Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Is the Mr Heater Buddy hard to light if cold?

I thought I read something that said the Mr Heater Buddy is hard to light if the propane cylinders are cold, and if warmed up a bit they light much easier.

Is this true? Thanks.

If you are using a bulk tank hose, you should turn it on and off at the tank. (I know this from Mr. Heater directly) due to the fact that propane leaches oil out of a rubber hose under pressure, and this can and will, clog your valve and regulator. I had to order and replace mine. Also, add an inline filter just before the heater, to prevent any further oil issues. They are a few bucks, and just screw in. They were right about the oil, and the new parts work as designed.

Mine have always fired right up. Even in -15*...

Wouldn't doubt that it's true though I never had that problem. Maybe just doesn't get cold enough here to cause it.

I have a Big Buddy. I haven't tried it at -0 but it fires right up at 15 or so. I use it in an old camp trailer and it's hooked to the bulk tank. If I've had the tank disconnected, it can take a while for the propane to get through the line so it might take a lot of clicks then.

I have the golf cart version. Sometimes I have to click it two or three times to start. i imagine it depends on how much propane is in the cylinder as that will determine pressure. If you are low on propane and it is cold it may take more than one try to start. I have the 20# adapter but have not used it yet. I have the refill setup so I just refill the 1# bottles.

Haven't had trouble lighting mine down to about 0, however wind can cause issues. I had to replace the gas tube from the valve to the burner this year because it had corroded through in several spots. I had left it in my box blind all last year and mice built a nest inside it. I think their urine reacted with the aluminium tube.

im in northern MN and mine is a pain in the azz to light and I bring a back up sunflower to the fish house.
I started out with a bulk tank and a 10 foot 1-20 POL thread adapter and it had issues.
Then I bought the mr heater hose with the quick attach coupler. Its not much better.
Mr heater seems to waffle on the hose recommendation and as long as its 10 foot it doesn't seem to need a filter.
I never tried the filter on my first hose because none of my other ice fishing buddies could pass judgment if it helped or hurt and the idea it was just another thing to clog up in the cold.

So I...
bring three heaters (big buddy, mr heater cooker sunflower, and buddy jr.)and sometimes run the more reliable one until the big buddy warms up enough to light.

The fundamental problem seems like the pilot light just doesnt get much flow making it a 10 ignitor hit process and sometimes bringing a lighter to help.

I also have the Big Mr Buddy and have had no problems down to 7 degrees. The first time I start it, after it has been in storage, I use a long lighter because it takes a few seconds for the gas to get to the orifice. After that, all I have to do is click the starter and it lights at once. No problems at all. I also use a filter on the hose from the tank.

I leave mine in my shooting house during deer season, hooked up to a 20 pound cylinder. I never turn the cylinder off, as it's on the ground with a hose running up to the heater. It always fires right up, if being used regularly. If only used now and then, it is hard to start.

Takes me about 3 shots to light the pilot each time. I use a 20# propane cylinder with no filter in line.

-Ken

My Big Buddy has a quirk. If it's cold and I light the pilot, the pads will fire right up every time. However, if I turn it off but leave the pilot going, it won't light the pads again until I turn the pilot off and let it sit and cool off a few minutes. I can easily light it with a long match at that time, though. It's no big deal. I just turn the pilot off when I shut the heater off and it'll work fine when I need it again.

One thing to remember about propane. The colder it gets, the heavier it gets. So when the temp starts down into the single digits there is hardly any vapor. And the oil thing in propane, yes there is byproduct waste oil in propane that gets there through the manufacturing process. Having worked with propane fuel systems for over 25 years I have only seen a couple dozen systems that have had an issue with contaminates in the system that would cause a problem. I have inspected LP bottles that are over twenty years old and not found large quantities of contaminates in the bottom of the tanks. I have changed valves in -30 weather that allowed me to pull the valve out without having to empty the tank. You could look down into the tank and see the liquid.

I was a roofer years ago. We did a lot of commercial buildings with torch-down membranes. When it got down to near 0, We couldn't get enough pressure out of the 30lb bottles we used to keep the torches hot enough to do the job. We fixed that by occasionally using a torch to warm up the bottles a little. On some jobs where we had good access, we used a 500 gal portable tank. We'd throw a tarp over it with a space heater under it. It kept it warm enough so we had good pressure.

Our has worked fine to around -20. Don't use the small bottles though. We turn off at the heater and tank as it's in our sleeping tent. Second click and it typically lights up. We did have issues with the first tank hose, one of the Mr Buddy models. The heater would turn off after about 15 minutes and one could not restart it. Tried a friend's Coleman hose and attained perfection.

Hank Hill, is that you??!!??

I used my Buddy Heater last week while camping in North Alabama. Temps down to 14F. Had zero issues firing it right up. I was using the one pound cylinders.

I've found that it doesn't take much of a breeze to blow out the pilot light.

Mine became overly sensitive regarding the tip over cut loft valve.

Just bump it and it turned off.

I was able to bypass the cut off valve. Gotta be careful with it, but at least it works.

DF

Mine are hard to light till the pilot valve purges the air out of the hose on initial start up.
Then they are GTG.
Ambient temperature doesn't seem to be a factor.