I'm smelling gas... BIG TIME

[Plasma800]

Ok so ... just back from a short trip, Airstream is parked in my driveway for a couple days after returning.

Yesterday morning I walk by it, and smell something.... I don't know.. something between a poo smell and burnt brakes.

I keep sniffing around and it leads to me to the front of my airstream. I open the propane cover lid and now it's REALLY strong!!

I removed the cover, turned off the tanks...wait 30 minutes... still smell it.

I pulled the tails from the tanks, and the smell lingers for several hours, but continually gets less and less.

The regulator "looks" fine. Everything looks just fine.

Ok... where do I start!?

[azflycaster]

Could the problem be a battery that is cooking and not propane?

[Plasma800]

could be... should I pop the covers and look for water? Or is there some other way of telling? Yes the trailer was plugged in, and probably the button was in USE mode.... but I've done this many times before without a problem.

[KJRitchie]

Pull shore power, open the covers of the batteries. If they are low use distilled water.

Did you get your propane tanks recently. If they were overfilled as the temperatures rise the propane may be release out the valve's pressure release valve.

Kelvin

[Plasma800]

checked my batteries, and I would describe a cell or two as "bone dry"

[Plasma800]

Originally Posted by KJRitchie

Pull shore power, open the covers of the batteries. If they are low use distilled water.

Did you get your propane tanks recently. If they were overfilled as the temperatures rise the propane may be release out the valve's pressure release valve.

Kelvin

As to the tanks,,,, honestly, I've never filled them! (hard to believe) I've been using whatever gas was left from the dealer... for almost a year... But I figure they have to be really low bout right now.

[Plasma800]

more description of the smell.. it was strong enough you could smell it 100 feet away down wind. And it lasted for about 8 hours off an on..... no way that could be pressure relief....

but about 4 hours into "still smelling it", I did question if I had put the switch in STORE, and so I did... of course there is NO indication if you had been in STORE or USE mode cause the light is always on... that has to be the single dumbest system any manufacturer could possibly use... and it's disappointing.

[Rich Jenkins]

Do you have a recent build AS?

If so, you may have one of the recalled MB Sturgis regulators that is starting to fail.

I'll go find the thread, be right back.

[Plasma800]

face of my regulator says

TYPE 924N
Cavagna Group

[Rich Jenkins]

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f287...ll-144250.html

Our regulator failed in Tombstone AZ. We had it swapped out under warranty.

I did smell gas for several weeks prior. I wish I had taken action earlier.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by Plasma800

I pulled the tails from the tanks, and the smell lingers for several hours, but continually gets less and less.

Don't rely on that as an indicator. The human nose gets desensitized when exposed to the same smell for a long period of time. Ask anyone who works with asphalt, creosote, or roofing tar. After about three minutes continuous exposure, you gradually start to not notice the smell as much— until you go away long enough for the smell to go away, and then when you come back, it seems as strong as ever because those scent receptors have been cleared.

Works that way for any smell, and is one reason why over-perfumed matronly ladies don't realize how much they reek.

The propane cover is designed to not trap propane, so if you shut the valves off and the smell is still there, the smell isn't propane. I second the cooked-battery theory. The ethyl mercaptan odorant added to propane is a sulfur compound, and so is the sulfuric acid in a wet-cell battery. They will smell similar. On Edit— the fact that you had dry cells confirms it.

Do a visual inspection of the outside of the batteries first, and if they look wet at all, don't touch them until you've liberally covered them in baking soda to neutralize any acid, then brush off the baking soda with a whisk broom after a few minutes. Only then should you pop the covers to look inside.

On edit— the advice about the baking soda is too late now, but a tip for next time.

[Rich Jenkins]

Originally Posted by Plasma800

face of my regulator says

TYPE 924N
Cavagna Group

I'm no expert, but my understanding is

Cavagna Regulator = Good
MB Sturgis = Bad

...reference the recall.

The AS dealer removed the failed MB Sturgis unit and put on what I am told is a Cavagna regulator under our warranty replacment last week.

What Protagonist said sounds likely, batteries don't do well without water.

[KJRitchie]

If in Store then the battery wouldn't be charging via the converter/charger. For something that you can smell at a 100f distance I would think its propane. Is one tank empty now and you are running off the other tank? The additive to propane to give it the smell can linger on adjacent parts if there is a leak. Was the hose connection on tight? Do the hose look in good shape.

My brother in laws Class C had a propane leak from the built in tank and you could smell it as soon as you rounded the curb side back end. He had to get the tank replaced. We never found the leak but there was a lot of rust and we suspected a pin hole leak in the tank somewhere out of sight. He would loose noticeable amounts of propane.

