Heater exploded in Hut

[SouthPaw]

Thank you all for the comments, suggestions and concern.. It was not a refilled tank probably just ice on the threads or the valve causing the leak when screwing it on. Not going to lie I replaced tanks in the hut before due to complete laziness. Never ever again and sounds like a few others learned from my experience. My hut is a large Eskimo pop up. The heat from that fire ball melting all my lines lying on the ice on the other end of the hut was insane.

[crazyrider546]

Thank you all for the comments, suggestions and concern.. It was not a refilled tank probably just ice on the threads or the valve causing the leak when screwing it on. Not going to lie I replaced tanks in the hut before due to complete laziness. Never ever again and sounds like a few others learned from my experience. My hut is a large Eskimo pop up. The heat from that fire ball melting all my lines lying on the ice on the other end of the hut was insane.

Last year...me and my girlfriend are in the popup....big buddy heater in the middle of us and we got hungry so I started up the Colman grill...we got done eating and I went to unscrew the propane tank from the colman and just like everyone else said there goes a stream of gas from unscrewing it and it literally was a big puff ball of fire, my beard synged and her hair too, the sides of the pop up caught fire....LESSEN LEARNED. Turn the buddy heater off first lol

[moosefeet]

Basically what happened was the unit was still hot and you unscrewed the tank and there was some gas still in it and ... poof.. you were cooking marshmallows! Good lesson learned.

[gonephishin]

Glad you’re alright, OP! I think we can all say we’ve done this once before.

I’m so sick of paying $7+ for 2 one pound tanks, I’ve been hauling a 20lb tank in my sled and keep the big buddy heater and lantern hooked up. (Yes, I know one pounders are refillable but I’m lazy.) I justify the extra weight of the tank that it keeps me on the ice longer, and only have to fill once or twice a season.

[deerefishyfishy]

WARNINGWARNING
: Always inspect propane cylinder and heater propane connections for damage, dirt, and debris before attaching propane cylinder. Do not use if head of cylinder is damaged, punctured or deteriorated.
ALWAYS ATTACH OR DETACH CYLINDER OUTDOORS AWAY FROM FLAMES, OTHER IGNITION SOURCES, AND ONLY WHEN HEATER IS COOL TO TOUCH. NEVER SMOKE WHEN ATTACHING OR REMOVING PROPANE CYLINDER OR MAKING REMOTE CONNECTIONS!

page  e3  of the  operation  instructions


https://www.campingworld.com/includes/productSpecs/Mr%20Heater%20Big%20Buddy%20Heater%20-%20Canada%20Only%20Manual.pdf

Good point, but my father-in-law has a saying... "DIRECTIONS ARE FOR BAKING CAKES!!!" 

[filetandrelease]

I once went to fire up my sunflower with a 5#tank flare up big time , big ball of flame glad I was lighting it in my lap facing away , a really loud 🤬And out the door it went , my buds thought that was great 🤡s, there was a stain that day lol
  I had been spidered , normally I light everything before hauling out on the ice , lesson learned ,

[choo choo]

I was just thinking if that could happen with my Coleman propane lantern, cookstove, or my Eskimo propane ice auger without proper cool down precaution?

The lantern exploding with that glass globe could be real bad news. I use the lantern for night fishing all year long and camping in the summer...what do you guy's think ?

[New Old Guy]

I was just thinking if that could happen with my Coleman propane lantern or my Eskimo propane ice auger.?

The lantern exploding with that glass globe could be real bad news. I use the lantern for night fishing all year long and camping in the summer...what do you guy's think ?

 Yo choo choo,

 How are you doing bud? About the lantern, I traded mine in 2 years ago and got a Maxxion head gear light. It has a lithium battery which is rechargeable. With a lithium battery you are not exactly out of the woods safety wise. To date the head mounted light has been a great blessing for hands off mobility for night fishing from shore and in a dark flip as well.  Hope we can get together this ice season. let me know your next time up my friend.

