Smelly oil-fired stove
 

Hi
We have moved into a house with a flame effect oil stove (Harmony 2
for those in the know) set in the living room fireplace. It's been
serviced because we had a few problems with it, but there's one thing
still bothering me - the smell of oil fumes. It's strong enough to
make my eyes smart a bit when sitting in the living room and is very
noticeable when going from outside the house to inside. I think I may
even be getting a headache from it. The service engineer said that the
smell was due to a bit of oil residue and it would soon burn off, but
the stove has been in operation now for a total of about 48 hours and
it still smells. If I open the windows and let fresh air in, then
close them again, the smell is back within a few minutes.

We have a new CO detector and that's not raising any alarm, but is
this strength of smell normal? The flue is the chimney liner type and
the service engineer says it's pulling OK. Could it be leaking?

K

Smelly oil-fired stove
 

On Sun, 19 Aug 2007 09:13:15 -0700, KingoftheBungle
wrote:

Hi
We have moved into a house with a flame effect oil stove (Harmony 2
for those in the know) set in the living room fireplace. It's been
serviced because we had a few problems with it, but there's one thing
still bothering me - the smell of oil fumes.

Are you burning the right oil? Paraffin oil for home heating used to
be de-odourised but the heaters will burn kerosene, are you being sold
the right stuff, or even is it still available?

Google for "Esso Blee Dooler". :-)

It's strong enough to
make my eyes smart a bit when sitting in the living room and is very
noticeable when going from outside the house to inside. I think I may
even be getting a headache from it.

Then I'd take it seriously, my eyes became sensitised to fumes from
burning fat after we got an electric oven to replace the previous gas
oven which was ventilated and had catalytic linings.

The service engineer said that the
smell was due to a bit of oil residue and it would soon burn off, but
the stove has been in operation now for a total of about 48 hours and
it still smells. If I open the windows and let fresh air in, then
close them again, the smell is back within a few minutes.

We have a new CO detector and that's not raising any alarm, but is
this strength of smell normal? The flue is the chimney liner type and
the service engineer says it's pulling OK. Could it be leaking?

It shouldn't smell of oil even if it were.

DG

Smelly oil-fired stove
 

On 19 Aug, 17:58, Derek Geldard wrote:
Are you burning the right oil? Paraffin oil for home heating used to
be de-odourised but the heaters will burn kerosene, are you being sold
the right stuff, or even is it still available?

Google for "Esso Blee Dooler". :-)


It must be the right oil. The engineer had to do work on the tank
(it's well away from the house, so that's not the source of the smell)
and emptied it out and refilled it, so he would have known if it was
the wrong stuff.

It's strong enough to
make my eyes smart a bit when sitting in the living room and is very
noticeable when going from outside the house to inside. I think I may
even be getting a headache from it.

Then I'd take it seriously, my eyes became sensitised to fumes from
burning fat after we got an electric oven to replace the previous gas
oven which was ventilated and had catalytic linings.

Yes, I know the feeling. The stove has been off for a couple of hours
and I can still feel my eyes are irritated.

Perhaps there's not enough ventilation in the room? It's double glazed
and I can't see any air bricks.

K

Smelly oil-fired stove
 

On 19 Aug, 18:17, KingoftheBungle wrote:
On 19 Aug, 17:58, Derek Geldard wrote:

Are you burning the right oil? Paraffin oil for home heating used to
be de-odourised but the heaters will burn kerosene, are you being sold
the right stuff, or even is it still available?

Google for "Esso Blee Dooler". :-)

It must be the right oil. The engineer had to do work on the tank
(it's well away from the house, so that's not the source of the smell)
and emptied it out and refilled it, so he would have known if it was
the wrong stuff.

It's strong enough to
make my eyes smart a bit when sitting in the living room and is very
noticeable when going from outside the house to inside. I think I may
even be getting a headache from it.

Then I'd take it seriously, my eyes became sensitised to fumes from
burning fat after we got an electric oven to replace the previous gas
oven which was ventilated and had catalytic linings.

Yes, I know the feeling. The stove has been off for a couple of hours
and I can still feel my eyes are irritated.

Perhaps there's not enough ventilation in the room? It's double glazed
and I can't see any air bricks.

K

There are engineers and then there are Engineers.

If your ventilation and flueing are up to scratch you should NOT smell
any products of combustion! There should be NO leaks of fuel to create
a smell.

I'd get him (her?) back pronto and demand a proper check which you can
witness and have fume clearance demonstrated during the course of.
If you still don't get any joy contact OFTEC for a properly trained
person to investigate

Smelly oil-fired stove
 

On 19 Aug, 20:48, cynic wrote:
There are engineers and then there are Engineers.


Agreed.

If your ventilation and flueing are up to scratch you should NOT smell
any products of combustion! There should be NO leaks of fuel to create
a smell.


