propane smell

[FREE BIRD]

I can smell propane coming from the stove area but cant quite locate the source. i have all the controls to off and the oven to pilot off. any body have an idea where and how to find the leak.

[Mark Smith]

Propane can not be smelled so they add a chemical odor to it which is what you smell. When your propane tank gets low, and its time to refill it the odor will be very strong, cause it is very concentrated in the bottom of the tank. This odor does two things, 1. It tells you when to refill the tank, and 2. It tells you when you got a gas leak. Be sure that your oven control for 'pilot off' is in the OFF position and that it works, Try it both ways.

If your propane tank is not near empty, then you better start checking the pipe connections for the range and furnace. To find leaks,  use a bubble solution at the fittings when the tubing is under propane pressure.  Do NOT use a match    
Mark ACOC#1077

[Brendan]

I had a similar situation. When the propane main valve was on and the oven control was at 'pilots off', I could smell odified propane at the stove. When stored with the propane tank valve off, the propane lines apparently would fill with air as relighting the stove and/or fridge took quite a while.

A clue was that there was no smell when the oven control was at 'pilots on' and the pilots were lit. I could also get a slight puff of flame at the oven pilot if I put a fire to it in the 'pilots off' position.

This pointed at the oven control. Figuring it was better to try to fix it before replacing, I removed the oven control and dismantled it. The problem was immediately obvious. There was a disk that rotated with the oven control knob. Features on this disk controled the gas flow to the pilot flames. The area of the disk that was to seal against the valve housing when in the 'pilots off' position was worn. A quick polish of the disk surface, reassembly and it worked as good as new.

There is absolutely no smell of gas and an added bonus is that relighting the fridge after storage is immediate - no need to light the stove first to purge the gas lines of leaked air.

Hope that helps,
Brendan #2959