Weird smell

[Lara]

Hi ya'll. I set up my new torch (mini cc), oxygen concentrator and propane tank this weekend. Yes propane is outside, yes I have checked all connections, no leaks. I smell bleach. It is NOT a gas smell like propane, my mom agrees it smells like bleach. Do you think it could be something in the reconditioned concentrator?

Thanks for reading and any tips you may have.

[ElizabethCreations]

Smells like bleach here too...
Dunno... And I have a concentrator too.. Propane is outside.

[pam]

The bleach smell is nitric oxide. It is a result of burning propane and oxy. This can cause you to have trouble breathing, headaches, etc. Check your ventilation.
Pam

[Dale M.]

Yes the bleach small is NOx or NITROGEN OXIDE..... It is a by product of combustion and it is a hazard and is toxic... Yes check ventilations. Pretty good chance you do not have enough volume in exhaust air flow or poor makeup air sourse...

http://www.isgb.org/info/safety/nox.shtml

Dale

[Heather/Ericaceae]

Nasty stuff! I hope you noticed the smell before you started to feel sick - sore throat and lungs, burning eyes, headaches, fatigue... It's good that you posted here.. definitely don't torch again until you fix your ventilation problems! Good luck and please post your questions and results!

Sincerely - Heather

[Lara]

Thanks ya'll. Nope, no symptoms, yet. HMMMMM Here I thought my ventaliation was good. ACK. I think Dale's make up air is probably the answer, my ventalation sucks really well but I do need to get more air into the garage.

Weird, why does NO smell like bleach? Very interesting. I like the why.

Thanks so much.

[MikeAurelius]

Lara - what is your current ventilation setup? Most ventilation problems can be traced to a couple of key issues:

1) Not enough CFM (cubic feet per minute) exhausted outside - yes, some folks think that a recycling kitchen fan (one that does not have ducting) is safe (after all, you use them in a kitchen, right?).
2) Not enough fresh air - the fresh air system MUST be able to provide the same amount of air that is being exhausted, and it is usually a good idea that it is actually capable of providing MORE.
3) Exhaust duct located too close to fresh air intake - must be a minimum of 10 feet apart
4) Use of non-standard ducting materials or poor design of the ventilation/ducting system - you can have a high CFM fan, but if the duct design is faulty or the material are 'non-standard', you are NOT moving the amount of air that the fan is capable of.

These are the major issues that are usually found with most non-functional exhaust systems.

[Lara]

Thanks Mike. I'm going to look at in closer this weekend. I have a couple ideas on where it is faulty
I'm thinking a little from colum 2 and a little from colum 4. My dad put together this system and he is an engineer, so questioning it was not very useful, but now that I have a name to the smell, I think questioning will go over just fine. :)

I appreciate everyone's input.

[MikeAurelius]

Oh goodness Lara - go back over the ventilation threads here on LE and over on AGF (www.artglassforum.com) . I've written many thousands of words on ventilation over the past six to nine months or so. Basically, it boils down to this:

Use as large of ducting as possible (8" or better)
Use smooth sided galvanized metal ducting
DO NOT use flexible metal or plastic ducting
DO NOT reduce or increase the ducting size at any point in the duct run
Make the duct run as straight and level as possible
Try to avoid sharp bends, use 45 degree bends where possible

If possible, have the entire system 'numbered out' - measure the face opening of your hood, the total length of the duct run, and the number of bends and what angle - then shoot me an e-mail. I'll send back the CFM requirements for your hood, and the recommended diameter of the ducting for the installation you've got.

For fresh air, an 8" duct provides about 350 CFM of "free flow" fresh air. If you need more, you can increase the size of the duct, or you can power push fresh air in (which I personally don't recommend).