Strange radiator smell?

Another possibility is dirty or oily water in your boiler. When the boiler heats up and creates steam, and that steam travels through the pipes to your radiator, and the steam forces air out ahead of it, it will also force the smell of that dirty/oily water right out the radiator vents with it. Sometimes it goes away. Sometimes you need to treat or drain/skim the system.

SewardWasRight

in About Brooklyn 11 years and 10 months ago

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vixg123 | 11 years and 10 months ago

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Hi all, We live in an old brownstone (renters) and as the heat has been turned on i notice a strange smell – a mixture of burning and paint smell?? as soon as the radiator gets hot. It’s been going on for a couple of weeks now so i don’t think its dust. The radiator is painted silver and it’s a steam radiator. Has anyone had this issue? Does anyone know what it is and what i can do about it? thanks for any advice!

simitr | 11 years and 10 months ago

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I think, you can talk with the radiator company. may it gets way to find the issue!

brokelin | 11 years and 10 months ago

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I’ve had this problem in many places. Sometimes the paint (in those cases regular latex paint, rather than radiator paint, though maybe this paint causes this too) smells when it gets hot for a few years after the paint job. It does dissipate over time, though. Other times I’ve smelled what is a more oil burning type of smell, which, while it may have come from oils based paint, I believe came from oil burning. I was never sure if this smell actually came from the radiator itself, or from the boiler floors below, and the smell just following up the pipes though the holes to smell in my apartments. So do check the boiler, not just the radiators.

Rick | 11 years and 10 months ago

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If work was done on a radiator recently, painting will off gas. If pipe thread sealant was used on a radiator for repair, it will smell, but over time will fade away. It’s normal. Better to have a little smell than leaky pipes.

cmu | 11 years and 10 months ago

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I have had several radiators painted with standard latex and never had smells or problems. Oil-based paint will off-gas more, and oil vapor does smell. Also likely dust & dirt, try cleaning.