Mr. Heater in a 2120 SC

[Jersey Jim]

Just picked up a "Tough Buddy" Mr. heater propane heater today for the new "Madison Rose". The single-tank 4,000-9,000 btu model. I read many posts where people are happy with them on their Parkers, but I have a couple of questions.

Anyone have pics of where they mounted one in a 2120SC? Also, can these be run while underway without tip-over safety feature shutting it off due to bouncing? I like the idea of the 2-bolt wall mounting, so is there really a need for a tip-over feature? It probably can be defeated/bypassed. It's not like it would be used unattended, and when underway is when there is the greatest heat loss.

 

[MadGar]

I use one all the time right up until the season ends 12/31. I followed as HOTPURSUIT suggested and mounted down below n the cuddy area. The heat rises right into the cabin and keeps you toasty. I never had a problem with it kicking off but then again I primarily use it trolling where we are not cruising through the waves. Doesn't appear to be near as sensitive as other ones I have used.

Here's a link to a few on this site that have mounted it and I think you will really enjoy it.

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=11336&p=86975&hilit=heater+buddy#p86975

 

[rwp48]

We have a Mr Heater Buddy on our trawler. We use it mainly when we travel S down the ICW to FL in the fall. We use it in the main cabin in the evenings and first thing in the AM to knock the chill out of the cabin. We haven't mounted it permanently, in part because we like to be able to take it up to the pilothouse for an hour or so on really cold mornings. It's great! Ours uses #1 propane bottles. One bottle will last us through the evening with enough gas left over for in the AM. We don't leave it on when we sleep.

Don't tamper with the safety mechanism under any circumstance. The whole idea is to stop the flow of propane in an unsafe situation. Propane is heavier than air and will settle into the lowest part of the cabin and bilge. It is VERY explosive, even in small quantities. Just one spark and BOOM! On the trawler we have a propane sniffer/alarm. I once had a front row seat to a boat explosion, three doors down. It was very ugly and not something I want to ever see again.

Enjoy your heater and be safe!

 

[mrfunandson]

I use one in my 2120 during the fall/winter but don't have it mounted. I just have it sit on the floor either right in front of the door or right in front of the center cushion of the v-birth. Will only slide in really rough weather but that's when it gets shut down. Mine is an older unit and does shut off from time to time but that's ok as it heats up the cabin fast and no need to keep it running for long. Have had problems with Windows fogging from the moisture in the air/cabin so must watch that.

 

[Brent]

I would be concerned with carbon monoxide CO buildup.

 

[shawnee83]

I would be concerned with carbon monoxide CO buildup.

Was thinking the same thing. I'm assuming that these heater burn very clean but it's still combustion. To put your mind at ease, perhaps also mounting a boat CO/Fire detector in the cabin wouldn't be a bad idea?

 

[rwp48]

According to the manufacturer, the Mr. Heater Buddy has an Oxygen Depletion Sensor. However, the cost of CO alarms is so low that it only makes sense to use one.

Also, burning propane will release moisture into the air...lots of moisture. It will wash the inside of the windows! Lots of paper towels and cracking a window a bit will make the problem manageable. Cracking a window will help,with the CO problem too.

 

[warthog5]

I have machine screws that are nuted on the outside and inside of the panel it's mounted on.

This creates a stud so that the keyhole slots on the heater can hang on them and be safe from tip over.

The unit removes very easily.

 

[Brent]

m2cw
Carbon monoxide detectors with digital readout are inexpensive. Look at Kidde, Ones for aircraft are more expensive and better. Carbon monoxide (CO) is heavier than air and stay in low places so mount it at head level,
If someone is going out boating with you and taking a nap in the berth with the heater on, they are at risk. Carbon monoxide binds to hemoglobin in your blood and takes a long time to leave. The first treatment is get the patient to fresh air and on pure oxygen or best treatment is a hyperbaric chamber. It is not irreversible but fresh air and oxygen are needed. Many people exposed in CO dont know it until it is too late. Lucky ones wake up with severe headache and nausea. Ask your doctor. We exposed to CO daily and smokers commonly have up to 6% CO in their blood when checked.

Detectors have about 5 years service life so mark it with date installed. My Buddy Heater has special units for Massachusetts and Canada due to regulations but I didnt check details.

Probably everyone is safe with a lot of air exchanges in a boat but unfortunate accidents occur daily

 

[Jersey Jim]

I use one all the time right up until the season ends 12/31. I followed as HOTPURSUIT suggested and mounted down below n the cuddy area. The heat rises right into the cabin and keeps you toasty. I never had a problem with it kicking off but then again I primarily use it trolling where we are not cruising through the waves. Doesn't appear to be near as sensitive as other ones I have used.....