That's what I thought.

I'd get him (her?) back pronto and demand a proper check which you can
witness and have fume clearance demonstrated during the course of.
If you still don't get any joy contact OFTEC for a properly trained
person to investigate

He is OFTEC registered, but I don't have a lot of confidence in him,
now. Trouble is, we are tenants and the landlord is ultimately in
charge of who is brought in. I think I'll phone the company who sold
the stove - several years ago - and get their advice. I've never lived
with one of these beasts before and I'm not looking forward to this
winter!

K

Smelly oil-fired stove
 

On Sun, 19 Aug 2007 13:50:56 -0700, KingoftheBungle
wrote:

On 19 Aug, 20:48, cynic wrote:
There are engineers and then there are Engineers.


Agreed.

If your ventilation and flueing are up to scratch you should NOT smell
any products of combustion! There should be NO leaks of fuel to create
a smell.


That's what I thought.

I'd get him (her?) back pronto and demand a proper check which you can
witness and have fume clearance demonstrated during the course of.
If you still don't get any joy contact OFTEC for a properly trained
person to investigate

He is OFTEC registered, but I don't have a lot of confidence in him,
now. Trouble is, we are tenants and the landlord is ultimately in
charge of who is brought in. I think I'll phone the company who sold
the stove - several years ago - and get their advice. I've never lived
with one of these beasts before and I'm not looking forward to this
winter!

K

Your landlord won't want the hassle of dead tenants so let them know
you're concerned too. He's got obligations to ensure you're safe.
--
http://www.orderonlinepickupinstore.co.uk
Ah fetch it yourself if you can't wait for delivery
http://www.freedeliveryuk.co.uk
Or get it delivered for free

Smelly oil-fired stove
 

Mogga wrote:
On Sun, 19 Aug 2007 13:50:56 -0700, KingoftheBungle
wrote:
On 19 Aug, 20:48, cynic wrote:
There are engineers and then there are Engineers.


Agreed.

If your ventilation and flueing are up to scratch you should NOT smell
any products of combustion! There should be NO leaks of fuel to create
a smell.


That's what I thought.

I'd get him (her?) back pronto and demand a proper check which you can
witness and have fume clearance demonstrated during the course of.
If you still don't get any joy contact OFTEC for a properly trained
person to investigate

He is OFTEC registered, but I don't have a lot of confidence in him,
now. Trouble is, we are tenants and the landlord is ultimately in
charge of who is brought in. I think I'll phone the company who sold
the stove - several years ago - and get their advice. I've never lived
with one of these beasts before and I'm not looking forward to this
winter!

K

Your landlord won't want the hassle of dead tenants so let them know
you're concerned too. He's got obligations to ensure you're safe.

and put it in writing

AIUI (but its not my subject area), any room with a fire must have
some ventiation.


NT

Smelly oil-fired stove
 

On 19 Aug, 21:50, KingoftheBungle wrote:
On 19 Aug, 20:48, cynic wrote:

There are engineers and then there are Engineers.

Agreed.

If your ventilation and flueing are up to scratch you should NOT smell
any products of combustion! There should be NO leaks of fuel to create
a smell.

That's what I thought.

I'd get him (her?) back pronto and demand a proper check which you can
witness and have fume clearance demonstrated during the course of.
If you still don't get any joy contact OFTEC for a properly trained
person to investigate

He is OFTEC registered, but I don't have a lot of confidence in him,
now. Trouble is, we are tenants and the landlord is ultimately in
charge of who is brought in. I think I'll phone the company who sold
the stove - several years ago - and get their advice. I've never lived
with one of these beasts before and I'm not looking forward to this
winter!

K

Phone OFTEC and ask them to check out this guys work. Tell them the
facts as you reported them here.
I'd be surprised if they don't follow up on this matter PDQ

Smelly oil-fired stove
 

On 20 Aug, 22:37, cynic wrote:

Phone OFTEC and ask them to check out this guys work. Tell them the
facts as you reported them here.
I'd be surprised if they don't follow up on this matter PDQ

Yes, I guess that's the final recourse once relations have broken down
completely. I've looked on the OFTEC site for other people that
service vaporising stoves and rung a few but it turns out that they
mostly don't touch the type we have - maybe for a good reason! I'm
pretty sure now that the smell is coming from a faulty or leaking oil
control valve (Toby model). It's a bugger to get to because the stove
is set back in a chimney breast - I reckon the engineer just didn't
fancy it so is trying the easy way out.

K

Smelly oil-fired stove
 

I've found the source of the smell. The joints on the oil control
valve are weeping slightly, even when the valve is off - not much but
enough to be detected with a wipe of a kitchen towel. I guess they'll
probably weep more when oil is flowing and hot (valve is very near the
burner pot). Definitely an oversight by the engineer.

K