Amazing big buddy heater hack 

I would recommend using a stove fan. They run off of pure heat. No electricity necessary. Just attach it to the top of the heater. There are some RU-vid videos showing this hack.

These is a 1/8" phono plug on the heater back. Could have made a USB to phono cable and done the same thing and never turned a screw. I used to run mine off of a cheap harbor freight solar charge controller and it was like 3.5V 6 V and 9V gave me three fan speeds.

Hey Man, Nice hack. I just did it to my Big Buddy (Yellow Front. My fan quit working years ago and I finally figured out how to fix it. The little plastic mounting posts had broken off and the fan was just floating inside. I cut away what was left of the plastic posts and then drilled a hole in the center of each one. I used three machine screws with a lock washer and a nut. Then the little bolts stick out the back and I put another lock washer and a nut. Better than new. DO NOT BUY THE AC ADATER THIS HACK WILL SAVE YOU $$$ I was looking for a video on how to replace thermocouple and pilot and I came across your hack and seeing as I just fixed the fan this was perfect. I made a couple of modifications. I have a soldering iron so I connected the USB and Battery wires together, like you showed. I soldered them and taped them and then used a shrink wrap tape to cover up to the spade. This way I do not have to switch wires for different power supplies. I left the USB wire long so I can use a USB power block and plug into electrical outlet. I have the portable USB battery also and it works great. Thanks again for a great idea. Either way you connect it , it is a great idea.

I've always just used alligator clips and clip to the tab and spring inside the battery compartment works and don't need to take it apart... but for a more permanent solution this one is good. Nice job.

It appears you cut off two female spade connectors and replaced them with... two female spade connectors. You state (and partially show) that the new female connectors fit over the two male blades protruding from the battery box. So why not leave the original ones on?

Maybe someone already said this, but there’s already cables that go from USB to the 6v input (on the back)…I had a few from over the years and they all worked…you probably got one (w/ an adapter) with the “booster pack”. Still a smart idea though

Awesome, there's a guy on Facebook selling the same setup. Thanks for sharing!

Good stuff buddy! I found a round power bank on clearance at Walmart for $3 that fits right into the battery compartment. In fact you could fit 2 in there and swap when one dies out.

Hmm! I just plug my adapter into my inverter from my solar panels. But in a pinch, this thought process not necessarily helpful here. Could be used for sure. Power banks, on any size, can be VERY useful. Good vid. It opens options and eyes.

To save alot of work, you could just make an adapter to plug into the auxilliary power jack (at 2:02). Just solder a male mono mini -phone connector, (3.5mm, 1/8 ") to a male usb plug. Connect the positive red wire of the usb to the tip of the male mono mini -phone connector, then connect the negative black wire of the usb to the remaining case terminal of the male mono mini -phone connector. Then you can use it to connect to what ever portable device you have. (Be sure to remove the big buddy D cell batteries, before using the adapter, you can use either one power source or the other, but not both.)

Awesome,no need to install and replace heavy d cells or forget to remove them long-term 😀

Also go on ebay u can get usb covers that go on your batteries for your drill to power usb devices they are like 10 bucks way cheaper than those usb batteries and last longer and they can run your shack lights and charge your phone

use some sticky velcro tape to fix the power pack to the back of the Buddy heater

Cool hack. Couple thoughts. USB is 5 volts. Four D batteries are 6 volts. No consideration as to current draw on the USB cord either. Obviously it works fine but made me wonder when watching. Thanks

I did a similar hack.....I incorporated using the little port so if I ever need the batteries, I can still use them. When using the power pack...I put it right inside the battery compartment with a small spacer so it could never touch both contacts. Thanks

Dude!! Soo many more ideas you just gave me. Thanks for the video

John, Do a video break down with the USB add to the Bubble Maker! While the concept is the same, the visuals always help. Even opening up the bubble maker and showing what you dd inside would be good. No reason to do it all over gain. Great vid.

I feel you should have tied a knot in the wire or put some kind of restraint to prevent it getting yanked out of the heater after assembly.

Have seen many hacks for a fan that basically ,doesn't move any air.One previewer left a piece of toilet paper in front,fan didn't move it.A separate battery powered or heat activated fan seem to work better.

Hi Just found your video and subscribed because I just bought a mr heater. Clever, very clever. I’ll have to watch a few more times before I’ll try it. Moved back to Maine after being in Florida, it’s wicked cold! 🥶❄️⛄️🥶. Thanks!

