Bad smell, and fridge removal.

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meithos

New member
Joined
Mar 8, 2013
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1
Okay, so I bought a 1993 hy-line trailer a few months ago, got it home, and all seemed good.  Until it sat for a couple weeks, because now there is a really bad smell as soon as you open the door.    Propane tank was empty/off for the first 2 months I had it (so it's not a propane leak), black/grey tanks are empty and dry, checked every nook and cranny, to no avail.    HOWEVER, peeking in to the gap above the fridge I could see something was there.  I pulled off the vent cover on the roof, and can see the screen cover had been repaired long ago, but was in good shape, though on the other side of the screen was pine cones/needles/leaves.  I'm wondering if the previous owner had only fixed a hole and not cleaned out the leaves etc, or if something had found a way in otherwise.  Suffice it to say I would like to clean it all out.  The problem is, that I can not for the life of me I can not figure out how to remove the fridge.  There's no access panel on the outside of the trailer, so it's not propane (also, there is no control switch/panel to change it to electric/auto etc), as well as on the bottom of the fridge, I can see the coils through the front cover.  It looks like just a standard (mid 90's) household fridge.  No visible bolts/screws that I can find what so ever.    Has anyone seen this?  Any idea on how to remove it without tearing the whole bloody thing apart?  Everything works, it's just that there is a really bad smell!

On a side note, since it seems to be an electric fridge, does that vent on the roof even need to be there?  There's a good amount of hot air escaping through it, seems to me that's just a HUGE waste!!  Can I just plug it if/when I figure out the fridge issue?  I'd love to get some feedback on that though, wouldn't want to miss-understand how this works, plug it, and smother myself or something crazy like that!!

Any info/help would be greatly appreciated, this is my first post here, so I hope it wasn't too long winded, and makes sense!
 
SeilerBird said:
Your black and grey tank should not be empty and dry.
There should be at least a few gallons in each one.

Yep - if not water then anti-freeze.....

As for the fridge, it went in there it has to come out...I would work to remove towards the inside and clean out the area, may be a dead animal in there!

Good Luck

Jim
 
On a side note, since it seems to be an electric fridge, does that vent on the roof even need to be there?  There's a good amount of hot air escaping through it, seems to me that's just a HUGE waste!!  Can I just plug it if/when I figure out the fridge issue?

Do NOT plug the roof vent for the fridge! That's how it vents the waste heat from the cooling process! Whether in LP or electric mode, the heat waste is generated.

The only difference between electric and LP mode is the means of supplying the heat that triggers the absorption cooling process. The fridge merely has an electric heating element (similar to a water heater) that is used in lieu of LP.
 
There are many possible "Bad Smalls" and each means something else.

Ammonia means one of two things, Either the fridge, or it's cooling unit, needs replacement (Or. Well there are other sources of Ammonia smell but rare in an RV).

Rotten eggs,,, Sewer or Batteries.

Dead Animal (Rotting meat) Dead animal or rotting meat.

Methane  Sewer

Common sources of sewer stinks.. There should be water in the toilet, and in the sink and shower traps... We had a serious sewer smell in the men's room at the office where I worked,, I took a gallon jug, filled it with water and poured it down the floor drain to restore the water in the trap.. I should have labeled that jug "Smell be gone" cause it was, in less than an hour the room was back to normal.

IN addition under the sinks there may be a vacuum breaker device.. These age and wear out.

Finally.. (This only applies if hoked to sewer at a campsite or homesite) If you leave the valves open odor can come back up the hose into the RV.  One of the reasons you should not leave the valve hopen but rather dump as needed.

Now the roof vent.

Even if it's on electric that vent needs to be kept clear, and if the original RV type fridge has been replaced with a residential fridge,  Keeping it clear will improve efficiency.
 
John:


If the refrigerator has been replaced with a residential model the roof vent no longer has a baffle to keep any water to the back of the Norcold and outside the RV. The residential Samsung airflow is designed to be drawn in from the bottom of the refrigerator and expelled along the sides and top. Doing that means the refrigerator uses inside air for cooling as it would in a house.


That is why we insulated and then sealed the roof and rear vents when installing our Samsung.
 
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