New steam boiler install chemical smell in house

Charlie from wmass

@Fred I seldom have issues lasting more than a couple of days because that's when I go back to do my second cleaning and flushing of the boiler. also you can't say is a regional water thing why I don't have smells because I do installations from New Canaan Connecticut to Boston Massachusetts and even over to Albany New York. I've done installations of 75000 BTU input all the way up to 2.5 million btu input alongside pipefitters. my total BTU load input this winter is probably somewhere around 7 million BTUs throughout the Northeast. I don't have a smell issue and I use blue monster tape on most piping over 2 inch. the reason I am so passionate about this thread is because consumers are counting on the wall to give honest accurate information about problem solving of their heating systems especially the steam heating systems. For them to come on here and read a whole thread about an anecdotal experience with a smell problem that was said earlier I will eat my hat if it was a tape. And for people to go chasing after that problem when it has nothing to do with their issue and thousands of contractors out there using a product that works very well will be getting blamed for doing shoddy work instead of the real problem being fixed.
In conclusion the system was dirty and needed cleaned be it flux, cutting oil or be a combination of the two. It wasn't the blue monster thread sealant tape.

Fred

@Charlie from wmass , I don't disagree with you at all and I don't have a dog in this fight so I'm trying to be neutral to the issue of tape but, you have years of experience and sometimes installers use hired help that may not understand how to use some of these products. I don't think it is the tape, when used as instructed. I think it may be the installation process. You know to hold the tape back from the end of the pipe, and that is what the manufacturer advises. In these cases, it appears that the tape is allowed to overhang the pipe and be exposed to the steam and moisture. This discussion was never to suggest not using Blue Monster, it was, I think, at least from my perspective, to suggest when the issue crops up and no other solution is identified to at least consider looking at a joint or two and see if the tape (may be any brand for all I know) is hanging into the path of the steam.

Fred

ChrisJ said:

Fred said:

So, they want to pass the problem on to the equipment/piping. How many of you guys have smells lasting a year or more from the boiler? Even without cleaning there are other issues like water bounce and surging etc that will get calls, in addition to smell. Just something to keep in mind anytime this ever surfaces again. It is rare but it does pop up from time to time.

It's approved to be used with potable water and in the food industry @Fred

They aren't passing anything.

@ChrisJ , they are passing the buck. Being approved for potable water is a totally different application from steam and suggesting it is the boiler or piping is passing the buck. Rarely do we see this complaint from the thousands of boilers that are installed. There has to be something different about these few and I suspect it is the application of the tape, not the tape itself. There certainly is no proof, what so ever that it is the equipment or the piping, either. It's an easy way for them to say "Not Me" and I don't think it is them. I think it is the application of the tape into the path of the steam.

ChrisJ

Fred said:

ChrisJ said:

Fred said:

So, they want to pass the problem on to the equipment/piping. How many of you guys have smells lasting a year or more from the boiler? Even without cleaning there are other issues like water bounce and surging etc that will get calls, in addition to smell. Just something to keep in mind anytime this ever surfaces again. It is rare but it does pop up from time to time.

It's approved to be used with potable water and in the food industry @Fred

They aren't passing anything.

@ChrisJ , they are passing the buck. Being approved for potable water is a totally different application from steam and suggesting it is the boiler or piping is passing the buck. Rarely do we see this complaint from the thousands of boilers that are installed. There has to be something different about these few and I suspect it is the application of the tape, not the tape itself. There certainly is no proof, what so ever that it is the equipment or the piping, either. It's an easy way for them to say "Not Me" and I don't think it is them. I think it is the application of the tape into the path of the steam.

Maybe they're passing the buck because the buck isn't theirs?

If the tape is offgassing it would do so from both sides, not just the steam side. To suggest it would offgas only in the presence of steam is too much for me. It would small on the boiler room side as well, probably far more. It never did.

I don't have a dog in the race either but unfair is unfair and you and a few others are blaming a specific product which many, if not most professionals and DIYers on this forum use. It won't hurt us DIYers, but I could see it causing a whole lot of hell for the Pro's and its unwarranted.

Out of everything in a new boiler and new piping....the oils, grease, rubber gaskets, dirt etc you're blaming the PTFE tape.........

Keep in mind there's plenty of steam systems used in the food industry.

Just consider the consequences to everyone in this if you're wrong.

Fred

@ChrisJ , I'm fine if the Buck isn't theirs but it is still passing the buck, which was your point. I never said definitively that it was the tape. As I said, it could be the practice of letting it overlap into the path of the steam. When there is a problem, that people are trying to resolve, one must consider all the possibilities. None can be excluded. Anyone, Pro or DIY'er can read this thread, and it is evident that this is a debate and discussion of those possibilities and not an indictment of a brand of tape. Someone else will come here, in the future and maybe be open minded enough to say " Humm, Just to be safe, I better make sure I don't let my tape be directly exposed to the steam and follow the manufacturer's instructions." That, my friend is a service to everyone, Pro and DIY'er.

STEAM DOCTOR

I think that everyone's points were well taken. Maybe we should close this discussion and just take a poll if people would or would not use blue monster tape

Fred

STEAM DOCTOR said:

I think that everyone's points were well taken. Maybe we should close this discussion and just take a poll if people would or would not use blue monster tape

I don't think a poll is necessary. Again, the issue is likely not a specific brand of tape but rather the way it is applied.

ChrisJ

Fred said:

STEAM DOCTOR said:

I think that everyone's points were well taken. Maybe we should close this discussion and just take a poll if people would or would not use blue monster tape

I don't think a poll is necessary. Again, the issue is likely not a specific brand of tape but rather the way it is applied.

There likely is no issue with PTFE tape at all.
Heating PTFE with steam does not cause a chemical smell.