Nasty Smell

[lbffl]

OK - I am a city kid, so don't pick on me if this is city vs. country water.

I picked my Roo up on April 5, 2005. The dealership had filled the fresh water and I brought it home that way. We went camping on April 8 and then I left on a business trip to Philly from April 9 - 13.

While I was gone, the Roo sat in the driveway because my wife and kids slept in it a few times. However, they never used the water.

Last night, I went to drain the water heater (boy that was tough to turn) and then I drained the fresh water. MAN did that STINK! I can't really describe the smell nor do I want to.

Anyway, I am guessing that the smell is in the lines as well. How do I clean the lines and/or get rid of the smell?

[ilovecamping]

Our new camper has HWH and this is the first time we are using water in a PU.  A friend of mine advised us to drain the WH after every use or it would smell bad.  I have heard most people use bleach to sanitize their lines and system but we haven't needed it yet.  I imagine water sitting in the holding tank could develop an odor also.  Good luck!

[hoppy]

Your owners manual should have the proper method to flush out the entire water system in your rig.

  But if it's not covered in there, my Coleman manual states to drain the entire system. Prepare a solution of a 1/4 cup of Clorox in a gallon of water. Pour solution into the tank. Complete filling the tank with fresh water. Open all faucets individually until a steady stream of water is present. Shut off the faucets, and let stand for three hours. Drain the entire system, and open up all the faucets and drains. To remove an residual clorine taste or odor, prepare a solution of one quart vinegar and five gallons of fresh water, and allow the solution to agitate for several days. ( in short, take your ROO for a ride around town a couple of times) Drain the system again, and refill with fresh water.

  I suggest in the future to only fill the tank when you need to, and drain during the trip home from the campground. I do this to my tank and water heater to keep them from freezing and keeping the system clean.

  That's it.

  Hope this helps.

[chasd60]

Sanitizing, like hoppy said, should be done once per season at a minimum but there is no need to fill the water heater with a bleach solution, either use the bypass or realize you hot water lines won't be flushed if you don't have a bypass. You can't smell the bacteria that will harm you so you have to use bleach to kill it..

[tlhdoc]

there is no need to fill the water heater with a bleach solution, either use the bypass or realize you hot water lines won't be flushed if you don't have a bypass.

Yes you do need to sanitize the water heater.  If you don't fill the water heater with the bleach solution any bacteria living in the water heater will still be there.  You want all parts of the water system to be filled with the bleach water.  If you don't leave the bleach water in for more than an hour our two you shouldn't have to rinse it with a vinegar solution.  When I have use vinegar I only left it in the system for for a couple of hours.

[brainpause]

On the chance that the odor you were smelling was sulfur water, the smell may go away just by draining.

However, there is just as good a chance that it won't. Use the above bleach/vinegar methods, and it will likely go away. So your bases are covered in any event.

I seriously doubt (though my amazement is neverending) that your dealer filled up your tanks with sulfur water. That would be a cruel joke.

Larry, from TN, where sulfur water isn't hard to find