Water Smells Bad - Montana Owners Club

rames14 · 08-20-2008, 05:32 PM

We have a bad smell coming from our water that started last season. We used the RV water treatment and rinsed. It was better and then got worse again. I saw the 1/2 cup of bleach but also just saw this on another fix it forum:

Flush water heater
Using a hydrogen peroxide solution of 2 pints 3% peroxide to 40 gallons of water, treat tank and run some of the solution into water lines.
Let peroxide solution set in tank and pipes for 2 hours. Solution is not toxic and requires no rinsing.

I was wondering if anyone else tried this solution.

Jolu · 08-20-2008, 05:45 PM

I had this happen to me in a motorhome. The water in the water heater went bad and caused real bad smelling water. This happened when I let the water sit in the water heater for a period without using it.
The cure was to flush the water heater with a water heater wand and then use the bleach procedure in the fresh water tank, water heater and water lines. This fixed it and not that difficult to do. I now never let water sit in the water heater when not in use.

Others have mentioned that if you don't have a W/D in the Monty, sometimes water in the lines leading to the washer will go bad. The cure was to cap those lines off so water is not left standing in them.

Edit: typo fix.

Exnavydiver · 08-20-2008, 06:25 PM

Ron, if your rig has washer/dryer hookups there may be stake water in the laundry supply pipes. Try flushing them out with bleached water then drain them to the low point drains. That seems to be the source of a lot of stinky water... Dave

Bill-N-Donna · 08-21-2008, 01:58 AM

WeWe have noticed this smell on ours as well. It seems to be directly tied to the hot water lines. I notice it the most in the bath room. We do have the W/D combo but I doubt that its used enough to keep the lines cleaned out. We even had a new tank put in (not for that reason) not long after we got ours and the smell is still noticeable. After running the water a little the smell goes away but will return whenever it sits for a while.

Perhaps I should use a bleach solution and flush the hot water lines.

When is the best time to sanitize the water lines?

Lambchop · 08-21-2008, 03:12 AM

A fellow camper in FL last winter, told me it's the anode rod on the drain plug on the water heater.

Don't know if this true.....??

Lambchop

racerjoe · 08-21-2008, 03:15 AM

We found with ours that if we leave it sit in warm weather,even after draining,we had an odor from the bathroom sink and shower area after refilling and using.
What we found was that the lines coming into the bath area were not draing all the way and getting stinky. So now,when I know it is going to sit longer than two weeks,I pull all the drain caps, mix a solution of bleach and water, and pump it thru the system out the drain lines first,before recapping them. Then I pump the system like normal,almost like your winter prep. I always dump the hot water tank after we return and leave that open, and also the fresh water tank. I keep my empty antifreeze bottles to use for the bleach mix and pump it thru the by-pass.It seemed to have stopped the smell. Could niot fiqure out for the logest time why we would get that odor,but found the lines will not drain completely.

Exnavydiver · 08-21-2008, 03:51 AM

When you drain the system you need to open the water faucets in the W/D closet also. If you don't then the water tends to hang in that area. By opening the hot and cold faucets air will vent the pipes and clear the water out. As has been posted on here several times in the past, the best cure for this is to add gate valves on the water supply to the W/D faucets. These are usually done under the bathroom sing if I am not mistaken as that is where the laundry water feeds usually originate... Dave

Mrs. CountryGuy · 08-21-2008, 04:47 AM

Ask the doubting Thomas and Thomasine, if the smell is coming from the bathroom sink, it is the water caught at the washer/dryer plumbing area. All the other stuff, please check, yes, clean the system with bleach water, etc etc etc. But, if you do all that stuff and the water still is bad bad bad from that bath sink, then clean the area, drain the washer dryer plumbing.

Someone else posted this fix, and I read it, We had the trouble, Al did all that other stuff, he said, there is NO way it is the washer/dryer hookup etc etc etc. many hot words later, he agreed to try it just to shut me up.

guess what

yepper, problem GONE.

