My name is neill, and I’m the Senior Tech at Enerco Mrheater. The oil substance is called plasticizers, this is added to all rubber to give it its flexibility. The buddy heaters are unusual in a way because they’re regulated at the unit, instead of being regulated at the fuel source (propane tank larger then 1lb cylinder). Because of this you have tank pressure in the fuel line, which ranges from anywhere around 60-190 psi depending on outside ambient temperature. That pressure squeezes and contracts the hose causing the "plasticizers" to leach out. This is the oily residue you will find coming out of the fuel lines, or possibly see it puddle up underneath the heater. We make our hoses out of a special kind of rubber that has a very low amount of plasticizer. This is why our hoses are pretty stiff and not easily bendable. This only affects the buddy line of hoses, so this is why we designed and patented our propane fuel filter so these oils can be caught before entering the heater. These are portable radiant heaters, designed to be used with 1lb throwaway propane cylinders, but we know we need longer run times. This is why we make accessory hoses to connect to larger tanks. Now with all this being said the 10ft hose (F273704) is the only hose not required to use the fuel filter, unless you have a big buddy and you can get our 12ft (F271803) regulated quick disconnect hose. Any questions related to this, just ask. I’ll be happy to answer.

Thank you for 1) not being clickbait 2) being direct and to the point 3) giving useful information

Lol,,, Easy fix and no guessing,,, I use my big buddy mh18 on all sizes of tanks up to 100 lbs and run it 24/7 throughout the winter,,,5 months,,, I had the same problem and found the solution after I replaced the pilot assembly,,, a pain to do and do not recommend unless you really know what you're doing,, anyway been running great for 5 years now,,, the fix is simple and can be used with any hose,,, mr heater has a built in low pressure regulator so you are running high pressure from larger tanks to the heater through the hose to the heater and that is why leaching occurs and pilot assembly gets clogged,,, To fix this problem just add a low pressure regulator to the tank connection or use any hose with a low pressure regulator already installed,,, mine has a quick connect on it so I just removed it from the hose that came with the heater and attached it to another one I had laying around from a grill or lp stove,,, does not interfere with the mr heater lp regulator,,, so now the propane going through the hose is low pressure and no leaching occurs of any consequence,,, problem solved,,, hope this helps

I switched to a steel braided hose, which from a safety perspective is also a bonus as they are virtually indestructible. Appreciate this tip!

Great tip Jason, thanks. Keep us posted on how well the Mr Heater hose works in terms of flexibility on those cold mornings.

FYI - I've used propane hoses purchased from Lowe's for over 5 years as well as the filter. I replaced the filter after two years since I don't use the heater constantly during the cold months. Thanks for letting us know WHY it's important to change the filter and why it's necessary.

Glad you covered this topic of using the filer. I use a Big Buddy heater in a 10 X 14 Springbar tent and connect the hose to a #20 propane tank outside of the tent.I was told by some other "arm chair experts" I did not need to use the filter. When I first purchased my heater I knew two 1 lb. tanks wouldn't be enough to get me through the night and that was when I came up with the idea of using the #20 tank. Long story short Mr Buddy strongly suggested I use the filter due to the contaminants in the #20 tank and I've been doing it for 5 years now and my Big Buddy is keppin my fat ass warm just fine!! Good job covering this issue!

I am a retired HVAC repairmen and I use a hose from my manifold gauge set . I made a adapter for it . This is the second year with no problems . Propane is a refrigerant .

Hello my outdoors friend. Hopefully, the heater problem has now been resolved to your satisfaction. Take care out there and always be safe. 🤗

Thanks for the heads up on this. I have just purchased my first Buddy heater and was looking at options to have a bigger gas tank. You have saved me from damaging my heater.

Thank you so much. I just purchased a Mr. Heater Buddy with an off brand hose to work off my 20 lb tank. I am now going to purchase a filter thanks to you.

Yep. All this is exactly correct. The oil you refer to is the plasticizer added to the plastic to make it flexible. We tend to think of plastics as flexible. However, all plastics, PVC, polypro, nylon, etc., are very hard and stiff in their pure form. Pure PVC is rock hard. To make them flexible for things like hoses and wire insulation, a plasticizer is added, usually a pthallate chemical. The more wonderfully soft and flexible the hose, the more plasticizer it has. Over time and under pressure, this plasticizer will leach out of the plastic as an oily liquid. If that gets into the heater, it will gum up the burners. What's more, as this substance leaches out, your hose will become stiffer. You're actually better off getting a hose that not so wonderfully soft and flexible. The Mr. Heater filter doesn't actually contain a filter in the usual sense. It's simply an empty chamber where the oil collects by gravity, and it will fill up eventually. As an engineer, I wanted to understand what was going on, and now you know.

