Dealing with offensive odors....ideas?

[Fuzzydog]

My shop is completed to a stage where I can start doing stuff in it, and one of the hot items on the project list is to rebuild a skidoo carb (1974 Elan 250).

As can be expected, this is a smelly (gasoline and solvent) job. Any 'innovative' ways in which others are dealing with these smells?

I am planning on putting in a spray booth in a corner which will vent to the outside, but that is not done...yet...

 

[filthy_shovel]

Nope.... Can't do much about the smell unless you do all your work outside.

 

[bmwpower]

Exhaust fan? Or a centrifugal exhaust fan with a hose attached? I have one of these, but it's not installed yet.

 

[Luckydevil]

You need to be flowing enough air through your shop to completely exchange all of the air in it at least every minute. If you have a window check out my review of the Air King window fan. That thing flows a decent amount of cfm's. You may need bigger though depending on the size of your shop.

This calculator will give you an idea of what size fan you will need. Go for 2-3 times that cfm rating if at all possible. http://www.littlegreenhouse.com/fan-calc.shtml

 

[kartracer55]

be careful with fans and stuff though... and spark and you can go kabooooom. They have special fans meant for use in paint booths and stuff that reduce the risk of explosion... kinda like why you cant use a drill pump with gasoline.

Jim

 

[ChucksCrib]

Dealing with offensive odors....ideas?

I never allow my mother-in-law in the shop

 

[bmwpower]

Dealing with offensive odors....ideas?

I never allow my mother-in-law in the shop

Just can't stand that smell of mothballs...

 

[RonBou]

Don't laugh! I burn incense to hide garage odors. I keep it high on a shelf above the "kaboom line".

 

[trovato]

Are you guys serious? One little carburetor? I guess dogs really do have sensitive noses. I have nothing constructive to suggest besides ventilation. Heck, once I rebuilt a carb in the kitchen.

-Steve "I love the smell of carb cleaner in the morning" Trovato

 

[ranger_dood]

I was gonna suggest kicking the friend wiht the bean dip outside....

 

[Uncle Buck]

I have rebuilt a q-junk at the kitchen table in the past, course I did'nt use the carb cleaner in the kitchen! I do think my garage/shop is still just that though. Yes, I try to organize, sort, clean, paint and hide junk in any cabinets I can get my hands on however at the end of the day I still have stains, leaky spots, paint spots, and yes solvent smells galore in my little hole in the wall shop and that is just what I think a shop where heavy mechanicin takes place should smell and look like!

 

[Elky]

my college roomates hated it when i would rebuild carbs in the living room!

 

[HatTrick]

I bring my own offensive odors with me whereever I go.

 

[stimpy]

wear a respirator , I do this when I work with the carb dip , meth-chloride is bad for you , it alsois great when I grind on cylinder heads, otherwise take a bath..

 

[ampegor]

Since when are gasoline and carb cleaner "bad" smells (other than to the wife)?
Andy

 

[trainer]

My shop is completed to a stage where I can start doing stuff in it, and one of the hot items on the project list is to rebuild a skidoo carb (1974 Elan 250).

As can be expected, this is a smelly (gasoline and solvent) job. Any 'innovative' ways in which others are dealing with these smells?

I am planning on putting in a spray booth in a corner which will vent to the outside, but that is not done...yet...

My experience with those old ski-doo's is that they generally spit enough fuel on the rider that the gasoline smell is just something you lived with.

If it's a tillotson HR carb with the screw on filter, then take the filter off outside and drain as much gas out as you can. I've used laundry detergent and hot water to clean this kind of carb in the past. ( Cleaned the parts in the Kitchen sink and rebuilt on the kitchen table when my mother wasn't home she never knew the difference)

 

[Fuzzydog]

LOL at some of these answers. I did come up with something though -

I took the carb off a few days ago and put it in an empty dishwasher detergent pail (with a lid) for transporting from where the skidoo was to home. (gas smell in your shop is 1 thing, gas smell in your car is another). Anyway, took the pail into the shop and there it has sat for a few days with no smell so I am going to save up these pails for storing stuff like that.
I can deal with the smell while I am working on it, just don't want to have to smell gas all the time like when I am doing something non-mechanical, like woodworking.

trainer, it is a tillotson HR carb with the screw on filter and I am doing as you suggest.

 

[RedRacer74]

I just make my father in law stand near the BOWLIN Industries explosion proof fan and turn it up

Its a great product with variable speed and shutters on the outside. It has a very high CFM and is a sealed unit in case your working with paints or chemical's. A must have if you have a working shop not a shine & go shop.

 

[indyjps]

one of my college room mates rebuilt jet ski engines on the side, all on the bar in the living room, pistons next to tequilla bottles, surprisingly none of the ladies were impressed.

 

[Wile1Coyote]

Hang one of those little pine scented tree air freshners from your ear!

 

[Hugh Morrow]

Instal an exaughst fan under your work bench and also your welding bench. Have an opening for fresh air to come in on the other side of your shop or a hole with a filter in the cieling is very good with a filter in it.. Air in and Air out. Use a sealed motor. Knew of a fellow that tried to vacume the dust around a gas tank filler one time only. If you do it right it can double as a spot for painting small parts. Do it as a down draft style as in a paint both and the fumes go down and away instead of up and into. Your eyes are very absorbant and take in the stuff that is bad for you. It is not just the lungs. Some of my old friends have terrible health problems after years of we have to get job done and health was not cared about. Products of today are better but even more potent.