Squirrel
Active member
I posted this on another smaller RV message board, but then I discovered this place today and thought I'd post it here in case anyone has any thoughts.
We took our new (to us) motorhome out for our first overnight camp at a nearby RV park. There is a stink in that thing that we can't figure out how to get rid of. We assume it is something to do with the toilet or the black water tank? We've filled the black water tank three times and dumped it at a sani-dump. We've bought some orange liquid from the local RV dealer that is supposed to control odor for "up to seven days" but it hasn't made a shred of difference since we added it yesterday.
It doesn't actually even seem to be coming from the toilet itself. We open the bathroom door and no new smell wafts out. We open the toilet lid and same thing - no new burst of stink.
It was horrible last night, smelling similar to rotten eggs but not quite. Not sulfur, but something like it. Like lots of flatulence hovering around.
It got better by morning when we had run the roof air for an hour or so. I walked into the motorhome at one point and noticed, "Hey, it doesn't smell."
We haven't even used the toilet once. We don't want to make it worse.
We used the RV park's sani dump. Then we followed the instructions on the orange liquid's bottle and put in a few ounces followed by some water. Then we drove home (20 minute drive).
Within a few minutes of driving it started to stink again. It seemed to get worse the further we drove. I thought the dash air was making it smell worse so I shut that off. Didn't make any difference.
The smell was there when we first looked at the motorhome before buying it, though not near as strong.
Any ideas what might be wrong and what to do?
Someone at the other board suggested if we had a gas engine it might be the catalytic converter. Our motorhome engine has a propane conversion and we've only ever used propane to run it since we got it a few weeks ago, as did the guy who owned it before us.
Another commented included this:
And doing some internet searching, I found that it could possibly be our hot water heater.
Any thoughts?
We took our new (to us) motorhome out for our first overnight camp at a nearby RV park. There is a stink in that thing that we can't figure out how to get rid of. We assume it is something to do with the toilet or the black water tank? We've filled the black water tank three times and dumped it at a sani-dump. We've bought some orange liquid from the local RV dealer that is supposed to control odor for "up to seven days" but it hasn't made a shred of difference since we added it yesterday.
It doesn't actually even seem to be coming from the toilet itself. We open the bathroom door and no new smell wafts out. We open the toilet lid and same thing - no new burst of stink.
It was horrible last night, smelling similar to rotten eggs but not quite. Not sulfur, but something like it. Like lots of flatulence hovering around.
It got better by morning when we had run the roof air for an hour or so. I walked into the motorhome at one point and noticed, "Hey, it doesn't smell."
We haven't even used the toilet once. We don't want to make it worse.
We used the RV park's sani dump. Then we followed the instructions on the orange liquid's bottle and put in a few ounces followed by some water. Then we drove home (20 minute drive).
Within a few minutes of driving it started to stink again. It seemed to get worse the further we drove. I thought the dash air was making it smell worse so I shut that off. Didn't make any difference.
The smell was there when we first looked at the motorhome before buying it, though not near as strong.
Any ideas what might be wrong and what to do?
Someone at the other board suggested if we had a gas engine it might be the catalytic converter. Our motorhome engine has a propane conversion and we've only ever used propane to run it since we got it a few weeks ago, as did the guy who owned it before us.
Another commented included this:
"Your problem is probably the battery or batteries being boiled, cooked, baked and burned by the alternator when you're driving and by the converter when you're hooked up to a power post. No telling how long they have been dry and overheated. When they get bad enough to make that smell, they need replaced. "
And doing some internet searching, I found that it could possibly be our hot water heater.
Any thoughts?