Mr.Heater plugged up?

[CANOPY SAM]

I now have two sunflower heaters that do not work. They both slowly seemed to burn fuel inefficiently (whispy blue flame), then stopped working altogether.

Are they gummed up with propane gel, and if so, how does one go about cleaning them or getting them to work again? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

[Jim Almquist]

The only time I have ever seen my Mr. Heater do something like that it was the thermocouple that needed to be replaced or it was bent out to far and was not getting hot enough to send out enough gas. If it was me I would bend it in so it was almost touching the screen and see if it makes any difference and if there is no change the thermocouple is more then likely shot.

[Ed Carlson]

Another common deal is the mixture tube is not adjusted properly or is loose, or worse is stripped.

The threaded ring at the bottom of the tube near the openings that allow air/gar to mix...is it loose? If so it may be out of adjustment and the air/gas mix is off.

Removing the grate from the front and cleaning the mesh with a fine wire brush helps from time to time too.

I am suspicious it is the mix tube deal, yet cleaning the grate surface will produce a cleaner burn and blow it our with a air hose after.

When a thermocouple fails, it will not stay on without the plunger held in, and they go bad and not half bad...all or none deal. You may have a restriction in the regulator, so blowing that out too may be wise.

If your using a bulk tank and hose, try another one once...eliminate that part of the equation as a potential contributing problem.

The Mr. Heater web site has tips on maintenance, service, and replacment parts lists. Good place to start.

[CANOPY SAM]

Thanks for the great advice guys. I actually replaced the thermocoupler on the newer unit in March of this year, as the old one was pinched at the base. It hasn't worked at all since then.

The older sunflower is really quite old. It's one of the units with the metal heat level adjustment - not the plastic (low,med,high). I got it from my Father-in-law years ago, and I have no idea how long he had it. It's never worked very well.

The thing that made me question it gumming up with propane gel is that the plunger has become sluggish and sticky. When weather is cool or cold it almost doesn't release after letting it go.

Also, both units, when running last winter, made the eyes burn quite badly, leading me to believe that they were not burning fuel well at all - and put out significantly less heat than normal.

Boy, I figured I was the only poor FM'er up at this time of night! Har HaR Har...

I'll check the Mr.Heater HSOforum for info. Thanks again guys. Any other suggestions for possible geled fuel issues?

[Jim Almquist]

My guess would be that it is excess lube coming from the tank that filled your 20 pounder. When using Buddy heaters and 20 pound tanks you are suppose to use a filter to remove that stuff but it was not a big problem for the sunflower heaters. Have you tried anything to remove it like WD40 or maybe Liquid Wrench so it would lube it at the same time ?

Wife gets up at 5:00 to go into work so I just get up and make coffee.

[Borch]

Also check the the air/gas mixture chamber for spider webs. It doesn't take much to mess the unit up.

[gunmunky]

FYI, I just got a flier from the big "C" in Rogers and they have Buddy heaters listed at $50 for a reconditioned one.

[CANOPY SAM]

So a person can disassemble the hardware on this unit, gently wire brush the screen mesh, blow it clean with air, clean out the air/gas mixture chamber, and spray DW40 on parts to remove excess lubricant from tank?

What about the interior of the "starter/plunger"? I can't say for sure, but again, this seems to be the sticky, gummed up part on both units. Does this piece come apart to be cleaned?

GunMunky, I know I should probably just buy another one, but I'd really like to have the others as back-ups as needed. They seem like pretty sturdy, well built hardware, if you know what I mean. I wouldn't expect something like this to just go bad, and have to be replaced. The "newer" unit is only about 10 years old.

[gunmunky]

I just threw that out there in case you needed to buy parts, it might be cheaper to get a different one. And for anyone else that may be looking at getting a Buddy heater.

[Dave]

The older sunflower is really quite old. It's one of the units with the metal heat level adjustment - not the plastic (low,med,high). I got it from my Father-in-law years ago, and I have no idea how long he had it. It's never worked very well.

I have one of those old Mr. Heaters from my dad. Still works great in the outhouse Those don't even have a thermocouple on it. If it doesn't burn correctly, I'd bet it's the air mixture tube adjustment and/or it's dirty inside that tube.

And, on the newer one with the sticky thermocouple button, I can't recall for sure, but I believe there's a spring and ball inside when I took one apart once. I would try some WD40 from the ouside and let it soak into the button area. Remember, WD40 is flammable!