I had the same thing happen as well. The oil completely filled the system from where you screw in the cylinder/filter all the way to the pilot light. I changed the fitting on my new hose and blew through with 10psi air connected with the pilot light button pressed. I was amazed at the oil that came out at the pilot light. With filter in place the heater ran 2 more years and I upgraded to BIG buddy. Great video thanks for sharing.

Who knew? Nothing like hard experience to teach us different. Thanks for putting the word out Jason, there are countless of these heaters up here in Canada.

I had this problem and destroyed my first heater buddy trying to clean the lines. Then figured out how to fix my second heater buddy. All you have to do is take an air hose and blow the lines out. Just put the high presure air nosel in the pilot hole and blow it out and problem fixed. My uncle had heater buddy and a propane heater that was similar to the heater buddy we did the same to his propane heaters and it worked on both. So don't throw your heater buddy away till you try to blow it out.

Good info. Was thinking about getting a Mr Heater for my garage. It's great that Neill replied too, with the facts.

Thanks for the video. Got mine last year when my gas was shut off for a while. It was the ONLY heat I had. SAVED MY LIFE! I tried the smaller rounded one. It failed on me in a month. So I UPGRADED. BEST MONEY I spent all year. Thanks again for the heads up on the issue.

I agree with changing the filter once a year. The second year my Mr. Buddy developed a bad, unpleasant, oily smell. Changed the filter, smell was gone. My heater worked fine. Apparently unwanted "stuff" is captured by the filter. Good information. Thanks for posting this video.

Just got a new Buddy heater, and winter is just about to hit here in the Rockies. So glad I saw this video. Thanks for posting!

Great info to know I bought my Mr. Heater approx. 5 yrs. ago & bought the hose & even a electrical adapter I believe for the fan & have never even tried them. I just used my heater to kick the chill off in my truck camper when fishing in Michigan.

Thanks for the heads up, Jason! I have a Mr. Heater Buddy on save at Amazon and now I will go ahead and order it along with the hose and extra filter; also will order the carry bag. I've never used a heater on any of my camping trips and getting out of my bedroll into the cold to restart my campfire was a bitch (sorry)! Looks like I'll also have to buy a large fuel tank as well as the small canister will empty on high in only three hours. At 72 I recently converted from backpacking to overland camping and love learning from you and venture4wd, so thank you!

Jason Thanks for doing the investigation for us ! Keep it up Brother ! This is one reason why I subscribed to your channel !!! Take care of the Pups !!!

Thank you! I just purchased the Mr Buddy brand hose and filter. Thank you for the reminder on how to maintain it.

Thanks for the heads up. I just got my Mr Heater Buddy, and then bought the hose later after burning through three coleman canisters in one night. Just double checked...I got the Mr Heater series hose.

I use the Mr. Heater hose AND filter on my Big Buddy heater. Hopefully that’ll keep it going a long time. Thanks for the info on what can happen.

I’ve had the exact same heater and all of this info is in the instruction manual. Change the filter every season and use the remote hose like that. In the instructions it specifically says that if you use that remote hose it says you must use a filter. The oil does seep from the hoses but as long as you use a filter you will not have a problem. The instructions for the mr. heater portable buddy are extremely good! Always read the instructions even if you know what your doing.....

Great video, and thanks for doing the legwork to figure out what happened. The hose I use came with my Coleman stove, but it's really suspect now. I think the stove would burn the oil right up and you'd never know it was there.

Thanks so much for the straight forward info pal. Here's a quick tip to help keep those stiff hoses from cracking, take some heavy duty grease, slather it all over the hose, then wrap it with pipe insulation. It will be a bit bulkier of course but the grease will keep it as flexible and strong as the day it came from the factory. Best to ya🙏

I always turn my propane tank off first it burns off components cleanly. I never had a problem with mine. I love it along side my mini cubic grizzly stove for my vintage RV. Good info thanks

Back in the 90s when I worked on propane powered equipment, during training we were taught that the compressors they use to transfer propane from one tank to another many times are worn to the point they leak compressor oil into the propane. Whenever I broke open a Propane fuel system I found at least some oil inside. Most of the time it didn't cause any problems, but sometimes it was so clogged up I had to replace some of the components. Rebuilding them would have cost more in labor than replacing them.

