Smelly gas

[blackrose]

I've recently been noticing a noxious smell when the gas hob is lit. It's not the gas smell you get when the bottle is running out, it smells like plastic or chemicals are being burned. 

 

I checked under the hob flame spreaders in case something was burning and they're clean so I switched over to the second gas bottle and there's no smell. 

 

So it seems like there's some substance in the bottle that's getting into the regulator and releasing a nasty smell when burned. Does anyone know what it could be?

[system 4-50]

Is the bad bottle nearly empty?

[BEngo]

The stenching agent is a mixture of mercaptans- an 'orrible liquid which smells worse when burned.  It is prone to all the lighter components evaporating and then building up in the bottom of the bottle.  Known in the LPG Trade as " heavy bottoms"!

 

Stand the orrible  bottle upside down *Outside*  for 24 hours, then, whilst still upside down,  with the outlet connection pointing at something safe, and not tooo close,  crack the valve for 2 seconds then shut it.  That will get rid of any gungy stenching agent.

 

Or just get a replacement gas bottle if you can stand the cost.

N

[blackrose]

1 hour ago, system 4-50 said:

Is the bad bottle nearly empty?

 

Probably, I'll lift it to check.

 

1 hour ago, BEngo said:

The stenching agent is a mixture of mercaptans- an 'orrible liquid which smells worse when burned.  It is prone to all the lighter components evaporating and then building up in the bottom of the bottle.  Known in the LPG Trade as " heavy bottoms"!

 

Stand the orrible  bottle upside down *Outside*  for 24 hours, then, whilst still upside down,  with the outlet connection pointing at something safe, and not tooo close,  crack the valve for 2 seconds then shut it.  That will get rid of any gungy stenching agent.

 

Or just get a replacement gas bottle if you can stand the cost.

N

 

As I said, it's not the normal smell of the agent that you normally get when a bottle is running out, but perhaps it's a component of that which has separated out?

Edited June 7, 2024 by blackrose

[blackrose]

On 07/06/2024 at 18:47, system 4-50 said:

Is the bad bottle nearly empty?

 

I've just removed the suspect bottle. I'd say it's still a quarter full but I just can't use it. I'm loathe to waste expensive gas but it was making me feel ill. 

 

I'll mention it to the chandlers I bought it from when I take it back to buy a new one and see if they know what it is.

[Peanut]

Paint, solvent fumes, or cleaning products, burning off in the flame?

[magnetman]

On 07/06/2024 at 18:47, BEngo said:

The stenching agent is a mixture of mercaptans- an 'orrible liquid which smells worse when burned.  It is prone to all the lighter components evaporating and then building up in the bottom of the bottle.  Known in the LPG Trade as " heavy bottoms"!

 

Stand the orrible  bottle upside down *Outside*  for 24 hours, then, whilst still upside down,  with the outlet connection pointing at something safe, and not tooo close,  crack the valve for 2 seconds then shut it.  That will get rid of any gungy stenching agent.

 

Or just get a replacement gas bottle if you can stand the cost.

N

Good tip. 

 

They do vary a lot. The last time mine ran out it didn't smell at all but I have occasionally had them smelling bad for a long time before empty. 

 

Ethyl Mercaptan isn't it? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also known as https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethanethiol#Uses

 

 

Also used as warning system in mines. 

[blackrose]

9 hours ago, Peanut said:

Paint, solvent fumes, or cleaning products, burning off in the flame?

 

Maybe?

9 hours ago, magnetman said:

 

Ethyl Mercaptan isn't it? 

 

Also known as https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethanethiol#Uses

 

Also used as warning system in mines. 

 

No, as I said, it definitely wasn't the usual smell gas bottles give off when they're getting close to empty. This was something else quite noxious.

 

I exchanged it this morning and told the chandler.

[Naughty Cal]

How much does a bottle set you back these days?

[Sea Dog]

10 minutes ago, Naughty Cal said:

How much does a bottle set you back these days?

Forty quid, near as makes no difference.

[JoeC]

Unless you have to use 6kg bottles like me then it's £29.

[Naughty Cal]

26 minutes ago, JoeC said:

Unless you have to use 6kg bottles like me then it's £29.

Our boat had 2.7kg Camping Gaz bottles. 

 

They were over £30 when we got rid of the boat a few years back 😲

 

ETA: just looked and they are about £40 now!

