Natural Gas smell after turning burner off....

ADevalk · Oct 4, 2014

Is this normal due to the excess ng that did not get to the flame? Im working with a bg14.

day_trippr · Oct 4, 2014

Thinking about it, I truly do not recall ever smelling gas after flame-out beyond maybe a momentary whiff when standing right next to the burners (Blichmann/BG14) - and I brew mostly indoors using a propane rig. When I shut the gas off there's usually a small backfire "pop" when the gas inside the burner leans down to where it'll actually burn. I've always figured that pretty much got rid of the last of the gas.

But you might be more sensitive to mercaptan than me and my ancient schnozz. If you're certain the tank or gas valve is closed, there shouldn't be a real problem either way...

Cheers!

FuriousE · Oct 5, 2014

I don't smell gas for more than a second or two after I shut off my ng burner.

bu_gee · Oct 5, 2014

Did everything smell of NG while the flame was running?

ADevalk · Oct 5, 2014

A little.

bu_gee · Oct 5, 2014

That might be the smell of something else burning when you are running your flame. A few years ago my wife had used a liquid floor wax and every time we lit the stove, it smelled like leaking gas.

Eventually we figured out the it was the floor wax when I lit a lighter next to one of the clean up rags and it started producing that smell. It also lingered for hours.

microbusbrewery · Oct 6, 2014

I'll get a little bit of that after I kill the flame at the end of the boil, but usually only for a few seconds. I think it's as you said, the little bit left in the burner seeps out. A couple of suggestions for safety sake, if you're brewing indoors (including a garage) get a CO/explosive gas detector. They're not expensive and it's good to know if there's a detectable level of either building up. BTW, the little bit I thought I smelled has never been enough to register on the detector. Also, always shut off the supply at the disconnect as well as your burner when not in use.