Heaters!

[Jim Panfish Uran]

I'm sick of the tiny problems my buddy heater has given me over the last 5 years. I like the safety and the protection it gives me from a molten surface that melts anything that goes near it, BUT I'm ready to just buy a sunflower for ease of use and dependability. Anyone else want to weigh in on what they use and why? 

[Jim Panfish Uran]

I should add that I have an Eskimo 6120i and that I don't move very often with the family. I will however make a few solo trips with the one man, maybe I should get a heater/cooker style. 

[Fishing Frenzy]

1 hour ago, Jim Uran said:

I'm sick of the tiny problems my buddy heater has given me over the last 5 years. I like the safety and the protection it gives me from a molten surface that melts anything that goes near it, BUT I'm ready to just buy a sunflower for ease of use and dependability. Anyone else want to weigh in on what they use and why? 

Also have had a lot of trouble with the buddy heater pain in the butt to get it to light at times.

I use a sunflower and it works pretty well.

[Luttes]

Don't mean to hijack the thread but I've also had issues getting my buddy heater to light at times.  Any suggestions?  Usually takes a solid 20-30 clicks of the pilot to get it to light.  I have a duel sunflower that attaches to a 20lb tank and man that thing can pump out the BTUs, I just get concerned that it will either melt the tent or that we'll all die from CO poisoning. I suppose I could carry a CO alarm...

[Hawg]

My buddy has been foolproof. Do you guys hold down the knob long enough before lighting it? That's a must do.

[ANYFISH2]

26 minutes ago, Hawg said:

My buddy has been foolproof. Do you guys hold down the knob long enough before lighting it? That's a must do.

And it must be level, mine can be frustratingly fickle with this.  Otherwise, no problems.

[Jim Panfish Uran]

Yeah it's always something, when something does go wrong it's always hard to pinpoint the problem. Right now I'm not even getting my pilot to light or to let any propane through. I've manually lit it after bleeding the hose before and I'd either get enough air to blow my lighter flame a little goofy or it would light if propane was present. Now it won't even flicker my lighter flame, it's clogged somewhere and I'm at a loss. Figure if I go back to the headache producing sunflower long enough I'll fix my buddy lol

[monstermoose78]

I use the heater/cooker sunflower heater works great. That way I can let my 20 pound tank sit outside. I like to bring a small pot to cook up some brats or fry pan and make hot ham and cheeses 

[Jim Panfish Uran]

Do you need a regulator on that hose @monstermoose78

[monstermoose78]

No sir 

[icepike 1]

I almost 9 out of 10 go with the headache producing sunflower 

I have 3 heater's a little buddy a single sunflower and dual sunflower. 

I first picked up a little buddy heater but on very cold days it wasn't doing the job so I picked up the single sunflower and was very impressed with it. It doesn't blow out in the Wind like the Buddy Heater easy to light and as old and Rusty as it may look it still works just fine. Then I have the duel sunflower for when I bring out the command post and man does it pump out some heat. With the sunflowers just have to keep plenty of air flow keep the doors open a bit. The little buddy can be a pain in the butt at times with taking for ever to light and it doesn't take much wind to blow it out. 

Once I didn't get the propane tank tight enough and it starts shooting flames from where you connect the tank thought I was about to blow up scare the hell out of me. 

[Luttes]

3 hours ago, icepike 1 said:

I almost 9 out of 10 go with the headache producing sunflower 

I have 3 heater's a little buddy a single sunflower and dual sunflower. 

I first picked up a little buddy heater but on very cold days it wasn't doing the job so I picked up the single sunflower and was very impressed with it. It doesn't blow out in the Wind like the Buddy Heater easy to light and as old and Rusty as it may look it still works just fine. Then I have the duel sunflower for when I bring out the command post and man does it pump out some heat. With the sunflowers just have to keep plenty of air flow keep the doors open a bit. The little buddy can be a pain in the butt at times with taking for ever to light and it doesn't take much wind to blow it out. 

Once I didn't get the propane tank tight enough and it starts shooting flames from where you connect the tank thought I was about to blow up scare the hell out of me. 

I think I'd $hit myself if that happened! Glad to hear you didn't blow up!

[icepike 1]

Thought it was going to blow up. There must have been some dirt or something on the threads to stop me from tightening it all the way. Luckily was able to get the flame out with a towel. 

[Surface Tension]

 Mr Heaters (sunflower) are responsible for more burnt doors and zippers then all other Shelter heater on the planet Earth.

 They also burn inefficiently and because of that give of carbon monoxide.  Even more so because guys haul them around in the back of their trucks and road grime collects on the element making them burn even dirtier.

 

 Buddy Heaters are a much better option but they need to be maintained.

  Have a look, see the canned air.  Thats meant to blow off dust not road salt and dirt.   If you don't have a case use a pillow case at  least.

 

 The video goes on the show how to clean the pilot light.  This would account for the weak flame but I've found the plumbing plugged with grease that has leeched out of hoses.

