Switching a Viking Grill from Propane to Natural Gas

Can a propane Viking grill be converted at all?

Current Viking grills, yes. The 5 Series guide says each grill leaves the factory set for either propane or natural gas, and that moving it to the other gas needs a conversion kit, available from a dealer and installed by a qualified technician.

Viking’s service notes for its older S Series are firmer still: only the manufacturer’s own kit, and only in a service technician’s hands.

Whether a kit is still offered for an older grill is a question for a Viking dealer, with the model number to hand. Ask before the gas fitter starts work, not after the grill is sitting at the end of a new line.

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What actually changes inside the grill?

Two things Viking tunes to the gas named on the rating plate: the regulator and the manifold orifices. The orifices are the small brass openings that meter gas into each burner’s tube, and a grill set up for propane has orifices for propane. On a 5 Series, the regulator used on a plumbed supply has a plunger whose end reads NAT or LP; on natural gas it must read NAT.

The pressures change as well. Viking’s figures for the 5 Series are 11 to 14 inches of water column on propane, 4 to 7 on natural gas. A grill left set for one gas and fed the other runs outside what its burners were built for, which is why Viking says never to operate it on any gas but the one it is set for.

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Who does which part of the job?

Three trades, in this order.

• The gas utility brings service to the property and sets the meter.
• A gas fitter runs pipe from the meter to the outdoor kitchen and fits a shut-off where it is easy to reach, which Viking requires.
• A qualified technician fits Viking’s kit to the grill.

Woodinville Viking Repair’s part comes after all three: the grill that still misbehaves once the line is live and the kit is in. Finding out why is the diagnosis we make.

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Is the new line to the patio big enough?

It has to be. Viking’s 5 Series guide says a supply line must be sized for the total demand of all the gas equipment connected to it, and for natural gas it rules out pipe narrower than three-quarters of an inch inside.

A branch teed off the line to a patio heater, or a long run from the meter, can leave the grill short once everything is lit, and it shows as the same low, lazy heat a propane grill gives with a kinked hose. Sizing the pipe properly is far easier while the trench is open.

Anything else in the outdoor kitchen that burns gas, a side burner or a heater, has to be set up for natural gas too, each following its own maker’s instructions.

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Is it safe to try the grill on the new line before the kit is in?

No. Viking’s guide is plain that the grill must not be run on any gas other than the one it is set for, and that an unregulated line is never connected to it. Until the kit is fitted, a propane grill stays on propane or stays off.

The cylinder’s hose-and-regulator assembly is no shortcut either. It was made for a portable 20 lb cylinder, not for a connection to a house line.

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What goes wrong when a conversion is only half done?

The flame tells you. With part of the kit left out, or the wrong kit fitted, the burners are fed a gas they were not tuned for. The result can be a flame too small to heat the grates, a soft yellow one, a noisy flame lifting off the ports, or burners that will not turn down evenly.

The places to look are the ones the kit touches: orifices that were never changed, a regulator plunger still reading LP, and air shutters never reset against the new flame. Finding which is our work: a pressure reading at the grill with every burner lit, each orifice checked against the gas, and every burner watched from high to low.

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What should you have ready before you call?

The rating plate, if you can see it without tools. Viking’s 5 Series guide puts it under the drip tray, or on a heat shield behind the front panel; other generations place it elsewhere, and the manual for your grill shows where. The plate states the gas the grill was set up for, and Viking’s older notes ask that it agree with the supply.

Beyond that: what each burner’s flame does, whether a side burner shares the line, and who fitted the kit and when. A photo of the plate saves a question on the phone.

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What if you smell gas after the switch?

Turn every knob off, close the grill’s shut-off, and light nothing. If the smell lingers, the gas utility is the call to make. A strong smell, or one that is spreading, means getting everyone away first and ringing 911 once you are clear.

Viking’s checklist before lighting asks owners to know where that shut-off is before the grill is ever lit, and on a new natural-gas line the first evening is the right time to find out.

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