Do You Shut Off the Gas Line To Your Gasser After Every Cook?

[fzxdoc]

I usually cook on my gasser a couple of times a week, at least. It's my second oven, my sear station, and B/S grilled chicken cooker. I have a gas line directly from the house to the gasser, which lives on the deck just on the other side of the kitchen wall.

Because I use it so often, I don't turn off the pipe's gas valve to the gasser when I finish each cook.

When Hurricane Helene blew through, a tree hit my neighbor's deck smashing a good section of it away from the house. His Napoleon gasser went slipping down the mountainside too, helped by the 30 inches of rain and 90 mph winds.

The first thing my neighbor did was to check to see that the gas line valve was closed and that the line from the house to that valve was not damaged. All was fine there. He said he knew it would be; he says he closes the valve after every cook; his cooks are sporadic and few.

That got me to wondering whether it's a dumb for me to leave the propane valve open all the time in the line running to my much-used gasser. What do you all think?

FWIW, I did shut that valve off before we were evacuated from our home, since I knew it would be a few months before we would be able to return.

Kathryn

[Panhead John]

I don’t have a gas grill, but do have a gas griddle. I always turn the valve off at the propane tank after each cook. You never know if you could have a leak somewhere in the cooker.

[N227GB]

Same thing with the propane tanks on my Weber passers. :wink:

Posted from my phone.

[RlsRls]

I would turn off the gas at the tank BEFORE I shut down the knob of the grill. No sense having a little bit of gas in the hose if you were to do the reverse! FWIW !

[surfdog]

RlsRls That’s exactly what I do. I’ve done it that way for so many years it’s pretty much just an automatic thing for me these days.

[Donw]

I do after after every cook due to the possibly of something going wrong such as an animal chewing on the supply line or some other interior failure in the cooker, or me being stupid. My gasser is piped to an underground 1000 gallon tank and I’d hate to loose all that gas and money because I accidentally left a knob slightly opened.

[Smoker_Boy]

Always.

[barelfly]

My gasser is connected to our natural gas line, a stub out on the patio. I have a shut off valve at the stub out but do not turn it off after each cook. But My griddle is hooked up to propane and I do turn that off after each cook.

I see where that could be necessary in instances like you mention about your neighbor but…hmmmm. My neighbor is a plumber and helped me change the stub out so I could extend the line with pipe to the gasser. He never said anything about turning off after each cook but maybe I’ll ask him about it - you have me wondering. And a search on the interwebs gives me varying answers on that.

[barelfly]

CaptainMike - it’s a built in gasser, about 2’ of gas pipe is exposed along the wall of the patio, then the rest is in the builtin area underneath. I built this cooking area with a contractor friend, metal studs, cement board, wire and finished with stucco to match house. It has granite counter top, so completely built in and stable. The gasser drops in, as I bought it for this build. New Mexico doesn’t have the natural disasters but it wont cause an issue turning it off at the turnoff?

[CaptainMike]

That setup is pretty solid and you should never have a problem. No loose lines or potentially moving parts, and everything is tucked away and not easily accessible. No different than a home appliance. Plus an arid climate that won't have much of a corrosive effect on metal. Still, flipping that valve off when not in use is pretty cheap insurance.

[barelfly]

Thank you CaptainMike - just never thought of turning it off… appreciate you providing your perspective on this.

[CaptainMike]

Captain Mike gives an enthusiastic thumbs up to shutting off the gas after each cook. Your 3rd and 4th paragraphs tell us you now know that. It's a 1/4 turn ball valve that requires very little effort. Once it becomes routine it will simply be part of the routine.

[captainlee]

Yes. don't have NG but I always turn off my LP tank every time. When we get home from camping I also turn off the camper LP tank even if we are going out again in a few days.

[Steve R.]

I definitely shut off the gas to my propane griddle each time. Even if I forgot, my wife would be asking me if I did.

[RonB]

Since I bought the Weber Performer Deluxe in 2010, I have "lost" 3 tanks of propane:

Squirrels chewed through the rubber hose from the tank to the grill. I replaced the rubber hose with a hose wrapped in ss mesh.
A leak that it took a while to find.
Not turning the valve on the grill to completely shut.

I now shut the gas off at the tank every time, and that includes the griddle I bought a few months ago. I probably average using one or the other 3 - 4 times a week.

[fzxdoc]

Good answers.

My question is not about portable propane tanks, though. Portable propane tanks to a grill/griddle are different, to me. Not part of the house like a propane gas line is. Back when I used propane tanks, I always shut them off.

It never occurred to me to ask about shutting off a line that is secured to the house and a gas grill that is secured to the deck.

But my neighbor's experience (and CaptainMike 's voice of experience) have changed my mind about that.

Kathryn

[yakima]

Awhile back, there was a gal on here declaring the danger of hooking a water line to her refrigerator ice maker. Had experienced significant water damage due to a leak. The probability of failure of a propane/natural gas connection to an outside, possibly loose cooker seems, at least to me, to be much higher than a water leak. And I try to shut the tank valve off before turning off burners, in order to clear the line from valve to cooker.

Wish I could remember that lady's name.!!

[yakima]

Extending the ice maker logic would require one to turn off water supply to toilet after each use. This assumes, of course, that one has indoor plumbing.

[Alan Brice]

I inst sanded n finished our wood floors. I would not let Kim have a waterline to make ice or chilled water inside the house. Garage, diff story. A freezer still created condensation that is evaporated in a pan on the bottom outside of the unit. The tube froze shut and now we have water damage and a new fridge/freeze w/waterline(braided steel). I am tired of the fight and you can be sure I will not be fixing the resulting damage in the future. Just aint worth it anymore. OK, hand me back my Bud.

[Skinsfan1311]

Same thing happened to our ice-maker years ago...pinhole leak ruined some of the floor. I replaced with one of those "leak-proof" braided hoses.......

[Smoker_Boy]

I know of 2 houses that exploded from propane leaking in a basement.
They were never able to prove exactly what was the cause,
but smart money points to an older faulty water heater.
Pilot light probably went out but the internal gas valve didn't shut the propane off so it just kept leaking.

There was nothing left of the structures.
One of the explosions even blew out the windows of a house across the country road.

[fzxdoc]

Wow.

[CaptainMike]

I've been on a few of those calls, pure devastation.

[Alan Brice]

We have a situation, here locally, (Bethel/Tate), with an unknown source exploding the entire house to little bitty pcs. Early am. The two occupants, deceased. The HVAC guy working at the home was blown clear. Local news had ring cam vids and it is unreal the devastation.
Last word was propane may be involved.

[scottranda]

I have a gasser on propane 20 pound tank and I try to always shut it off, but sometimes I forget.

There was a house not too far from me that blew up because of a natural gas leak. His wife tragically passed, but the guy lived because he had an Apple Watch and called 911 from his watch to let them know he was alive and where in the house he was (under all the rubble).

[smokenoob]

I only turned the propane bottle valve off on my Gasser when a hurricane is coming and I am storing it in the garage.

[RichieB]

I had a bulk install from our propane tank (heat and hot water) to the gasser. I have 2 shutoff valves. One in the basement where the plumber tapped into the line and one right by the feed to the grill. I always shutoff the deck one when done cooking. Safety and the thought of a malfunction on the grill and have 500 gallons of propane disappear is not something I want to deal with.