I wouldnt have removed the wires from the battery box but thats me. I would have piggy backed that cell phone wire into the battery connection. A piece of velcro would be good to stick the small jump pack onto the back of the heater. No idea is really wrong if it works.

Save yourself alot time , buy a USB cord with the 3.5 mm charger male end for variety of things and it works great 👍, no need to change anything. Winner winner chicken dinner

Why not get a 1/8" male plug from radio shack and wire your usb cord to it and then just plug it in the original jack?

2:58. Return this back to factory... Not Quite. Factory will easily see the mod. Better way would be to use aux jack on back and keep all mods external or stacking piggy back terminals on interior mod. Why not feature your mod using aux jack or even D-Cell fakes wired to USB? Then you wouldn't need disclaimer.

From what I understand, the fan is 6 volt and usb power is 5 volt. The fan may run at a lower rpm and not like the voltage drop.

Just use your 6volt deer feeder battery with a 3.5 mm single jack or 3.5 mm head phone with double plug you will just need to see what wires make the fan work for the double ring tip recharge battery as needed

Works like a charm!!! Thanks!

Or you could just put some alligator clips on a USB plug and clip them to the battery connectors. No need to take the heater apart or cut the wires. You can do this for most battery powered items that take 5-6 volts.

Why not just jump into the connected wires. Can be done with as little as a cigarette lighter and some electrical tape.. then burn the tape for a heat shrink, shrink tube effect (works excellent, unless u dont want people goin in there to make sure it looks state of the art) And that big jump box battery is going to outlast your dam propane, so then youll stay cooler when u wtd to stay warmer : )

Great video! Thank you for taking your time to make this. I had a quick question.. So the heater fan uses 6 volts, can you just use a cube that plugs into a wall and plug that USB cable into the wall cube? In other words.. do the cubes reduce the voltage and convert it? They must right?? And if I do what you did here, could I just use a cube plugged into the wall to power the fan? Or Will it be too much voltage and ruin the fan? Thank you again 👍

Love the hacks and videos you do. Cool trick.

Genius hack. Thank you!

Okay the outlet on the back that that I'm sure uses a transformer to the wall could of been used without changing any internals right! I'm just saying for the ease of mind, ordering a simple 12v car battery or 5v usb.. could of been shot through the power supply! If I were to do this i'd but a universal witch is pre wired and adjustable voltage. So should be easy to splice or may even already have a usb connect depending on what you buy... Idk just thinking out loud! But if I were making it permanently part of the heater. I'd look into the custom battery packs lithium ion without batteries and buy the high drain batteries. I just know there several all wired up, so those without the tools could still do this! Buy one that fits in were the D batteries go! Maybe do to batteries packs/ to switch out when other pack is dead!

I would like to know the duration of the original "D" cells continuous run time till dead and same test w/ various USB battery bricks. My guess is the D cells will run nearly as long as USB brick. Advantage is the USB battery can be recharged... And.. why not just use the plug in adapter and put a make a male mini plug there. USB puts out 5v DC, D cell 6v DC. No inside wiring necessary.

Just did mine thanks brother!

Cool little hack. Eliminates the need for “D” sized batteries.

Great idea! Thank you sir!

Why not leave battery connected just parallel the you can use eather without having to open again.

What was the point of cutting off the original female terminals? Couldn’t you just put male connectors on the usb wires and achieved the same result?

My buddy heater doesn’t have a fan but I got a small portable stove fan powered by heat that I attach to the buddy heater.

Can you split the wire from the battery to have it where you can plug in the USB or put in batteries without having to take it apart?

I never found the fan to do anything but make noise. I dont know why they even bothered with it. It doesnt push hardly any air at all.

Good job! Nice mod. 👍👍👍👊😎

Thank you for your time , I will be Warmer for it.

Fan-tastic!!!

How about crimping all the positives to one female connector and all the negative wires to another female connector. Plug them back in to their respective terminals. Use 2 less connectors and not have to take the back off to switch wires to use D-cells when desired. You have a backup plan of sorts. And if you are using button top NiMH batteries, you might even be able to recharge them off a power bank.

I assume D cell batteries are 1.5 volts x 4 = 6 Volts - I believe USB would only produce 5 volts. If so would USB under drive the fan and could that hurt the fan?

Why not just solder a bullet plug onto the USB cable and use the same jack that the wall adaptor would plug into? Then you could use batteries, the wall adaptor, or USB without modifying the unit itself and removing the battery operation as an option.

