Keezer timber issue- Smells like petrol/ diesel?

[Inconceivable]

Hi

was hoping someone could offer a DIY rookie a tip here. I'm building a collar for my keezer and bought some untreated pine from Bunnings https://www.bunnings.com.au/un-treated-pine-timber-framing-mgp-10-190-x-45mm-linear-metre_p9000285 - This was the cheapest stuff that looked like it'd do the business.

The bloody stuff reeks of petrol/ diesel though and is stinking up my garage. I'd like to find some way to significantly reduce the smell before making it a permanent part of my beer infrastructure. Anyone got any experience in reducing the smell of untreated pine? Should I paint it or lacquer it or somesuch?

cheers
Nick

 

[Danscraftbeer]

Pine is basically the cheapest you can go. I wouldn't for a Keezer Collar. I'd go something darker and more expensive as preference.
Otherwise the smell will go away, Oil stain it, turps smells you will get for a short while but it will dissipate when it dries out. As will any odour in the wood.

Or just lacquer it properly and wait for that smell to go away...

 

[Jack of all biers]

It shouldn't smell of diesel/petrol. Either you've got somesort of treated pine or someone spilt petrol/diesel on it. I'd be pretty confident in saying that the fumes will permeate through multiple layers of paint no matter what you do.

 

[Benn]

Hi Nick,
There are several different treatments applied to pine for different intended applications. Usually the timber is lightly stained blue, green, red etc, as a quick visual indicator as to which application has been applied. Having said that, I've used plenty of various treated pine that is hard to discern visually from normal pine. It depends on the supplier, storage location/time etc. Being located north of me (Sydney) there's a chance your local Bunnings may stock more varieties of 'Termite treated' pine, some of this stuff I've used before REEKS of kerosene and had an oily feel to it. Who knows what goes on in the Bunnings timber yard with regards to timber being incorrectly stacked/returned etc.
If you haven't cut any of it yet you could have another look at Bunnings and see if there may have been a mix up and return your lot for either "normal" pine or a hardwood alternative, or just go ahead and use it but give it a good amount of paint/stain to seal it.
Personally I'd opt for a hardwood alternative if the budget allows, pine has a tendency to twist and or Bow more readily than Hardwood but if your not making a large collar with long lengths you'll probably be ok. I'm sure there's plenty of pine collars out there that are holding up well.
Cheers,

 

[unwrittenlaw]

What are the dimensions of the pine? Is it dressed or rougher header (small ripples)? Most structural pine is RH and LOSP treated.. light organic solvent preservative.

 

[Inconceivable]

What are the dimensions of the pine? Is it dressed or rougher header (small ripples)? Most structural pine is RH and LOSP treated.. light organic solvent preservative.

As per the link in the OP it's 190mm x 45mm. it seems fairly smooth so "no" on the ripples I guess. Despite a small bit of it showing blue (see pics) the majority is not blue and considering how cheap it was I don't think it's H2F.

I've already cut it and screwed it together into collar shape

Similar to what Benn said above this pine does have a bit of an oily feel and reeks at least when left in a confined space

 

[abyss]

I painted my collar 140mm x 45mm dressed pine with this stuff. I figured if it's good enough to stick to a lighthouse it should work on my magic pudding.

 

[Brewno Marz]

I recommend sealing with Zinsser B.I.N. shellac based primer & sealer. This will seal the pine, get rid of the odours and prevent longer term unsightly tannin stains from the knots. It will also prime over gloss paint, most plastics and laminates, if you want to change the colour of your keezer. Use a spray gun or cheap short nap roller. Clean up with metho.

I used Tassie Oak for my collar (my keezer build is work in progress too)

 

[Inconceivable]

Thanks for all the tips guys. I've been reading about Shellac as an option so good to hear someone mention it.

I was sniffing around my timber trying to figure out what the story is and it turns out the majority of the fuel smell is coming from the cut ends of the timber and isn't really apparent along the length of the wood so maybe it was something Bunnings had on their 'cuts saw'.

That being the case even though it is stinking up my garage pretty good I figure it's only stinking from the minority of the wood so sealing it with some primer/ sealer/ lacquer/ whatever should do the trick

 

[peteru]

+1 for the Zinsser B.I.N. sealer. That stuff works on just about anything and it does an excellent job. Not cheap, but you only need a small tin. You'll need some metho to clean it up, which tends to stink while in use, but not after it evaporates.

 

[Brewhart]

Looks like h2 (termite) to me.

 

[knot_gillty]

Looks like h2 (termite) to me.

Definitely h2 termite treated and as has been mentioned with an oil based treatment. It's pressurized (can't remember to what) for about 5-10 mins so the oil can penetrate a few mm into the timber. If it were the red treatment it would smell of turps and the treatment would be much, much better as its pressurized to higher levels and for a lot longer.

Can't help you with the smell issue though...

 

[Inconceivable]

Update- I bought the small tin of Zinsser B.I.N. shellac based primer & sealer as suggested and painted a couple of coats on, it seems to have worked like a champ and although you can maybe still get a whiff of fuel if you sniff hard enough my garage doesn't reek of fuel anymore so I'm taking that as a good sign.

I'll probably do a third coat to be triple sure but I'm declaring the problem solved. thanks to all