SaferProducts incident

Failure type

Fire / ignition

Incident narrative

SaferProducts.gov consumer incident report 20250108-17286-2147334060. Severity: Incident, No Injury. Product: Mr Heater Big Buddy Pro with fan (Made in Vietnam) Model# MH18B Stock# F274800 (Mr Heater Big Buddy Pro Series 18000 BTU Red and Black colors Has two tiles that turn from white to Orange when heated. Still looks new even after this incident.). Incident: Tried to use my : Mr Heater I got a year ago. It's the Big Buddy 18000 BTU Pro Series. The box it came in has an extra bar code that reads EC-74800-2303001546/ The UPC code is 089301748002. Yesterday I hooked it up and was having an issue with getting the knob to go past the pilot selection. Customer service told me there is a sweet spot in the middle of the springy knob that permits the turning. Great, but when the high setting is used, some popping blue flames exist at the top corners of the right side tile. The company wants to change out this unit for a new one. Well today I turned it on, and after a couple of minutes , the right side started shooting blue flames out into the room, almost starting a house fire. I had to turn off the propane tank at the end of the hose. Well, thinking the high setting is defective but I need heat, I decided to try just the left tile selections (Low and Medium). No problem with that left side. But I intend to take this unit to a [REDACTED] to ship this unit like I was told yesterday to do as soon I can after the cold snap ends. I ain't waiting. I'm going to box it up and ship it today. I don't know if this was a quaility control issue or also someone forgetting the assembly directions. I can see the right tile looks loose.