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Mr Heater Buddy Connection To Aux Propane Port?

For what is worth --- the schrader valve is in place on the hose I am using.


Cary Winch said:
Does someone make a bleed valve for a 1lb bottle fitting?

Cary
Click to expand...

Something like this and drill press could probably create one quickly enough, But would think holding the ignitor in longer is probably a safer thing to do. 20 PSI of raw propane --- that's a lot. The house should bleed in a pretty short period of time.

The hose I have does have the Schraeder, but the other end is wide open so it fills with air (or leaks the propane) fairly quickly. When I don't use the grill for a couple of weeks, it takes about 15 seconds for the 8-foot (+/-) hose that I have to bleed --- then the grill starts up on 1 or 2 touchs of the pezio igniter.



Kevin said:
Stop
Stop! You are a bad Sweeney!
Read this and write "how to unclog pilot tube"
20 times on the blackboard...;)

What To Do If Your MR HEATER Buddy Won’t Light (Quick Fix)
Click to expand...

Please!

I've got 14 years of Catholic schools under my belt... (2 were College!). Blackboards don't scare me a bit anymore! I do, however, maintain a healthy distance from rulers.
 
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Cary Winch said:
Let's not forget Bob's question here by the way. This type of 1lb bottle replacement hoses would normally come with a Schrader valve in them. The gas appliance has a pin in the fitting that pushes in on the pin in the valve to open it up when connected. What we found out years ago is the length of this pin varies from manufacturer to manufacturer and that the connection hoses don't always work consistently when it has the Schrader valve in place. So, for many years we have been removing the Schrader valve from the ends of the hoses we provide with the Camp-Inn. If you have a hose that has a Schrader valve in though it may cause inconsistency issues and I would recommend removing it. Take a peek into the end of the 1lb bottle end of the hose to see if has a valve or a open hole. The O-ring and the plastic ring holding the O-ring in place should be there but the valve should be absent.

Cary
Click to expand...
A thought, The Mr Heater QD does not use a schrader valve, it uses spring loaded teats on the output and input fittings. The spring seems to be fairly strong and the two teats must line up just right. They also must be fully inserted to let gas flow. If one spring was firmer than the other I could see a problem. One of my suppositions is that due to the location of the input QD on the Big Buddy, one must pay a lot of attention to getting a good alignment by pushing down the hose while pushing the fitting into the locked position. Gremlins.
 
rmbrowder said:
Going for a stretch, does your short CI QD hose have the Schrader valve in the outlet? (Does it have the small pin like a bicycle tube)
Click to expand...

"The Case of The Missing Pin"

Bob had the answer. I wasn't able to test his theory until I got this delivered today:

View attachment upload_2024-1-11_16-25-59.jpeg

I spun off the tank connection and spun on the QC for the side port:

View attachment upload_2024-1-11_16-26-50.jpeg

This particular hose has a brass 3-way connection that allowed the QC conversion. Most hoses without the gauge don't allow you to mix and match like I did as all of the connections are crimped; all three on this one were threaded. This particular gauge is high pressure, for the tank, pre-regulator. So it is useless at this point in the system. I will be replacing it with another 0-30 psi gauge that I have from my absolutely ridiculous pile of new spare parts and brass fittings.

For some reason the CI QC hose with the pin removed works with my Coleman BBQ but not with the Mr Heater heaters.

After 6 pages, I think we can put this post to rest. I thank all for their input. So does my therapist; he made out like a bandit with me over these last two months.
 
SethB said:
What does the inside of the heater end connector of your shiny new hose look like?
Click to expand...

Shiny one is just like the one on the right. Identical. The left side is the CI-supplied hose (with the pin removed) that I couldn't get to work on any MH Heater under any circumstances:

View attachment upload_2024-1-11_17-31-13.jpeg

I highly suspect that if you remove the pin from the inside of any 1-lb connection, the heater will cease to work. Given how much $$ I have tossed at this problem, I will politely decline to give this theory a spin.

I now have two ways to run the heater off the side port: this simpler, shorter setup. And the longer 12' hose that uses the in-line 11" WC regulator. I prefer the shorter version as I can now use the MH filter to catch all the crap, dope particles and tape pieces that I have introduced into the system by spinning on and off all these new and used fittings dozens of times. Further, I can't vouch for the provenance of this particular hose or it's quality (pretty, shiny and short though it may may be) and whether or not it could in time contaminate the MH burner pads without the filter at the end.

SethB said:
Link to the hose?
Click to expand...

Here's the .com link: https://www.amazon.com/PatioGem-Pro...lb+propane+tank+adapter&qid=1705013380&sr=8-6

Seth: be aware that if you are thinking of getting this hose, the tank connection does spin off fairly easily (19mm socket), but leaves a 1/8 NPT female to connect to. You may need some combination of 1/8 to 1/4 to 3/8 adaptors or nipples to mate it up with your QC male fitting. I needed 4 different pieces of brass between the hose and the trailer to make it work.
 
Sweeney said:
For what is worth --- the schrader valve is in place on the hose I am using.
Click to expand...

I think that Sweeney's experience further corroborates the necessity of using a 1-lb hose connection with the pin still intact, at least for these Mr Heater heaters. Other propane-fueled devices may not be as demanding of the presence of this little piece of engineering. Probably best to carry both types of hoses in the trailer just the same (if you have a Buddy), especially if CI has found them to be somewhat finicky under different applications.
 
I firmly believe in what the ol' professor taught me almost 39 years ago exactly. I would "grind" on a program for hours to make it 'better' -- either to be more reliable or faster...sometimes taking hours.

One day he came by and asked me, "It works, doesn't it?"

I responded that it did -- but that I thought it could be more elegant or prettier.

