Welcome! Here are the website rules, as well as some tips for using this forum.
Need to contact us? Visit https://heatinghelp.com/contact-us/.
Click here to Find a Contractor in your area.
Skunk smell...google search says it could be a refrigerant leak. Is methyl mercaptan in refrigerant?
centralMA
Member Posts: 33
EDIT: All Set. Thanks for the info everyone! Decidedly not refrigerant. No propane, weed or teenagers haha. Probably a skunk...
Skunk smell in the middle of the night. A quick google search brought up some websites saying it could be a refrigerant leak. They claim that there is methyl mercaptan in refrigerants. Anybody know if that is accurate?
All the windows were closed. This morning I walked around the house and couldn't detect a skunk smell outside. When I walked back in I definitely smelled it.
A quick google search brought up some websites saying it could be a refrigerant leak in our heat pump system. These websites claim that there is methyl mercaptan in the refrigerants.
https://www.ars.com/blog/air-conditioner-smells-bad
https://www.robyservicesnow.com/blog/why-does-my-air-conditioner-smell-strange/
It is far from clear to me if that is true. I couldn't find other evidence for it. Anybody know?
I am running a wall unit heat pump on the first floor and a ducted unit in the attic for the second floor.
It doesn't really smell like the sulfur smell of natural gas leak.
Thanks!
Maybe it is just a skunk... haha
Skunk smell in the middle of the night. A quick google search brought up some websites saying it could be a refrigerant leak. They claim that there is methyl mercaptan in refrigerants. Anybody know if that is accurate?
All the windows were closed. This morning I walked around the house and couldn't detect a skunk smell outside. When I walked back in I definitely smelled it.
A quick google search brought up some websites saying it could be a refrigerant leak in our heat pump system. These websites claim that there is methyl mercaptan in the refrigerants.
https://www.ars.com/blog/air-conditioner-smells-bad
https://www.robyservicesnow.com/blog/why-does-my-air-conditioner-smell-strange/
It is far from clear to me if that is true. I couldn't find other evidence for it. Anybody know?
I am running a wall unit heat pump on the first floor and a ducted unit in the attic for the second floor.
It doesn't really smell like the sulfur smell of natural gas leak.
Thanks!
Maybe it is just a skunk... haha
0
Comments
-
You probably just have a skunk. I am 99% sure they don't add that to any refrigerant in the US, because it will corrode the AC system. Possibly its used in other places in the world? Possibly added for use in industrial applications? Never heard of it in residential refrigerant, though it is added to give an odor to fuel, like propane etc. Even refrigerant grade propane doesn't get this additive as it will destroy the AC system. Possibly someone else can chime in to say otherwise, I'd like to see more info if thats the case. Many outlets report incorrectly about HVAC issues so it wouldn't surprise me if they got this one wrong, especially since neither can name a single refrigerant that has this added.1
-
-
99.9% of refrigerants are
Odorless
Colorless
R-290 (Propaine)
and
R-717 Amonia
You'll know.
0 -
I didn't think R290 intended for refrigeration use had odorant added to it?pecmsg said:99.9% of refrigerants are
Odorless
Colorless
R-290 (Propaine)
and
R-717 Amonia
You'll know.
Single pipe quasi-vapor system. Typical operating pressure 0.14 - 0.43 oz. EcoSteam ES-20 Advanced Control for Residential Steam boilers. Rectorseal Steamaster water treatment0 -
-
One morning I got up getting ready to go to work.
The house stunk like skunk.
From time to time, we got them hit out front but this specific morning was extra bad.
I go out side and there's a dead skunk in the road on each side of my house. So twice the wonderful smell.
Since the house is old and drafty, in the winter fresh air tends to be pulled into the basement and then up into the house. So any smell outside always ends up in the basement first.
I'm not positive, but I think this reverses in the summer.
Single pipe quasi-vapor system. Typical operating pressure 0.14 - 0.43 oz. EcoSteam ES-20 Advanced Control for Residential Steam boilers. Rectorseal Steamaster water treatment0 -
okay, thanks y'all!0
-
R-12 and R-22 definitely have an odor but it is nothing like skunk.
@ChrisJ the odor gets pulled in to your basement because the connection between the sill and the joists and rim joist and foundation is almost always very leaky except in some new houses where someone has made an effort to seal it.0 -
Sewer smell? A dried out floor trap perhaps?Bob "hot rod" Rohr
trainer for Caleffi NA
Living the hydronic dream0 -
If the r290 has the smelly additive then its not r290 its just regular old propane. Part of the r290 classification is that they must not add the smelly stuff, because it will hurt the refrigeration system0
-
BSGGross said:If the r290 has the smelly additive then its not r290 its just regular old propane. Part of the r290 classification is that they must not add the smelly stuff, because it will hurt the refrigeration system
It's just a cheaper supplier!
Same as Auto R-12 is different, its moisture purity is lower, but the filter drier takes of that!0 -
pecmsg said:
If the r290 has the smelly additive then its not r290 its just regular old propane. Part of the r290 classification is that they must not add the smelly stuff, because it will hurt the refrigeration system
BS It's just a cheaper supplier! Same as Auto R-12 is different, its moisture purity is lower, but the filter drier takes of that!
Single pipe quasi-vapor system. Typical operating pressure 0.14 - 0.43 oz. EcoSteam ES-20 Advanced Control for Residential Steam boilers. Rectorseal Steamaster water treatment0 -
You've seen actual R290 in a sealed tank have smell like bbq grade lpg?ChrisJ said:pecmsg said:
BSGGross said:If the r290 has the smelly additive then its not r290 its just regular old propane. Part of the r290 classification is that they must not add the smelly stuff, because it will hurt the refrigeration system
It's just a cheaper supplier!
Same as Auto R-12 is different, its moisture purity is lower, but the filter drier takes of that!
NO
There getting it from the local LP supplier!1
Categories
- All Categories
- 86.2K THE MAIN WALL
- 3.1K A-C, Heat Pumps & Refrigeration
- 53 Biomass
- 422 Carbon Monoxide Awareness
- 90 Chimneys & Flues
- 2K Domestic Hot Water
- 5.4K Gas Heating
- 99 Geothermal
- 156 Indoor-Air Quality
- 3.4K Oil Heating
- 63 Pipe Deterioration
- 915 Plumbing
- 6K Radiant Heating
- 381 Solar
- 14.8K Strictly Steam
- 3.3K Thermostats and Controls
- 53 Water Quality
- 41 Industry Classes
- 47 Job Opportunities
- 17 Recall Announcements