Please help...don't think its cat urine!!!!!

[rvingnidaho]

I looked uder topics of odors but didn't find one for my issue.

We just bought our 1st RV from a car dealership.  OF COURSE, we don't notice this horrific odor until we are home.  We honestly thought it was cat urine..smells just like 100 cats srayed in there for years.  BUT the coach is really immaculately clean.  We have spent 2 whole days cleaning, shampooing and deep cleaning the carpets, etc.  I mean the thing SPARKLES.  The odor really hits in the hallway part right between the bathroom and closets.  Outside the same area is the holding tanks.  Could this smell be SEPTIC??????  The odor is not in the upholstery, the bathroom smells fresh and clean now....I just don't get it, as soon as you open the door you get bowled over by the smell, although it is a bit better.
The MH hasn't been used for over a year and has been locked up.  We found no pet stains when cleaning but it smells just like cat pee......what are we to do??????
We are so new to this please help!

Amy

 

[rvingnidaho]

OH, BTW we have a 36 foot class A 1998 Itasca Suncruiser.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Septic can have some strange odors and the gray water (sinks and shower) can often be worse than the black water. Make sure there is water in all the drain traps (keeps tank odor from leaking back though the drains). Also see if the odor occurs when you run hot water - there is a stinky parasite that can thrive in the hot water tank. It usually has a sulfur smell, though.

You may also have a dead mouse or rat somewhere, often in the back of  a cabinet or behind a cabinet. That can have a very sharp odor and not at all like rotten meat you might expect.

 

[John From Detroit]

Since you said "Can this be" the answer is yes.. Now as to the quesiton of "IS IT"  that's another question entierly

True story: One forum member found that when they bolted in the wall over the black tank.. They used extra long screws that poked holes in the tank leading to some very nasty odor issues.

Just so you know.

I would do a full inspection of the tanks

Also.. Some times if you do not dump in time it can flow out a vent (Vacuum breaker vent) and get into stuff.

 

[rjf7g]

Also, check the tank vents on the roof. Make sure they are not blocked and see if you smell the same odor when you sniff around there.  Regardless, it wouldn't hurt to flush your tanks a few times!

 

[Ron]

Flush the tanks but DO NOT use anything that contains formaldehyde.  I suggest using regular Dawn dish soap and some Roebic K-67  fill the tanks and let it set at least 24 hours then drain and  flush.

 

[ArdraF]

It's even possible someone mixed two or more toilet chemicals together.  We've learned NEVER mix toilet chemicals (most say on their labels not to mix with others).  The smell can be quite overwhelming.

ArdraF

 

[Buddy Tott]

If it is cat / animal urine and isolated to the carpet there are a variety of enzyme cleaners/deoderizors on the market which are supposed to neutralize the odor.  However I have tried two or three without much success.  If the carpet is on a wooden subfloor, as I'm sure yours is, the pee can soak into the underlayment and wood,  getting the neutralizer onto it through the carpet takes many applications.  Best bet...tear out the rug to get to the sub-floor and then replace the carpet with a flooring material of your choice.  Replacing the carpet with similar is pretty cheap.

I tried for weeks to get pet urine out of  new (7 months) wall to wall carpeting  in a house I purchased but in the end replaced all the carpeting.  The odor just lingered and even though others 'said' they couldn't smell it, it hit me as soon as I opened the door.

BT

 

[kamphiker]

Can you smell it outside around the rear wheel openings ?

If yes check your rear differental for a leak or a blocked vent tube to the Diff.,  Diff. Fluid has a odor that could be confused with Cat Pee.

 

[Ding-a-ling]

It has already been suggested to pour water in the sinks and shower to replenish the water seal in the drain traps. 

We once had an bad odor and finally realized it was because the water in the washer/dryer drain was empty.  Do you have a W/D combo?  Simply pour two glassfulls of water in the washer and put it on rinse cycle to empty it. 

Even if you do not have one installed is the MH plumbed for one?  Perhaps the cap is missing from the stub of the drain pipe.

I can attest that the gray tank odor can be even worse than the black tank!

Good luck!

 

[John From Detroit]

Good point Ding..... We had complaints of sewer smell in the restrooms at work one day

I went in, dumped a gallon of water in each drain and... a few hours later ask if the smell had diminished

Reports were.. It had

They never quite figured out how I fixed it with no tools and only about 2 minutes labor

 

[Chet18013]

It very well could be that the RV was traded in with the holding tanks NOT empty. Suggest that you go empty them, then flush both tanks really well. Also check the seals of the toilet valve. A 25# bag of ice cubes, a cup of Dawn down the toilet and a 10-15 mile drive in town will help break up settled solids in the tank.

Chet18013

 

[rvingnidaho]

It very well could be that the RV was traded in with the holding tanks NOT empty. Suggest that you go empty them, then flush both tanks really well. Also check the seals of the toilet valve. A 25# bag of ice cubes, a cup of Dawn down the toilet and a 10-15 mile drive in town will help break up settled solids in the tank.

Chet18013

Took it in today, both techs had "colds" and couldn't smell it (a guy with no nose can smell it).  Bought the treatment, put water in the traps, filled the tanks (they were empty) and it STILL smells..thought it would get better, but its maybe 5% better.  Still hits ya when you enter.  How long does it take for the stench to go away????????  Can you ever get rid of it????  We haven't driven it around yet to slosh it around, thought it should sit in there a bit.  But how long until it is gone????

 

[Capt.Chet]

This is our experience with Doggy Odor in a 97 Vectra that we owned for a couple of years, bought used with 54K miles.
Dealer left us in the MH and we got to like the layout and checked around and under the couch/bed we found dog fur about three inches thick!
The dealer claimed his people had cleaned and fumigated but could not reduce the odor. We got a few thousand off for the odor, took her home and vacumned under the couch and then cleaned with Orange Scent remover and the MH was as sweet as could me.
NO ODOR AT ALL!

So my suggestion is to check under the couch and clean everything with orange citrus based cleaner.

Good Luck

 

[Pierat]

Just a thought, could the gauges have said the tanks were empty but they weren't?

 

[workingtorv]

If the smell is kind of like musty moldy smell it is a dead mouse somewhere, we have had it happen and the smell is awful. 

our friends once left meat in the freezer turned off for a couple of weeks, the smell was terrible they first tried the charcoal in the coach and then they rented a machine from a restoration company that cleans up after messes in places, I am not sure what it is called but that did the trick, it does smell like ammonia so you have to have it well ventilated and windows open for a few days after running this maching.

 

[Hatchersrvhauling]

I have a Monaco that has the same issue. I’m also hoping to find the answer. Mine comes the strongest from the closet behind the head and over the hot water heater. Never had a cat but smells like you say, 100 cats sprayed in there.

 

[NY_Dutch]

Check the refrigerator vent to make sure you're not mistaking the urine odor for the ammonia smell typical of RV absorption refrigerator leaks.

 

[Ernie n Tara]

The machine was likely an ozone generator; often quite effective on strong odors.

Ernie

 

[Hatchersrvhauling]

Update:
I’ve dealt with this smell for over a year. After reading this post I decided to try and figure it out again. What I found once pulled the wall panel off the wall was the pipe in the wall for washer and dryer drain and vent with charcoal filter. Why they wouldn’t expose these I don’t know. I duct taped the pipe and charcoal filter since I don’t have a washer In there. Odor is gone. Trap was dry obviously cause it wasn’t ever used. Maybe this will help. So the grey tank is what put that cat urine smell.