Me too. Been through the same thing years ago. Once I figured out the hose and filter thing, I have had 0 problems. Lights on the 3rd click every time. I use the hoses from Mr. Heater that claim you can use this hose without a filter, but I use filters anyway. Do this and it is very unlikely you will ever have a problem. Great video. Thanks.

I just went through HUNDREDS of questions on Amazon for the Big Buddy heater before I found out this information. Could have saved myself half-a-day if I had just seen this video first. Thanks for taking the time to post this information. Hopefully everyone else will see it before reading all those questions on Amazon.

I took my little buddy completely apart--took off all the lines and blew them out. Blew out the pilot orifice. Blew out anywhere I could blow. There was oil everywhere on the inside. Put it back together and it works perfect. I was using one of those long hoses and a 20lb. tank for 2 years and then it quickly started running bad. I couldn't believe it. Now it works just great. No more long hoses unless I put one of those filters on you were talking about. There was so much oil in the tubes, I had little puddles on the floor. Thanks to Primal Outdoors.

I bought another brand extension hose , not a Mr heater hose. I had it for 6 yrs. and not had a single problem with oil. I thought at first it wasn't going to going to work , buy i learned it takes a few minute for the gas to get through to the burner .Once it gets started it work great.

Thank you for the tip. Also, thank you for not making this a 35-minute video and just getting straight to the point.

Thank you, PO-Camping...Excellent video...could sure save all of us much trouble, down the road. Keep up your great work...as a retired photographer, amongst other things, I'll be checking out your other videos, as well!

Great information! We will be replacing that filter every year. The Mr. Heater makes cold weather camping 1,000 times better!

Great warning video and a thumbs up to DSM Guy for his explanation of the cause. Anyone who has these heaters need to see this video and take your advice along with DSM Guy. Very good info, sorry you had to experience it the hard way $$$$$.

I have had buddy for 3 years only use the 1 lb cylinder and no problems. Just use it during hunting season in NewYork and no worries. Great video thanks for sharing.

Two Little Buddy fails and now I believe I found your channel by no coincidence. Thank You very much for the research and field experience share! Tear down no luck, Thought the oxygen sensors were failing, now I believe you nailed the plasticizer hose problem! Lucky to have rescued my MG2TiR ProComm wall hang unit, cleaned brass gas feed tube ( takes LNG and Propane). I use as a portable with a 20lb tank hose ( -9 in Kentucky last night). Fired up the RedStone Kerosene 10K unit for garage and plugged in the Soleil electric heater for upstairs. The Big Buddy seems a better deal to me and might give it a go USING CORRECT HOSE! Thanks Buddy!

interesting..... my fuel filter is kinda gurgling. and after I closed the tank valve the pilot light continued to burn for 5 minutes!!!!! my unit was bought last fall... a buddy, w/ a 12 ft hose and the required filter...... it did run fine all this past cold ass winter.... in my overgrown RV....... thumbs up and a subscription added, sir......for this good video n the cool comments.... I NEED that heater to work .... I own the big buddy also and I could not live here in rural northern cal w/out them..... the part where they r safe to burn indoors is everything :). cheers mr buddy, and thanks primaloutdoorslife.... great vid

Wow, I just got my first mr buddy and was thinking about getting a hose. Now I'll make sure to get the mr buddy hose. Thanks for the heads up.

Thank you thank you and thank you. I just bought a Mr heater and never bought a filter. Its on my bucket list today

Excellent mate. I am very grateful for this, and you may potentially save me a lot of money in the future. I just got a Buddy, and I only plan on using small bottles, but I got an off-brand hose just in case I need to run it off a large propane canister. Thanks to you I also got a filter in case I do.

A good way to prevent any issues is to turn off the propane tank first and not leave high pressure in the line. That is why the oils leach out. Not from regular use.

I have rebuilt my buddy heater as per mr.heater instructions. The problem comes from the propane left in the hose under pressure, not the actual use. The regulator fills up with the oils, and stops working. You can avoid the problem almost completely, by turning off the gas at the tank, and using up the trapped gas. The filter is an add on item that did not originally come with them. It's a extra safety item, not the solution. Drain the line of gas, and the issue stops.

Thank you for posting this video and letting us know this info about the off brand hose issue. I am planning to purchase one of these heaters once they become available (many places are out of stock I'm assuming because of the Texas winter storm). If I get an off brand hose I will also get the filter :)

Hello from the UK,I’ve just subscribed because you helped me out with my Buddy heater so I checked out some of your other vlogs and I like what I saw,thanks for the informative vlog you posted and I look forward to more of your content.🇬🇧👍🏻

I was a AmeriGas service man for over 15 years I have seen this happen a lot. the oils do leach put of the rubber in the softer rubber hoses. MR Heater is correct.

