My buddy heater is CRAP Has anybody had them fixed

[FishnBear]

My buddy heater is continually going out, even in a hard sided fish house with out a draft, and very hard to light. I tried the tin foil trick it helped for awhile but now the problem is very bad not worth using it. My friend has one and he sits right next to me in the same ice house and his works fine. Has anybody had theirs fixed and working? or should I just give up on it.

[Deitz Dittrich]

Hmmm, really could be only 1 of a couple of things... either its not getting enough gas or its not getting enough air... It might just need to be cleaned. Make sure none of the holes are clogged....

[SUNNYD]

That is why I am still using an open flame burner for heat. My father-in-law has now had 3 generations of BUDDY heaters including the newest Big Buddy and he has always had problems with them going out, maybe the next generation Buddy will be a little more wind-proof than its conterparts.

Take care!

SUNNYD

[fishingurl04]

I fixed mine and it works great now. I called Mr. Heater to complain and they walked me through the steps to fix it.All right guys, I'll try to explain this the best I can. Pull off the guard on the front for starters.There's only 1 screw holding it together really. The rest is clips. So, start out by unscrewing the screw on the bottom. That's what holds the ceramic plate on the front. It should just pull out now. With all of the "guts" exposed you can see the side that holds the bottle and how it's held together with clips. There's 2 on top and 2 on the bottom. With a very little elbow grease and a lot of patience you can get it all unsnapped. The handle on the top is held together by a push in "ball" with a little wiggle and a nail I was able to push the "ball" in and pull the whole side off. Now to get the metal front off. I used a screwdriver to lightly pry the bottom off of the bottom tray. Once I cleared the 2 clips holding it on the bottom it virtually fell off. Now you can see the thermocoupler. Unscrew the only screw holding both the coupler and the igniter in. Move the thermocoupler up in the bracket. Now reassemble. It sounds scary, but it's really easy. I took mine out again today and it NEVER went out. Definately worth my time. I hope this helps

[Ed Carlson]

That is what I have been saying all along, But NOOOO..don't listen to Ed..he is nuts Eh.

What I seen is that the thermocouple has been set too far from the heat and it shuts down the pilot light/fuel. Folks assume it is being blown out but in actuality it is just being cooled off to the lower limits of the thermocouple and off it went.

Same-same on the radiant heaters, I adjust them so the coupler is closer that way they start faster and keep running in drafts.

I think 60% of these returns on Mr.Heaters are because of poorly adjusted thermocouples, an easy fix.

The other 40% is because the shrouds are busting loose at the connection points due to being overtightened at the factory or just plain abuse in the field. Adjusting the thermocouple is a fast and easy fix guys.

The other issue is they recommend if you use an extension hose to remember to relieve the line pressure after use. Supposedly the pressure of long term gas storage in the hose may cause the interior of the hose to disintegrate and bits and buggers of the hose finds its way into the regulator or metering orifices causing problems. The add on filter is supposed to eliminate this damage. Most of the Mr. Buddy retailers have the filters in now and they run $5. If they do really help it is worth it I guess?

[buzbunni]

Ed is nuts. Crazy Ed .

Who else is up at 3:30 in the morning on FM?

Oh yeah...me

[Surface Tension]

We have a thread going on the subject.

http://www.fishingminnesota.com/forum/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=459645&page=2&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1

I can tell you the problem I was having had nothing to do with the pilot light.

[Ed Carlson]

Ya well...coffee tastes better at 3 AM Eh.

[danny berg]

I was having the same problem, it would run for 20 min then shut down. Went thru a few things with Mr Heater and figured the problem was the regulator. I replaced the regulator and haven't had a problem yet. Mine is 4 years old.

[McGurk]

I don't have one, but IMHO if anything is coming "from the factory" with the thermocouple placed incorrectly, or the unit being "overtightened" to the point of cracking itself in normal use, or needing tin foil to do a repair they won't be seeing a purchase from me very soon. Let's get it right by the next revison. $.02 McGurk

Oh yeah, anyone with a shimmying guidance counselor for an avatar can't be all that sane

[Ed Carlson]

McGurk unfortunately I am getting the same vibes on the FB-2 heater. A good system with a few bugs in it. I talk with a few guys who have had no complications and love it, then I run into 4 more who have nothing but problems.

I like it but I am a bit spooked on all the "fix's" popping up in this series.

[Deitz Dittrich]

My MR.Buddie heater worked flawless last year.. and as you can see I tought it was a gas problem, I think I was the second post up.. WELL, i was out tonight and as stated, the durn thing shut its self off about 20 times.. I finally caught my 10th crappie and came in...FYI, that was 20 times in about an hour and half... Looks like I have to do some surgery, for a guy as mechanically declined as I am. This may be scary!!!!

[hanson]

Am I the only guy with a 'regular' Mr. Heater Buddy that works flawlessly???

I bought it 3 years ago and it works fine. Other than a big gust of wind through the ice house, there are no problems. Yes, it'll shut off but it starts right up again.

