Smell of Gas

[viva]

Having cooked breakfast I went to turn of the gas at the bottle this morning and there was a smell of gas from the gas bottle locker. Is this normal? Obviously I am checking the connections, but is there any venting of gas from the regulator?

 

[Leighb]

I am sure that there should not be any smell except perhaps when disconnecting on changing bottles.

There may be a leak from the connection or possibly the valve itself, I had a problem recently with a new Propane bottle that leaked from the valve,

 

[JumbleDuck]

Having cooked breakfast I went to turn of the gas at the bottle this morning and there was a smell of gas from the gas bottle locker. Is this normal? Obviously I am checking the connections, but is there any venting of gas from the regulator?

Some of us have regulators which vent a tiny amount of gas - but enough to smell - when first turned on, but there should not be any lingering smell. I'd check the sealing washer between regulator and bottle first.

 

[Sandy]

Having cooked breakfast I went to turn of the gas at the bottle this morning and there was a smell of gas from the gas bottle locker. Is this normal?

No.

 

[rbmatthews]

Definitely shouldn't be able to smell gas. We had a similar problem last year, so we renewed all the olives and fittings, and made sure the screw between bottle and regulator was tight, which solved the problem.

 

[VicS]

If its butane the cap on a refilled cylinder has new sealing ring in it that you can use if the joint between regulator, or HP hose, and bottle is leaking.

 

[Slowtack]

Check for corrosion of the regulator fitting above the bottle and below the valve

 

[rob2]

I'm just curious as to whether the regulator in question is one of he new type (schedule M?) with pressure relief or the old, cheap camping type? If the new type, you may be looking for a mechanism by which a little excess pressure is building up within the regulator when opening the bottle, with the older type there should be no way of escape anyway, so you're definitely looking for a leak.

Rob.

 

[saltylegs]

something similar posted a couple of weeks ago'
http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?370794-Leaking-Calor-gas-bottle

 

[Seajet]

In the past on other boats I have sometimes noticed a slight smell which seems like gas, when bilge water has been stirred up after a hard sail; I wouldn't rely on it being that without a really serious check including soapy water to check for bubbles ( leaks ) on all the joints though !

 

[viva]

Update on the Gas Leak Issue. Thanks to those who responded. I investigated further based on some of the advice given. The boat was built in 1996 and I have had her 8 weeks. On checking the flexible hose from the gas cylinder I found it was manufactured in 1995! The gas bottle is a Camping Gaz. On taking off the regulator the rubber washer seemed hard. Problem is fixed. Incidentally the new Camping Gaz regulator has a cut-off device when it detects a leak/pressure drop. I bought a new bottle, hose and regulator. I also tested the efficiency of the gas drain at the bottom of the locker by pouring in some water. It was completely blocked.

 

[Leighb]

Glad you have it sorted, finding that the gas drain was blocked was an important "side effect" of the problem, at least now if you do have a leak the gas has somewhere to go other than in the bilges.

 

[VicS]

Update on the Gas Leak Issue. Thanks to those who responded. ................... I also tested the efficiency of the gas drain at the bottom of the locker by pouring in some water. It was completely blocked.

You are aware of the minimum acceptable sizes for gas locker drains ?

12mm to 19mm ID, depending on the total cylinder capacity, but with a recommendation that they should all be not less than 19mm ! (Boat safety scheme)

 

[ffiill]

If its propane check the taper both on the regulator and the bottle-I recently ended up with a 19kg bottle for domestic cooking with a damaged taper which only worked after sealing it with calortight.
Occasionally also the "smell"chemical in the gas can be causing a problem -its molecules are so small as to be able to pass through a less than perfect seal long before the propane gas molecules can get through and if too much has been introduced into the propane before bottling this can be even more exacerbated.

 

[rob2]

It occured to me as I read the story unfold that I seem to be fairly conservative in my ivnestigations. I'm glad the OP quickly realised that all the gear was past its sell be date and did the sensible thing in replacing and improving the set-up.

When looking at the gas installation on my caravan, the Gaslow guage was showing the system wouldn't hold pressure. In retrospect I should have checked the guage was sealed (!) but a new hose did the trick - and I would have gine on replacing the system components until I stopped the leak. That way I get to do the routine maintenance, albeit a little late in the day. On the boat, I can give dates for when each component was bought and fitted.

Rob.