Propane smell in shack!

[Rainman]

I posted this in icefishing forum as well.

Is it common to get a little propane type smell after your tanks get low on propane? My Shack and camper both do it. Not when full, just when the furnace has ran for a few days and the tank get really low. I know that it is low as soon as I open the door. Just curious. Anybody else have that problem? Thanks.

Rainman

[JEV]

I'm guessing it's common. My gas fireplace is the same way. I can tell when the tank outside is getting pretty low, because I can smell it inside. As soon as the tank is full, the smell is gone...

JEV

[castindad]

the smell or odor is put in the tank to tell you just that your tanks are almost empty castindad

[Black_Bay]

Quote:

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the smell or odor is put in the tank to tell you just that your tanks are almost empty castindad

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I'm not so sure of that. I know they add a perfume so you can smell if there is a leak. Propane (LP) and natural gass have no odor so perfume is added. I wonder if the perfume settles out after a while and causes the stink to increase when the tank is low.

[BobT]

You are correct Black_Bay. The odor is added to aid in leak detection. When you smell this odor it ususally indicates a leak in the system so beware! You are also correct that as a tank gets low on fuel you may begin to sense the odor even though there is no leak. This is because the chemical that produces the odor tends to settle in the tank and as you use the fuel and the level gets closer to empty, the chemical is more concentrated in the remaing fuel.

Bob

[harvey lee]

The chemical is mercapton[spelling].