It still won't replace my Mr. Heater sunflower or heater/cooker but it has its place.

I hope I didn't jinx myself by writing this.

[MNice]

Hanson, nope, mine has been perfect, even with a breeze blowing in my otter I've heard the pilot flutter, but never went out.

[augernaut]

I have a dyna-glo, basically a buddy copycat. The thing is awesome. Heats my one man fishtrap so well I can't keep it on high for very long.

[cliffy]

Well, I got a Big Buddy Heater for Christmas and it worked fine the first time I used it in my fishing Shelter. However, I tried it again last night and this thing is dump! It would work fine for about 20 minutes and then the pilot light would go out and it would just shut-down. I would re-start it and it would last a few minutes and then shut down again. I was using it in a garage and there was no breeze and I didn’t bump it. I was running it on one pounders…so I checked and they were still half full…replaced them anyways and the darn thing still wouldn’t work right.

I see from other people’s postings that I am not the only person with this problem. I am so disappointed in this product, I cant believe a company would sell such a piece of $*&@! I realize there may be issues with keeping up the PSI in cold propane tanks or 1 pounders and there is some kind of hose or fitting that can be purchased to solve this problem….what a bunch of $&*%! I would think that a 119.00 dollar heater would work without having to purchase additional equipment.

Quick question: My wife said she purchased the unit at the Sportsmen’s warehouse in Fargo. She still has the receipt but I had tossed the box it came in. Do you think they would still take it back or am I stuck with this piece of $##%?

[FishnBear]

Last night I took my buddy heater apart and moved the thermocoupler closer to the pilot light. It was pretty easy but I did break two of those plastic clips that holds the side on. Now it runs good in my garage. So I will have to take it out on the lake and give it a real test, but I think this is going to work!

[tomfromblaine]

Just tell them you assumed it would be a good piece of equipment, how did I know it would'nt work.

[hitthebricks]

Are you guys trying to run these heaters with a one pound tank? Sounds like these are starving for gas and eventually shut down because the gas does'nt vaporize fast enough in the small cans. If the thermocouple was in the wrong location, would'nt it not light at all?

[GoodToGo]

A note of caution: The "oxygen depletion sensor" works because of the angle and strength of the pilot light. As the oxygen decreases the flame gets weaker and lifts off the thermocouple, shutting it down. Moving the thermocouple could defeat the whole ODS.

[dnp]

I bought the Big Buddy this year after having a good experiance with the regular Buddy last year. After reading about all the problems you guys have had I decided to get a filter for mine. I installed it and hooked up my 12' hose to my 5# tank. The pilot would barely light and the unit would not heat. Took off the filter and tried another one, still would not heat. Took off the filter and it works great. So much for mfg's recomendations. I will make sure that the propane in the hose is burned off when I shut it down and hope that it doesn't plug up.

[cliffy]

UPDATE:

I was thinking I would just keep my big buddy heater although it probably wouldnt work the best for ice fishing....I thought I would use it for fall camping..etc. However, I started to think and the more I thought about it, the more upset I got. My wife paid good money for this thing..a nice christmas present and it does not work in cold weather. I know I could pull it apart and adjust the thingy or purchase some addtional equipment, hoses, connectors etc..but that is not the point. The heater should work right out of the box as is advertised!

So, I am taking it back to the store tonight and they better refund the money! This thing is worthless! I am going to stick to my good old fashion sunflower shaped heater...its never failed me!

[Dan DAN the fisherman]

I live in Colorado. If you guys think you have problems running your Buddy heaters there, you ought to try out here. I moved my coupler and got it going again at 5280'. Now I'll try at 9300' and see if it works up there. Funny thing is, it worked just fine, for the first 2 years that I had it. Even up in the hills!

Dan

[Surface Tension]

I'm reposting this from the previous thread that was started.

I called Mr Heater about this problem, here is some of that discussion.

Theres 3 fittings on the BB. The 2 fittings that the 1 lbers screw to take 20 psi to open there valves. A cold 1 lber won't put out enough pressure to open these one-way valves. Either will a bulk tank when very cold with the same throw-away fitting. The BB has a third fitting, thats the quick connect fitting and requires much less psi to open its valve. You would use a bulk tank and the 271803 hose Assembly that comes with the 12' hose, quick connect coupler and a 2 psi regulate. The regulator attachés to your bulk tank and gets regulated there. So the old hoses we've been using on Buddies, Mr Heater Cookers and so on are not recommended for the Big Buddies.

[SCHAAKATTACK]

Hanson & MNice, We might be the only three! Mine has worked flawless. I bought mine 2 yrs ago. I'm wondering if it the newer red versions. My Buddy Heater is the black version and I noticed last year they started making them in red. Another thing about mine is I have never used anything but the 1 pounders on it. I also put mine back in the original box after the ice season(does that make me weird?)hehe!

[Surface Tension]

SCHAAKATTACK, The general discussion here pertains to the Big Buddy which is new this year.