Big Buddy Heater

[Dakota Iceman]

One of these babys came home with me the other night from cabelas. Fired it up in the garage....this thing cranks out some heat on the high setting!!

[EBass]

I saw them in Gander last week - they are pretty sweet. Cost was 129. That'd be perfect for the an Otter or two man flip style.

[joshb]

hey dakota.........would you mind doing some harmless product testing on the new heater for the members here at FM?

for example:

1.how it handles a breeze.

2. if it goes out when you bump it, .....like the old ones.

your likes/dislikes about this unit.

i know that others, and myself would appriciate any info regarding this unit.

thanks - joshb

[Dakota Iceman]

Sure, I can do some testing while watching the pinstripes smoke the sox tonight!! LOL. I myself have a few questions related to this unit as well. I have been using the coleman powercat w/built in fan. It worked fairly well..the real plus with that one is that its flameless and it had a fan...but only 4000 btu's. It worked in my otter magnum lodge...but it wasnt enough to make you sweat or strip down to a t-shirt. Anyways...I'll kick the thing around tonight and post the results. By the way, dont know if you guys have them over there but I saw these at menards on sale for 119.00. Iceman out>

[Blaine]

Quote:

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Sure, I can do some testing while watching the pinstripes smoke the sox tonight!!

---

Well, we all know how the game turned out .... How about the product testing?

[joshb]

i'm still not sure about there performance but i picked one off the dislay shelf today and it seemed to be a bit heavy....

[Dakota Iceman]

I fired up the heater in the garage today. The heat output was excellent. It didnt take much of a bump to shut it down though. As far as the wind blowing it out I would say it still looks to be an issue, the pilot flame looks to be exposed pretty good. I dont know if this will much of an issue inside the shack. I suppose one could do the aluminum foil trick on the bottom rack to help block the wind. I still like the design of the powercat(coleman) and would prefer that flameless heat...just couldnt get the btu's needed out of that little unit. BTW. the powercat is for sale on hsolist, i think the wife listed it tonight. Iceman Out>

[Dakota Iceman]

bump.....just checking something out here. My pages dont seem to be updating like they should for the post's on here. as of this morning I was showing the last post to be on friday from anyone concerning any topic??? Could just be my server here at work..nonetheless I wanted to check.

[Dakota Iceman]

FYI. the heater didnt last 12 hours on hsolist. someone did the buy it now option for 40.00. Iceman Out>

[joshb]

hey dakota, thanks a ton for the reveiw....i'm sure there will be plenty of people interested in this info..

thanks - joshb

[fishing 101]

For those of you with a flip (I just bought a voyager) house. Will my buddy heater have enough BTU's to typically keep the house warm, or would I be better off buying the big buddy heater. I know this depends on the day and conditions, but on average, will it keep me comfortable?

[Dakota Iceman]

fishing101, I am not familiar with the voyager's size so I cant safely comment on your situation except to say that the buddy heater is rated at what 9000 btu's? and if im correct the orignal buddy doesnt have a fan to distribute the heat...you would think 9000 btu's would be enough to heat most 2-man portables. I wasnt aware of the safety shut-off on the big buddy and therefore I am considering canning this one and going back to a flameless style heat where i dont have to worry about carbon monoxide poisoning in a small area...I should have done a little more research before I shelled out the 129.00 for the big buddy...yes it will probably (hopefully) blow me right out of my otter magnum lodge...but not if it shuts off all the time from lack of ventilation. Im in a dillema now, we'll see how it plays out when the time comes.

[Fergus Mor McErc]

Iceman,

I've been considering buying the Big Buddy. I have a regular Buddy that I used all last year. I use a vented clam 5600 (or whatever it is, 6500?) and have never had the buddy shut off due to lack of oxygen. The Buddy, though, won't keep the house warm enough for my taste on the below zero days so I use a sun spot type when it gets really cold. The Big Buddy sounds like it could do the job. How easily does it shut itself off? You're right, airing out the house and relighting could get old in a hurry. I don't want to spend $130 bucks if that's going to keep happening.

Thanks.

[Jeremy airjer W]

Iceman, Have you tried the Big buddy in the sub zero yet? I think am going to fire mine up tonight to see how hot it gets in the lodge. I also have been using it in the garage with the fan going to see how long the batteries will last. So far I have about 3 1/2 - 4 hours on used batteries and still blowing like crazy.

I'll post again wed. with my results.

