Smelly Radiator

HC

Had a an old hot water radiator installed in my one pipe seam system. 

Whenever the heat goes on a strong oily smell emanates from the radiator.  The professional who installed it said that the smell would go away once things within the radiator "burned off." 

The radiator has been in operation for over a month and the smell is just as bad.  Should I have any faith that this smell will go away or should I just replace the radiator?

jpf321

hot water never....

saw the high temps of steam. I think eventually it will subside.is the outside recently painted? make sure it's clean on the outside.

Jamie Hall

Single pipe steam?

If so, then it is possible for smells from inside the radiator to get outside -- through the vent.  It may take a while for that to go away.  Couldn't say how long.  Take a discreet whiff at the vent, if there is one, to see if that's the problem.  If it is, and it's really objectionable, it might be possible to take the radiator somewhere and get it flushed out thoroughly.



If the sniff the vent test proves negative, the smell is on the outside -- as jpf noted, it will probably go away.  Eventually.  You can hasten the departure, though, by thoroughly cleaning the outside.  Don't wimp out on something green; TSP, Boraxo, something like that -- and really scrub.

kcopp

pull the vent off...

then squirt in some lemon juice. it will "clean" it and smell a bit better. kpc

Sil

Lemon Juice... really?

Ya know, since I had may rads redone they are offgassing (I did not powder coat... dumb me).  The offgassing is becoming less and less of an issue now... Word to anyone reconditioning radiators - do it w PowderCoat!

That said, I also have an odd smell coming from the vent.  I am not sure if its whatever chemical was used to strip the rads or if it was the Hecules Scout I put in the boiler when I was trying to stop the surging (as I dont recall the odor before then).

I have flushed out all the water since then... replaced the returns... and no longer have a surging problem... but I still have a smell.

It only bothers me in my bedroom in the AM.  Should I squirt in some lemon juice into that rad's vent port?  Does that really work and not do any harm?

Big-Al_2

Paint

I've gone through this several times.  If it was repainted, it's probably the paint.  My experience is that if you use really high temp barbecue grill type of paint, it will stink for a couple of weeks.  If you used an engine enamel or regular enamel, be prepared to smell it for a month or two . . . or three, depending on how sensitive your smeller is.  You could turn the heat way up, like to 85 degrees and let it cook all day and vent the room and get the worst of it over . . . or just wait and let it fade away on its own.  It will go away eventually.

HC

re: Smelly Radiator

Thanks.  It was not recently painted and the outside seems quite clean.

Smell is definitely coming, at least in part, from the vent. I will give the outside a good cleaning though and see if that helps.