Good to know, the store where I work sells many Mr. Heater products, this is good information.

Just ran into the same problem with one of these hoses , from the large tank. So, I went on KZfaq, and found your video.( Thanks for the video. ) I took mine apart and blew the lines out with compressed air , and other product. Now I'm on my second small bottle of propane and it is working fine. I'm only going to use the small bottles , and refill them.

Thx much for the info. Some insist that what messes up one's Little Buddy is that the propane itself, not the hose, is "dirty". But in your case it seems to have been the hose. Great info.

Since contaminants can feed from your small tanks or the various hoses, I've always used a filter. My BIG Buddy has never failed going into the 6th season. I change the filter annually.

What I have found is that oil collects in the pilot light tube and the pilot light would no longer burn. I took my buddy all apart and used carb cleaner spray to blow out the steel gas line and orifice. It worked for a while and then crapped out again. Took it ALL apart and washed out ALL the steel lines with carb cleaner (and blew them out with compressed air). It's been working just fine ever since.

It's always good to read the instructions. That's why I have always had a filter.

Good that you shared this information. It could be a critical matter for some.

Surprising how the heaters failed and what caused it. A cold day sure isn’t the best time to find out your heater isn’t working. Thanks 🙏

I have had several over the years and I've learned how to repair all the issues . Keep the line clear with canned air. Use a small piece of sandpaper to clean the thermo coupler and you should be good

Thank you for sharing this information! I would have never figured it out.

Didn't know there was a portable propane heater...thanks for sharing.

Most beneficial to all. Great vid more like this as time goes on

Sorry to hear about your issues Jason. I've used Mr. Heater for over 20 years and no failures (both Buddy and Big Buddy). You do have to follow their recommendations about hoses and filters and I don't think you'll have any further problems in the future. They make a quality, safe product in my opinion. Thanks for your videos!

Perfect explanation of the differences of hoses. Thanks. Skillet

Just bought my first Mr Heater Buddy, so thank you for the info. Looking forward to using it.

Good video, the oil is coming from the large propane cylinder it is very common for oil to be mixed with propane; perhaps it is to help prevent the cylinder from rusting internally. To help prevent oil from clogging your heater make a drip loop in the hose by shaping it to form the letter U. Oil will accumulate at the bottom of the drip loop. After you disconnect your hose drain any oil out of the hose before storing it away.

Very interesting. My first Big Buddy started having issues after a year. I took it apart and got all the oil accumulation out of the fuel tubes, put it back together, and it worked fine. Thats when I started using the filter thingy. Still got oil in lines. May have been leftover from before I put the filter on. I did see somewhere that someone used air compressor to blow out lines. Awesome units. Use it in my houseboat every winter. I did buy a second one but that was because unit got dropped a couple times and cabinet started breaking. So I have a newer unit and spare parts. PS... I have had 2 regulators go bad.

Good information, tired of replacing sunflower heaters all the time so was looking at a buddy heater for next winter, guess I'll try the mr heater brand hose to my 20lb tank.

Great info. Tks! I almost ordered a hose last week. Your video is good timing for me. 🇨🇱🇺🇸🙏✝️❤️

With high humidity here in Georgia mountain and we're always camp next to the water, I have to deal with condensation inside the RTT and Mr. Buddy heater make it even worst during winter month. Two week ago I try using Chinese diesel fuel heater and really happy with the result. Dry hot air, no open flame to worry about and the most important is no more condensation inside the RTT. Outside was 32*F and inside the RTT keep 67*F all night on low setting and only consumed half a gallon diesel.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Those filters can leak fuel after a couple years at the seam. I had flames coming out of it just yesterday. It was almost 3 years old though. If you can turn them DON'T use it. It's a fire hazard.

Great info to this day. I appreciate the clarity of the info.

I didn’t know about this but I just came across the filter and ordered one. Then found your video. Hopefully I haven’t done too much damage to my heater. Thanks for the video

I’ve been using the Mr. Heater quick connect hose that has a regulator built into it to be used when connecting your Big Buddy up to a 20# propane cylinder and it has worked great for the last several years. According to Mr. Heater this hose does not require a filter on it because the regulator drops the pressure in the line that it doesn’t cause the oil in the hose to leech out. It works, because I’ve been using that set up for about 3 years with no problems.

