Been doing a bit of this lately: indirectly cooking and without the center grate in place. It's not that I like risking dumping food into charcoal, but I admit it adds an element of "danger". The real reason is, I prefer not to dirty / wear the center grate when I know it's not needed.
This was the first use of the gas-assist on this grill since I bought it last summer. Being new to this, over the last year I'd forgotten as much as I'd researched and fell under the assumption the tank it came with was outdated (couldn't be legally filled) and lacked an OPD valve. In fact, I thought I'd recycled it last year but there it was in the garage. Another look at the date stamp and recognizing the valve ... and I was off to Ace Hardware. Less than $4 later, my "4lb" (their description) tank is full.
Hooked it up, turned it on, and got a nice flame on the first press of the ignition--something that just doesn't seem to happen with my dad's 2006 Performer. His takes 2-3 hits to get going.
What I also got was a hissing sound. Gas turned off, I slathered soapy water on the connections, turned on gas ... but there were no bubbles. I happened to run a finger over the top of the regulator, you know how the cover is "pinched" on? Felt gas in one spot. Pressed down on it to "plug" the leak, the hiss went away and the flame I was running again grew.
Back to the store. Picked up a Benzomatic GRA-100 from Lowe's.
http://www.lowes.com/pd_361431-743-GRA-100_0__My grill came with a replacement tank. Still a Manchester but not the style SS Performers originally came with (they had a flat-side collar). So here it is, with a 1x1" (or is that 2x2"?) square piece of scrap wood wedged in at the top so that the valve lines up with the hole:
The tank is also a little too short, so only the top bracket is holding it. Dunno what to do about that.
After having used "both kinds" of Performer (SS vs. plastic top) I can now say I'm definitively preferring the older design's usage. No more stooping down to twist a little knob that (in my dad's case) sometimes just spins and does nothing. No more
horizontally hitting the ignition. Neighbor comes over ... "eh, starting charcoal is just a pain ..." I said, "Really? With this knob and a button press I just lit these used coals 10 minutes ago and it's ready to cook. This thing waits on ME, not the other way around!"
This is why I don't cook outside as often as I'd like: there's always some project in the way.
I'm connecting two decks. (The deck at the top of the image is actually one yard over; that's a neighbor's house.) A couple years ago I resurfaced two back decks with Home Depot's Veranda (capped composite boards) and matching railing. The existing frame was OK and I'll be using its design for the frame I'm no building. That said, my "design" morphed a few times within the first 3 days due to unforeseen challenges and it's slowed me down.