The Texas BBQ Forum

Hey all, my brother and I recently got our first propane fueled Barbecue and I have a question, I figured I'd come to the experts at BBQing to get the answer so I don't blow up our house.

Anyway, we have a BBQ that in the manual calls for a 9kg (19.84lb) propane tank, however we like to support local business and our corner store only carries 8kg (17.64lb) tanks. I'm just wondering if it's safe to use this smaller tank with our BBQ?

Thank you very kindly for your time.

Welcome to the forum!

I am not at all familiar with propane barbecue cookers/smokers. But I do know that the standard size for a propane tank in that range is a 20 lb. tank. If your local store has a lighter tank it's likely just because they didn't fill it up with as much propane (propane is mostly sold by the pound- at least on smaller tanks. By the gallon on larger tanks) but is the same size tank. The propane pressure will be the same (unless you adjust or change the regulator) regardless whether you have a 19.84, 17.64, 30 or 40 lb tank.

+1. As long as you have a pressure regulator (and if you don't, you and all your neighbors within 3 miles will soon know it ) then you should be fine as frog hair, whether you hook it up to an 8kg tank or a tanker truck. BUT, don't hook it up accidentally to an LP line instead of Propane, different types of burners as I understand it and can be a safety issue.

Cool, thank you for your replies. This is the BBQ that we have, it looks like it comes with a regulator built in to it.

http://www.bluerhino.com/bluerhino/medi ... 102_ef.pdf

Part number 16 is your regulator/hose assembly. Years ago, when I lived in the woods at the end of the road on top of a mountain I had a gasser grill that hooked up to the house's 250# propane tank. Worked great, and was a lot cheaper.

All propane bottles, weather they are 5LB-100Lb, or a 1000 gallon tank have the same vapor pressure, being that the portable tanks do not have a built in regulator on them you will be fine. I use a 100Lb in place of my 30Lb on my camper on a regular basis.