Buddy heater and carbon Monoxide video

[rsn48]

I did use a Buddy heater in an RV but was always uncomfortable with it due to Carbon Monoxide issues, or possible issues so I sold it. I know there have been discussions in various posts about this heater so I thought I'd submit this link so those can see one person testing out his Buddy heater in relation to Carbon Monoxide:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vqyfOq0D-8

[Cheechako]

My inlaws had a catalytic propane heater built in their RV and used it all the time with no problems.
I have a Little Buddy somewhere. They eat those green propane cylinders fast though. I dislike having those cylinders inside.

[rbk]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

My inlaws had a catalytic propane heater built in their RV and used it all the time with no problems.
I have a Little Buddy somewhere. They eat those green propane cylinders fast though. I dislike having those cylinders inside.

The larger LB heater shown can also be connected to larger tanks. The smaller one however cannot.

[john61ct]

Any butane / propane device can be connected to any size tank, just need to know how to find the adapter fittings and regulator pressure details.

[rbk]

Originally Posted by john61ct

Any butane / propane device can be connected to any size tank, just need to know how to find the adapter fittings and regulator pressure details.

Yes but the smallest version of this brand uses the green bottle a a base. Guess you could hang the heater from its grill?

[john61ct]

Or otherwise retrofit a stable base or clamp stand or something, use those tripods designed for the tiny camping stoves. . .

In any case really a separate issue from adapting the gas supply.

standard thread there is called

1"-20, or "Coleman" fitting

as opposed to

FPOL + Acme QCC Type 1, or

BBQ bottle valve with OPD

[cal40john]

I can't find the article again, but the gist was that the oxygen deprivation sensor is not to protect people from too little oxygen, it is to protect people from CO.

With the right gas to oxygen ratio the propane heater emits almost no CO. The ODS is a pilot light that heats a thermocouple that keeps the valve open. When the oxygen ratio changes, the length of the pilot light changes, no longer heating the thermocouple which shuts off the fuel.

The manual states that the Mr. Buddy heater is unreliable above 7000 feet of altitude. There's enough oxygen for people at that altitude, but the ratio is far enough off to shut off the fuel. Presumably that ratio would be far enough off that the heater starts producing more CO.

So the ODS is an indirect method of checking for CO output of the heater.

[rbk]

Originally Posted by john61ct

Or otherwise retrofit a stable base or clamp stand or something, use those tripods designed for the tiny camping stoves. . .

In any case really a separate issue from adapting the gas supply.

standard thread there is called

1"-20, or "Coleman" fitting

as opposed to

FPOL + Acme QCC Type 1, or

BBQ bottle valve with OPD

It is a separate issue and that’s where you missed the point. The big buddy heater is a freestanding design, the little buddy not so much. If you’ve used the little buddy you’d know why.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by john61ct

Any butane / propane device can be connected to any size tank, just need to know how to find the adapter fittings and regulator pressure details.

yep

[thomm225]

I've used one of those for maybe the last 5-6 years on my boat, but usually the hatch is open and it's only for at most an hour.

Maybe one or twice I used it at anchor with everything closed. Once it was around 40 degrees at night and very rough. I was trying to sleep and would run it for a few minutes at a time to warm up the cabin.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by thomm225

I've used one of those for maybe the last 5-6 years on my boat, but usually the hatch is open and it's only for at most an hour.

Maybe one or twice I used it at anchor with everything closed. Once it was around 40 degrees at night and very rough. I was trying to sleep and would run it for a few minutes at a time to warm up the cabin.

Yep, the bottom line is you have to smarter than the machinery you are using. Windlass, heater, stove, boom, bbq etc!

[sailorchic34]

I've heard that some blonde chic took a 1/8" compression fitting and a 3/8" flare fitting ($4 ish total) and with a 1/2 hour finagling, (an engineering term), connected her little buddy to low pressure propane.

Of course, she then added a vent hood and 1-1/2" copper flue to outside the boat.

[pcmm]

The bigger issue with these heaters is the amount of moisture that they produce. After going through a few of the 1lb tanks of propane I was not happy with the amount of condensation it was leaving of the ceiling of the boat (alot, it was dripping) and the rate at which they go through tanks! the little model goes through a 1lb bottle in less than 3 hours! I switched to a cheap chinese espar copy and I'm much happier. drier heat AND much more economical to run! costs me appros $1 per hour vs $3.50 for the little buddy and the diesel heater throws much much more heat.

[rbk]

Originally Posted by sailorchic34

I've heard that some blonde chic took a 1/8" compression fitting and a 3/8" flare fitting ($4 ish total) and with a 1/2 hour finagling, (an engineering term), connected her little buddy to low pressure propane.

Of course, she then added a vent hood and 1-1/2" copper flue to outside the boat.

It is possible but not practical. If you want to connect a heater to a 20lb tank there are better suited catalytic heaters that are made for it, however most do not have thermocoupler with shutoff. The little buddies have a tilt switch shutoff and molded base that fits over a 1lb canister, while getting the hose to connect is a non issue its coming up with a safe base that will allow it to run level and not trip the tilt switch (these are very temperamental on the LB heater). Even the use of the green bottles and base is sketchy at best. Best way to do it, is to fix it to the 20lb tank with hard fittings, not so convenient in a cockpit, and you should not be bringing a large tank in the cabin. The buddy heater is the safest, cheapest, best option IMO. I've even seem them fixed to walls in cabins with 20 ft of hose run to an exterior tank.

[mogulskibum]

There are two different sizes of the "Little Buddy." There's this guy:





That one will not (easily) adapt to a larger tank. You're stuck with the 1lb tanks.


And then there's this guy:





They might call that one the "big buddy," but who really cares what they call it. It can easily be adapted to a large propane tank - the manufacturer even sells a kit.


I have used both on the boat, and I've used the large one in my workshop pretty regularly.


The little one will run through a 1lb tank in about 12 hours. The big one on "low" will go about 6 hours, and on "high" about 3 hours.


Whenever I've run them on the boat, I always, always had a CO detector - usually within about 3 feet of the heater. The first time I slept with the heater running, I actually put 2 CO detectors nearby to quell my paranoia. Never once had a problem.



The bigger issue, as others have noted, is dealing with the little 1lb tanks if you don't have (or want to adapt) a larger tank.


The best solution I've seen for storing the canisters onboard is to get a piece of 4" PVC, cut it to a length that will fit however many canisters you want to carry (8" for each), glue a plug/cap on what will become the bottom end of it, dry-fit another plug/cap for the top - that will be your "lid," and then mount the whole pipe somewhere above deck where any propane that leaks will fall overboard, and drill a hole in the low point so that if a tank leaks it won't be held in the tube.


I'm pretty sure that properly executed, the above propane storage would even meet ABYC standards (although the heater itself would not).