Strange smell coming off new pipe?
To make it a long story short, I rent a renovated basement apartment. The heating pipes for the entire house (and therefore other units) are exposed a few inches from the ceiling. Kinda annoying, but I've learned to duck around them.
Now, it's an old house, and the pipes for the steam heater are ancient. One of them sprung a leak a few days back, bad news during the peak of the heating season. Landlord got somebody to come out, and after multiple failed attempts to weld the leak shut, ended up replacing the pipe with a brand new section of copper.
Only problem is, it **** reeks! Every time the heat kicks on and steam runs through the pipe, the whole apartment stinks of something I can't even quite put a name to. It's almost like the smell of a soldering iron, but more chemical.
Is this a normal occurrence? Am I just meant to let whatever stuff is on the outside of the pipe burn off over the next couple days? It's pretty hard to ventilate things at the moment, given there's a winter storm going on, and the fumes are giving me a headache, which I imagine can't be a good sign.
Any guidance would be appreciated.
Comments
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Probably some flux or the like on the outside of the pipe. Rag with some dish soap should take care of it.
Trying to squeeze the best out of a Weil-McLain JB-5 running a 1912 1 pipe system.1 -
This is gonna sound dumb, but does flux look like anything? Or should I just get a rag and scrub it all until it stops stinking?
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Just do the whole section. Soap and water.
Trying to squeeze the best out of a Weil-McLain JB-5 running a 1912 1 pipe system.0 -
copper smells a bit like hot metal when it gets hot. there will be pipe dope on the ends too where it is screwed in, that would need solvent to take that off completely. it could be a combination of things. copper shouldn't be used above the water line in steam for reasons unrelated to your problem and if the old black iron pipe corroded it usually means they are throwing water out of the boiler in to the steam mains.
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Any suggestions on solvents? There is a fair amount of gunk on either end of the new pipe. It's still pretty soft/spreadable even after a few days.
Will give it a go in the morning! Hopefully, the heat will go off long enough for me to clean it up.
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Straight liquid dish soap and a stiff brush will usually remove fresh pipe dope. Wipe as much as you can off with a rag first.
Trying to squeeze the best out of a Weil-McLain JB-5 running a 1912 1 pipe system.0 -
Probably stinky pipe dope. Hopefully he didn't use Permatex. It will dissipate soon enough. Mad Dog
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Any particular reason to avoid Permatex? I have no clue what he used, honestly.
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Little update, I suppose. Scrubbed the whole length of pipe down real good, and a cursory sniff indicates it definitely isn't coming from the copper itself. The stink is coming from the joints, where he sealed the pipes. Pretty sure he used Teflon tape along with whatever dope, based on the couple of threads which came off when I scrubbed the excess gunk off. I'm having a **** of a time trying to get into the little grooves to scrape off what remains. Picture for reference.
If it is the dope that's stinking so badly, how long does it normally take to dissipate? Not exactly a fan of having to inhale lungfuls of toxic-smelling fumes for who knows how long.
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Paint thinner or mineral spirits would take it off but that would smell more for a little while. Maybe vegetable or mineral oil and some scrubbing would take most of it off then you could wash off what is left with dish soap. There really isn't much left there. BTW that looks more like hot water than steam unless that is a return. The galvanized (shiny gray metallic fitting) also tends to smell like hot metal when it is hot. Could also try to seal it with shellac or stain kill but that also will smell for a while. They didn't by any chance char some adjacent surface with the torch that now smells?
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I'm just going by what the landlord has told me. He insists it's a steam pipe, but whether it's a return or not, I couldn't say. Nothing else around it is charred up, and the smell only happens when the heat kicks on and steam starts flowing through it. When it isn't running, it doesn't smell like anything at all unless you get your nose right up on it, and even then it's only the connections. I'll try and scrub the rest of the gunk free and see if it helps any.
Some pictures of the other send of the pipe, for whatever its worth.
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It is out of focus but that white crusty stuff appears to be some combination of asbestos and canvas so I would recommend not sniffing or disturbing that.
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That white crusty stuff is drywall mud from a previous "repair" attempt by the landlord before the contractor came out. It held up about as well as you'd think. Not the source of the smell though, I've checked.
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A little update after going at the leftover dope with a brush for a little while. I think I found the source of the smell.
A fair amount of the Teflon tape was wrapped outside the joint and looks like its burnt up. Is it supposed to look like that after wrapping a pipe? Should I be worried about this? I sure can't imagine breathing fumes from burning teflon is especially good for you, and I can't exactly get the little bits still stuck in the threads off.
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That's from threading first then soldering. Shouldn't be an issue going forward as the pipe won't get that hot again.
That's why I'll solder a stub on to a threaded fitting , thread it in after it cools and then use a coupling further away. 😉
Trying to squeeze the best out of a Weil-McLain JB-5 running a 1912 1 pipe system.0 -
could just be oils from the pipe and the flux. if you burn teflon it makes halides which are neither good for you nor do they smell pleasant. Not good to be there while it is burning but the trace amounts that are released from the charred piece of teflon probably are only an unpleasant smell, the concentrations are so small that it isn't a health issue.
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Looks like the guy could use some soldering help a little sloppy.
And holy bushings.!!!
The usual way it goes when in doubt use Copper!!!!!
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