed are rare and hard to find...
so please, which is it?

One post says you need new pilot, new burners, new drip pans - "Bottom line, the parts for converting the B to propane were made back in the day but are difficult to come by"

another posts says:"Your Service Manual tells you how - the orifices need to be changed" - which makes it sound very easy.

Please can this be cleared up?

I am looking at a not too good looking BZ, and a beautiful B. I need to have propane, we are off grid. The BZ owner is pretty proud pricewise of his stove - so I don't want to have to buy it just for propane parts.

Per the manual, you can convert a regular "B" by just changing the orifices (or would that be "orifie"?), if you cut the chimneys off the burners. Some of us preferred to not do that as we rather like the quaintness of the old chimney-style burners. In which case, you must use the BZ burners/drip-pans/pilot and those are the harder-to-find-parts.

The BZ, besides being propane ready (just by switching out the orifice's), also had the upgraded griddle which has the heat shield and helps keep your griddle from warping.

Hope that helps a tad bit.

Thanks Robbie, do you know where I can find a picture of these burners and what I would be cutting off?
Is it cut off with something like a hacksaw?

http://static.flickr.com/120/296757640_9e538b4f26.jpg

Here is how I understand it. With natural gas the pilot tubes are angled so that the gas flows downward to the burners. With propane the burners are raised so that the propane flows upwards to the burners. When you raise the burners with these tips you must have shallow drip pans and you have to cut of the tips of these high burners, or the pots won't sit on them. I hope this helps.

Lori G.

<font color="#FFFFFF" size="1">[ November 14, 2006 12:41 PM: Message edited by: Lori G. ]</font>

If that is the case why not manufacture (southern
engineering) a different bracket for the pilot
assembly.
Lowering the pilot assembly will do the same thing
and you do not have to hunt different burners
and drip pans and do not have to cut the tops off
of the existing burners.
Just a thought
Pokey

Yeah...what he said [img]smile.gif[/img]

OK, I'm no chemist, but my father is. And one of the very few things that I can remember from his efforts to get me through Organic Chemistry is that propane is heavier than air, and natural gas is, generally, depending upon its mixture, lighter than air.

But from here on out, I'm making this up. I believe that I've read on the group, or elsewhere, that the burner placement has more to do with the heat output of propane vs. natural gas and the consequent mixture of the gas with air and the required distance of the flame from the burner, but, as I'm making it up, I don't know the ramifications or veracity of any of that.

However, it also seems that I read that someone in the group went ahead and adjusted their mixer pin/orifice set-up on a natual gas Model B to get an appropriate burn with propane w/o getting the shorter burners and shallower burner pans.

And, in a thread just a few weeks ago, the group responded to a similar question of mine, saying that the pilot/burner assemblies of the BZ will also fit the B.

So, why don't you low-ball the guy with the scuzzy-looking BZ, and scavenge the needed parts, and put them on the nice-looking B?

Then, for your peace of mind, you could pretend that you paid $700 for a great B, rather than $350 for a bad BZ plus $350 for an inadequate B.

And if you need help rationalizing a new fly rod or set of cookware, I can help you with that, too.

Jack

Jack has it down right. His last entry is correct on all points. And I need help rationalizing another vintage refrigerator. Just had one shipped from North Carolina and need a story to tell the Bride before it arrives!

This is all great info to learn. We are also on propane, and any Chambers we end up getting we'll have to convert. Looks like if we want that to be as simple as possible, then we need to look for a "C". There's no mention of this model "BZ" on the main website, was it a "transition model" between the B and C? Thanks again for a great resource to learn about these old beasts.

Quote:

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However, it also seems that I read that someone in the group went ahead and adjusted their mixer pin/orifice set-up on a natual gas Model B to get an appropriate burn with propane w/o getting the shorter burners and shallower burner pans.

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I'd sure like to hear from that person, and how their stove is cooking now! That seems to me to be a solution that AT LEAST would be worth trying first....

Sam, if I got it right, it's because I learned it from you ... or Todd or any of a dozen other incredible sources in this group.

But as for one more vintage refrigerator, I just downsized my parents and my aunt, so sorry can't help you, there. Another fly rod, though? There's always room for just one more.

And bbbudy, I don't want to send you on a wild goose chase, but if I read it here, it was the result of searching the archives, using just the word "propane".

By the way, I'm still voting for your buying both stoves and scavenging the good stuff off the bad one. It's got to be cheaper in the long run than paying $100 for a T-well lid, here, and $50 for an oven door, there ...

Jack