Hello,
I hope I am posting this in the correct forum.
I moved into a small house a few months ago. Let me first state that I am a renter so if my problem requires a costly repair I am not liable for it. Although, I really want to avoid making this an issue with my landlord as much as possible.

When I first moved into the house, it had been vacant for about 9 months. I did notice a slight smell of what I thought was gas when I was first there. However, this was when the units were being serviced by the propane company and they had not be on for months so a smell of what I thought was gas at the time did not seem out of the ordinary.

In the beginning you could always notice this very slight 'rotten egg' smell if you were within a couple feet of the tank, but it was only noticeable when very close. It has gotten much worse to the point that it is noticeable immediately (and very strong) when you enter the house. The tank is located in the closet of the bedroom, so you could imagine how much of a nuisance this can be.

I have two seperate propane detectors in the house and have never detected any leaks whatsoever. I also ruled out a clogged exhaust as I can put my hand near the gap from the tank and the exhaust and no significant heat is escaping out the side as it would if the exhaust was clogged.

During my research I read similar cases where the likely culprit was build up of, for lack of a better term; scum caked in the bottom of the tank.
I read that this can be remedied by draining the tank partially, putting bleach in the tank and letting sit for hours than running all lines until I can't smell bleach comign out anymore.
I did this last night and got a lot of orange colored water coming through my lines which made me happy as the tank was obviously dirty and I was certain that I found the problem. I ran the lines until the water was clear, noticed no significant smell coming from the tank and went to bed.
Today the smell is back almost as strong - coming right from the tank.

First question is: Do I need to do this process again? I drained about 5 gallons out of the tank and put 1 liter of bleach in the tank. Is it possible that I may need to keep repeating this process and/or use more bleach next time? Or perhaps I should drain the tank completely?

Second question: Very simply, what else could it be? The smell never comes out in the actual water itself, it only comes from the tank. Do I have a dead pigeon in there or something? And, if I do - how do I fix it, or can I fix it myself? I have limited knowledge on the topic, but I do have common sense.


Other info: House contains two propane wall heaters, a propane stove, and the propane hot water heater all sourced by two 50 gallon tanks above ground outside.

Thanks in advance and sorry for the lengthy post

 

I assume that when you said the tank was in the closet, you mean the hot water heater... right? You certainly don't want the propane tank in your house! Can you be certain the propane detectors are functioning? Maybe puff a tiny bit of propane from a small torch at the detector to see if it really works. Can you test any of the propane lines at the joints with soapy water for leaks? Are you on well water? I have found that once you get in the vicinity of stinky well water, smell functioning is altered. Get a big jug of your water (if it is from a well), cap it and smell it outside. If there is too much iron or sulphur, it will stink to high heaven. I would avoid putting too much bleach into the tank. If it is an unlined steel tank that is already partially corroded, it may be the last straw before a big leak.

 

Hi,
Yes the propane tanks are outside. the hot water heater is in the closet. Sorry for the confusion
Tested the propane detectors, and both are working. I also test them about once a week and they have always functioned properly. I do not believe the well is the problem as their really is no smell in the cold water, and IF their is a smell in the hot water, it is so slight that it is unnoticeable. But I really don't think there even is a smell in the hot water regardless.
I'm almost positive the tank is the problem, it's just way too noticeable coming from the tank and not noticeable anywhere else and based on my detectors not picking anything up, Im certain the smell is not the propane itself, rather something in the tank

 

Have your landlord call the gas company and have them come out and check for leaks etc. If you think you may be smelling gas even if your detectors aren't going off it should be investigated.

 

Jeggs,
Thanks for the input.
I still am very skeptical that it is gas that I am smelling, and am almost certain it is something in the tank. If I, for example, turn the gas in my stove on but do not light the burner -- my detector will pick it up and go off within minutes. For that reason, I don't see how there can be a constant leak with a very noticeable smell that the detector would not pick up yet still be able pick up gas in the air when i'm purposely releasing it.

 

One thing to remember... the smell in propane is not the gas itself, but rather an added chemical (Methanethiol) to make it noticible. My friend is a union plumber, and as an apprentice he had his tools smeared with some of this semi solidified gunk from an old large propane line as a prank, and he said it took him weeks of scrubbing and spraying to get the stuff off . If during service they managed to get some of this gunk around the tank, it may smell like the gas even if it is not leaking. Definitely get it checked, though. Better safe than sorry.

 

All good advice so far, but forget about the bleach in the tank... whatever you smell there isn't coming from inside the tank. The ORANGE color that you saw was likely the bleach oxidizing free iron in your well water, or you have some ferrous components in the water lines, or the tank is either unlined, or the glass lining has failed... I wouldn't do that anymore.

I think I would soap up every gas line joint I could find...

By the way, propane is HEAVIER THAN AIR, so any detectors should be at the low spots... near the floor.

 

Im leaning towards iron in the water too. That being said, for sure eliminate the propane hazard for sure in the interest of safety.
Like trooper says, propane sinks to the lowest spot and flows like a river trying to find its way out.
Obviously , if it is a leak, it's not large or you would have blowed up real good by now. Are those detectors fairly new ?
I would think replacing a propane detector every 3 to 5 years is prudent.

Iron in your water will produce iron bacteria that have a bad smell (like sulphur/propane) (it's their poop apparently).
Is the tank at your toilet full of black goop ?

What is below the water heater/closet ? Is it possible that you have a small water leak under the tank and thus the smell from there ??

 

This is really the landlord's problem and not yours. If you do anything to make it worse, the landlord will hold you liable. Not so sure you should be doing anything to the tank. You need to call the landlord right away. Its his responsibility and he needs to know about it.