Well, I bought one of these great little heaters, and let me just say, while on the lower of the 2 settings (4000 btu), I had to keep 2 side windows halfway open, although not seriously cold out when tested. I got 4-1/2 hours of continuous use out of a single 1-lb bottle. However, while underway I could not seem to keep it from tripping the "tip-over" feature and shutting down from just the "jolting" of some waves. Seems it can not differentiate a true tip-over condition from a jolt. Although that is a really good feature for a portable heater, like others, I have permanently mounted mine so it's no longer a portable heater, and no possibility of tipping over. My gas furnace in my basement is bolted down, and that unit does not have a tip-over sensor. While bolted down, if this heater in my boat tips over, then the entire boat is tipped over, and I've got bigger worries than a heater.

Since it is important to keep the heater going while underway, especially after having a lowered core temperature from diving, I decided to bypass this inferior motion sensor. Motion sensor is a better term for this feature, as it will trip with any sudden abrupt motion, even while in the upright orientation. Since I can visually see the heater glowing a few feet from me while at the helm, it is really not operated unattended anyway.

Below are some pics of the mercury switch inside the heater. When it trips, sloshing liquid mercury inside the sensor simply interrupts the millivolt source of voltage being generated from the pilot-light thermocouple. Some other manufacturers of portable heaters, use a heavy steel marble that rests on a sensitive switch as their motion sensor. This mechanism also can't differentiate in which axis the motion being exerted.

If anyone is considering such a similar use of a this heater, but may still want to use it in the "portable" mode, removing the mercury sensor is not a good idea. However, a compromise for when repeated shut-downs can't be tolerated, and only when strictly supervised, would be simply adding a low-profile handle,slide, lever, etc., miniature switch to the spaciously hollow, cool and empty heater enclosure. This switch would merely "jump/short" both wires on each side of the sensor. This would prevent the switch from briefly opening the thermocouple circuit due to a jolt, and could be switched back to normal function, with tip-over protection. A simple key switch (from (Radio Shack) may even be a good choice of switch. These heaters also come equipped with a low oxygen safety feature. This is in no way affected by wave motion, and is in no way connected to this modification, so is left intact and fully functional.

I will attach 3 pics to follow, of where this sensor is located, and what to remove. There are 6 screws (3 on each side), of the heater case but there is no need to remove them all. The rear metal half is all that needs to be accessed. This arched metal hinges off from the top, under the handle.

Other than this overly sensitive & flawed safety device, this heater is perfect for a pilot house. Unfortunately, we need heat while underway just as much as the car owner who insists on operating the car's heater while in motion.

 

[Jersey Jim]

3 pics attached

 

[HOTPURSUIT]

I have had my heater buddy installed now for a few years and I use my boat all winter long on the Chesapeake bay, as long as its not iced up. Even when it is a little bumpy I have not had any problems with the tip-over safety device tripping the unit. I always leave a window cracked, and I installed a Marine CO detector right above it. Easy to do, only a 5-min job on a 2520 since the compartment for electronics and fuse blocks is right there, I just mounted it to the side of the compartment. around $90.00-$120.00 online

 

[Jersey Jim]

Mike, thanks for posting the pic. I didn't think they still made one, but I found the Kidde unit I used to use in my motorhome several years ago. They changed the housing style from round to rectangular, but it works the same. It runs on AA batteries and shows 2 or 3 digits of CO in ppm. The gasoline generator was in the rear of the vehicle, alongside the master bedroom. That monitor gave peace-of-mind for sure. I like the idea of moving the unit around and taking readings from various places, especially in lower lying areas like the v-berth. I recall it did not alarm at just any level above zero, but tolerated a certain level for a certain amount of time. I somewhat recall the OSHA acceptable limits in the workplace as something like 50 ppm for 8 hours. With just a crack more ventilation, I suspect a level of zero in the boat should be attainable. At my job, using a non-intrinsically safe tool or instrument in the field and in a hazardous environment, required all work to stop if a hand-held explosimeter indicated any level above 0 ppm LEL (lower explosive limit), or an O2 reading less than 19.5%. I've gotten accustomed to seeing exactly what concentration of a gas is present, even if below an alarm threshold. I was amazed to see the household digital units still under forty dollars.

Another reason I like the idea of actually seeing actual detected levels on a display, is that I free dive & spearfish from my boat, and as Brent indicated, hemoglobin has an affinity for CO. Although once in the water, the slightest excess of CO would eventually dissipate from the body, although how quickly I do not know, but initially would equate to longer breath-up times and diminished bottom times.

