One of the most common questions that people have about propane fire pits is if they smell bad. I’ve owned a propane fire pit for more than 6 years, during this time I think I’ve felt all the possible smells that a fire pit can give. So I decide to write this article to answer the question: Do propane fire pits smell bad?
Propane fire pits don’t smell bad. Propane is a clean burning gas, so it shouldn’t emit any unpleasant smell. If a bad smell comes from a fire pit it’s probably due to a malfunction, dust or other debris that have gathered in the fire pit.
Normally you shouldn’t feel any bad smell coming from the fire pit, but sometimes due to things that are out of our control this will happen. So it;s good to know how to identify the cause of the smell and what you have to do.
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How Bad Propane Gas Smells
Propane gas burns cleanly, which means that it shouldn’t emit any smell when it burns. But propane gas by itself should smell very bad, a lot of people describe the smell similar to rotten eggs or sulfur.
When you turn on the gas it’s normal to feel a faint smell of gas, but after you light the gas the smell should soon disappear. After the initial smell of gas, normally you shouldn’t feel any bad smell.
There is one small chance that occasionally a small quantity of gas will go around the flame, and you might get a hint of smell. This is normal, and it can happen from time to time. But if it happens often then there might be a problem with your fire pit, and if you don’t solve it quickly the bad smell will be the last of your problems.
What to Do if You Feel a Bad Smell Coming From Your Propane Fire Pit
The first thing that you should do if you feel a bad smell from your fire pit is to turn it off. This is the only appropriate response in this case.
Now that the tank is closed you can try to figure out what the problem is, and if you can repair it yourself or you need a specialist.
You should start by checking if the propane tank and the regulator. The best and safest way to do this is by getting a sope and some water. Now make as many bubbles as you possibly can and put them where the regulator and tank connect, as well as the surrounding areas. If you see bubbles forming up it means that there is a leak.
While this is a problem, it’s also something that you can solve by yourself, even if you don’t have experience with those kinds of things.
Close the tank by turning the tank valve to the right. When the valve is completely closed the bubbles should also stop. Now disconnect the regulator and check on the gasket. If the gasket doesn’t look good, you probably found your problem, all you have to do is to change it.
If the gasket looks ok, the regulator might not have been secured, which is quite a common problem.
Now connect the regulator back to the tank, and tighten it as much as you can, you might want to use a wrench.
And now make some more bubbles and see if there are any more gas leaks. If the smell still persists, you could try to reattach the regulator. Sometimes it can be hard to properly secure the regulator, I once had to do this 4 times, so don’t worry if you have to try a few times.
If you secured the regulator properly, but the smell still persists the problem might lay elsewhere. Now there are four possibilities. Either the tank or the regulator are broken, or the smell comes from elsewhere, or the problem is the fire pit itself.
A Broken Regulator
If the regulator is broken the only thing that you can do is to get a new one. To be honest I have no idea if they can be fixed at home, but I really don’t think that it’s worth the risk, when a new regulator is quite cheap.
A Broken Propane Tank
If the tank is broken you have to treat things very carefully, as a simple spark around the tank could make it explode.
In this situation the best thing that you could do is to leave the tank where it is, tell everybody to get as far as possible, and call a specialist to deal with it. Or you could carefully move it somewhere safe and let it sit there until a specialist arrives.
While it’s not the best thing to move a leaking gas tank around, there should be no problem if you handle it carefully. But other than that I wouldn’t advise you to anything more. You should leave it there until somebody qualified arrives.
If you can’t find a gas tank repair service, or somebody that is qualified to handle them, you can always call the fire department. Firemen are trained to handle everything that can be a fire hazard, so handling leaking propane tanks is something that they specialize in.
If the Propane Fire Pit Is Broken
If the problem doesn’t come from the tank or the regulator, it might be from the fire pit itself.
You could try the soap bubbles method, but depending on the design of your fire pit, it might not work, or it might simply not be an option.
While it’s not the best idea to directly inhale propane gas, you could try to see if the smell comes from the fire pit, and not the tank.
If the smell comes from the fire pit, there are actually two possibilities. The first one is that the fire pit leaks gas, in which case you should run the tank off, and disconnect it from the fire pit, and call somebody qualified to repair it.
The second possibility is that the smell you were feeling is not actually propane gas.
The Bad Smell Isn’t Propane Gas
It’s not uncommon for a fire pit to smell bad due to another reason other than gas.
One of the most common things that make fire pits smell bad is dust. When the fire pit is not used dust will start settling in every nook and cranny of the fire pit.
While dust will usually settle on everything that it can, in the case of fire pits things can get quite problematic.
The first consequence of the dust is the unpleasant burnt smell that it will give when you start the fire pit. But unfortunately if your fire pits gather too much dust, the bad smell will be the last of your problems. Burnt dust doesn’t only create an unpleasant smell, it also creates heat, which over time will damage the parts of the fire pit, making it unusable.
Fortunately avoiding this is quite easy, you just have to remove the dust from the fire pit from time to time. I usually do this once every month, and I had no problem with the dust.
Another possible source of the bad smell is the material that fills your fire pit. Most propane fire pits are filled with lava rock, fire glass, river rock, or something similar.
Normally those rocks don’t smell bad, but after you use them for a time they might catch an unpleasant smell due to all the dust and debris that settled on them and burnt. SImply washing the stones should solve the problem.
There is also the possibility that you might be particularly sensitive to the natural smell of the rocks that you are using. To put this simply some people are better at perceiving some smells, than other people. If you are the only one that feels this smell, you might have a more sensitive smell. The only solution that I can think of in this case is to change the rocks that you are using.
Final Thoughts
Now let’s make a quick recap.
Propane fire pits shouldn’t smell bad. You might feel a small hint of gas when you turn the fire pit on, but that should be the only bad smell that you feel.
If the bad smell persists there might be a problem with the fire pit, the regulator, the propane tank or dust.
To check if the regulator of the tank has a problem you can make some foam with some water and soap and spread it where they connect. If bubbles start to form, then you have a gas leak. In which case you can try to see if the gasket is damaged and if the regulator is tightly screwed. If this doesn’t solve the problem you should call somebody to check the fire pit.
If the gas smell appears when the fire pit is turned off, it usually means that the fire pit is broken, in which case you should call somebody to repair it.
Another cause for the bad smell can be dust. Excessive dust will usually give off a burnt smell. This smell usually tends to disappear after some time, but in some cases the residu can stick to the rocks that fill the fire pit, in which case you will have to wash the rocks.
In case you have a technical problem the best thing that you can do is call somebody that is trained to deal with those kinds of problems. Don’t try to repair them yourself, it can be very dangerous.