Has anybody had their cuve/tank cleaned. I have just been reading up on it and apparently it needs to happen every 10 years.
Please excuse the lengthy explanation. We have a problem with a smell from the tank that wafts up the cellar stairs into the hallway. We have had people round twice to look at it. The second time they found a bit of a wasps nest at the top exit pipe from the fuel tank. Also one of the attachments at the top had a dodgy seal as the previous occupants of our house asked a farmer to drain the fuel tank with a tractor pipe combo. So the heating engineer that came sealed the attachment and after removing wasps nest the smell almost disappeared.
But now the smell is back.
So do we break down the concrete wall around the tank in the cellar and spend quite a bit of money on getting the tank cleaned??
I cannot see why a tank needs cleaning every 10 years… unless this is erring on the side of caution. If you buy clean fuel, there should be no problem… but it may be that your cuve is deteriorating for some reason…
We have plastic cuves and can see that there is no sludge or whatever… all good for the past 20 years…
When did the wasp nest etc… get done…?? maybe there are more dodgy seals…
When you have your heating boiler serviced the engineer will (I believe) check the cuve at the same time (seals/fitments etc)… and if you tell him you are getting a smell… he will advise.
Thank you for your reply. We had the boiler serviced on new year’s eve.
It is something to do with the tank. Added to that the current of air through the cellar wafts the smell upstairs. We are working on sealing all holes up the stairwell…
Yes there was a smell before it was serviced. The wasps must have taken up residence between the previous people moving out (August) and us moving in late December.
I will call the heating engineers again (good thing I took out a yearly service contract!)
Just a thought… but to clean the tank… why break down the wall around it… the holes at the top will enable it to be emptied and flushed… another thing to discuss with your heating engineer perhaps…
This brings back memories for me…quite fresh ones too!!!
How old is your tank and what is it made of? How does it sit - on the ground or on bearers?
The reason I ask is that our tank was the best part of 50 years old and had sprung a leak where it had partly buried itself in the ground. Cost a pretty penny to remove and replace with a new plastic tank - plus the loss of circa 1000 litres of diesel.
If there is a 5’ wall around the tank, then the smell will always appear to come from the top.
I would suggest that you at least reduce the height of the wall to gain a better access so that you can get all around the tank to inspect it. Being plastic, it shouldnt corrode…but it could split along a seam, but this sound unlikely.
There has to be an air vent in the top of the tank to allow air in when the fuel is burnt - otherwise a vacuum would form. Is yours by way of a one-way valve or ‘snorkel’? Maybe the seal has failed on this?
The situation you describe is not only unpleasant but also dangerous. If the fuel/air mixture were to get to a certain ratio, and it were to be exposed to a spark or other source of ignition, it is possible that there could be a substantial explosion.
Other than when the tank is filled there should not be any smell of fuel. I think you should have the following checked a soon as possible:
The seal on the tank filler cap.
The one way air admittance valve on the tank air intake pipe. (It should let air go into the tank but not out of it.)
The integrity of the tank itself. Use a long piece of wood, or a weighted plumbline, to test whether there is any fuel that has leaked out and which is trapped between the outer wall of the tank and the inner surface of the containment wall around it.
Also check around the bottom of the wall for any signs of fuel having been absorbed into the wall itself, or into the ground on which it stands.
Check both the flow and return pipes between the tank and the boiler for leaks.
The smell of fuel has to be coming from either a leak somewhere in the system, or a faulty tank seal on the filler or vent pipes. Fixing it may be costly, but not doing so is not only wasteful and environmentally damaging, but could (if the circumstances just happen to be ripe for it) be catastrophic and life endangering.
In the meantime I would urge you to ensure as much ventilation of the cellar as possible. The variation in intensity of the smell you have experienced is probably due to the wind variance providing more ventilation of the cellar on some days than others.
If the boiler is in the same cellar as the tank, then you may wish to consider turning it off in the interests of safety until the escaping fuel vapour problem is rectified.
We have had two heating engineers look at it. I will call them again tomorrow. Not sure I will sleep much before then!
The smell is worsened by the wind like you say. It doesn’t smell bad really around the tank it all seems to travel upstairs.
I could give you a horrible fright by posting a picture of the 200 odd cigarette butts around the tank! We discovered them when peering over the wall. Clearly a bored teenager or worse used to go down there for secret life threatening cigarettes at some point before we lived here.
In view of the presence of the cigarette butts it could be that in the past a small smouldering fire among the butts was enough to damage the plastic tank and cause a leak. Once the pipe runs, filler and vent seals have been verified, it will definitely be worth removing as much of the containment wall as is necessary in order to both check the tank thoroughly for leaks and remove the combustible material from around it. Depending on how solidly the wall is constructed, it may be possible to carefully remove every other block from the bottom row to achieve the objective without having to demolish the lot.
Thanks for your message. Here is a picture of the top of the tank. I am not sure whether it is a snorkel or not.IMG_20190114_091223|666x500 But there is a crack in the seal.
Not sure how easy it will be to take away individual blocks here. I called the boiler company but they didn’t seem worried at all. They are coming on Wednesday. Am getting a second opinion on Thursday and hope nothing happens in the meantime!
On Saturday evening there was a strong smell of fuel coming from the buanderie where my boiler is. The boiler was replaced and first put into service October 2017.
I 'phoned my heating man to leave a message and he actually answered. Told me he would be round on Sunday morning.
In the meantime the smell got worse and the chimney that holds the pipe was very hot. I pulled the plug on everything! Kept checking the heat of the chimney as had never had it like this before, spent a sleepless night imaging a fire building up !
Yesterday Florent arrived, he could even smell the problem from outside. I’m not technical but it was the burner had failed and was causing the problem, badly burning fuel and leading to a build up of soot. He spent two hours cleaning the pipes and replacing the burner. He will be coming back later this week to give a more thorough clean to the system.
I am considering on his advice fitting an ‘ambient air thermostat sans fils’ that I can control from anywhere in the house or even when out via 'phone.
He explained that its more economic because as I normally I turn the heating off at night in Winter he says this is like starting a car on a cold morning and having to rev the engine ! With the thermostat I can control the temperature I want during the day, during the night and even during certain hours all from a movable small box upstairs, or via my 'phone from whever I am in the country. I did a little research yesterday and the savings on fuel are purpoted to be around 30% !
Also I have a Carbon Monoxide alarm, haven’t got around to fixing it yet (), he explained the best place to put it for maximum benefit. He believes that these should be made compulsary, as fire alarms are, because he said CM is the silent killer.
All this to say to Marijke and others on SF please, if you haven’t already done so, install one, they are not expensive and could save your life.
