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Old 03-15-2014, 05:40 PM   #1
hunts800
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Mildew Smell

We picked up our 2014 331rlt Mountaineer a week ago Thursday, and are on day four of a two week trip. This is our fourth trailer so we're not new to RV'ing.
We have a strong mildew smell coming from under the kitchen sink cabinet, and in the bathroom and front storage area. The rig came off the assembly line Feb 6th, and arrived at our dealer March 9th. We see no leaks, water stains, or any other source for the smell. We wonder if it's in the wood flooring. We have cleaned everything with chlorox, bought oder eaters, etc. to no avail. It is not dissapating, nor is it worsening, but it is intolerable, especially for my wife.

We will take it back to the dealer on our return march 26th, and I have sent them e-mails outlining the problem . My wife noticed it during PDI, but the technician claimed it was out gassing from the plastic pipes and would go away.
At this point we are very concerned as it may be impossible to access wherever the smell is coming from without major tear-outs.
Anybody experience something like this? I know the trailer was brought across country during inclimate weather, and likely had both temperature extremes and heavy rain while being towed.
 
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Old 03-15-2014, 06:03 PM   #2
rohrmann
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What you probably have is the out-gassing of formaldehyde from all the materials used to build your rig, and due to the cold weather time of year, I doubt it has had sufficient time to totally air out. You will have higher concentrations of gas inside cabinets and other normally closed areas. I believe most of the owner's manuals talk about this also.
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Old 03-15-2014, 11:40 PM   #3
Neil.M
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When our 2014 High Country was delivered we had kind of a musty smell from under our kitchen island. We left the cabinet doors open on our first outing and after about a week the smell was gone.
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Old 03-16-2014, 01:46 AM   #4
Phil P
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Hi

Be vary carful with this, check the back side of your convenience center to make sure the water connections are tight and the fittings have been caulked so the little bit of water that comes out of the water connection when you disconnect the water hose doesn’t run back behind the wall.

Also check the back of the water heater; our trailer has a panel that can be removed to look at the water connections to the heater.

These are all areas that you need to remove a part of the trailer to see and the result of not doing so cost me $9,900.00.

I don’t recommend you depend on your selling dealer to do this.

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Old 03-16-2014, 04:36 AM   #5
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Also, before you take it back to the dealer, call Keystone Customer service. Get their advise on what to look for and have them open a case on the issue. That will speed and smooth things with the dealer and may help protect your warranty down the road.
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Old 03-16-2014, 08:10 AM   #6
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Could it be the new vent that they put in the new units now that don't actually have a vent pipe going up to the roof. I don't remember what the exact name is for them but it could have been installed backwards which if I remember right from some other posts will cause this also. You actually get the smell coming back into the unit from the galley tank! If not that, it could be there is a loose connection at one of the joints of the piping and leaking down into the belly section. Just trying to throw in a few more suggestions. Dick had the correct idea also by calling Keystone Customer Service to see if they have any ideas and also it starts a file for you that the dealer can build on if it goes back to the dealer.
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Old 03-24-2014, 02:19 PM   #7
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When we picked up our 2014 it rained the first two days. We stayed in it from the first night on and noticed the "new" odor. But it really wasn't what I would describe as a mildew odor, it was more of a glue-new carpet-cut wood kind of smell. Nothing we would not have expected in a new unit. All the smells seemed to go away after about a week. A mildew smell would mean water someplace where is isn't suppose to be in my mind.
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Old 03-29-2014, 06:53 AM   #8
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UPDATE: came back from trip, dealer dropped belly, opened up wall in front storage area, and found no mildew stains, or any leaks or areas where water may have accumulated. Called us over to look at all inside areas while they had it open. No one at the dealer can detect a mildew smell, and all seem to think it is odor from pipe/floor glues associated with a new trailer and will go away with time. My wife still thinks it is a mildew smell, but admits no obvious cause. I feel the dealer did due diligence in trying to resolve the issue, so I guess time will tell. It is well documented, so will monitor the situation as time moves on. Leaving on another trip April 7th, so we'll see..........
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Old 03-29-2014, 08:39 AM   #9
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A moldy smell could come from the vent pipe under galley sink. Try running some bleach and water into your galley tank, see if that solves it. If you smell bleach, the vent relief valve may be bad
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Old 03-29-2014, 03:14 PM   #10
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It could be in the pipe that would lead to the washer from the Bathroom sink, if the washer is in the bedroom You can disconnect the pipe to the washer and put a cap on it, we did this on one of our units and had no more smell
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