You can remove the tanks and brush on soapy water to all the fittings and weld marks on the tanks to check for leaks

Kelvin

[Plasma800]

Originally Posted by Protagonist

Don't rely on that as an indicator. The human nose gets desensitized when exposed to the same smell for a long period of time. Ask anyone who works with asphalt, creosote, or roofing tar. After about three minutes continuous exposure, you gradually start to not notice the smell as much— until you go away long enough for the smell to go away, and then when you come back, it seems as strong as ever because those scent receptors have been cleared.

Works that way for any smell, and is one reason why over-perfumed matronly ladies don't realize how much they reek.

The propane cover is designed to not trap propane, so if you shut the valves off and the smell is still there, the smell isn't propane. I second the cooked-battery theory. The ethyl mercaptan odorant added to propane is a sulfur compound, and so is the sulfuric acid in a wet-cell battery. They will smell similar. On Edit— the fact that you had dry cells confirms it.

Do a visual inspection of the outside of the batteries first, and if they look wet at all, don't touch them until you've liberally covered them in baking soda to neutralize any acid, then brush off the baking soda with a whisk broom after a few minutes. Only then should you pop the covers to look inside.

On edit— the advice about the baking soda is too late now, but a tip for next time.

I didn't pull the batteries from the box, I just popped the tops in place. I didn't notice anything other than a good looking battery. Some cells were pretty full, just a regular top off level. Some were "low" and some were dry.

I had planned on replacing the batteries regardless as they hold a charge for about 9 seconds, came that was from the dealer..... but was just being lazy / busy on holding off on that. I'm being facetious, the batteries held a charge for a while, but usually they were done in about 12 to 14 hours.

[Plasma800]

Originally Posted by KJRitchie

If in Store then the battery wouldn't be charging via the converter/charger. For something that you can smell at a 100f distance I would think its propane. Is one tank empty now and you are running off the other tank? The additive to propane to give it the smell can linger on adjacent parts if there is a leak. Was the hose connection on tight? Do the hose look in good shape.

My brother in laws Class C had a propane leak from the built in tank and you could smell it as soon as you rounded the curb side back end. He had to get the tank replaced. We never found the leak but there was a lot of rust and we suspected a pin hole leak in the tank somewhere out of sight. He would loose noticeable amounts of propane.

You can remove the tanks and brush on soapy water to all the fittings and weld marks on the tanks to check for leaks

Kelvin

Well I'm pretty sure that when I came home from my last trip... i failed to put the switch back into STORE mode.... Matter of fact, it might have been in USE mode for the entire length of the trip (6 days) while plugged in at a campground.

[Plasma800]

Considering that the tanks have never been filled, and my regulator has never gone red.... I would guess there is no leak in the tank itself.

I wondered if on the drive home I hit something in the road that caused a leak, but the trailer has been in my driveway for another 5 days since returning, with the smell only appearing yesterday.

I had just read the post on regulators failing, and immediately jumped to that as my first conclusion.

But at this point, I might be leaning more towards the batteries.

I'm about to go hook all the propane back up, test the regulator, and see if the smell reappears.

[xrvr]

In a severe case the batteries can be deformed on the outside. Be careful!

[mimiandrews]

Overcharged batteries release hydrogen sulfide, which smells exactly like rotten eggs. It's a similar smell to the odorant they use in propane, but not exactly the same. Some folks noses can tell the difference, and some cannot.

Your dry cells and batteries that won't hold a charge certainly lead one to think in that direction.

I'd suggest carefully removing the batteries from the trailer and moving them to a location well away from the propane tanks. Then, after a while, you should be able to tell if the smell follows the batteries or stays around the propane bottles.

As Protag suggested, air out your nose in fresh air for a while before the next test sniff.

Treat both the batteries and the propane tanks as sources of flammable gas for safety reasons. Out gassing batteries can explode.

[ShinyPete]

Plasma-

My money is on the batteries being toast. Your converter (if it's still the factory unit) has cooked them. Order the replacement "Smart" three stage converter guts from Best Converter, put in two new Group 24s (27s if you modify your box-search on AF for how), leave the switch in "use" forever, and rock on ...............

Kinda same thing happened to us.........so it's a safe bet. Since doing the above, I hardly ever even add water to our batteries, and we're plugged in 24x7 in the barn.

[Ziggy2]

For the propane issue, put some sudsy dish washing soap with water into a spray bottle. Spray any propane connections or lines that you can and look for a slow bubble.