Ok Guy's, This one I need your help with...
Earlier this week when my fuel tank sprung a leak, the fuel soaked into the blower compartment for the bus heat/ A/C.
I have sanitized, degreased, and flushed the entire heat and A/C coils and ducts. Then I used the powder that we use on oil heat systems
to deoderize, and to no prevail.....still smells like oil in the coach. not as bad as before though, but still smells to me.
Help.....any ideas?
Thanks
nick-
The fuel probably got into places that you can't get to to clean. Just a tiny amount of diesel will really stink up a bus. When my proheat had that small leak, the diesel smell in the bus about made my eyes water, and that was in a vented bay. It took about a week after fixing the leak and cleaning the diesel that I could see for the smell inside the bus to go away.
Ross
Maybe pour some simple green where the leak was, it might seek out the same area and help to get rid of the smell.
Paul
Dreamscape
Nick
Try some fresh not used coffee grounds in the vent will neutralize the smell and absorb it.
LarryH
Ahhh... A little advanced chemistry might work.
You need something that the molecules (odor) will attach themselves to.
In this case you might try something a little out of left field.. Murphy's Oil Soap
Yup, The stuff for furniture and floors. It's made from Veggie Oil and smells kinda like it too.
The Veggie will bind to the diesel oil and kind of neutralize/mask the odor. I have done
that a couple of times. I used Murphy's on my hands once because the diesel fuel smell was
just overpowering. It worked for me, I now just wipe my hands down with a veggie oil soaked cloth
to kill the odor but the soap did work when I tried it.
You might experiment with that idea on a test patch first, You may get different results...
Dave...
Thanks guy's,
All great things to try and I will try all of them.
I wish I could use bleach...but my wife can't handle the smell of it. To me, the only smell thats worse then diesel fuel is
a commercial refrigerator that stores onions.... When the acids from onions attach to the aluminum, all you have to do is
toutch any part of the inside and your fingers are stintched with a distinked odor that only bleach can remove. Yuck-
Thanks
Nick-
Where did your tank leak? That's a scary thing to have to deal with. Re: the diesel stink...we sell a bottled cleaner that's used for cleaning crud off motorcycles. It's called "SuzukiWash". Most motorcycle shops sell something similar. Stuff is environmentally friendly, no smell, and cleans petro chems off anything you can get it into. Enough of it would follow the the diesel fuel under the walls, seams etc. We sell Kawasaki and Yamaha cleaner too, but the Suzuki cleaner is the best. Even when the diesel's cleaned up, the stink will take days or longer to get out of fabrics and upholstery. But, it will evaporate over time. Smell just permeates fabrics. I'd leave the bus as open as you dare....I'm sure it's stored inside..let the fumes get out. Do you know anyone that does fire damage restoration? Those guys have some serious "stink removing" tricks.
Sorry to hear of your troubles, JR
My 1.5 cents,
I used baby oil on my hands and then washed my hands to get the deisel smell off my hand. That works pretty good.
Some people wash ther hands then wash with toothpaste on them afterward.
Also after washing, run the heat on High with the vents and windows wide open to help turnover air. Heat will help it evaporate.
Good luck and let us know what works.
Bleach will not cut diesel odors or stains. Nor will many of the supposed "miracle" cures.
Inorganic chemicals as a rule are usually ineffective against oily residue. No way to break the bonds.
Don't use Purple-Power or Purple-Stuff as it eats aluminum ( contains acids )
The smell in fuel oils is an organic compound. To battle an organic odor you have to use an organic to encapsulate
the odors and a surfactant to break down the residue so that water can wash it away.
I have actually used waste veggie oil to rinse out large LP Gas tanks to rid them of the ethyl mercaptan odorant
then soaped and soaked with car wash detergent concentrate to break down the oils so that they would wash away.
I suppose a few bottles of Dawn Dish soap would sure meet the oily breakdown part.
Nick,
If you still have some odor when you get to Arcadia, see me I will have something there that might help.
it would be worth a try anyway.....
Dave...
( I will have the big trailer ) on the back of my MC9 this time, Loaded with goodies too !
you could always just get some of the stuff Crime Scene people use when they find a few week old corpse.....I suspect you can't smeel anything with some of that on your upper lip
Ok I've never used it on diesell, but ZEP (Google them, good clening products) makes some stuff called smoke away that dooes wonders! They alo mke other stuff & may have something more suitable! Also might try Fabreeze or bounce in the vents! We use them both at different times and they do wonders to fresh'n a "stale" coach on a trip! BK ;D
Nick:
One well placed skunk ... actually doesn't even need to be well placed.
Once placed, scare skunk. You should not notice any lingering smell of diesel.
NEXT POST: "How to get rid of skunk smell." I think tomatoes are involved.
Good luck,
Jerry H.
Quote from: JerryH on December 15, 2006, 03:46:42 AM
Nick:
One well placed skunk ... actually doesn't even need to be well placed.
Once placed, scare skunk. You should not notice any lingering smell of diesel.
NEXT POST: "How to get rid of skunk smell." I think tomatoes are involved.
Good luck,
Jerry H.
Dang it Jerry,
I was just fixin to post that exact same solution as I was reading through the thread!!
Great minds think alike! :D
It's not about removing the odor, it about masking it with another odor. You just have to find one that works for you.
