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.

[BandB]

Okay here is my ? to mr.heater if 1 lb tanks will not open the regulator when its cold why dont thay make it so it opens at a lower psi. Dont most people use the heaters when it's cold? why would you make a heater that won't work in the cold. I say [PoorWordUsage] dont they have a r&d dept. at mr heater that can make the Mr buddy work with out all the adjustments buy this buy that and it will work fine. They should hire some real outdooors men to make products that actualy work when you need them.

[klbowe]

I finally received this reply from Mr Heater which confirms what you have found.

It takes 20 psi to open the check valves on the Big Buddy regulators. At 14 degrees, a full 20# tank only has about 35 psi. As the volume in the tank decreases, so does the pressure. It sounds like you weren’t getting enough volume to sustain the burners on high. You may want to use our hose number F271803. This hose will allow you to use virtually all of the propane in the tank.

SO this tells me that if you choose to use disposable tanks they will not work when the pressure level falls below 20 lbs.

WHY ????? It is illegal to dispose of propane tanks that are not completely empty so how do you bleed of the 19 pounds that are left. duh

When I bought my heater I wanted to hook it to a 20 lb tank, I was sold the old style hose and filter that screws into where the 1 lb propane tanks would normally be installed.

At any rate please let us know when you get the hose tested and if a filter is also required.

The tech support for this company is extremely slow to reply. They seem to have no call management or tracking in place. The first question I had took three days for a call back and then three differnt people called over the period of two days asking if anyone had called me.

They need to do a bit of work keeping the FAQ's on their HSOforum up to date. This may reduce the thousands of phone calls and emails they handle with a 3-7 day turn around.

[cliffy]

Well enough was enough…I took mine back to the store last night! The customer service clerk’s response said it all, "oh, not another one".

[Deitz Dittrich]

THIS IS WHAT FM IS ALL ABOUT.. thanks to fishingurl04, I followed the directions just as stated and, even aa complete putz like myself, I was able to make the changes... I just got off the lake and had heat the whole time!!!

[tomfromblaine]

KLBOWE, I've tried that mr heater hose/ filter combo,I think it just aggrevated the problem, so I went to my local propane equipment supplier in Ham Lake and Jim the owner hooked me up with the quick disconnect,larger diameter hose,and a high quality regulator for less than what you pay for from mr heater. it was kinda cool he pulled me thru his whole warehouse with all part numbers memorized. he does carry mr heater products but thats not what he sold me. after all was hooked up I did notice alot stronger pilot flame I was even blowing on it, I'll see how it goes this weekend

[FisherDan]

Tom, I would like to get that hose setup. Could you give me the name and or address of the place you got it from? I'm right over here in Andover. You can email it to me if you want "[email protected]" or post it here. I'm sure others would like to get it too. THANKS

Dan

[tomfromblaine]

You bet Dan, Jim at Northland gas Equipment 763-754-6611

14148 Lincoln st Ham Lake. 1block west from 65 on bunkerlake blvd, then go north till you see the sign on the left. try and work with Jim I'm not sure how good the other guys are. I hope I did'nt violate any FM rules I'm just trying to help out fellow FM'ers

[Big Roy]

I e-mailed the company and I sent them this link and here is the reply:

I’m not sure who gave that advice, but it wasn’t anyone that understands the operation of these heaters. By moving the thermocouple, you will reduce the minimum oxygen requirement.

The ODS (Oxygen Depletion System) is designed to shut the heater off when the oxygen level drops below 18%. By moving the thermocouple you could possibly lower the percentage below safe limits.

This would be an extremely unsafe modification.

Now I'm stuck with a heater that blows out, and they just recalled the Big Buddys.