Heater - Mystery Smell (1 Viewer)

Armytwowheels

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This weekend the truma heater started to omit a rather unpleasant smell. We have checked the vents and there doesn't seem to be anything in them as far as we can see. When I open the cupboard door there isn't an obvious smell in the cupboard, just a waft of something now and then.

Has anyone any clues what might be causing this?
 
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Armytwowheels

Armytwowheels

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Ew:Eeek: I hope not. No sign of any mice in the van and no smell when the heater is not on. If there is a dead one in the air vent pipes how the hell we are going to get at it or even find out where it is?

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Snowbird

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Disconnect the air pipes from the heater and run the heater and see if the smell goes. If the smell is gone, then you know its something in the pipe. You would be surprised how the little horrors get in there.
 

dave newell

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Can you describe the smell? Is it a dead animal type of smell or a burning smell? or perhaps a damp smell.

D.
 

pappajohn

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dead mice dont smell for long.....rats, on the other hand, stink for weeks.

i've had the lot...mice, squirrel or rat, bees in the fridge vent duct and even a small bird living in the blown air heater fan chamber.

cost hours of my time repairing mice/rat chewed wiring :Angry:.

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Armytwowheels

Armytwowheels

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Ok, just back in from trying a few experiments.

No smell when just operating the blow air with no heating.
No smell when just heating on.
When heating on and putting nose right up to each vent - no smell from vents.

But intermittent waft of something smelly, not hot wire/ electric smell, it's hard to describe it, not a damp smell either.

Will investigate more when we get home.
 

My Dog Likes Fishing

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Did the missus overdo it on the Chardonnay last night and have a dump in the wardrobe????

Mines always doing it :ROFLMAO:

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Armytwowheels

Armytwowheels

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Erm, I am the missus and no I didn't:Sad:

Definitely no a bad egg smell, only smelling when heater is warming the van, not when it is just heating the hot water.

I have a awful feeling something has died somewhere:cry:
 
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Armytwowheels

Armytwowheels

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Two weeks ago in France, no smells then. But it doesn't smell when heating water only, so I don't think there is anything wrong with the heater. I guess there is something either in one of the pipes or resting against one, as the pipes warm up whatever it is starts to smell. Whatever it is it is horrid.
 
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Was colin nearby at the time?::bigsmile:
 
Apr 30, 2010
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Smell

Have you got a Carbon Monoxide detector & if so is it working?

Could it be a Co spillage/leak?

You mention that it is only when the heater is on for the van which is I presume when the air vents are opened to the van but when on hot water no smell would the vents be closed so no smells into the air ducts.

Arthur
 
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Armytwowheels

Armytwowheels

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Has Colin lost a sock :ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:

:ROFLMAO: it smells like he has stuffed his 2 week worn grollies and 4 times worn running shorts, as well as his socks down the side of the heater!

We have a carbon monoxide detector fitted just about the heater. The vents are open all the time, whether just heating the van or just the water. I know the smell of gas not burning properly as our fridge has played up in the past, but this smells nothing like that.
 

dogman

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Have you got a Carbon Monoxide detector & if so is it working?

Could it be a Co spillage/leak?


Don't think CO2 has any smell.

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champers

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We recently had a "similiar" thing occur, our heater/boiler is in a cupboard, vented into the habitation area... when things were switched on there was a very odd "odour/smell"..everything checked out ok.. but we did find that between the top cover and heater/boiler had rubber/silicone spacers missing so that the plastic cover was tight against the boiler, so when it got hot the plastic started to melt and it smelt badly which we have now fixed .. just a thought maybe something similar in your case

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wasp

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Dust on the heater body will create a smell for a while especially if you haven`t used it for a while, it does burn off tho:thumb::thumb::thumb::thumb:
 
Apr 30, 2010
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Smell

CO not CO2 although both are odourless.

D.
Yes but
Carbon monoxide is odorless, colorless, tasteless, non-irritating and toxic.
Carbon monoxide is formed by the incomplete combustion (burning) of materials containing carbon and can be produced by virtually anything that burns.
Combustion also produces heat, smoke, and number of other elements.
In addition to carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, particulates, and other toxins are also produced during combustion. It is these elements that may smell like smoke, smell like gas, or give off other smells when they burn.
Therfore a 'smell' can be detected which is often different in each case.
Regards

Arthur

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Armytwowheels

Armytwowheels

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We recently had a "similiar" thing occur, our heater/boiler is in a cupboard, vented into the habitation area... when things were switched on there was a very odd "odour/smell"..everything checked out ok.. but we did find that between the top cover and heater/boiler had rubber/silicone spacers missing so that the plastic cover was tight against the boiler, so when it got hot the plastic started to melt and it smelt badly which we have now fixed .. just a thought maybe something similar in your case

Thank Champers, we will look into that.
 

Sundowners

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Only talking about it today - in the past, we have noticed, on more than one occasion, if we are running out of gas we get a similar smell to a dead rat or something to that effect.

Just a thought.

Nigel and Pamala
 
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Armytwowheels

Armytwowheels

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Only talking about it today - in the past, we have noticed, on more than one occasion, if we are running out of gas we get a similar smell to a dead rat or something to that effect.

Just a thought.

Nigel and Pamala

Really? That's strange, can't imagine that the gas in a nearly empty container would burn different to a full one, but you never know. We did fill up the LPG on the way home yesterday. By our calculations we had 8lts left after the original first fill of 23ltrs. I haven't tried the heating since the fill, will see what happens tonight.

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Apr 25, 2012
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Smell

Only talking about it today - in the past, we have noticed, on more than one occasion, if we are running out of gas we get a similar smell to a dead rat or something to that effect.

Just a thought.

Nigel and Pamala

Might it be a dead burger, rather than a rat. When we visited the wife's family in Germany they had a little ditty about a well known fast food chain:

"Hast du Spinne, Ratte Oder Maus
Macdonald macht Hamburger daraus.":ROFLMAO:
 
Jun 11, 2011
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hya how far is the waste water outlet from heater air inlet ?? ours are next to each other and we can sometimes draw foul smell in with heater blower on
 

Snowbird

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hya how far is the waste water outlet from heater air inlet ?? ours are next to each other and we can sometimes draw foul smell in with heater blower on

What are you saying ?. Does waste water smell :RollEyes:. Am continually being told on here it doesn't. Can we have a definitive answer on this please :thumb:

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