What I can not imagine is a bus nut that does not love the smell of diesel! LOL
Richard
Quote from: DrivingMissLazy on December 15, 2006, 06:32:35 AM
What I can not imagine is a bus nut that does not love the smell of diesel! LOL
Richard
Tell that to my WIFE Richard.....lol
Nick-
Quote from: Nick Badame Refrig. Co. on December 15, 2006, 06:36:58 AM
Quote from: DrivingMissLazy on December 15, 2006, 06:32:35 AM
What I can not imagine is a bus nut that does not love the smell of diesel! LOL
Richard
Tell that to my WIFE Richard.....lol
Nick-
Yep, I figured as much. Wives are like that!
Richard
Why not try "Febreze". "It doesn't just mask the odors, it actually cleans the air!"
Or so I'm told.
Jimmy
Quote from: brojcol on December 15, 2006, 11:21:20 AM
Why not try "Febreze". "It doesn't just mask the odors, it actually cleans the air!"
Or so I'm told.
Jimmy
Huh, I coulda swore I suggested somethin like taht! LOL! BK ;D
Quote from: DrivingMissLazy on December 15, 2006, 06:32:35 AM
What I can not imagine is a bus nut that does not love the smell of diesel! LOL
Richard
Ok problem solved just oak the area with gasoline! It'll clean up the diesel smell and remind her of the smell at the gas station when she's putting gas in the SUV! LOL! (Besides gas fume evaporate quicker! LOL!) BK ;D
Funny Guy's,
Ok, The smell is gone....
This is what worked, Everything..... I started out degreesing the compartments, then, flushing them out with deoderizer and water.
Inside, my wife cleaned the entire coach, then she used Febreze on the fabrics, then placed renewzit oder absorbers near the vents.
I also put coffee grounds around the fuel tank itself....Wala...Can't smell it anymore.. Boy, I can go for a cup of coffee!
Thanks for everybody's help.
Nick & Michelle
Nick:
The skunk would have been easier -- put him in, slam the door shut and hit the air horn. WaLa ... no diesel smell.
By the way ... was that DeCaf??
Jerry H.
Hey Busted:
I'm glad he took "OUR" advice about the Febreeze! I'm having a problem with my ADHD tonight. I can read the posts, but after the first sentence, they just sorta blur out on me...
I'm having the same problem with hearing tonight. Everytime somebody says something to me, I hear the first few words and then, "Wah, wah..wah...wah", you know, like that teacher on Charlie Brown cartoons. I think I'm gonna...
Hey, what was I talking about again? ;D
Jimmy
To get rid of skunks, throw some lutefisk into the area. Now all you have to do is figure out how to get rid of the Norwegians that show up.
Seriously, I was watching the program "myth busters" the other night where they tested a number of home-grown remedies to get rid of skunk odor. The one that worked best was a concoction of baking soda, hydrogen peroxide and liquid dishwashing soap. They sprayed it all around, and it killed the skunk odor dead in its tracks - and did not leave another odor in its place. Maybe it will work on other things too.
As an aside, quite a few years in the Alaska freight business taught me that you should never ever backhaul fresh cannery bound salmon in an enclosed trailer, but it happened anyway once in awhile. The tubs tended to slop over as the ice melted. The only thing that would kill the odors left behind by spilled fish slime was fresh coffee grounds, and lots of them. It made a superior floor-dry too, albeit expensive.
tg
Quote from: akbusguy2000 on December 16, 2006, 12:57:36 AM
To get rid of skunks, throw some lutefisk into the area. Now all you have to do is figure out how to get rid of the Norwegians that show up.
tg
Hey TG:
I hear that Norwegians can't stand the smell of disel fuel.
Jerry H.
Too bad I saw this one too late...
We have some stuff that we use when servicing coaches -- two items, actually, but one that gives the scent you smell in a freshly serviced charter bus. I can't think of the name of it right now, but tomorrow I will post the name of the chemical and the source.
This stuff is a "spray & forget" item. You simply saturate the A/C evaporator with it; the natural sweating of the evaporator rinses it off -- and provides the nice clean smell, too!
Sorry I kind of forgot about this... I finally got the name of that stuff.
It is called "Evap Pow'r C" and is produced by Nu-Calgon of St. Louis, MO.
You simply spray it on the evaporator coils and forget it. The condensation from operation washes it -- and the dirt -- off in use. It leaves that nice, new freshly-serviced smell for months, too.
Listen to Dr Dave, anything that is acid or caustic is death on Al and almost as bad on steel. As I remember there was a not recently on Simple Green damaging aircraft Al so be sure to read the label closely if you use it. I think Simple Green came out with one especially for Al.
I wouldn't use baking soda or hydrogen peroxide either without doing some careful research.
Sort of one the same subject, I read somewhere that the fabric softener sheets for your home clothes dryer keep away mice. I tried them and they work-they also make the bus smell pretty good too. Only downside is they don't last very long and have to be replaced but that is a lot better than mouse $^&(($$ and *&^&$#.
Hi Nick,
What you might want to try is a Ozone Generator. If you don't own one, the local Tool rental companys usually have them for rent. Turn on high and in about 5hrs the smell will be gone!
Good Luck
Steve5B....
Hi Steve,
Thanks. Now that I have my orriginal tank repaired and back in the bus, I don't seem to have the diesel
smell anymore. But, when I fire her up next month and run her down the road I'll see if the smell comes back
or not. I've seen the ozone generators at a supply house. I guess they really work. I'd like to try that. And
maybe I can create enough ozone to patch the hole in the sky. LOL...
Nick-
Ozone and rubber products don't get along. Tires don't like ozone.
Cannot think of anything inside a bus that's rubber...but? Maybe window seals? I dunno.
We have had a couple motorcycles that one of the tires showed signs of major dry-rot way before such failure would have been expected. Found to be sitting next to large electric motors...air compressors. Anyone else familiar with this?
My idle thoughts for the day! ;) JR