IceShanty.com's Ice Fishing Community
Ice Fishing Tips -Check your local regulations! => Equipment => Topic started by: skulldugary on Dec 06, 2005, 12:22 PM
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Just wondering what you guys use to block the wind from blowing out the pilot on you heaters?I have been using aluminum foil but it just don't cut it,keeps on coming off but does kind of work.Been thinking fo making one out of aluminum flat stock thats used for trimming widows and facia and such.If anyone has made one please post pixs or has any good ideas on how to attach blocker to heater....Thanks Gary
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there was a post on here last year about a shield some guys made for theres....i think ???
billybono
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PM Lonewolf for the details, that was him.
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Here's some pics of the fix I did last season.
(http://www.myfishfinder.com/pictures/data/500/medium/Mr_Heater_Fix_004.jpg)
The fix.
(http://www.myfishfinder.com/pictures/data/500/medium/Mr_Heater_Fix_002.jpg)
Close up.
Good luck ! ;)
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Thanks LoneWolf, Looks like another Mr. Buddy customer. ::) ;D
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i just use mine inside a shanty lol
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Thanks and LoneWolf,looks like that ought to work.....I appreciate it....
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Your welcome and if you have any questions PM me. ;)
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I'm having a bit O trouble really seeing that gizmo that lonewolf did,..did he just bend some alum siding and drill some holes in the top? I'm wondering if a stainless steel drain inset (for bath sinks,..the smaller 1" ones they are made to go down IN the drain an inch or so,.) would work,..perhaps pluging up some of the holes with high temp silicone (like for furnace/boiler door sealer) I don't imagine it gets any hotter than that,..AND you can use some to adhere it to the unit (?)
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Hey LoneWolf! Thank you but that link didn't show up ,...but is it the same as you posted a bit before? I SEE it but really don't see what it really is,..looks like a bent piece of metal with holes drilled on the top? just thinking that the drain insert might be easier to do and maybe if you played with blocking enough and certain holes that it might even improve it (if thats possible,..I think you said it didn't eliminate but helped,)...
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What I did was take a scrap piece of aluminum siding and draw out a design on it. I then cut out the waste using tin snips. I then folded the aluminum over, wrapped the sides and drilled the tabs to secure. I then drilled vent holes in the top. I aligned it over the pilot flame and marked where to drill for the tab holes. Be carefull where you drill there are lines underneath. I then secured with SS sheetmetal screws. ;)
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The pilot blowing out seems to be a common problem.I would think that the manufacturer would take care of this issue.
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The company is well aware of it .... I contacted them myself as well as many others. I only bought and ended up modifying mine for temporary use while waiting for parts for my Focus 5.
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Lonewolf,did they say they were going to do anything in the future to correct the problem or are they going to make avalible a pilot cover for the ones already sold?
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They didn't commit to anything. All they said was they recieved a "few" complaints and they were looking into it. That was last season ! ;)
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Again... thanks Lonewolf....
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Not a problem and stay warm ! ;)
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The company is well aware of it .... I contacted them myself as well as many others. I only bought and ended up modifying mine for temporary use while waiting for parts for my Focus 5.
Where can you get a burner for a Focus 5 ?...
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The only place you can find them is on E-Bay. ;)
Just be warned you will pay dearly for them. :(
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I have seen a few ideas on pilot ''hoods'' for my Mr.Heater......Best yet were the ones made by RJ.He made a bunch for a group of us on anothr board........!!Thanks again rob, it works great!!
Here is a few pics of em'
(http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c369/tip-up/DSCF0149.jpg)
(http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c369/tip-up/fdff.jpg)
-Andrew
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Oh crap I just bought one of these things on saturday. Are they blowing out inside the shanty's ?
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Good luck.
You bought a very good heater.
Mac
Thanks Mac !
I used mine for the first time yesterday and the winds where blowing up to 50 MPH on the lake. I thought for sure our shanty was going to be destroyed. But she held up and I had no problems with the pilot going out. I will tel you that this heater is awesome and it burned us out of the shanty on the low setting. We had to turn it off twice while out there yesterday for over 8 hours.
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Sunday was the first time my heater's pilot kept blowing out and it got cold real quick. I'll have to build one of those guards.
That's why I love this site...
FTD
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Send me a PM FTD, if the cost is not to high I can send ya one...