His wise response was, "The requirements in the text don't require that. The program just needs to do 'X'. Here's the money statement: "It's working now; don't argue with success."
 
One last though, does the side of the heater make any difference? I know the manual says it doesn't matter....

Both left and Right sides behave exactly the same for mine. I just tested it.
 
All 3 inputs (the 2 screw-ons and the 1 quick-connect) fuel the entire heater; however, just one fuel source is required for both heating pads.

Only the left side pad ignites on “low”.
 
Steve and Karen said:
All 3 inputs (the 2 screw-ons and the 1 quick-connect) fuel the entire heater; however, just one fuel source is required for both heating pads.

Only the left side pad ignites on “low”.
Click to expand...

I just didn't know if there was flow restriction greater on 1 sides propane input than the other.

Doubtful, and as I proved to myself ... not on mine. Your milage may vary :D Perhaps some slight machining difference or an imperfection that is causing reduced flow...

As the ol' prof said though --- never argue with success.
 
Steve and Karen said:
I think that Sweeney's experience further corroborates the necessity of using a 1-lb hose connection with the pin still intact, at least for these Mr Heater heaters. Other propane-fueled devices may not be as demanding of the presence of this little piece of engineering. Probably best to carry both types of hoses in the trailer just the same (if you have a Buddy), especially if CI has found them to be somewhat finicky under different applications.
Click to expand...

So, here is a question for those who have a Buddy heater. Does the 1lb propane connection fitting have some sort of Schrader valve in it? Are they somehow having two Schrader valves push against each other? Normally a gas appliance has a pin with a small hole in the end that pushes on the Schrader valve in the bottle or the substitute hose to open it and allow flow. The length of the pin in the appliance fitting is what causes conflicts if it is unable to properly push open the valve in the hose. If it is relying on the pin in the bottle Schrader valve to open up some sort of valve in the appliance fitting then that would explain what is happening.

Could someone take a good look at the inside of that bottle fitting on their Buddy heater? Picture maybe?

Cary
 
Cary Winch said:
Could someone take a good look at the inside of that bottle fitting on their Buddy heater? Picture maybe?
Click to expand...

Hmmm... pics not attaching but there is a pin 0.67" long with a mini compression pin that looks like it needs to be depressed in order for gas to pass.

Without the opposing "pin" in the hose section to compress it, nothing will get by, I imagine.

Will keep trying to attach.
 
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As a recap, these are my successful gas accessory versions:

View attachment upload_2024-1-12_15-21-41.jpeg

I replaced the CI regulator with an adjustable one, that goes up tp 30 PSI. I have it set at 20.

These are my two (working) hose combinations for the side port:

View attachment upload_2024-1-12_15-22-56.jpeg

They have been modified to adapt to the side port with the Quick Connect. The one on the right is a Mr Heater hose with the 11" WC regulator retained but the tank connection removed.

The 4 Bar gauge is showing 20 PSI equivalent (1.4 Bar) at the side port:

View attachment upload_2024-1-12_15-26-0.jpeg

The only other piece of kit not shown is the Mr Heater filter that goes on the silver hose right at the heater.

I hope that helps someone visualize what my solution(s) were.
 
Steve and Karen said:
Hmmm... pics not attaching but there is a pin 0.67" long with a mini compression pin that looks like it needs to be depressed in order for gas to pass.

Without the opposing "pin" in the hose section to compress it, nothing will get by, I imagine.

Will keep trying to attach.
Click to expand...


Aha!!! This solves it. Mr Heater has a one way valve of some sort on the fitting. Never seen anything like this before. That explains why the Camp-Inn provided hose is not working then. Because we pull the Schrader valve out of the hoses to make sure they will work with a broad range of gas appliances. But, now Mr Heater just complicated this by adding this feature.

Two solutions. First solution would be to do like Steve did and source a different hose for this. Or have a Schrader valve threaded in to the end of the Camp-Inn hose. That solves the answer for me how I will do it when I get my heater. I will simply spin a Schrader valve into one of our hoses and it will be good to go. I would probably dedicate that hose to the heater because with the valve in, there is a high chance it may not work with other appliances.

Cary
 

Attachments

Steve and Karen said:
This is the connection for my Coleman propane lantern:

View attachment 10229

and the MH connection:

View attachment 10228

A quick glance (previously) and I assumed them to be one and the same.
Click to expand...


Ya, not the same. The Coleman one is just a hole with what looks like a bronze screen in it. That is more the normal fitting. The MH fitting actually has a valve that needs to be pushed in on to open up to let gas flow into it. This completely explains it then. Sweeney did mention his hose has a Schrader valve (there are some that made it out the door with valves) so is why his is working. Interesting idea that two spring valves have to push against each other to make gas flow through both halves of the fittings.

Cary
 
Soooo...if all or any of the connections on the BigBuddy work, including the two sides with 1" bottle connections, with a CI hose WITH schrader tip in it...

How about the Portable buddy, via the 1" connection? Will the CI hose WITH schrader pin added, work connected to the MH 1" hose?
 
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Kevin said:
How about the Portable buddy, via the 1" connection? Will the CI hose WITH schrader pin added, work connected to the MH 1" hose?
Click to expand...


No reason why it shouldn't. But I assume you mean "CI hose... connected to the MH 1" port" which, I believe, is what Cary is now intending to do.

Two options for using the side port of the trailer:
1) replace the missing pin in the CI hose, or
2) modify the MH hose with a QC like I've done.

Replacing the missing pin might be the simplest, cheapest route. But you re-introduce the problems that CI was attempting to avoid when they removed it in the first place.

It's probably best, as I have suggested, to have one hose dedicated for the Buddy (any of their versions) that you know will work, and another with the pin removed, if you have any other propane devices (BBQ, lantern) you wish to fuel.
 
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