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Try replacing the thermocouple, it may be bad.
I bought a generic little buddy 15+ years ago (dyna-glo) and it's been a good unit. I've driven miles on the ice and some times the heating pad has been covered with snow and it still lit. Maybe I just got lucky...
These things are garbage but thankfully they are cheap. I usually get 3 or 4 years of HARD use out of them before I need to buy another for $99. When they work they work real good!
Thanks folks for some great comments. I'll try to clarify. My Little Buddy sits on top of a 1 lb cylinder of propane. At first I thought the problem was with the reduced propane vapour pressure at temperatures below freezing. The Tech at Mr. Heater said that the unit was designed for a minimum of 10 psig. The vapour pressure of propane at zero deg F is 28 psig so that shouldn’t be an issue.It’s not an issue with the tip over switch which would be simple to bypass. The issue has got to be with the thermocouple. I’ve looked on Amazon and Mr. Heater’s websites but can’t find the replacement thermocouple for my Model MH4B Little Buddy heater.I also bent the thermocouple clamp to push it closer to the pilot flame and still no go.I have posted this issue on three forums and very few people have anything good to say about the Little Buddy’s. The thermocouple is the most common failure. These things can fail brand new out of the box. It’s a basic design/manufacturing flaw.Sooo!!! I’m at the point where I’m going to open up the control valve and see if I can’t somehow bypass the crappy thermocouple. I know it’s a safety feature but the lack of reliability when you are on the ice freezing your buns off and desperately need the heat is driving me to extreme measures.I also looked at the Dyna-Glo website but their heaters give off way to much heat for my flip shack. The Little Buddy heaters are rated at 3800 btu/hr. The Dyna-Glo’s start at 10000 btu/hr.Take care, Grousemen
OK so here’s the latest report on my Little Buddy Heater (Model MH4B). As already mentioned, I originally bought one unit which crapped out, and was sent a replacement unit by Mr. Heater. So I ended up with two units, the second of which crapped out last week. Well desperate time call for desperate measures and I fully took apart the replacement unit to see how it is supposed to work.The temperature sensor is in fact a thermocouple (not a capillary tube) which generates a milli-voltage signal that depends on the temperature. The higher the temperature, the greater the milli-volts. This signal is sent to a solenoid valve in the end of the main control valve. When there are enough milli-volts the solenoid valve will stay open allowing propane to flow to the main burner. I tried to get the milli-volt reading on my volt ohm metre but it was too coarse a reading. I’m guessing maybe 15 milli-volts. Personally I don’t see how the thermocouple would fail as it is protected by a metal sheath which isolates it from the oxidizing or reducing effects of the pilot flame. I believe the solenoid valves are the culprits. Having said that there is a slight possibility of the “tip over switch” failing open. This is easy enough to check with your volt ohm metre.So I dissembled (read destroyed) the main control valve on the second unit but at least now I know how it is supposed to work. I swapped the solenoid valve between the replacement unit and the original one. Low and behold now the original one is working even when I leave it out in the cold. I gutted the main control valve on the remaining unit and it is now operated on full manual control with no safe guards on it. I don’t recommend this to anyone, as with out the built in safeguards your safety is at risk.Soooo!!! Tomorrow I plan to go ice fishing!!!Take care, Grouseman
Yes you are correct, never transport them on their sides, store them on their sides, bang them around, or store them in a bad environment or store them without a propane bottle on them. These units are far from garbage that many think they are and many problems are self induced. My gf uses one, her son uses one, and I own one even though I prefer a lantern. I rarely work on these, common sense goes a long way.
Boy I must be lucky. I have 2. buddy and a big buddy. The little one must be atleast 15 years old and the other one probably 10.Never had any issues. Keep them blown out and clean the nozzle with rubbing alcohol and a cue tip.I use either refilled one pounders,5 lb tank or a 20. Filters on a remote hoze.Abuse the hell out of them.