I used the big buddy Mr heater when I lived in north Dakota and was tired of buying the 1lb tanks so I ran a 20 ft hose off my 1000 gal lp tank and never had any issues. I worked at a co-op and we made custom hose lengths for people and I made my own hose. That heater ran for 10 plus hours a day. I never had a filter on it just the regulator off the main tank.

Thanks for the info! FYI, Rub some 303 protectant on that new hose and it’ll last a lot longer!

Great info for when i finally decide to get one....be safe and good luck.

Thanks for the tips!! Great info

Interesting. I always thought the oils and crud where from the refillable propane tank.

I definitely found this video helpful. I have the same heater but have been buying the small canisters to fuel it. But that gets way too expensive to keep up. I'd like to use a larger propane tank but I live in my RV and I'm no sure how I can run a hose outside to connect it the tank while the heater is inside keeping me warm.

thk u for sharing, I recently purchased 2 & wasn't sure of which accessories I needed to use it..

Had two of them over the years they both failed prematurely never got reply or feedback from mr. Heater customer service. Needless to say I'm disappointed because when they did work they work good. Great video thanks.

Thanks for this! My dad ruined his Mr Buddy this last season the same way, off brand hose, no regulator and no filter. Love your channel btw!

Thanks for this video! I just bought one of these heaters and a Coleman hose from the Walmart for a camping trip next weekend. Guess I'll be taking the hose back to Walmart, just ordered the correct hose for these heaters from Amazon.

I had the same problem even with the filter. Went and bought the 10 ft Mister Heater hose and it has worked great ever since.

I’ve had my Big Buddy for 10 years now.... tent and trailer camping and keeping me warm at football games. Always works, never an issue. I’ve only used the 1 pound bottles though

Thanks for the information, that will save me a lot of trouble.

I was just about to buy one. I'm glad I found your video. Good to know, thanks.

Yes I am on my second Big Buddy Heater and it took me a while to figure this one out as well but it was the use of the hose clogging up the fuel lines. I was even using a filter but the filter clogs up pretty quick especially with the longer hoses. I completely tore down my mr. Buddy cleaned out all the lines thoroughly reassembled it and now just refill 1 pound propane tanks and have had zero issues. If you're going to use the hose and propane tanks just have a good supply of filters and change them often, otherwise you're going to need to tear it down and use a lot of Q-tips rubbing alcohol and an air hose to get it working right again.

Pretty sure that there are recommendations in the user manual about only using their lines, I can’t remember what it says exactly, it has been awhile since I bought mine. I also want to say there is something about filters too (or I might have read it online somewhere). Just another reason you should read your user manual.

Good to know.

Wow...things are intricate. Good to know. Thanks for providing the knowledge.

I’ve been running the same Mr. Heater for over 10 years, and I’ve never had any problems with my heater - ever. I have given heaters away and bought extra. No problems!! Mr. Heater rocks!!!!

I had a similar problem with my propain coffe maker. I got a bad Bach of propain from an tank exchange. My built in regulator clogged up and could not get it open. There was a puddle of oil in the burner area! I ended up breaking the regulator and never ordered another one.

The Mr Heater Buddy is a game changer when it comes to cold weather camping. My buddy brings his when we go out and it's amazing

Thanks for the info. I'm considering to buy a Mr. Buddy and using a gas grill tank with it. Once again thanks, keep up the good work and God bless.

Thanks a lot! I had the same issue but was unaware of the cause. Now that I know, I can do it right next time.

I had the same problem with a Mr. Heater hose, the company told me the propane could have oil in it as well. Bought 2 filters due to it takes 2 bottles of propane and the unit only worked sporadically. Will not invest in another unit.

Seen this when working on RV's. Oil come from the propane tank. Always fill up at a reputable filling station. Try to save a buck or two at discount filling station. You will pay for it in the end.

Our group of hunters use 6 different Mr. Heaters in our deer blinds. We started using Mr. Heater filters years ago. Regardless of what brand hose we use, we have had no problems in 10-plus years. For a $12-$15 dollar investment per heater, it is worth replacing the filter every 1-2 seasons, depending on hours of use. The MR. Heater tech wrote about the oils in the after market hoses. He obviously knows what he is talking about. I have a friend that owns a propane company and he says that bulk propane can be a little dirty. That's why we always using Mr. Heater filters.

Yes , I found this out after three heaters . Finally I got the filter less hose now .Thanks for confirming this for me