Endless Summer Model 233000 Stainless Steel Commercial Outdoor Heater

Rating

Overall, the Endless Summer 233000 Outdoor Heater is a well designed and manufactured product. Assembly instructions are very clear, and with basic tools, can be assembled in about an hour. The “commercial” rating of this heater is evident in the quality of material, and the manufacturing workmanship. Follow the directions for igniting the heater, particularly when installing a new tank of propane. The heater worked perfectly for the first tank of gas, giving off a very even, comfortable circle of heat of about 12 feet in diameter. When used at a medium setting, the 20lb. propane tank lasts about 8-10 hours. When a second tank of propane was installed, a frustrating problem occurred. The heater ignited O.K. but would shut off after about a minute. Suspecting a bad tank of gas, I changed it for another tank, but got the same result. After several hours of diagnosing the problem, I discovered that there is a thermocouple near the pilot light that is heated by part of the pilot light flame. If the thermocouple does not “sense” enough heat from the pilot flame, it will shut off the heater for safety. Sure enough, the pilot flame was burning yellow, not blue, and the yellow flame is not hot enough to keep the thermocouple energized. A simple

Rating

I used this for several months – infrequently, and then found all of a sudden that it wouldn’t stay lit. I did some troubleshooting and learned that it would stay lit if I held the flame from a propane fireplace starter under the thermocouple that is heated by the pilot light. I don’t know if the problem is a failing thermocouple or a less than optimum heat pilot light flame; but whatever – this shouldn’t have happened with a heater that was still on it’s first tank of gas !!!

I’ll eventually find some time to contact Customer Service and see what needs to be replaced.

UPDATE: I found the time to repair this heater. I started with the assumption (thanks to the other reviewer) that the pilot light wasn’t keeping the thermocouple hot enough. When I dis-assembled the pilot light assembly, I found crud in the air collection chamber. I cleaned out the crud (and just for the heck of it soaked the pilot light “bead” regulator in auto fuel injector cleaner), and now the heater works just like the day I bought it.

Because the heater is very well built and easy to disassemble and repair; I’m bumping my rating from 2 stars to 4.