Why Mr heater little buddy won’t light sometimes?

My little buddy heater won’t start

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Mr. Heater’s little buddy is a portable heater powered by propene and designed to be carried indoors and outdoors.

The purpose of this heater is to serve heat up to an area of 225 square feet, ensuring that you are kept warm every time you are out fishing, camping, or on a picnic

This portable little buddy heater serves its purpose outdoors and indoors by eliminating your worry about power outages during the winters.

Thereby,  it makes sure to keep your house cozy and comfortable by providing sufficient warmth.

However, Mr heater little buddy won’t light sometimes, and we will look closely at this query in the following passage. 

Mr heater little buddy won’t light. 

You must follow these instructions to light your little buddy heater immediately and adequately. Before undertaking this procedure, you should give the manual instruction a read to ensure that you abide by the warning and safety guidelines.

Additionally, closely inspect the heater to warrant that the cylinder is in an upright position. 

Start with this operation by lighting up the pilot burner by pressing and turning the control knob to your left for at least thirty to sixty seconds.

My little buddy heater won’t start

After you observe that the pilot is lit, hold onto it for another thirty to sixty seconds. Then turn the same control knob and locate it to the highest heat option available on your heater until the light being omitted turns bright orange.

At last, alter the heat to the temperature that you wish for according to your surroundings. 

My little buddy heater won’t start. 

It is common to experience problems with your little buddy heater. These may include the inability to get it to light even after seeing the spark ignite or seeming that the heater is not getting enough gas even after installing a brand-new propane tank. 

We would always recommend that preliminary delve into the process of identifying the problem with the buddy heater, first make sure that your gas tank is enacted correctly and has sufficient fuel to light it up. 

If it is and you still cannot get ahold of the problem, try considering any of the issues we suggest, and go after the ways we propose to counter it. 

Little buddy’s sensor

Every little heater buddy you purchase comes forth with an installed sensor that poses to be your safeguard and prevents you from being in a life-threatening situation. The heater’s sensor detects a possible risk or hazard, cuts down the fuel supply, and extinguishes the flame. 

Therefore, you must not find it exasperating that your little buddy is not lighting up because it is doing so to maintain your safety. However, after you have observed the heater’s flame and concluded that it is not too huge or too small, consider cleaning the heater’s sensor. 

Cleaning the sensor is a very straightforward process as you only need sandpaper to scrap off any carbon or soot build-up on the device in excess. Next, try again with a flame that covers half of your sensor. Even after this, you can still not remedy the situation with our provided solution, then resort to replacing the old sensor with a new one. 

Pilot tube build-up

A pilot tube is, in fact, a very narrow tube that is in your buddy heater and is attached from the main burner to your flame, trying to light it up and provide warmth. 

As the tube is very sleek in its composition and by the nature of the job it fulfills, this will be no surprise to find out that there has been a build-up in the pipe. To confirm your suspicion and prevent your buddy heater from lighting up, take a closer look at the pipe from the tiny viewing window at the top of your control knob. 

An alternate way to confirm your suspicion about the pilot tube is to notice your flame. If the pet is lit bright blue, then there is no problem with the pilot tube; however, if the flame is unsteady and in the shade of yellow, the tube calls for a dense clean! 

To clean the tube, first, switch off any valve on the heater that provides gas to the main burner as a safety precaution. Then using a cleaning drier, blow it towards the tube to rush out any dirt from within it.

You can also take up the cleaning process with a sharp, thin, and long needle to rake off soil from the inside of it.

Mr heater little buddy problems

Remember to be extra cautious with your cleaning tools as you may not want to poke holes with the needle or burst the pilot tube with the extra air pressure.

Supposedly, if you have cleaned the pilot tube and your Mr heater little buddy is still not lighting up, you might get a new one! 

The gas flow valve is clogged.

Situated beside the pilot light, you will come across a valve, small in size, responsible for controlling the gas pressure supplied. The valve must be set accurately according to the fuel you choose to utilize to power your little buddy heater. 

Similar to all the other components, this small gas flow valve can sometimes be clogged too and requires a thorough cleansing. To do this, you must first disconnect the valve from its connection to ensure that no fuel is being supplied, and then using your preferred tool: an air compressor or a thin pin, clean this valve too to avoid a clog. 

Blocked thermocouple

The thermocouple on a buddy heater is another safety device that looks out for a flame and senses if there is a flame or not in the heater. This part of the heater can sometimes get blocked due to the build-up of carbon or soot and would need cleaning.

To clean the thermocouple, use sandpaper to gently and cautiously dispose of any impurities. This will reconcile the situation and light up your heater effortlessly. 

A weary thermocouple

When you make extensive and consistent use of your little buddy heater, at times, the thermocouple of it seems to be worn out. It will then be unable to distinguish the flame on your heater and consequently cut out from the pilot as a necessary safety measure that has to be tackled to prevent a gas leak. 

Fortunately, the worn-out thermocouple is a convenient and quick fix to restore your state of affairs. Shut down the buddy heater and wait for it to cool down so that you may not burn your skin while checking for the problem. Then move the thermocouple closer to the pivot and near the flame, which is in its original position. Try your luck at lighting the buddy heater up. 

Therefore, if the buddy heater still goes without light, we advise you to immediately replace its thermocouple with a new one. 

Unsuitable draft positioning

Draft positioning is a vital element in ensuring the buddy heater works properly. This is because it is in charge of supplying adequate airflow to the entire heater system and works with the air’s help. However, the airflow should be modest: it should not be too much or too little, as an abundant flow of air can cause the fire to blow out. 

Mr heater little buddy

If the draft is not fixed correctly, it would mean that the air will not circulate through the heater and will not spark a flame. Therefore, to counter this problem effectively, follow these: 

  • Alter the airflow to a medium amount
  • Avoid placing your heater in a surrounding that has a massive airflow 
  • Shield the air draft of the heater through a barrier

Malfunctioning electronic spark

It is common to encounter a clicking noise from your heater instantly after you try to light it up and fail. This is a rather evident indication of a faulty electronic spark so take a candid look at the burning chamber as your problem will be visible there. 

However, the solution to a malfunctioning electronic spark is to reroute the wiring of your little buddy heater. An electronic diagram comes included in the heater’s packaging as a manual guide and demonstrates how to reinstall the wiring in the heater through the listed steps. 

This is a risky task, so if you think you cannot rewire your heater, it would be advisable to consult a professional to perform the job on your behalf. 

Conclusion 

In this article on Mr heater little buddy won’t light, we have done our best to state in detail all the issues that might be occurring with your compact portable heater. Not only this, but we have also tried to remedy every situation that we think may cause your problem.

So, now you do not have to worry about your little buddy anymore as all the issues are easy fixes or convenient replacements for all the spare parts readily available in the market.


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