Stinky RV

[8Muddypaws]

We're getting ready to head for Quartzite and when we brought our rig home it smelled really bad inside.

I finally found what I think was the problem. The smell was coming from the area of the Splendide combo washer dryer. I think the P-Trap dried out. I poured a couple of cups water down the drain and that seems to have reduced the smell. We'll see how it smells tomorrow.

But that's not the problem. I noticed that the dryer vent has come loose, it's no longer connected to the dryer. (The stories you've heard about California roads are all true.)

Here's the problem. The washer/dryer is bigger than the cabinet opening by about an inch There's no way I can get the dryer out far enough to re attach the dryer vent. Can't reach it through the access port in the closet either, my arms would have to be about 18 inches longer.

The other option might be to remove the outside vent and reach in through that hole.

Anybody had a similar problem?

 

[rvlifer]

Cant help with the dryer but if you have traps that wont be used for a long time dumping some veggie oil down thwm will keep them from drying out. Id prob use rv antifreeze or something else in an rv

 

[Rene T]

Cant help with the dryer but if you have traps that wont be used for a long time dumping some veggie oil down thwm will keep them from drying out. Id prob use rv antifreeze or something else in an rv

Just to expand a little about evaporation. Back in 2015, I did a little test on using vegetable oil in my traps. I took two pill bottles about 1 1/2” in diameter about the same size as drain piping and placed them on a shelf. I filled them both up nearly to the top with water and marked the level with a Sharpie. One bottle I put just a teaspoon of vegetable oil in it.
After 5 weeks, the bottle with just water, it had evaporated quite a bit and the one with oil didn’t evaporate at all. So it works.

 

[rvlifer]

Just to expand a little about evaporation. Back in 2015, I did a little test on using vegetable oil in my traps. I took two pill bottles about 1 1/2” in diameter about the same size as drain piping and placed them on a shelf. I filled them both up nearly to the top with water and marked the level with a Sharpie. One bottle I put just a teaspoon of vegetable oil in it.
After 5 weeks, the bottle with just water, it had evaporated quite a bit and the one with oil didn’t evaporate at all. So it works.

Good to know. I wont have to use as much oil then the next time i use that trick

 

[RayIN]

I have to clean the flexible dryer vent by removing the through-the-wall vent. It's not as hard as it sounds. It's just very tight working conditions.
The Splendide vent connection is on the bottom, so if your wall vent is not near floor-level you might need a small remote camera device to check things out first. Amazon sells cheap camera devices that work with cell-phones.

 

[SMR]

Vegetable oil? I had a friend years ago tell me that vegetable oil would attract mice, not sure if it was true or not. Lol

 

[gwinger]

Vegetable oil? I had a friend years ago tell me that vegetable oil would attract mice, not sure if it was true or not. Lol

RV antifreeze. It's actually cheaper than vegetable oil in the long run.
Not sure about vegetable oil attracting mice. It's basically a closed system.

 

[TheBar]

It may be a closed system but mice can smell anything edible from a mile away. They can definitely smell an outside cat which is the best way to keep mice away. Cats are frowned upon by the HOA in my new neighborhood which worries me a lot come summer.

 

[rvlifer]

I used it in a basement trap in our old house. Saw lots of mice outside but never in the trap lol. There are probably better things we could use. Anything that isnt toxic and doesnt evaporate.

 

[DutchmenSport]

I have learned that pouring RV antifreeze down the p-trap really doesn't do much. It evaporates. It also does not work in the bottom of the toilet bowl either for keeping that seal wet. It evaporates.

Vegetable oil works better.

 

[weighit]

When we had a 5th wheel the washer/dryer was a bit wider than the opening. They installed the trim around the washer/dryer with tiny brads that would easliy pull out when the facing was tapped to remove. Then I could tilt the dryer out for fixing the ducting. Then carefully lining up all the brad holes to let me tap the facing back into place. Sounds hard but was easy.

 

[Ohiosnowbird]

We had to replace our washer and had to pull the dryer out to do so. Hubby reconnected the ductwork from the outside. The washer has a clean cycle that if you don’t run it every 20 loads or so will produce the most horrible smell (learned this the hard way). Here’s the instructions, page 2 in the orange box “clean washer cycle”: https://www.splendide.com/downloads/WFL1300XD_QuickRef.pdf

 

[Rene T]

Vegetable oil? I had a friend years ago tell me that vegetable oil would attract mice, not sure if it was true or not. Lol

It’s inside a trap which is in a sealed system

 

[Rene T]

RV antifreeze. It's actually cheaper than vegetable oil in the long run.
Not sure about vegetable oil attracting mice. It's basically a closed system.

I think that might evaporate quickly

 

[gwinger]

I think that might evaporate quickly

I use it in my toilet and never evaporated.
I mostly use the glycol based stuff though.

 

[Larry N.]

I use it in my toilet and never evaporated.
I mostly use the glycol based stuff though.

The pink stuff does, indeed, evaporate.

 

[jack.w]

Your best shot should be accessing it through the outside vent. You can try guiding the vent back onto the connection using a wire hook or something similar. It’s a pain, but it beats trying to pull out the whole washer/dryer unit. Airlock air purifier can be a good addition to help keep things fresh if odors linger from the vent once it’s back in place.

 

[John From Detroit]

The smell was coming from the area of the Splendide combo washer dryer. I think the P-Trap dried out. I poured a couple of cups water down the drain and that seems to have reduced the smell. We'll see how it smells tomorrow.

had that problem at work and they had it again after I retired. . The first time everyone was complaining about the smell in the .... Room where things smell.. I poured a quart down each floor drain and smell gone .