Buddy Heater suspected as cause of death

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Herd is the whole story that I received this mornjng

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Good for you for adding this to the thread. Hope everyone reads it before commenting with further speculations.

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1Louder

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Good for you for adding this to the thread. Hope everyone reads it before commenting with further speculations.
Sorry the man died but this is like putting a loaded gun to your head with the safety off and pulling the trigger. I’m glad the tragic facts have come out.
 

Anak

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First, and perhaps most importantly to many of you who contacted us, David Dana was indeed using a Mr. Heater-brand appliance. However, it was not a “Buddy” heater, but, rather, a unit designed and specifically designated for outdoor use. Dana’s unit was what some call a “parabolic” or “sunflower” outdoor-use-only heater. That fact alone made Dana’s situation perilous, but a chain of other factors could easily have contributed to the danger that Dana was exposed to.


Kennewick city officials have provided photos showing the equipment as they found it. Enerco’s team went over them closely and found several issues. First, someone removed all the factory-provided guards from the front and back of the heater. The discoloration on the grid screen assembly in the shape of a circle suggests to the Enerco team that the user may have been putting something directly on the burner surface. That fits with the observations of first responders who said it appeared Dana was trying to cook on the heater. But in so doing, the result could easily be a quenching of the burner flame and an interference with the burner’s access to secondary air. All of that could have significantly increased potential carbon monoxide production.


Next, Enerco’s team found that someone had removed the thermocouple safety system. While that wouldn’t have contributed to carbon monoxide poisoning, anyone using the heater was exposing themselves to another danger: a potential LP explosion, as the thermocouple system automatically shuts off propane if the burner were to be blown out for any reason.


Other issues uncovered included modifications to the safety shut-off system. Notice the black tape wrapped around it, rendering it useless. As well, the shut-off button was taped in and used as a stand against the tank itself. Further, the connection between the air intake tube and control valve was loosened so the entire burner assembly could be rotated to pointing up when attached to the propane cylinder, as opposed to the factory set face-out position.


One other issue which may have contributed to a fatal build-up of carbon monoxide is how gas flow to the burner was adjusted. It appears to Enerco that the propane cylinder valve was used to control the flow of LP. If that was the case, adjusting the flow down would have made for extremely dirty combustion and, as a result, high amounts of carbon monoxide being released into the environment.


As accident investigators noted, David Dana was using this lash-up inside a closed-up van. It is also believed that Mr. Dana may have added additional insulation to the van, in which he was living at the time of the incident. There was likely very little air exchange in the van at the time of the incident. With all of these factors taken together, it’s hard to imagine how anything other than the tragedy resulted. An outside-only heater, modified and used in a tightly sealed small enclosure created a very dangerous situation and directly lead to this unfortunate situation.
That paints a bit of a different picture from what was initially presented.
 
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Tommy9610

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I feel much better about purchasing my buddy heater now. I to, own a couple of those parabolic heaters and would never dream of using them in an enclosed space or anywhere they might get knocked over for that matter. Those are best used in a drafty garage or maybe on a porch and although they do make one you can also cook on, there are far better and cheaper for that matter, options. To bad this guy had to die to learn that you never modify or attempt to fix a gas burning appliance unless you really, really know what the hell you are doing.
 

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I'm rarely on Overland Bound any more because of all the anti-California (it's not a "K") stuff that randomly pops up in threads that should be apolitical. Like every state California has its problems, but it is a great place to explore, with lots of dispersed camping, BLM, State, Federal, and county parks. If you are on the left or right politically, keep to the topic - there are plenty of forums where you can visit to trash those with opposing views. I liked Overland Bound back when I joined, but now I ignore it and go to Expedition Portal instead.
I’m with you on this. I tire of politics popping up, states rights, legislation, guns, etc etc are all hot button issues that don’t belong here.. you wanna talk about guns? Go to a frigging gun forum, you wanna talk politics, go to a politics forum.. you wanna talk about rock crawling, go to a rock crawling forum. What is it that “ overlanders “ do? Hmmm, we travel to remote regions of the world, more often than not, in our own back yard, to enjoy the peace and tranquility that raw undisturbed nature has to offer. We hike, we photograph, we tour. Noise from guns, loud mufflers, large groups and light pollution leave a trace, we are supposed to be abiding by the leave no trace principals.
 
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