 

[Jim Almquist]

I got tired of the quick connect hose for the Buddy. Mine leaked until it got warm and would often catch on fire. I took off the quick connect portion and connect the hose up with some brass connector and silicon tape. No more leaks. The down side is you have to get the air out of the hose if you disconnect the 20lb tank. The way I get around this or fill the hose quicker is to use a torch lighter and heat up the thermocouple while I have the Buddy turned on high. It gets the air out quicker and when the gas gets started it will run on high right away. Not perfect but works every time.

[leech~~]

23 minutes ago, Jim Almquist said:

I got tired of the quick connect hose for the Buddy. Mine leaked until it got warm and would often catch on fire. I took off the quick connect portion and connect the hose up with some brass connector and silicon tape. No more leaks. The down side is you have to get the air out of the hose if you disconnect the 20lb tank. The way I get around this or fill the hose quicker is to use a torch lighter and heat up the thermocouple while I have the Buddy turned on high. It gets the air out quicker and when the gas gets started it will run on high right away. Not perfect but works every time.

 

Jim, I love the way you calmly talk about your craziness!

[Vitreus]

8 hours ago, Jim Uran said:

I'm sick of the tiny problems my buddy heater has given me over the last 5 years. I like the safety and the protection it gives me from a molten surface that melts anything that goes near it, BUT I'm ready to just buy a sunflower for ease of use and dependability. Anyone else want to weigh in on what they use and why? 

Interested to see what you'll decide to go with. I'm in the market as well, but I'm not seeing anything better than the Big Buddy.

[eyeguy 54]

I use the buddy in my scout and love it. I just set it behind me and low works. if it goes out I just pop it and start it again. small cylinders. also used it in my eskimo quick fish 3 with no problems. with that house I set a 10 pounder outside and used a hose.  big house like yours jim that sunflower should be nice. I used on it my eskimo before i got the buddy and it was always tooooo hot. 

[Jim Panfish Uran]

I've got a little buddy heater somewhere, I think my brother may have owned into it lol, I've had this big buddy since 2009 I think. I take care of my stuff but it still gives me problems. I ran the small buddy in the back of my scout too Royce, it was slick. 

[eyeguy 54]

Portable Buddy is what I have. I think Rick G is getting a little buddy for his. Tom doesnt need a heater, the guy is part ice !  

does the little buddy need a match to start?

 

[Jim Panfish Uran]

Yes that's what it's called, but I had the little buddy heater rigged up in my Scout a few years back. 

[eyeguy 54]

If i ever change this one will probably get the little buddy.

[ZachD]

Instead of buying a sunflower save your money and just bypass the safety on the buddy.

[castmaster]

I run the Big Buddy and have no problems with it. But like couple others mentioned I also take good care of my stuff. The heater always goes in the carry bag when not in use, is kept clean of dust/dirt getting into pilot light orifice etc.

I also run the proper hose. Not sure if it's still an issue but I know a few years back a lot of folks encountering problems were using the wrong hose.

[swampbuck]

Try the Thermablaster  Its bullet proof

Marine General has them

[Pigmeat]

7 hours ago, ZachD said:

Instead of buying a sunflower save your money and just bypass the safety on the buddy.

I've got a Little Buddy that's gotten really tempremental. How do you bypass the safety? Been thinking about it, but I'm not very savvy at those things.

Got a sunflower thinking that might be a cheap solution, but it gave me a headache just testing it in the garage so I won't use it inside a shelter. Then got a Buddy. Works great!

[Jim Panfish Uran]

8 hours ago, ZachD said:

Instead of buying a sunflower save your money and just bypass the safety on the buddy.

 

How in the world do I do that? I'm going to go disassemble it in a bit and see what I can do so I can stay out after dark tonight. 

[jwmiller33]

I have a buddy, a big buddy and a sunflower and I use the big buddy about 98% of the time. Its about 7-8 years old and always starts within a couple clicks but I take very good care of my stuff. I do not have the quick connect hose. The only reason I would ever use the sunflower would be if my buddy or big buddy was out of commission. The sunflower, regardless of how much I vent my shack, always gives me a headache. Once I did some more research on carbon monoxide poisoning, I stopped using the sunflower altogether.  The big buddy puts out more than enough heat (I usually keep it on low in my frabill) and is a lot safer in my opinion.

Edited December 28, 2016 by jwmiller33

[CamozKool]

I switched this year to a Golf Cart Buddy Heater, its more expensive but made to ride in a golf cart, its a tad more windproof and the safety switch is not as sensitive, it works great for my needs...

Otherwise I use the hunting buddy and run it on low... usually a one pound cylinder lasts about four or five hours...

[401TE]

I've used a Big Buddy for the past 4 or 5 years.  Would never go back to a sunflower heater of any kind as I hated the headaches and melted stuff that go along with them.  The trick I found to getting the Big Buddy to light quickly is to purge the propane line before connecting it to the heater.  Depress the little nipple inside the connector until you hear propane coming out, it takes less than a second.  Hook it up, depress the control knob on the buddy for a couple seconds and it starts every time. 

 

I know nothing about clogged ports, etc.  Never had to deal with that issue.