[iffwalleyes]

Dakota you last post confussed the heck out of me. What are you trying to say? Are you having a hard time keeping it going. I just bought a big buddy this weekend myself. They look sweet. I just ordered the quick connect hose from Mr. Heater so the next time the portable is out I should be set. As far as the previous question of if a MR Heater Buddy will be enough for a Voyager I would say no. I have one and I can't get my Otter lodge warm with it. So I upgrade to the Big Buddy hopefully this does it. I am getting tired of changing heater every year. The circulation fan looks to be nice. I just wonder how long they will run on 4 D batteries.

[klbowe]

I have been waiting all day for a call from MrHeater.

My big buddy does not seem to light properly.

I get the pilot lit and it stays lit but when I turn the temp to low the burner does not light as it should. (takes too long)

I can smell propane and every once and a while it will spit a blue flame but is slow to stay lit.

It is almost like the pilot is too far from the burner. If I tip the unit so the flame gets closer it will light. Or if I use a lighter it will light just fine.

I will read up on it and see if there is a position adjustment for the pilot light.

At a buck 29 you would think it would be ready out of the box.

Before you buy a hose from Mr Heater consider this !

You may be better off buying a hose from your local propane shop. The hoses that Mr Heater sells use the old connectors that require a wrench to attach it to the tank. The threads are fine and a pain in the neck to attach when you are freezing to death.

Your local propane dealer can make you a hose that has the new style big ol' black plastic nut. Easy to attach to the tank no tools required.

MERRY CHRISTMAS ALL !

[Dakota Iceman]

Iffwalleyes, sorry for the confusion. No i am not having trouble keeping it going, my point was that I dont know if this will be the case once I am in the shack for an extended period of time(just havent had the chance to test it) I didnt realize it had a low oxygen shut-off...once i read that I began to wonder if it would be a problem? Ive been running mine in the garage and im in agreement that the fan is probaly good for about 6 hours max!!

[iffwalleyes]

OK. I myself don't think the low oxygen sensor will be a problem for you. I have a regular buddy and it has always worked. Plus it is a great safety feature to have on it the old sunflowers never had anything like this. Having this sensor doesn't mean that it will burn more oxygen than the standard flameless heaters. Tonight after work I am going to add my piece of sheet metal to the front of my heater to help keep the pilot going. That to me still looks to be a problem. The other thing I don't like is the ignitor. It seems to me that it sparks too soon before the gas really gets flowing.

[MNmikew]

I currently use a Buddy in a Otter mag lodge. It does ok on most days but around zero its not enough. I'm thinking of going Big Buddy this year. One question I have with it is about the bulk tank hose. Do you need to run two hoses and two bottles to use it since it has two connections? Or can you put a tee at the bottle and run two hoses on one tank?

I've never had a problem with low oxygen using a buddy in a fishhouse or a popup camper. Though the sensitivity to bumping is annoying.

[JBinSD]

It will run with just one hose hooked up to one side.

[bmeier]

I have read all of the posts on this, went from a Sunflower to the Mr Buddy late last year and never really had a chance to try it out in my Magnum Lodge and I am wondering if it will heta it up enough or should I sell it and go to the Big Buddy? Any ideas?

[arbuck]

Check out the tread in the equipment fourum "Big Buddy Junk". It sounds like a few people arn't real happy with there Big Buddy's. For $120.00 I would expect more out of them.

arbuck

[Perch-N-Eyes]

I've been using the Mr. Heater/Cooker for a few years in my Otter Magnum II, and it keeps it plenty warm (down to -35). My biggest concern is that on more than one occaison, it has flamed up with flames about 1 1/2 feet high. This seemed extremely dangerous, and I don't know if it is a problem unit, or if others have had a similar problem. I was thinking about a Buddy Heater, but I've already overspent my ice fishing budget by several hundred dollars. Oh yeh, it is nice to have fresh cooked burgers when out on the frozen tundra all day.

[arbuck]

The only time I have had that happen is when I cover the air holes on the pipe that leads into the burner. Then it about starts shirts on fire. I like my Mr.Heater/Cooker and my Paulin one but that one is outta comission right now. Gotta figure out whats wrong with it.

Hope that made sense.

arbuck

[hanson]

Perch-N-Eyes

Did this 'flame up' occur after you have run the heater for awhile or when you started it up??

I had my regular sunflower head do this on a couple occasions immediately after I lit it and it started to warm up. I have no clue how these things work but I'm guessing something inside was plugged, iced up, or frozen. I immediately shut it off, let it sit for a few minutes, and it started again fine.