01-11-2011, 01:26 AM
My Buddy heater had issues Sunday. It worked fine on Saturday. I believe the problem was that the regulator froze up. I finally got it to light with a lighter and the pilot flame had no pressure at all, it burned straight up. After 2-3 mins the pilot flame started to get some pressure behind it (line unthawing?) so it would finally hit the (sensor) and stayed on after that. Once I got the pilot to stay on I turned on the heat and the ceramics did not glow all over as usual. Only about half of the ceramics glowed, but after 10 mins or so, everything was back to normal. I generally have used the heater just sitting on the ice, but I have put it up on a bucket before with no difference.
This is the first time I have had issues in over 3 years. I use the small tanks mainly for ice fishing and I have used the hose and 10-30lb tanks with no problem in temps colder than Sunday. It was 5 degrees Sunday which is nothing when you are ice fishing. I chalked it up to changing tanks before starting it and the high humidity since everything was frosted over and even my rods frosted up in only a few mins. I think maybe some moisture got into the lines while changing tanks which reminds me I should check the fittings for snow and ice before I screw the tanks on. I did break the red plastic knob on Friday getting it ready for Saturday. It snapped in the cold temps. I ordered another 2 knobs for $1ea and $7.95 shipping along with a filter for my hose. I will try changing my tanks before I go and I think that will solve the problem.
I used to work on Schwan's trucks and most of them run on propane. We never had issues until it got below zero and then they had a hard time starting. You need heat in order to keep the propane from freezing in the regulator and if the trucks did not run long enough to get the antifreeze warm enough to keep the regualtor unthawed, it froze and the truck would die.
Propane is normally 50 degrees below zero in liquid form and has to be 44 below (it's boiling point) or warmer to turn to a gas so you can use it. Just by thinking about this, maybe even tipping the heater over there could be a possibility of the liquid getting into the regualtor and freezing it since our tanks screw directly onto the regulator. Hmmmmm.
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This is the first time I have had issues in over 3 years. I use the small tanks mainly for ice fishing and I have used the hose and 10-30lb tanks with no problem in temps colder than Sunday. It was 5 degrees Sunday which is nothing when you are ice fishing. I chalked it up to changing tanks before starting it and the high humidity since everything was frosted over and even my rods frosted up in only a few mins. I think maybe some moisture got into the lines while changing tanks which reminds me I should check the fittings for snow and ice before I screw the tanks on. I did break the red plastic knob on Friday getting it ready for Saturday. It snapped in the cold temps. I ordered another 2 knobs for $1ea and $7.95 shipping along with a filter for my hose. I will try changing my tanks before I go and I think that will solve the problem.
I used to work on Schwan's trucks and most of them run on propane. We never had issues until it got below zero and then they had a hard time starting. You need heat in order to keep the propane from freezing in the regulator and if the trucks did not run long enough to get the antifreeze warm enough to keep the regualtor unthawed, it froze and the truck would die.
Propane is normally 50 degrees below zero in liquid form and has to be 44 below (it's boiling point) or warmer to turn to a gas so you can use it. Just by thinking about this, maybe even tipping the heater over there could be a possibility of the liquid getting into the regualtor and freezing it since our tanks screw directly onto the regulator. Hmmmmm.
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