heater cooker will not light

[mnguy152]

sat night was out fishing. Heater was working fine ran thru one bottle of gas switch to a new one. Hit the red button to start it and nothing . Grab my 5 pounder and hooked it up and still nothing. So yesterday I took the heater apart and cleaned it up tried it again and still nothing. I did notice that the red button had a crack in it but when it was apart it was still pushing the switch . So my question is could it be the red button bad or is it something else i missed. I did clean it up with brake cleaner (all i had at the timeand a can of air. And the 5 pounder and 1 pounder did have gas in it. thanks

[Jim Almquist]

If you are sure that nothing got bent on the cooker end of the connection it might be your thermocouple. The red button is what allows gas to get by the thermocouple so you have a pilot and that in turn should heat up the thermocouple and allow gas to get through. I am second guessing myself and now wonder if the red button is the culprit.You could always heat the end of the thermocouple and when it is hot turn on the heater to low and see if it lights and if it dose your red switch is bad. Just a few things to try.

[leech~~]

You should still be able to light it even with a bad thermocouple, if the thermocouple is bad it just will not stay lit once you let go of the starter pilot button. Do you hear or smell gas when you push the button, remembering that you have to turn the gas dial at least to the first heat setting first? I have had about 4 of these heaters and had to replace just about every valve part at one time or another. One time I had the gas heat setting valve break on the inside and didn't even know it until I took it apart and found the valve stem broke inside! Are any of your tanks brand new? I also one time learned the hard way after running all the way to LOW that new tanks must be purged of the air they have in them when their shipped, or the gas will not light! Cold trip! You maybe able to get a new gas valve assembly at fleet or a gas company that services them?

[Sandmannd]

Go the mr. heater HSOforum and you can get all the parts you need. I got a thermocouple for $8 bucks this week. But Leech is right, it will still light if that's what's bad but won't stay lit.

[mnguy152]

Nope, the thing is I don't hear any gas when I push down on the red button. But i will try and heat up the thrmocouple and give it a try this morning. and will let you know.

[mnguy152]

Well I tried heating up the trhermocoupler and nothing so MY red switch must be bad right becuse I hear no gas coming out when i press the red butoon.thanks for the help will check back soon ok

[Aaron Brown]

Before you waste money on a t.c. take the unit apart again. Seperate the valve from the tube that runs down to the element. On the bottom of the valve is a little pass thru nipple. remove that and poke it through with a pin. This has happened to mine several times. What happens is from bouncing arount the excess thread sealant breaks up and ends up down in the bottom of the orifice. Hope this solves your problem. Another tip. Use some plumbers grease on all moving parts before you reassemble the unit.

[mnguy152]

Hey guys found out what happened with the heater. The nipple part that screws into the tank came off when I change tanks went out fishing the other day and went to throw the old one out and saw something diffent . come to find out it was the nipple from my heater. I took it out of the tank andput it back on the heater and fired it up just like new. Thanks to all the guys that helped out your the best.

[Sandmannd]

Crazy, cool it worked out for ya though.

[Jim Almquist]

Its great your back in business and can get back out fishing and not troubleshooting.