Old Crow
Searching....
Just a quick post to document a problem I had with one of my Buddy heaters--- the Mr. Heater "Portable Buddy". This is the 4000 and 9000 btu, single-ceramic-panel model (MH9BX).
Though I didn't realize it at the time, this started when I tried to light the heater and couldn't. I eventually realized the gas cylinder was empty. That seemed odd as I hadn't seen the heater die out the last time I had used it. Did it happen to run out of gas just as I shut it down? In any case, I just replaced the cylinder and fired it up, then stored it away.
Some time later, I noticed a very faint bad smell when I'd open the van door. I didn't associate it with the Buddy heater as it wasn't a gas smell. It also wasn't a porta-potty odor. And it wasn't a musty odor. I'd say it was more like a dead-mouse odor but very light--- barely noticeable. Just enough to say something isn't right.
I eventually realized it could be the Buddy heater and pulled it from the van and put it in a storage building. The next day I confirmed I had moved the odd smell to the storage building.
One seemingly-odd thing was that it passed the soapy-water test (of the cylinder connection). So the leak was inside the unit. But it was such a small leak that it didn't give off a gas smell and only drained down the cylinder very, very slowly.
Buddy heaters happened to go on sale shortly after that so I bought a replacement and that resolved the problem.
Edited to add--
Note: Instructions for the Portable Buddy heater include a warning to remove the cylinder when the heater isn't in use. When the heater is connected to a remote gas source by hose, instructions say to close the gas valve at the source, let the remaining gas in the hose burn off, then turn the heater control off.
Though I didn't realize it at the time, this started when I tried to light the heater and couldn't. I eventually realized the gas cylinder was empty. That seemed odd as I hadn't seen the heater die out the last time I had used it. Did it happen to run out of gas just as I shut it down? In any case, I just replaced the cylinder and fired it up, then stored it away.
Some time later, I noticed a very faint bad smell when I'd open the van door. I didn't associate it with the Buddy heater as it wasn't a gas smell. It also wasn't a porta-potty odor. And it wasn't a musty odor. I'd say it was more like a dead-mouse odor but very light--- barely noticeable. Just enough to say something isn't right.
I eventually realized it could be the Buddy heater and pulled it from the van and put it in a storage building. The next day I confirmed I had moved the odd smell to the storage building.
One seemingly-odd thing was that it passed the soapy-water test (of the cylinder connection). So the leak was inside the unit. But it was such a small leak that it didn't give off a gas smell and only drained down the cylinder very, very slowly.
Buddy heaters happened to go on sale shortly after that so I bought a replacement and that resolved the problem.
Edited to add--
Note: Instructions for the Portable Buddy heater include a warning to remove the cylinder when the heater isn't in use. When the heater is connected to a remote gas source by hose, instructions say to close the gas valve at the source, let the remaining gas in the hose burn off, then turn the heater control off.
