20# tank and Mr.Heater/Cooker problem

This year I thought I would be economical and use a 20# propane tank with a 10′ hose connected to the Mr. Heater/Cooker. It worked well once. Since then, the heater will fire up, run for less than a minute while sputtering, and then stop working completely. Anybody else have issues with this set-up?

I have a new tank that is full. I have tried keeping the hose and tank off the ice. I have tried making sure the tank is warm. Nothing has helped the problem.

When using a 1# tank, the heater works fine.

you may have ice in the hose, take it outside and blast some propane out of the hose to clear it. had to do that with mine

could be a damaged thermocouple or it may have been bumped and needs to be adjusted closer to heater.

if you hold the safety valve open the heater runs fine then release valve the heater acts up its the thermocouple normally.

When using any tank larger than the 1 lb ones, you are supposed to useanfilter that screws into the heater port.Something about the larger tanks having some type of residue in them that the small ones don’t have.I had this happen using a small 5 lb tank and bought a filter and have had no more problems with it going out.Or it also could be like mentioned earlier, a bad thermocouple.

I don’t think it is the thermocouple due to the heater working fine with 1# tank.

Where would I find a filter for this?

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Where would I find a filter for this?

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Man mall. Mr. Heater Filter

Never ran a filter on my heater/cooker in 25 years and still running strong…. other than breaking the thermocouple today, my own fault….Took the 1 pound adapter off off after the first time I used it and reinstalled my own valve and permanate hose….

No filter is needed. 12 years on my cooker. You have ice somewhere in your system, either hose or tank fitting.

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Took the 1 pound adapter off off after the first time I used it and reinstalled my own valve and permanate hose….

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What did you use for a valve? and can you turn it down lower then the factory low setting?

Mr. Heater reccomends using this filter for a reason, not just to sell them.The new hoses that are used now have a plastsizer inside the hoses.It is what keeps the hose somewhat pliable during low temperatures.This breaksdown and clogs the orfice in the heater.It is a cheap ( $9.00) to keep the heater going if using a large volume bottle.I found out this the hard way and have had ZERO problems since putting this filter on my 3 heaters.

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Took the 1 pound adapter off off after the first time I used it and reinstalled my own valve and permanate hose….

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What did you use for a valve? and can you turn it down lower then the factory low setting?

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Yep both higher and lower, took one of Dads turbo torches and made it work… Has worked well for 27 years abused on the ice, elk camps, thawing out frozen pipes, heating garage, thawing out sleds ect…. replaced screens once and this will be the 2nd thermostat, best $19 investment I ever made

its not the inside of the hose breaking down that clogs the unit. its from HD-10 propane, the 10% mix of propylene can gum up and clog the smaller regulators used in the Buddy and Big Buddy heaters, the Mr. Heater Cookers use a bigger regulator and orfice. thats the reason for the extra filters on the Big Buddy heaters when using bulk tanks. the 1 pound cans of propane have a 5% or less mix.

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This year I thought I would be economical and use a 20# propane tank with a 10′ hose connected to the Mr. Heater/Cooker. It worked well once. Since then, the heater will fire up, run for less than a minute while sputtering, and then stop working completely. Anybody else have issues with this set-up?

I have a new tank that is full. I have tried keeping the hose and tank off the ice. I have tried making sure the tank is warm. Nothing has helped the problem.

When using a 1# tank, the heater works fine.

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I had the same issue a few years back. Reading somewhere online I found that somehow the 10FT hose was getting vapor lock? Anyway, their solution was to only open the valve on the 20lb tank 1/5th of a turn. Just barely having my valve open has worked for me ever since. I run a cooker/heater and a buddy heater depending on situation and haven’t had problems since.

Also, get a inline filter, its a must for all kinds of reasons.

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Where would I find a filter for this?

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Man mall. Mr. Heater Filter

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X2 here this usually fixes this issue.

which heater? I know a friend of mine had a buddy that took two 1# tanks. He switched to a hose with a big tank and it had the same issues unless he put a 1# and the big tank on the heater. then it worked fine.