Mr Heater Buddy Problem

[JonesFamilyJayco]

Not a good weekend for my luck camping in the driveway.  I have posted the problem I had with electrical hook-up to my water pump project.  I also had a problem with my heater (Mr Heater buddy).   The heater would completly shut down without warning, even with good ventilation.  I also set it outside & it would still shut off.  It is easy to light the piliot, the heating element would light fast & seem to be running normally.  The tank is full (I run it off an extension to a large tank on the tounge of the campter).  I suspect a malfunction of the tip over switch instead of the low oxygen sensor on the pilot.  The heater will not shut down when I tested the tip over feature.  Has anyone else had this problem?  I want to be very careful with this, so I am planning on sending it to be repaired.  I hope it will not be too expensive.

Thanks!

[MtnCamper]

My boss bought a new "Mr. Buddy" today, we had a (frozen air compressor) And try as I might, it would not stay lit, it would burn fine as long as you held the button, down, release it and it would go out........ Not real impressed with them.

[wssfetch]

When I first used the Mr. Heater Buddy I had problems keeping it lit until I discovered that keeping the button down for 30 second before moving the dial to select heat did the trick.  Haven't had any problems since then.

[MtnCamper]

Here is what we did.... Set the knob to medium, then pushed in the button and lit it. As soon as we would let go of the buttone, no more fire....? I thought the instructions said to set the knob to med, then light, then adjust ?

Anyway we bought a 50K BTU Ready heater and that baby put out some heat..... But I think the motor has suffered too much and will need rewound, or replaced.

[wssfetch]

Here is what we did.... Set the knob to medium, then pushed in the button and lit it. As soon as we would let go of the buttone, no more fire....? I thought the instructions said to set the knob to med, then light, then adjust ?
 
Anyway we bought a 50K BTU Ready heater and that baby put out some heat..... But I think the motor has suffered too much and will need rewound, or replaced.

Gary,
 
On mine you push the knob in and click it over to ignition (the setting next to off), leave it pushed in for 30 seconds and move to the heat setting you want. I love it. Also have a Coleman Power Cat with the battery operated fan, but much prefer the Mr. Heater Buddy (plus it fits under the dinette seat--Power Cat is too big).

[tlhdoc]

Gary,

On mine you puh the know in and click it over to ignition (the setting next to off), leave it pushed in for 30 seconds and move to the heat setting you want.  I love it.QUOTE]

That is how I light mine too.

[JonesFamilyJayco]

I think I found my answer!!!!  The darn tank was almost empty!  I was frying our turkey and I simply tapped it to the same tank I run the heater off of.  Soon after starting, the burner shut off.  Since I rarely use the tank (I have a second tank for cooking with in the camper) I assumed it still had plenty of propane.  After disconecting the tank from the camper, it was down to just fumes.  I have not tried the heater with the new tank yet; I still have it at my work.  I hope to try it tommorow.

That raises another question that I now have; is there such a thing as a simple to read & accurate guage to read the fuel level?

Thanks!

[MtnCamper]

Easiest way is to weigh the tank, then subtract the weight of the tank. It's stamped on the ring at the top of the tank. I use a hanging scale, around $25.

[tlhdoc]

I use the lift and pull method.  I lift the tank and then pull my arm up and down a few times.  Then I decide if it feels mostly full or mostly empty. :p  Simple and accurate on a basic level.

[Ab Diver]

I think I found my answer!!!! The darn tank was almost empty!

LOL!  Don't feel so bad, it happens to all of us (well, not me, anyway, no sir, not me! )
 
I've learned to look for the simplest solution first, like checking to see if the appliance is actually plugged in before calling the repair guy to fix it.
 
Don't ask...