Community Forums

doak125 · 03-06-2019, 05:04 PM

Hi folks.
Just picked up the new RED after a month in storage following the shake down cruise.
Rotten egg smell when flushing the toilet. I assumed it was stale water sitting in the lines. But I don’t smell rotten eggs from any of the other water outlets. I have run fresh water through the toilet lines but it still is nasty.
Can the smell come from the holding tank itself? We are using the Camco orange TSP pop-ins that came with the new rig for the first time. Probably only a gallon or so of water in a clean holding tank.
Let me know what you think.
Dan

Bob_C · 03-06-2019, 05:17 PM

More water.......and keep more water in tank.......might have to get Happy Camper Extreme, and use it as directed.....and, if you didn't pick up at factory, who's to say no one else used it.....

Hey_Joe · 03-06-2019, 06:56 PM

We had a similar issue in our RED and one day I noticed the display was still showing 33% full after I had just emptied and back flushed the black tank. Turns out they put the black valve on the gray tank and the gray valve on the black tank. So when I was back flushing I was filling the black tank with water not realizing nothing was coming out of the open valve. Nothing like letting back flushed poop water sit for two weeks.

Now I know the valves are reversed and haven’t had the stink issue ever again.

So, maybe check the valves. And make sure you back flush every trip. It could also be the gray tank. We had that issue in our old Thor and we put gray water tank deodorizer in it and never had the issue again.

DarrenK · 03-06-2019, 07:46 PM

Always turn the roof vent fan off before flushing. It will suck the smell right out of the black tan...

doak125 · 03-06-2019, 09:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hey_Joe

We had a similar issue in our RED and one day I noticed the display was still showing 33% full after I had just emptied and back flushed the black tank. Turns out they put the black valve on the gray tank and the gray valve on the black tank. So when I was back flushing I was filling the black tank with water not realizing nothing was coming out of the open valve. Nothing like letting back flushed poop water sit for two weeks.

Now I know the valves are reversed and haven’t had the stink issue ever again.

So, maybe check the valves. And make sure you back flush every trip. It could also be the gray tank. We had that issue in our old Thor and we put gray water tank deodorizer in it and never had the issue again.

Funny. They switched the valves on ours as well. But I caught it early on. So that’s not the problem.

luvlabs · 03-07-2019, 07:59 AM

Rotten egg smell in the water is caused by iron loving bacteria that have collected in a low point somewhere in your system. Usually these things love your hot water heater but they can also reside in a single water line. I doubt very much that it's your holding tank.

The only way to get rid of the bacteria and smell is to sanitize your water system. Run the bleach/water mixture in and make sure you flush your toilet a few times to get the mixture into that water line. Let it set for 3-4 hours and then flush the entire system with fresh water.

doak125 · 03-07-2019, 05:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by luvlabs

Rotten egg smell in the water is caused by iron loving bacteria that have collected in a low point somewhere in your system. Usually these things love your hot water heater but they can also reside in a single water line. I doubt very much that it's your holding tank.

The only way to get rid of the bacteria and smell is to sanitize your water system. Run the bleach/water mixture in and make sure you flush your toilet a few times to get the mixture into that water line. Let it set for 3-4 hours and then flush the entire system with fresh water.

Thanks livlabs.
The coach is brand new and I sanitized it shortly after delivery. I turned on all the faucets but didn’t even think about the toilet line. But i wonder how bacterial could grow in that line in such a short period of time.
Dan

luvlabs · 03-08-2019, 07:48 AM

We purchased a brand new Phaeton in 2013. Watched it being built, took delivery as soon as we could after it was delivered to Sherman RV, and yet, within a month we had a terrible rotten egg smell only when the bathroom cold water faucet was opened. The smell would come and go but the only thing that worked was to sanitize the water system again. The smell never came back.

The most common area for these bugs to grow is actually in your water heater. We had that happen last year when I forgot to drain the hot water heater after a trip. I suggest you drain the water system (low point drains, water heater, and water tank) after each trip.

rockriver · 03-08-2019, 08:11 AM

we had this problem...
i was talking to pres. of our camping club when i walked into the coach.. wheew. he was very polite... rr, did you drain the black after your last trip?
if not, you should have... and oh yeah, i think you missed the last one, does that mean your black tank has sat for 2 months?

draining, flushing 3 times, immediately solved the problem for us..

reading this thread and other similar ones.. has brought this question to mind.
what about using well water... ?
our water at the rv shelter comes from a well... sometimes we add water to the fresh tank at the shelter... the well water tastes great... but, there is no chlorine in that water...
i'm guessing that well water would be more likely to go rotten in the black and fresh plumbing since it doesn't have chlorine in it...

just a thought
rr