smellslike$tome

Had two calls today in which the customer complained of "an odor" and "a taste". One was a wall furnace, the other was gas logs. They only smell it when it operates. My sense of smell is very poor (I have not missed the irony) and I could not find anything wrong with the wall furnace. My other plumber was looking at the gas logs at another house. No discernable leaks. This is not the first time I have encountered this complaint. What am I missing? I must confess that I don't really understand ventless combustion as well as I should. When natural gas burns it produces combustion gasses right? What is the difference between gas fixtures that must be vented and those that are not required to be, is it simply the lower btu ratings of ventless appliances? What happens to the combustion gasses in a ventless appliance?

I need a better understanding of what is going on here.

Protech

How is the combustion?

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TheMaster

Most gas logs require a specific layout of the logs and are not suppose to be IN the flame or it will soot and the logs will burn dirty and soot causing an oder.I can smell the left overs from combustion on any appliance and thats not vented and I DO NOT like it. I had some unvented gas logs once and they made me sick everytime I used them from the smell. Did her problem just start? I know you know heaters stink when they are first used from the dust and lint burning off. Also if the appliances are new there is a break in period where it will burn the new off and you get a smell from it. They are suppose to have oxygen depletion sensors on them. A gas stove doesn't have a vent and I can smell it in a house when I go in I'm very sensitive to it.

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Too much flux causes the copper to remain clean. Not developing the protective patina. It is then over time eaten away by the chemicals in the water. That's what I was taught.

TheMaster

The wall furnance should have a heat exchanger in it.....I hope you checked it for holes. I personally will not work on anything with a heat exchanger in it,I feel like thats best left to the HVAC guys. The combustion gas from a non vented heater is in the room! I believe its a combination of a low BTU,clean burning and the addition of a oxygen depletion safety device and several thermal breaks for over heat protection.

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Too much flux causes the copper to remain clean. Not developing the protective patina. It is then over time eaten away by the chemicals in the water. That's what I was taught.

DUNBAR PLUMBING

The units built in a box, I'll hook up.

But the ones that are separate that get installed into a fireplace I demand a working chimney flue.


Those ventless create 1 gallon of moisture per hour. ????


A flame consumes oxygen, so when you hear of homes over time causing death by CO2, how can these units have such a presence without considering the oxygen depletion.


Want a pretty fire, catch your garbage can on fire in the back yard, look through the window.

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TheMaster

Gas cooking stoves burn more than any gas logs ever dreamed about and they are not vented. Relax

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Too much flux causes the copper to remain clean. Not developing the protective patina. It is then over time eaten away by the chemicals in the water. That's what I was taught.

smellslike$tome

Seems normal, nice blue flame.

TheMaster

I've been in houses that had gas space heaters in every room buring wide open...the living room had a vented floor standing furnace...they had the stove and oven on for more heat and the water heater vent was removed on the back porch that had plastic wrapped around it to keep their plants from freezing. My eyes immediately started to water and my nose started running...about 5 minutes later I got a headache that was mild but steady for about 4 hrs...even tho I was only in there about 15 minutes. The only thing that saved these people life is the place was a shack and basically had holes in the ceiling and floor and no insulation at all anywhere.

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Too much flux causes the copper to remain clean. Not developing the protective patina. It is then over time eaten away by the chemicals in the water. That's what I was taught.

DUNBAR PLUMBING

Bull****.


Those are intermittent use. People don't fall asleep in front of their stove, go to bed with them on. I'm talking about continous flame for heating.


And, there's a vent hood directly above them, whether it's recirculatory or not.


Same principle of the freestanding kerosene heater ~ oxygen consuming and air tight rooms start losing their % of oxygen levels to sustain human life.

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TheMaster

How long does it take to cook a turkey in the oven? 4 or 5 hours maybe longer I've never done it. The venthood doesn't matter because the stove CAN be used without using the vent. The ventless gas logs have oxygen depletion systems built into them and over heat protection. Your done roast duck

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Too much flux causes the copper to remain clean. Not developing the protective patina. It is then over time eaten away by the chemicals in the water. That's what I was taught.