Try it, you might be surprised. And, good luck, it sure is an annoying problem. PEEEEUUUUUUUUUUU

racerjoe · 08-21-2008, 06:04 AM

Rames14, do you have a w/d option on your unit? if not, that seems to eliminate the most common area of concern

jim n deb · 08-21-2008, 03:26 PM

Just had that happen this last weekend. I drained the hot water heater then filled it with fresh water and bleach. Ileft that stand for a couple hour then drained and refilled and it was fine. Jim

DONnANNIE · 08-21-2008, 05:13 PM

I was plumbed for W/D, but I don't have a W/D so I disconnected the Hot & Cold water lines under the bedroom sink and put a cap on the T-connections. So, if I or someone else wants a W/D, I or they can hook the lines back up.

I originally disconnected the lines so that I would not have to winterize them each winter. It, also, lessened the chance of spilling the anti-freeze in the W/D closet and/or bedroom on the carpet.

Bill and Lisa · 08-22-2008, 09:14 AM

Is there an easy way to Drain the hotwater heater? Will the low point drain empty the hot water heater? (didn't seem like enough water comes out to represent all the water that should bave been in the tank. I am looking for an option other than pulling the Anode rode every time I put the unit in storage but that may be the only answer.

racerjoe · 08-22-2008, 09:42 AM

Thats the only drain in the tank. What helps to drain it better,what I do is pull the pop off valve at the top of the tank so it gets a rush of air at the top or open a hot water faucet,it should then pour out.I keep a socket and ratchet for that together and grab it when I park.

Lawman · 08-22-2008, 02:04 PM

Many problems with water odors come from the heater itself. This a constant problem in many boats. Most boating forums can detail the best way to get rid of the odor...sorry, don't know any off hand.

rames14 · 08-22-2008, 05:54 PM

We do have the W/D option and have never opened the valves, even to winterize. I will try this over the weekend while fixing the basement doors damaged during our breakin (see four hours with cps post). It appears no one has tried the peroxide. Just curious about that as you don't have to keep flushing. I know from doing a search, Carol, that you use about 6 ounces of bleach. Might do that when we're towing back tomorrow.

rames14 · 08-25-2008, 01:09 AM

Well, got the bleach added and sloshed around. Drained the hot water heater and pumped back into there. Tonight, I'll get bleach water into all of the lines, including the washer lines. Let it sit overnight and then I'll flush the system good. I'm guessing that it is either the washer lines or the water heater. But I've flushed it several times already.

Mrs. CountryGuy · 08-25-2008, 02:44 AM

Ron,

6 ounces sounds bout right, I surely have never used a lot of bleach and filled that 60 gallons right up, so as to disinfect the fresh water holding tank. I can smell the bleach even with that small amount. I know I have read where people put like gallons in there, which just stymies me! WOW. Cannot imagine how long that would take to rinse out.

Anyway, like I said in previous post, disinfecting is always a good thing, but, to get rid of that skanky smell that was ONLY in the bathroom sink, we had to drain that washer/dryer area. Fixed the problem.

I know it is bizarre, but it worked for us, and I know it worked for whomever posted the original fix, for all those that have "tied off" the pipes and for several friends that have done this on our urging.

Enjoy your trip, I know it got off to a rough start with the break in. Don't let the jerkos get cha down!

Les and Julie · 08-25-2008, 02:52 PM

We winter in Yuma and we had a real problem with bad smelling hot water (but not cold water) and did the drain and bleach thing on the whole system, drained the hot water tank and cleaned it,etc. We found that using an aluminum anode instead of the usual magnesium anode fixed the problem permanently.

dsprik · 08-25-2008, 04:57 PM

Aluminum anode??? For what specific reason would they make one of those? Just curious...

Les and Julie · 08-25-2008, 05:23 PM

I'm no chemist, but I assume that the smell has something to do with some salt in the local water reacting with magnesium to produce some kind of stinky gas. Maybe aluminum doesnt produce that stinky gas or react at all with the offending salt. Just a guess.

I heard of some folks in Yuma that got rid if the smell by taking out the anode completely and putting in a plug, but that is NOT good because the purpose of the anode is to sacrifice itself instead of the HW tank. You can buy anodes stamped "Al" at quite a few places around Yuma (which has poor water).

I don't know why there are different metals used, maybe the smell is one reason. The anode must be more reactive than the metal it is protecting.

Les

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