The 4-1/2 hours of run-time of the heater is somewhat inconvenient, but I don't think I will ever operate it on anything other than the 1-lb. propane bottles. I found the price on the bottles to be quite varied, ranging from 4 to 7 dollars each. I buy the twin packs for 4 dollars a bottle at Lowe's. I usually stock up on no less than 6 or so. However, I don't like to keep more than 2 on board at any given time. Am anxious to see how the performance is when it's really cold out, and what the heat retention is like on a 2120. Do you find yourself using the low setting most of the time, or does the larger 2520 require the higher 9000 btu setting, and in what temperatures?

Thanks for yours and everyone's input on their experience with this little heater. It seems to go hand in hand with why we migrated toward the practicality of pilot house boats.

 

[rwp48]

For what it's worth, I only use the Coleman-branded #1 propane bottles. I've found the others to be unreliable. I don't know why but the off brands don't seem to last as long. I can usually find the Coleman bottles at Lowes, Wally World, etc., usually a six-pack.

 

[Jersey Jim]

For what it's worth, I only use the Coleman-branded #1 propane bottles. I've found the others to be unreliable. I don't know why but the off brands don't seem to last as long. I can usually find the Coleman bottles at Lowes, Wally World, etc., usually a six-pack.

Ah, good point. Maybe that's how they can sell them so cheap. Thanks for pointing that out. I'll have to start weighing them again. At the duck cabin, I used to use a propane boot dryer that used the #1 bottles. It would last several nights on one bottle. When they got questionable in their remaining contents, and before drying boots before bed, I would weigh the bottles on a small 3-lb digital postal scale to insure it had enough to last the night. I can recall the empty weight of the cylinder was 429 grams, but I don't remember the full weight. I would just divide the remaining net weight by the full net weight and it would tell me the % remaining in a bottle. Of course I use to know the total hours of runtime that appliance would yield. Nothing worse than putting on chest waders at 5am just to realize the boot heater ran out and boots/legs not as dry & insulated as could be. This method was very reliable.

Only 3 things could vary the runtime I would think. Weight of contents and temperature of the bottle, which influences gas pressure. Potency of the propane should not affect runtime I would think, just heat output, as the regulator is fixed in flow rate. I recall propane is somewhere north of 95,000 btus per gallon (not pound). Anyway, will start weighing the ones from Lowe's again before using them. They are dark green cylinders, like most all brands I've seen, but didn't notice the name on them (just the price). All I know is that I wasn't paying West marine 50% more ($6), even though just a mile from marina and on the way.

 

[HOTPURSUIT]

I keep mine on low. I have it mounted as warthog has shown. On high it gets the opposing bulkhead to hot for my comfort

 

[Jersey Jim]

Randy, I picked up a case of 8 bottles today at Lowe's. They were packaged in 4-packs, as well as 2-packs. Either way, they were only $3.98 each!. West Marine wants 6.99 each! The Lowe's brand is "BernzOmatic". I weighed a few when I got home and it seems based on a couple of empties I had lying around of differing brands, Lowe's is giving a good 3% extra fuel in theirs. Instead of 454 grams of fuel (1 lb.), their net weight came out more like 470 grams. I was mistaken on my earlier post. One brand of empty weighed 420 g, and another 408g.

Mike, I haven't tried it on high yet, but one mounting position on the deck, even on low, got the surface too hot for my liking after a few hours. I will be putting down a removable, thin heat-shield mat on the deck in front of it. Thanks for the good feedback.

 

[rwp48]

Let us know how they work. I notice the problem the most w/ my grill. The flame starts burning low - pressure so low that the burner won't burn all the way around, but yet it feels like there is still gas inside.
My wife picked up six of the off brands one day and when I grumbled about it she offered her solution..."go get your own damm propane"!

 

[Jersey Jim]

..... The flame starts burning low - pressure so low that the burner won't burn all the way around, but yet it feels like there is still gas inside.

The BernzOmatic tanks were all I've used on the new heater, and they seemed to work great, but not really too cold out yet. It's not like I left the tanks in my dock box either. Were the tanks cold? Just cooling from 60F down to 30 deg F can cut the pressure in half, assuming no less than 20% vapor space. From 90F down to 30F cuts pressure down to 1/3 (150 psi down to 51 psi). 90 degrees is not even body temperature. See attached chart. I imagine it gets pretty cold up there in Maine. A little hot water on the bottle, or brief warming with a hair dryer does wonders. Hot water in the bathroom sink is how I get the last drops of deodorant out of a can when I forgot to pick some up, when it barely came out prior to running under the sink. You would think it was a new can.

 

[rwp48]

Hot water? Bathroom sink? How big is your Parker?
Just kidding! Actually, the grill and Mr. Heater are on the trawler in FL, not on the Parker in ME.