 Boggey

[northernnyice]

Glad you guys are okay, but you kinda were asking for it. Even if you dont let it cool down, never exchange explosive/flammable pressurized tanks in such a small area.. Holy crapola lol. Atleast open the doors for a minute.

[ActiveTrapChecker]

Thank you all for the comments, suggestions and concern.. It was not a refilled tank probably just ice on the threads or the valve causing the leak when screwing it on. Not going to lie I replaced tanks in the hut before due to complete laziness. Never ever again and sounds like a few others learned from my experience. My hut is a large Eskimo pop up. The heat from that fire ball melting all my lines lying on the ice on the other end of the hut was insane.

thanks again for the information. I changed every single tank in the hub until. for me it's not laziness but rather ignorance. i always opened both doors, but i now know better

[FrozenJig]

I had a very similar experience ~8 yrs ago. I was working in my garage when it happened.  I was able to grab the heater and quickly chuck it out onto the lawn before anything else caught fire. Scary... shocking and most importantly-  Lesson Learned! Thank you for posting this thread, hopefully others will read this and use this important information to avoid what we experienced.

Tight lines and safe travels fellow shanty-aholics   

[snelly]

similar thing happened to me. about 8 yrs ago. it was cold as hell same as today. tank went dead screwed on another tank must have not had it on right clicked the button to light the pilot and the whole heat burst into flames. I kicked it right out the shanty door into the snow and it went out let it cool put another tank and lit it and used that day and still using it today with a dent in the side where I kicked it

[reddog11]

Never had a problem with my Mr. buddy heater. Be carful.

[SouthPaw]

Just need to be more careful with Mr. Heater Big Buddy. Definitely helps with the warmth but not my B.F.F.

[IceDogs]

Glad everyone was ok. I changed to the twenty lb. tank even with all the extra weight just so I never run out while fishing. Stay safe.

[choo choo]

Yo choo choo,

 How are you doing bud? About the lantern, I traded mine in 2 years ago and got a Maxxion head gear light. It has a lithium battery which is rechargeable. With a lithium battery you are not exactly out of the woods safety wise. To date the head mounted light has been a great blessing for hands off mobility for night fishing from shore and in a dark flip as well.  Hope we can get together this ice season. let me know your next time up my friend.

 Boggey

Thanks for the heads up on the Maxxion head light.
 In winter,I use the Coleman Propane lantern for a flood type light  when Night ice fishing for crappie, and the The propane stove for cooking  hot meals on some bitter cold, all day ice fishing forays. I was just wondering if they could have similar issues when changing the 1 lb. tank , like some propane heaters do when not cooled down properly and valve off during a tank change.
 The ice auger does have a hose and regulator like a 20 lb. tank hook up, but the lantern and stove are just simple screw on connection like the buddy heaters.
BTW, would like to hook up with you this season, and will pm you Boggey.

[SizeMatters]

A couple other friends have had similar issues recently.  With that in mind I fired up my Buddy Heater before heading out the other day and damned it it didn't catch fire around the bottle connection.  I blew it out and grabbed my Little Buddy, fired it up with no issue and headed out.  Got to the lake and it wouldn't light.  Yesterday I brought them inside, leak tested, and found the washer on both connections looked ok when eyeballing them but when I took them out you could see cracks all around them.  Looks like when I was screwing the bottles on they would open up when torqued and leak.  This was with both refilled and new factory cylinders.  Mr Heater says to check that connection every time you put a cylinder on with soap    but it's covered by a shroud on most of their products.  Those washers are unavailable anywhere as a part though they are certainly an item which should be maintained and replaced regularly.  I made a couple from automotive gasket material and have no more leak there.  The Little Buddy heater apparently doesn't like riding in the sled.  The anti-tip switch had stuck in the off position.  A little tap fixed that.

[Windknots]

Propane is a scary fuel.  Great heat source, but man it doesn’t take much to make an enormous fire ball.  I’m glad you posted this.  Good reminder for all us Buddy users to let the unit cool first.