Intermittent bad smell Discussion Thread
Hi
I have an intermittent bad smell that's really hard to pin down, I was wondering if I could get your thoughts on it.
I can go months without smelling that sulphur smell and then one day it kicks in. Sometimes its really faint, others its strong and lingers. I never know when it will stop, sometimes days, others weeks at a time. It seems to only be linked to hot water usage upstairs (1 bathroom with a shower and sink tap too). And its strongest in the bedroom which is directly above the kitchen and boiler. So I'll wash my hands or shower and then walk past that bedroom and smell it. The pipework that runs from the bedroom to the bathroom goes through some eaves, meaning that you can smell it coming through there but it seems to be emanating from the bedroom first.
A few things that I've done, checked or considered:
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Intermittent bad smell for the original thread on Plumbers Forums
Hi
I have an intermittent bad smell that's really hard to pin down, I was wondering if I could get your thoughts on it.
I can go months without smelling that sulphur smell and then one day it kicks in. Sometimes its really faint, others its strong and lingers. I never know when it will stop, sometimes days, others weeks at a time. It seems to only be linked to hot water usage upstairs (1 bathroom with a shower and sink tap too). And its strongest in the bedroom which is directly above the kitchen and boiler. So I'll wash my hands or shower and then walk past that bedroom and smell it. The pipework that runs from the bedroom to the bathroom goes through some eaves, meaning that you can smell it coming through there but it seems to be emanating from the bedroom first.
A few things that I've done, checked or considered:
- Hot water from the tap or shower doesn't seem to smell or taste bad (filled a cup, taken it outside and tested)
- The property used to have connecting pipework in that bedroom to a water tank in the loft. That has been cut (before I moved in) and has been drained/dried out, no smell. The working pipes, coming up from the boiler in the kitchen have then been connected with plastic pipes to serve the floor's network. As far as I can tell, there are no dead legs under the bedroom's floorboards.
- Since I moved in there's always been some kind of pressure issue that I've never looked into. The bathroom shower is generally fine (sometimes I'll notice a slight dip but nothing much) but the sink tap when turned to a low flow, stutters or glugs. If I turn the flow up it stops.
- The other day I disconnected the radiator in that bedroom (to skim). The water drained from the radiator was clean. The last few glugs as I tipped it up, kicked out some black residue but nothing sludgy. And it didn't smell.
- The boiler is a Worcester 24i Junior GC 47 311 86 Natural Gas. I've read about anode rods etc. I can't work out if this boiler has them but...
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Intermittent bad smell for the original thread on Plumbers Forums
