Mineral oil on new heat exchangers. Why not call the company that installed it? Or did you try and do it yourself?

 

Go with your gut...if you smelled gas then you need to get it checked out. The blower air isn't even mixing with combustion air so if you smelled gas it could be a pretty large leak. You should just call the company that installed it. They'll probably send the tech out who is on call. If you're right then he's not going to charge you anything. If you're wrong then he still may not charge you anything since it's a new install (in that case you should tip him pretty well for his trouble).

As far as finding the leak...with gas on, all of the fittings around the furnace need to be sprayed with leak detector (or an electronic leak detector should be used).

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Thanks for the response, No I hired an HVAC company to install it. I was going to call but the finished late and a few hours later was passed their operating ours. I’m also very wary of gas leaks since I know someone who’s family had a really scary incident with a gas leak. I’ll call them tomorrow for sure. I was just curious if there was a reason for the smell.

 

Well the smell of gas is very distinct. There's really nothing like it. To me it's immediately identifiable. Granted I do fix probably about 50+ leaks a year but still it is a very recognizable odor.

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So gas co didnt notice leak while furnace not running. And no smell while furnace not running.
Is the flue connected?
Is the manifold test port/plug reinstalled?

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Good move calling the gas co. if you were concerned. Safety never takes a day off. Get them back there but I agree its probably just mineral oil from the manufacturer and they didnt let it run long enough to burn it off.

 

Everything looks like it’s hooked up the way the old one was. At least to my eyes. I have a feeling I might have over reacted. A woman I work with her and her husband both woke up with killer headaches and found two of their three kids unresponsive. They had to bug out of their house with kids in arm. Turned out it was a gas leak. Ever since then I always sniff walking past the closet that has my water heater and furnace.

 

Are you sure that wasn't CO? The symptoms you are describing coincide perfectly with the symptoms of CO poisoning. CO is actually odorless. I would think that you would probably puke your guts out from the smell before a gas leak was strong enough to knock you out.

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Your right that’s what it was. They didn’t have CO monitor in their home to alert them. I always associated it with the gas furnace .

 

CO is the result of combustion, especially inefficient combustion. It normally enters the home as a result of some failure like a heat exchanger failure. Propane is C3H8 and Natural gas is basically CH4...they're totally different molecules. CO is a problem because your blood binds to it in place of O2 so it starves the body of O2.

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The CO detectors that you can buy in the local box stores only alert at deadly levels and shouldn’t be relied on. If you are as concerned as it seems you are, look into a low level CO detector. The UL listed ones cost $20-$40, the specifically not UL listed low level monitors are $100-200. They were designed to not give false alarms, you’d be surprised how often we are around CO. I frequently see 10 ppm in traffic, and the hand sanitizers we are using a lot now can set them off. CO is caused by incomplete combustion, think of it like a poor running cars exhaust. The odorants added to natural gas are there to alert you to that colorless odorless gas. If you are ever concerned, you can call your local professional HVAC tech, gas company, or fire dept. we all carry instruments to check for CO, and combustible gases.

 

Thanks for the info. I’ll definitely look into getting one of those low level CO monitors.

 

Call the installers back already.
It's a possible safety issue.
There should be no charge after an install.
Post the combustion numbers.
Is there a hole drilled in the flue about 1 foot above the furnace? Maybe they checked at the exhaust vent outside?

At any rate, a call to any contractor, stating what you've stated on here should get them out there asap if not sooner.

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Not hijacking. What analyzer do you use? Thinking of getting the fieldpiece sox3. Seems the best for the price.

 

Depending on where you reside, ( as California and Quebec need not to be registered to receive the full manufacturers warranty ) hopefully you registered your new system, as manufacturers warranty decreases significantly if never registered.

Did they check your static pressure and check temperature rise across Heat Exchanger, amprege draw of inducer, blower motor, compressor, outdoor fan, field refrigerant charge to subcooling/superheat, set your fan speed to see if it falls within manufacturers specifications which would be a nice thing to check. If so did they leave a copy by the equipment along with the install guides.

 

the gas smell can also linger for a few days if in an enclosed space it happens from the changeout and gas piping connected...but playing it safe must come first, good job..call them back in..

 

Thought about CA's...

Unless one wants to go to a class and learn how to use it (YES, it is truly complicated and counter-intuitive)...

Then better to not get one... unless you have a person who understands it as a mentor.

 

So did the installers come back and find the problem.