Kenmore Gas Stove 790.71052404

[Tim M]

I was called in either to deal with a problem stove or an overly sensitive tennant, I don't know which. The guy was pretty sensitive, and complained of an odor from his stove top. He'd bought some electric burners to cook on and shut off the gas.

Has anyone ever experienced an odor like freshly lit charcoal coming from a gas stove? I got there and lit up a few burners, but it wasn't happening when I was there. He said that the odor was immediate and fairly strong, but it just wasn't happening. The landlord had bought a new stove for the appartment about a year ago, for the same, or some other smell related, problem.

I'm wondering if sometimes there could be something in the gas lines that brough in this odor. The stove was immaculately clean, so that's the only thing I could think of.

Since part of the reason I was there was to assuage the tennant, and I wanted my trip to be worth it for them, I told them I would check with all the bright folks in this forum and see if anyone had any ideas.

[Pegi]

This does happen when there has been some sorts of chemicals having been used in the area and the fumes in the air, that mght not be able to be detected by the nose, come in contact with the flame...like someone used some murphy soap to clean with, some one was painting with oil based paint or redoing a wood floor....need to ask what has been used around the time this was happening...if this is the reason for the smell then only solution is to air out the area to remove the fumes....someone in an apartment next door could have used something if these are apartments...

[Samurai Appliance Repair Man]

If this is propane and the tank is low, the ethyl mercaptan gets concentrated at the bottom of the tank. They could be smelling the excess as it passes through the flame.

[Scottthewolf]

Also check for mice infestation in the range. Mice like to take food and store it inside the range where insulation is.