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I've been using a Big Buddy in my shack now a few times. I have the same problem of the pilot light going out after its lit about 10 minutes. After my experiences with it, I would venture to say that under all my situations the pilot light goes out because of the low O2 sensor. After about 10 minutes it will relight and stay lit for awhile but again will go out after a few minutes. Most times there is no wind/breeze/etc inside my shack. If someone has figured out a way to disable the low O2 sensor, I would appreciate knowing how.
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Big E
You don't want to disconnect that sensor that is a life saver My Unc and his buddy were going to colorado Hunting one Year they stopped and camped on the way out well anyways his buddy woke up in the middle of the night the heater was out It was an old coleman one so he went to relight it had to do that one with matches He couldn't get a match to light so he figured they got wet tried to light a lighter it wouldn't light got out to get one outta the truck hit the lighter on the way it lit then it dawned on him there wasn't enough oxygen in there to light either one
If it is going out cause of this sensor just open the door a little bit to get some oxygen in there!!!
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If it is going out cause of this sensor just open the door a little bit to get some oxygen in there!!!
I hear you there but I had IMO adequate ventilation (two air vents at bottom and top and the door was cracked open 2" at the top). It was just a pain as it would only stay lit long enough to take the bite off. I would assume that this sensor is set to be touchy and would shut off the pilot with just a little drop in O2...not necessarily anywhere near dangerously low O2 levels.
The other day it was close to 0 out fishing. Went to talk to a guy near me and he opened the door to his clam and the steam just rolled out and he was sitting there in his pants and shirt. I suppose to get something like that I need to go to a tank and sunflower type heater eh?
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I don't know I bought my buddy last year and bought my clam this year haven't go to use them together yet were making ice now so I'm gonna be giving mine a try by next weekend I'll let ya know how it works I'm actually trying my buddy right know to get the 1/2" ice off my truck had to pry the door open and the defroster seemed to be taking forever so I lit it and threw it up on the console lol
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I have a Guide and the smaller Buddy heater. If you keep the storm flaps covered it never goes out. Do not keep it near the tub as air always comes in between the tub and canvas.
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Seems like this problem only occurs with flip style huts? i have a ESKIMO TRAVLER with a zippered rear door (my back faces the door) NOT A FLIP STYLE
i hang my Buddie on bungies from frame work on front wall ..never once went out with door open..but then again i have a real nice skirt around my hut, and i have one of those neat lil plastic telescoping shovels that i clear my spot with and stack snow on my skirt..(saw the shovels at TOPPS today in front by snow shovels LOL YA THINK?) they got um at lowes too...
anyway i was at the lowes in orchard park NY today and just had to grab another one 37.50
11 left including display model after i bought mine....seems like the heat guard and the orange trim color is the only thing that changed from the red and black one i got at GANDER MTN 4 YRS for 79.95..GOOD DEAL!!!
I ALMOST BOUGHT 2!! LOL BUT I GOT THese REAL NICE GLOVES INSTEAD called IRONCLAD.COM for cold weather contractors and they also make the nascar pit crews models too!!! finally something water proof!!!!!! nice snug fit like surgical gloves almost, neophreme inside too...and easy to handle stuff, i mainly been looking for a glove thay dont get freakin SOAKED when you break down at the end of the day handling everything thats wet!!! will see if these work...they have a patented gorrilla grip lol and I'm holding a nice glass of crown withthem right now!!!!!!
check out the site!!!
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I've got one of theose Mr' Buddy heaters as well, and my problem is the tip over sensor. I use this heater in my admittedly small Fish Trap Scout.
I made a plate that I fastened to the bottom of the heater and then attached 4 chunks of 1.5" PVC to the plate with a notch cutout of each of them. The chunks of PVC "snap" on to the alum. tubes that run lengthwise on my scout (or should say used to, but that's another story). This works really good for making sure it doesn't tip over.
However, If I so much as shift my weight around, the whole sled shifts a bit and bam there goes the heat. The tip over sensor in my unit is way way too sensitive.
My questions, has anybody ever altered this sensor in anyway? I know, i know, it's a life saver and I really shouldn't mess with it. But the truth is there is very little chance of it tipping over and I never leave it on when I'm not in my portable anyway. I plan to remove or disable the sensor this year if I can figure out where it is and how it works. Just wondering if anyone else has experienced this problem and/or fixed it?
