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Sunflower Heater Bypass

3K views 16 replies 13 participants last post by  dalenelson1442 
#1 ·
Question. I have a single tank top heater cooker. It comes with a stand and hose that doesn't require it to be on the tank. Works great. Problem is something happened and I cannot get it to stay lit anymore without holding in the button. I got fed up and ended up taping the button in and using the controls like normal. Yes it doesn't give me auto shut off when bumped or cuts out when there is a problem. I have yet to have a problem so I have kept it like this.
Since space was an issue at the time I ended up buying another tank top heater. I screw it on the bottle but seems a little loose at the fitting on the tank where it wants to fall over. I cannot tighten it into the bottle to stiffen in up either. Now this one works only on the first try. If I want to move my tank the auto shut off kicks in when bumped or moved. Problem is when I go to relight the heater it will not stay lit either. I am at my whits end with these stupid heaters. I am prepared to tape up this heater button too and using it as is. My question is I am very careful on watching on burning too much oxygen, is it going to blow up or something by having this button taped up? Yet I have never had an issue with the stand one, actually when I only need a little heat I can regulate it better to burn less than low setting.
 
#2 ·
I too have a single sunflower heater that doesn't stay on when the button is released. The ground wire was disconnected. Brought it to a friend who soldered it for me. It worked once in his garage then not after that. I'm thinking of using a c-clamp or a pair of vice grips to keep the button down. :(
 
#4 ·
I use a sunflower on a 20 lb tank, which is inside a milk crate. When my thermocoupler went, the only way to keep it lit was by holding in the button. I researched it and found a 16 step project to bypass it, then the next post said "or use a 3" hose clamp". So that's what I did and it has worked like that for 2 years.

Once you feed the hose clamp around the button you can bend it and tighten it so that you can slide it on and off without re-tightening, and it will not fall off in transit. You do not have the security of it shutting off when falling over, but with the propane tank in the milk crate it would take a pretty big commotion to knock it over.
 
#5 ·
I bought two brand new sunflower heaters three years ago. After a couple of outings they both wouldn't stay lit without holding the starter button in. Took them back and got two new ones again and within a month,,,same thing. Buddy of mine taped it with electrical tape to hold the start button in and they both to this day run that way. It is sad that a person pays so much for a simple product that has a safety device installed that is nothing but problems..
 
#11 ·
Tin Man has it right. I had 2 heaters that had the tilt switches break on me. Used to tape up on of them until I found out you could easily bypass the switch.
Cut the wires and connect them together. There are a few good you tube videos that explain what to do if you need a better explanation.
Like Tin Man said though you will no longer have a tilt switch so be careful. If you tank and heater tips over it will not shut off.
 
#13 ·
Tin Man has it right. I had 2 heaters that had the tilt switches break on me. Used to tape up on of them until I found out you could easily bypass the switch.
Cut the wires and connect them together. There are a few good you tube videos that explain what to do if you need a better explanation.
Like Tin Man said though you will no longer have a tilt switch so be careful. If you tank and heater tips over it will not shut off.

I have to agree, my new double sunflower would not stay lit without holding in the plunger. I took off those tilt switches and it worked perfect every time after that. If your propane tank is in a milk crate and you knock it over and your tent burns, I will just call it thinning of the heard.
 
#12 ·
Here is a video on how to bypass the bump switch:

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPJJ4_bNzT8"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPJJ4_bNzT8[/ame]

And here is one to repair a heater that won't light:

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubwkBwcJBJc"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubwkBwcJBJc[/ame]
 
#15 ·
I just unplug my tilt switches and leave them intact, made a small connector to connect the wires together rather than cutting them so if I bring kids with me then I can just reconnect the tilt switch. nothing wrong with the switch itself but they only work if the switch itself is perfectly level
 
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