Mr. Buddy fix

[79rac]

I have read a few things about people having a buddy heater bite the dust while on the ice.  I wanted to have a backup when camping overnight on the ice with my son.  I ended up seeing two used buddy heaters for sale on Craigslist for $80 and ended up buying them.  I got home and one of them had a weak pilot light and took a lot of fidgeting to get it to light, and then it went out randomly a few minutes later.  At this point I was kicking myself for being cheap and just not buying a new one.  I was annoyed enough that I watched some youtube videos and ended up taking the whole thing apart.  Taking it apart was the hardest part.  I ran compressed air through all of the metal tubes inside and put it back together.  Afterwards the pilot light was 3 times longer than it was originally and it lit instantly.  It was a bit of a pain, but it is good as new now.  Thought I would pass this along in case anyone likes to tinker and would rather revive an old heater instead of filling up the landfill.

[Rebelss]

Doing that, cleaning the orfices and end of tubes with iso alcohol, cleaning the end of  the thermocouple with a bit of VVF emery cloth, and also blowing out the ceramic heat pad (You'd be amazed the dust that collects in there) will keep 'em going for a long, long time. 

[79rac]

Doing that, cleaning the orfices and end of tubes with iso alcohol, cleaning the end of  the thermocouple with a bit of VVF emery cloth, and also blowing out the ceramic heat pad (You'd be amazed the dust that collects in there) will keep 'em going for a long, long time. 

Nice, I will try using compressed air on the ceramic heat pad.

[IceAddict87]

I’ve got a 12 year old big buddy and had to take it apart and replace the pilot light and thermocouple a few years ago. Lots of videos that show you exactly what to do. I use it quite a bit in my garage and it works great.

[Rebelss]

Ya, they are kind of a beatch to take apart. That's why I keep it clean!