Propane System

General information

The propane tank is located on the right side of the unit. There is a master shutoff valve on the tank. There is a shutoff valve in the left rear outside compartment that controls the grille, convection ovens, and the stovetop. For fire safety, there is an emergency propane shutoff with a pull handle next to the rear door. Propane has a distinctive odor, to warn you if there is a leak or if the pilot light is not lit.

Important Safety Information

The grille and the stovetop burners have pilot lights without safety shutoffs. The first thing that you must do when you turn on the propane is to light the pilot lights, to avoid a dangerous buildup of propane gas. The grille has three pilot lights, and the stovetop has six pilot lights, one for each burner. Read the grille section for more information about the pilot lights, which are not easy to find or light. Alternately, you can turn off the propane to the grille, stovetop, and convection ovens in the left rear outside compartment, without affecting the coffeepots or food warmer.

Emergency propane shutoff

The emergency propane shutoff is the Ansul switch next to the rear door. The switch next to it operates the wet chemical fire extinguishing system. Pull on the handle to operate the switch.

If there is a serious fire on the grille, pull the chemical extinguisher switch, which will also shut off the propane. If there is a propane leak or a fire that is not on the grille, pull the emergency propane shutoff switch.

More information is available in the Fire Extinguisher System section of the manual.

If the emergency propane shutoff is used, the two red Ansul propane valves must be manually reset. One valve is in the left rear outside compartment, and the other is under the truck, not easily visible.

The yellow handled valve is the manual propane shutoff for the left side of the kitchen, including the grille, stovetop, and convection ovens. When the handle is up, the valve is shut.

Filling the propane tank

Before filling the tank, shut down each system
    1. Shut the master propane valve, above the yellow cap.
    2. Be sure all the pilot lights are out
    3. Turn off the truck engine
    4. Turn off the generator

If you turn the propane valve back on, you must relight the pilot lights immediately, see above Important Safety Information.

If you open the master propane valve too quickly, you might see problems with limited propane flow, where the burners will only go very low. If this happens, close the valve for a few seconds, then open it very slowly.

The propane tank will hold a maximum of 48 gallons of propane. There is a propane gauge on the side of the tank, you will need a flashlight to read it, and even then the angle is bad so it is hard to read. It tends to read conservatively. That is, after you fill the tank, the gauge only reads 3/4 full.

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RAF 9/12/05