big buddy please learn from me

[mrpike1973]

well i just got out of the hospital today. why you ask because my big buddy wouldn't light. went to you tube found out how to clean it. checked it over and let it sit. checked the connections for leaking with soapy water. attempted to light it in our house 1st mistake went up in flames in my face. a flash fire if you will. burned my beard and eye brows carpet is burned in the house. i inhaled what i would call fire this happened on late fri night. on sat had a sore throat from h e double hockey sticks. on tues morning. i thought i was having a heart attack went in with in minutes i'm on a heart monitor being told your not in good shape. i dont remember a lot after that they called my wife and she told them what happened. apparently propane goes through your blood system and takes a while speeds up your heart rate. i'm very lucky. i burned my nose and esophagus found out on top of this i had very high blood pressure which didnt help. i just got out this morning makes strep throat feel like a dream. please learn from my mistakes. 1. after working on a mr buddy light it outside 2. dont have your face above it 3. throw big buddy in a heap of trash and hit repeatedly. 4. only use small mr buddy never had a problem with this. 5. dr called mr buddy they figure i may have had a small piece of cotton stuck in the oriface and thats what caused it. some good things from this found out i have very bad heart burn and got treated for that. i have no problem with anyone saying i'm stupid but then again every one thinks after the fact. thanks and have a merry x-mas just thanking god i'm ok thanks.

[Mike89]

WOW are you lucky!! i too don't trust those heaters, glad to hear you will be alright.

[Alagnak]

WOW! Good thing you're alive for crying out loud. Takes a man to share something like this so others can learn- it could happen to anyone. I sold the big buddy right away and threw the small one in the trash eventually- I think they're both junk. When I want heat I want heat and I want it now (sun flower, mr heater/cooker/etc).

[leech~~]

Well, I'll try not to make any jokes about being from Darwin!

Very glad you made it ok and didn't burn down the house in the process.

My Big buddy makes me a little nervous to use as well as compared to my sun flower.

[Rooster7]

Dang I got a Big Buddy for Christmas last year and still haven't even used it. I hope I have better luck with mine than you guys did.

[tunrevir]

Glad you are around to tell the story. It may hurt for awhile but at least your around to tell the story. Good luck!

Tunrevir~

[gonehunting]

Glad to hear you are OK. I and several of my friends have owned Big Buddies for years and have never had any problems fortunately. I've found the Buddy heaters to be a reliable heat source. I store mine in a tied garbage bag in the off season. It will eliminate dust and spider webs in the gas orfices. I was tired of the headaches and stories of burn holes in the portable house with the sunflower heaters. I also know many with flare-ups with the sunflower heaters also. The important thing is that you are still here.

[SwivelDigger]

Thanks for sharing your story and glad that you got out to spend time with your family on Christmas. Good luck

[Kettle]

I to owned a big buddy just didn't work well for me couldn't take the abuse I put it through and it ended up dying. I am using a sunflower my dad gave me that is probably older than I am (27 years) and it still works well. Burns are no fun, I have dealt with them as well, very lucky it was your esophagus and not your trachea, could have been a different outcome. I appreciate you sharing your story. Happy Holidays

Kettle

[jmg]

Hi, Mr. Pike! Merry Christmas to you, too. Good to hear you are on the mend. You've had quite an interesting year. You've got me a little nervous about my Big Buddy. Guess I shouldn't think about it for an emergency heat source in the house. Thanks for sharing your experience and hope you're healed enough to get in on some good 2014 fishing real soon.

[CaptainMusky]

Crazy stuff! Glad you are OK.

Never had an issue with my big buddy either.

[hamms-scooter]

Brought My big buddy heater out last weekend and it wouldn't light... I put it on the 12 ft hose and it would not go. I didn't smell any propane at all. Not sure the hose was filling up. Can't remember the procedure there, I also tried 1# cyl and no go. On top of that the red knob broke from clicking so many times.Now need to order a new knob. My heater cooker worked awesome the week before just was avoiding an issue with the kids by bringing the big buddy. Thanks for your story. I will definitely be lighting heaters outside first. Glad your ok.

[fishersofmen]

That sucks! Unfortunately there is risk when using anything that is highly flammable. There are plenty of horror stories from sunflower heaters as well, carbon monoxide headaches, burned fish houses or clothes etc. I love my Big Buddy and could never go back.....

