Sooty oil smell propane wall unit

Joanbrooks195

Ok.just this season when it kicks on the smell is bad.smells like oil furnace does.my propane Guy had to tighten hose to tank,but that didn't make ant difference. Used paint remover over 10 days ago.could that still be causing it?

Larry Weingarten

Hi, Did ALL of the paint remover and any residue get washed off after the paint was gone? If that is quite clean, I think I'd find someone with tools for checking combustion efficiency and carbon monoxide. Until the source of the odor is found, I think I'd not use the furnace as it could be a serious health risk. Do you have a CO detector in the house?

Yours, Larry

Jamie Hall

Propane gas leaks and combustion has quite a distinctive smell -- not oil at all. So I would suspect the paint remover.

HVACNUT

Check the flue outside when its running. Black smoke?
Is your propane guy a tech or just a delivery guy?
Get the furnace checked regardless. Ask to see the combustion report and post the results if possible.
And like @Larry Weingarten said, make sure you have a good low level CO detector. Propane is heavier than air so if theres poor combustion, CO could be leaking into your home. Run to the pet store and get a canary.

Joanbrooks195

This is a propane wall unit,if that matters

HVACNUT

> @Joanbrooks195 said:
> This is a propane wall unit,if that matters

Ok. Where do the flue gasses exit? Outside, right? At least its supposed to.

Jamie Hall

I agree with much of the above, but I will say again: LP gas and LP gas combustion products have a very distinctive smell (they are not the same, and I find that some people are not sensitive to the LP combustion smell). They are completely different smells from fuel oil, and are also both different from fuel oil combustion with one important exception: diesel exhaust which has gone through a catalytic converter has a smell somewhat like LP gas combustion exhaust.

To properly diagnose this, you must be familiar with the different smells involved, and not confuse them.

mattmia2

When i had gas appliances that used indoor combustion air I would smell this after I used even tiny amounts of solvents indoors. Did you dispose of anything you got the solvent on outdoors and are the containers of solvent tightly capped? Even small amounts of residue that are still offgassing could cause your smell. Are you still using any other solvent?

As a side note, methylene chloride must be used with a ton of ventilation. Methylene chloride metabolizes to carbon monoxide, which binds with hemogloben and doesn't release and prevents your blood from absorbing oxygen the same way that cyanide does.