Fredster
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I am not sure where I found the information but whatI did to mine was raise that heat sensor up a bit.
the reason it keeps going off is that this heat sensor cools down too much and the unit thinks that it's because the flame isnot big enough and it is caused by low propane and then it shuts it off. It is pretty detailed steps that you have too follow but it comes out that the heat sensor will now be closer to the actual flame and it won't cool down as much, there fore not shutting it down.
I am looking for that info and as soon as I find it I will post it.
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I am not sure where I found the information but whatI did to mine was raise that heat sensor up a bit.
the reason it keeps going off is that this heat sensor cools down too much and the unit thinks that it's because the flame isnot big enough and it is caused by low propane and then it shuts it off. It is pretty detailed steps that you have too follow but it comes out that the heat sensor will now be closer to the actual flame and it won't cool down as much, there fore not shutting it down.
I am looking for that info and as soon as I find it I will post it.
What you are reffering to here is the thermocouple. And yes it does have to be in the flame. At least the top 1/3 of it. It works by generating 30 milivolts which goes through a brown "wire", through a mercury switch, or "tip over sensor", then connects to the bottom of the gas valve which has a small coil of wire creating an electromagnet that pulls/holds open the valve allowing the propane to continue to the burner and the pilot with your finger taken away from the manual pilot button. Although I strongly discourage doing it, a jumper can be put in place of the mercury switch so every time you bump the heater it wont go out. I do agree that I have found this switch to be too sensitive to my likings as well. Note: If you tip the heater over, chances are it wont go out either, which can be a problem! :-\ As far as the wind blowing out the pilot, I think the best solution is some type of shield like the ones previously posted. I hope this makes sense?
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the tipover feature still works good on it, but the wind doesn't blow it out like it used to anymore. So I don't think that anything I did made it unsafe. I didn't remove anything just pushed up the Thermocoupler a bit into the flame.
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Walleyboss, adjusting the thermocouples position absolutely does not compromise the safety at all. Just remember to keep the top 1/3 of it in direct contact with the pilot light to prevent going out. :icefish:
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Thanks im gonna have to try this as my heater has been going out lately on windy days.
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I am looking for that info and as soon as I find it I will post it.
Please do - I have to blow gently on the pilot light to "fan" the flame low enough to heat the thermocouple so the light will stay lit - thanks
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Here is something you can try to see if it is because your thermocoupler is to far from your flame. And this fixed my problem of the wind shutting it off.
Pull off the guard on the front for starters. There's only one screw holding it together really. The rest is clips. So start out by unscrewing the screw on the bottom.That's what holds the ceramic plate on the front. It should just pull out now. With all of the guts exposed you can see the side that holds the bottle and how it's held together with clips. There's 2 on the top and 2 on the bottom, With very little elbow grease and a lot of mpatience you can get it all unsnapped. The handle on the top is held together by a push ball with a little wiggle and a nail you can push the ball in and pull the whole side off. Now to get the metal front off . I used a screwdriver to lightly pry the bottom off of the bottom tray. Once I cleared the 2 clips holding it on the bottom it virtually fell off. Now you can see the thermocoupler up in the bracket. Unscrew the only screw holding both the coupler and the igniter in. Move the thermocoupler up in the bracket.Mine I acttually installed it outside of the bracket a bit. You''l understand when you see it . Now reassemble. It sounds hard but it is really easy.
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man - wish this post was there before I took mine apart - very difficult to get the clips apart without removing the burner!!! Taking that one screw out and pulling the ceramic (burner) off makes it cake.
After struggling to get it apart I did move the thermocouple up - that fixed the problem with having to gently blow the pilot flame down for a few seconds before the pilot would stay lit.
I still have my other problem and that's not a wind issue (check here http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=77728.0 (http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=77728.0) for details)
thanks for the disassembly tips
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You guys need to keep in mind that the Oxygen depletion sensor really amounts to the pilot design. As the oxygen level declines, the pilot flame no longer contacts the thermocouple and pilot drops out. That really is the "oxy depletion sensor". If you don't have a constant air supply into and out of your shanty, you will deplete the o2 in very short order. I would bet that is the root of most guy's problems.
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Thanks Wallyboss and Shwung79. After a couple seasons, I finally took my Mr. Buddy apart.
Without your good instructions, I probably would have broken a clip or something. Thanks for the insights.
MD
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on the back of the packaging of a new thermocouple, there are instructions on how far you should set the it from wire mesh flame part. for the original round metal mr.heater anyway, it should have the buddy on there to by now.