Mr Heater MH18B Portable "Big Buddy" Heater
by Mr. Heater
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of Mr Heater MH18B Portable "Big Buddy" Heater
Customer Review: A BIG FIRE HAZARD!
Summary: 1 Stars
I purchased a Big Buddy heater for our vacation cabin based on my positive experience with the little buddy. Big mistake! The Big Buddy is unreliable using disposable cartridges and a FIRE HAZARD using a remote 20lb tank. Mr. Heater should recall this product forthwith!
The Big Buddy worked fine on full speed using disposable cartridges - for about an hour and a half. Then it started shutting itself down with increasing frequency. It ran longer on half speed, but still exhibited the same problem. Save yourself some money - buy a little buddy and a battery powered fan.
Of course, the problem with disposable cartridges is that Big Buddy sucks them down so fast they're economically and environmentally unfeasible. I connected the unit to a remote tank using the same Mr. Heater hose that worked successfully with it's little brother. The primary problem seems to be the internal regulator freezes up. This causes propane to become trapped in the unit. It then explodes when you attempt to relight. I also had the unit "flame up" before the regulator froze completely. My experience is certainly not consistent with a unit advertised as "safe for indoor use".
For the record, I returned my first unit thinking I'd just gotten a lemon. Unfortunately, I've had the same problems with the replacement.
In summary, I'd strongly recommend the Big Buddy - if you need the financial proceeds from your fire insurance policy!
Customer Review: Lots of bang for the buck! Great, versatile portable heater!
Summary: 5 Stars
I like to research products before buying them, and found this to have a lot of "bang for the buck." I had three main purposes for it, and it fills each of those needs: camping during cold weather, emergency heat source for power outages at home, and enjoying an occasional cigar on my deck, porch, or garage during cold weather.
This product is light and portable. It has a fan which is essential in circulating heat. It allows for using 1 or 2 one pound propane cylinders like you use for camping stoves and lanterns, or you can hook it up to larger propane tanks (20, 40 lb +) with optional hoses and filter for much longer run times. You can also purchase an optional electrical adapter for the fan, or just run it on batteries.
I like the low, med, and high settings (up to 18,000 BTU is A LOT for a unit this size at this cost) and ease of starting and operating. I have had no issues that other reviews have mentioned: easy to light, no smell, could run on high setting for a while with just one 1 lb propane bottle, etc. DO read your manual, follow the directions, and check out the [...] web site for more info if needed.
One more thing: although you can run this heater indoors, it does need some ventilation to do so. I do not believe you would use this heater indoors on a regular basis, for non-emergency use.
Customer Review: confusing details
Summary: 5 Stars
I just received this item. It seems as advertised. Of course I have no way to measure the actual heat output but based on other heaters it is probably as advertised. I also haven't used it enough to rate durability.
I bought this as an emergency source of heat, to warm a garage when working in it and for occasional use to warm a single room when I don't want to waste fuel heating the entire house.
My major comment is that this site and the manufacture's site are confusing as to what accessories are needed for external tanks. If you plan on using the quick disconnect hose with regulator there is no way to use the advertised fuel filter. It simply does not fit in the line. You can elect to use two external tanks that connect to the same screw fittings that the 1 lb. cylinders attach to. You can also elect to use only one. If you connect to these connectors you can attach the fuel filter. when using the same connection as the 1 lb cylinders you do not need an additional regulator as the internal regulators are used.
Other than the dire warning about bringing the external tanks inside I can find no explanation for this warning elsewhere on the web and I do not know if it is indeed a potential problem.
Customer Review: Noisy Fan
Summary: 4 Stars
I purchased a unit new and connect it to a 20 lb tank. I really like the unit to just help warm our living room a bit when watching TV. We run it on low and on that setting a tank lasts as advertised (I think around 48 hrs). Now for the downside. If you don't use the fan, the warmth is significantly reduced and when you do use the fan, it is noisy! It has a high pitched "squeeling" that is very annoying to someone who wears hearing aids and even for a non hearing impared person, it is an annoying distraction from hearing what's being said on TV (It sets about 6 feet from us and between us and TV). The room is so quite when you shut it off! Since this was a comment from other users - prior to me purchasing it, apparently the problem has been around for awhile. For me, that means there is no excuse for them not resolving it by now. I was border line on giving it a 3 star - just because of the noise. Since they have total control over resolving this downside, it would be easy to avoid reviews like this and get a 5 star. It's a no brainer and frustrating to me that they don't. Don't they have someone dedicated to reading reviews and addressing negative comments by improving their product? If they don't, they ought to.Customer Review: Works well for small rooms
Summary: 4 Stars
In order to decrease my insane electric bill, I bought this propane heater which was recommended by a co-worker. I have a 1200 sq ft house and I placed this heater in between kitchen & living room. The max BTU of this heater is 18,000. On the coldest days (about 30 degrees here in Florida) I would come home from work and my house would be 55 degrees so I turned the Mr Buddy heater on full blast. It would bring the temp up 10 degrees in about an hour or so but I couldn't get it any warmer & the heat wouldn't even make it to the bedrooms. I believe a bigger heater of about 30,000 BTU would be more effective for my house. All in all, not a bad heater...for smaller sq footage.... but my biggest complaint about this heater is the internal fan. The fan helps spread the heat out but in order to use the fan you have to have 4 D cell batteries, well the batteries wear out fairly quick and kind of makes the heater less effective without the fan. In reading more of the manual, it says you can use a 6 volt plug for the fan. Well why was the 6 volt plug not recommended with this purchase? I think I will be returning this heater for a bigger one, but like I said.... Not a bad heater for small areas.