[harvey lee]

If it uses propane, it can blow up.

I use a Mr heater-cooker and a Buddy. I have had to replace a few parts here and there and also cleaned them up.

If you have expierence with propnae and cleaning these heaters yo are a bit safer than those who have no expierence and take them apart and put them back together. One little mistakes can cause huge issues.

Really glad you are ok.

[minnesotathorn]

on a very cold day last winter I was running a buddy & a big buddy at same time. big one ran out of fuel so I went to screw a new 1#er on. for some reason the fuel sprayed out while installing new cylinder & the pilot light from the small buddy ignited the spraying fuel. it blew the ice house off the ground, the heater jumped out of my hands. started my jacket on fire, burned eyebrows &* some hair but luckely my buddy was outside painting the snow yellow when it happened. he said he heard the explosion & saw the house lift off the ground. both heaters were new. I took the big one back for an exchange. I no longer install new cylinders if there are flames around.

[Rick G]

Wow, that's crazy. Glad to hear your ok! I have had a big buddy for quite a while now, so do many of my friends , no major issues at all, knock on wood But I did have a scary incident with an off brand cooker one time... lets just say 6ft flames, burned up fish house and a new found respect for propane This can happen with any heater, be careful when playing with fire!

[B-man715]

Glad to hear that you will be okay. Not a good situation to be in.

My big buddy had a gas fitting wiggle loose on a 3 mile snowmobile ride across the lake one time (unbeknownst to me)

The pilot light lit fine, and when I turned the burner on nothing happened for a few seconds....which is normal (if there is a little wind, but I was in the shack).... then "WOOF"!!

Lost a few eye lashes and some beard on that one......

I was able to turn the gas off before something really bad happened.

With the aid of my leatherman and 15 minutes time, I was able disassemble heater and tighten the fitting that wobbled loose and fish the rest of the day.

To this day I've never had another problem with it. This happened at least 3 years ago.

[Eric Wettschreck]

Glad to hear you're ok. Takes a real man to admit to the world this happened and hopefully learn from his mistake.

When they first came out I got a Big Buddy. Nothing but problems and ended using it to sight in my new scope on the 7.62.(that was fun) A couple years later my wife bought me another one. I have not had a problem with the newer one, and it's aboot 5 or so years old. I put it in a garbage bag in the summer time and blow it out with air in the fall to clean things up.

[Neiko]

I will take the Big Buddy over the sunspot and Mr.Heater for safety reason any day. Those do not burn as efficient as the Buddies do. My buddy had a real bad experience with the Sunspot and that is why I switched to Buddy heaters. That said this weekend on Mille Lacs we did get a headache from the Big Buddy we think but it was our fault for not having a vent open and sitting in there for 7 hours.

We had gotten a Buddy heater for my ex father in law and the sun was drunk and didn't have the bottle on tight so when he went to start it flames bursted out. Instantly I grabbed it and ran outside of the garage as I didn't want his garage to burn down. Both of those guys were Volunteer Firefighters.LOL I was just waiting for it to blow my hand off at any second. Other then that I trust them.LOL

[vikingmeatwad]

Glad to hear you are ok. Thanks for posting.

I haven't had this issue but it's a good reminder to be careful with any of these heaters. I still think the buddy or any heater with an oxygen depletion sensor is still safer than the sunflower.

I used to get headaches with them and hate to see people with kids run the sunflowers all the time.

[Willow Sticks]

Glad to hear you are recovering and thanks for sharing. I decided to use the filter on my big buddy, hopefully that will reduce the need to clean orifices.

[broman]

A couple of weeks ago mine lit on fire from a leaky component. I was able to turn it off before it caused any damage. Using the other side now. This is my second unit, the first one leaked as well out of the box but luckily I didn't try and light it. When the work they are great, but they have some design issues.

[Borch]

Glad to hear you're going to be ok and got some other serious health issues diagnosed. I hope you get out soon and have a warm, safe and productive trip.

[mrpike1973]

hi guys thanks for the reports back. unfortunately i have to have surgery on my throat next friday. thought it was getting better but i burned it to much. there waiting for the swelling to go down so they can operate scared to death but hoping for a good out come

[Stick in Mud]

Thanks for sharing, mrpike, and best of luck with the surgery. As others have said, you're certainly not the first one to have a problem with propane...and hopefully sharing your story saves someone else a few burns--or worse.