Why cut off a female connector to replace it with female connectors?

Always awesomeness stuff JDS Outdoors ✌👍⬆️

Great Idea ! ! BUT ??? You are clearly cutting off FEMALE connector to just replace them with an other Female...??? Are they smaller?

Thank you for the great instruction video

Hell yeah damn awesome better than keep buying them d battery’s I’m so doing this to my big buddy thanks for sharing

Awesome hack! Thumbs up'd and Subbed 🇺🇸

Only question I have is ,does the voltage matter? Because I think the battery voltage is only 6 volts.

Awesome... what is that power pack you are using? How many Volts? Where to get? Thanks!

Great video 👍

Nice one!

Thanks

I just use a wood stove thermal fan. No batteries needed. Just heat from it operating runs the fan.

Amazing!

Thank you bro

thanks

Do you suggest installing the wood stove fan on top of the Big buddy heater, or you think the internal fan would be enough to move the hot air in a small space?

Awesome hack!! where do you get those double ended connectors for replacement of a single connector?

Cool trick…. I’ll be doing that

Why didn’t you use piggy back spade lug connectors? Then there’s not any need to cut the factory connectors off and they stay plugged in if you want to use your D cells.

I would like to see it run off a DeWalt battery, especially 60v

Okay, a little help here. I used the power cable to my Galaxy S2 Tablet to no avail. Have solid connection to the Buddy Heater and plug into the battery pack and wall jack - nothing happens - reconnect put 4 D batteries fan starts up. What did I do wrong? Does it need to be a telephone charging cable? Will an Apple phone charging cable work? Thanks

YOU ~ ROCK ! !

I use a thermo electric fan

Am I missing something..why did you cut female ends of and pout female ends back on is it necessary?

I just use the AC adapter. Strong power & no battery needed. Of course, that's only for home use.

Can you plug ur USB into 110 adaptor and still run it safely ?thanks

Nice!!!

What model is this I got one but it didn't. Have the fan inside

you only need 2 male spade connectors , snipping the original ends off is a pointless step keep the original female ends and just put the male ends on the usb cable.

Could you please show how to hook it up on the frabill aerator? My cord to plug it in cig. Plug'in for shorted out and I need it working soon ( Bait ) and I can't figure out what wire to cut

Kind of lost me when cutting off factory female connectors and putting 2 the same back on. Duh.... Also, what voltage is the fan and voltage of power packs? I'm sure the A/C adapter is 6 or 12V

Just splice into the sides of those wires?

Do you have something similar for the little buddy heater

that little fan isnt even worth the Mod i am going to put a bigger fan inside mine that has more CFM

So question what is the runtime using this hack compared to using four D cell batteries?

Id like to see where you can use the heat to charge a battery bank or phone. Calling all electrical whizzes .

Thank you for fast forwarding is off and as you did

So I can do this without converting 6 volt to 12 volt like in your previous video?

Or you can just use a woodstove fan that uses no power

You know you can use A thermal fan that will go on the stove needs no batteries electricity

Why not use these on the USB cable: www.amazon.com/Glarks-Semi-Insulated-Terminals-Connectors-Assortment/dp/B01E5TXX8C/ref=lp_306733011_1_13?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1606674089&sr=1-13 This way no change to the OEM wiring and you could leave the USB cable always connected, make a hole for it to come out or make a cable that is in 2 pieces. Just seems like you went the long way and you need to open up the unit for access each time. And as others have said, why cut off female to put on female?

I am by far a electrician but the heater requires 6V. 4 D Batts = 6V. Also stated on the back panel next to the a/c adapter. Won't this burn up the motor or some other detrimental affect?

Just put a fan in front... That lil fan inside aint worth crap

Where can I find one of those jump box and the name of it please been trying to find one but no luck

Color me confused. I thought the fan assembly part wasn’t sold in the USA due to some weird law. Is this a Canadian only video or am I missing something?

Why not just use t taps to tap into the existing factory positive and negative? That way you only need to crimp on to the USB cable and you're done

What is the fan runtime difference?

All the usb cords I cut off had 4 wires in them not 2 and the wires were so tiny I couldn’t even strip them without them breaking

Why would you need to do this?

That did not make sense y did you cut off the factory connection lol

ok what doesnt make sense is that you cut off a female connector and replaced it with another female connector....one step that didnt need to be done

they dont come with battery operated fans anymore.