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Oil heat smell

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Ashtree
Ashtree Member Posts: 2
in Oil Heating
Unfortunately last week we ran out of oil. I called and the next morning it was delivered. My husband bled the line and started the heater just for it to stop working a few hours later. After looking he saw there was no filter so he went to lowes and bought one and added it himself. Now our heats been working great but when it kicks on the whole house fills with an oil smell. Is it dangerous? we have a one year old and I'm pregnant. And if anyone has any suggestions as to what's causing it and how to fix it that would be great because my husband is a plumber and doesn't know much about it.

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  • JStar
    JStar Member Posts: 2,752
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    Oil

    Is the smell really oil or smoke? Either way, the burner needs attention. Has it been serviced/maintained regularly?
  • billtwocase
    billtwocase Member Posts: 2,385
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    sounds like

    a warm air furnace. Chances are oil was spilled, or not properly collected by means of a bleed hose when he bled the pump. Try cleaning and treating the burner/blower compartment. Next step is to call a pro. Could be a crack or hole in the heat exchanger, or possible just a delay in the ignition
  • earl burnermann
    earl burnermann Member Posts: 126
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    spilled oil

    I agree with the idea of oil spilled near the blower cabinet. While there could be a chance of a cracked heat exchanger, I don't think you would get an odor from the registers while running if the system is venting properly. High pressure goes to low pressure. So combustion gas would not travel to the air side of the heat exchanger. Most likely the air from the blower would enter the combustion chamber. Checking over the fire draft with a draft gauge would be a good place to start checking for a crack. If the draft changes when the blower comes on I'd dig deeper into checking the heat exchanger.
    If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy!
  • Ashtree
    Ashtree Member Posts: 2
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    Thank you

    Thank you for all of your help. After speaking with the hvac manager at work my husband learned how to check for a cracked heat exchanger which thankfully it wasn't. It was actually smoke that we were smelling and after replacing the nozzle it went away. He did spill a little oil around the heater and we covered it with kitty litter and that smell has gone away too.

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