Edited June 16, 2024 by Naughty Cal

[Naughty Cal]

1 hour ago, Sea Dog said:

Forty quid, near as makes no difference.

Assume that's a 13kg?

 

We paid a little over £22 for just over one 11kg bottle when we refilled last week. The changeover had literally just switched over.

 

It was £1 a litre Or thereabouts. 

 

We do need to run that second bottle down a bit. It rarely gets used!

[blackrose]

1 hour ago, Naughty Cal said:

How much does a bottle set you back these days?

 

13kg/£46

[Naughty Cal]

1 minute ago, blackrose said:

 

13kg/£46

Not a cheap do to lose a quarter bottle then? 

[Sea Dog]

8 minutes ago, Naughty Cal said:

Not a cheap do to lose a quarter bottle then? 

We might be happy to lose a tenner in order not to have a stinky boat every time we cooked though, eh? Certainly worth trying the upside down 2 seconds burst idea first I think, then that bottle would be history.

[blackrose]

15 hours ago, Naughty Cal said:

Not a cheap do to lose a quarter bottle then? 

 

No but better than feeling ill every time you make a cup of tea.

15 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

Certainly worth trying the upside down 2 seconds burst idea first I think, then that bottle would be history.

 

I don't care about a tenner. If you'd smelled it and breathed it in you'd just want rid of it too.

[haggis]

17 hours ago, Naughty Cal said:

We do need to run that second bottle down a bit. It rarely gets used!

When I had a caravan, when I emptied a gas bottle, I used the second one till it ran empty and got a replacement for the first. This way, I never ran out of gas. I just stuck a post it on the bottle I was using. so that I would know the next time.

[Naughty Cal]

1 hour ago, haggis said:

When I had a caravan, when I emptied a gas bottle, I used the second one till it ran empty and got a replacement for the first. This way, I never ran out of gas. I just stuck a post it on the bottle I was using. so that I would know the next time.

Ours are refillable bottles with an automatic changeover valve. We never have to remove the bottles from the gas locker and you can't switch them around anyway. One is the primary bottle and the other is the secondary bottle and they have different valve set ups.

 

The second bottle gets an occasional top up but has never been empty.

[haggis]

Ah, I understand. My gas bottles were removable and as they both had connections to the system, I turned them on and off at the top of the cylinder. I am not a fan of automatic change over valves 😄

[cuthound]

59 minutes ago, haggis said:

Ah, I understand. My gas bottles were removable and as they both had connections to the system, I turned them on and off at the top of the cylinder. I am not a fan of automatic change over valves 😄

 

I do the same, even though the boat has an auto changeover system.

 

I label the bottle I'm using and only use the other bottle when the first is empty, when I replace the empty bottle at the first opportunity.

 

Although it runs the risk of the bottle in use running out in the middle of cooking, it eliminates the risk of having two empty bottles because the auto changeover swapped bottles and I failed to notice.

[Naughty Cal]

17 hours ago, cuthound said:

 

I do the same, even though the boat has an auto changeover system.

 

I label the bottle I'm using and only use the other bottle when the first is empty, when I replace the empty bottle at the first opportunity.

 

Although it runs the risk of the bottle in use running out in the middle of cooking, it eliminates the risk of having two empty bottles because the auto changeover swapped bottles and I failed to notice.

We don't really have that risk because we turn the gas bottles off when we get back home so we can see if they have switched over. The bottles do have vague gauges so we can tell roughly how much we have left.

 

We have enough gas for over two weeks use in the depths of winter which is more than enough. At this time of year it hardly uses any, less than a litre a day for the fridge, hot water and cooking.

[nickd]

21 hours ago, haggis said:

When I had a caravan, when I emptied a gas bottle, I used the second one till it ran empty and got a replacement for the first. This way, I never ran out of gas. I just stuck a post it on the bottle I was using. so that I would know the next time.

I use a clothes peg on the handle grip

Edited June 18, 2024 by nickd

[Sea Dog]

7 hours ago, nickd said:

I use a clothes peg on the handle grip

I think most of us just disconnect the empty bottle and connect the full spare. Hard to beat the simplicity of a manual changeover unless there's something critical on the end.

[nickd]

Got twin connectors in the gas locker, when one runs out I switch the empty's gas off, turn the full one on and transfer the peg to it. Next time I am at a fuel point I get a replacement and connect it up. Nothing worse than half-way cooking a meal and if the gas runs out you have to mess about with a spanner.