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Old 12-07-2014, 11:00 AM   #1
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Rotten Egg Smell

Hello all,

I tried to find this question already answered but no luck. We have a 2015 Jayco 28BHBE, and we have been having a hard time figuring out where the rotten egg smell is coming from. It seems like it's coming from the sinks, but how do I fix this. Right now the trailer is winterized. Last weekend we de winterized it and took it camping. All weekend we smelt it. Then when we returned it got cold again so we had to winterize again. I have turned the gas off to see if that's the problem, but I would think our sensor would have gone off if we had a leak. I have read that it could be the hot water heater, but it is empty and the bypass is open. I use lemon tablets at the end of every campout to avoid any smells. Please help.
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Old 12-07-2014, 11:26 AM   #2
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did you sanitize your water lines before using after winterizing it. If you didn't this could be the issue. The antifreze will give your water a funny taste as well if you haven't sanitized the lines. I take a bleach tablet and put it in the fresh water tank, fill the tank and let it sit for a while to allow the tablet to dissolve. Then I run water through everything and let the water sit in the lines for a while. Run the rest of the water through the lines and then fill with fresh water and run through the lines again.
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Old 12-07-2014, 11:33 AM   #3
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The Rotten Egg Smell is most often coming from the battery.

In the RV world this may be caused by the on-board CONVERTER/CHARGER over charging your battery... The battery will get very hot to touch and you will find the fluids boiled out. This battery is prone to explode when this happens...

Consider this report from google search
http://www.answers.com/Q/Why_does_yo...ke_rotten_eggs

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Old 12-07-2014, 11:47 AM   #4
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We had this issue last summer in our 197 before we sold it. I sanitized the tank and lines but still had the smell. I flushed the hot water tank with fresh water and still had the problem. I finally figured it must be coming from the grey water tank. I picked up some grey water tank treatment and the problem disappeared. After some more searching, it could have been the plumbing vent under the sink also? We never had the smell after.
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Old 12-07-2014, 12:15 PM   #5
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Can you run the bleach water through the hot water heater?
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Old 12-07-2014, 12:19 PM   #6
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Can you run the bleach water through the hot water heater?
Maybe someone else might have an answer to this if your supposed to or not. I did use bleach in my water heater but I didn't let it sit in there I flushed it out right away.
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Old 12-07-2014, 12:52 PM   #7
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The Jayco manual does not say anything about bypassing the hot water heater. It does refer to sanitizing solution left in the water heater (which to me means it should be included).

Here is a reprint from the manual: Some solution may remain in the water heater and will be flushed in the following steps:
12. Fill the fresh water system completely full using clean (potable) water.
13. Then, drain the fresh water system (see Draining the fresh water system).
NOTE: If a chlorine taste lingers in the water, flush the water system with a
solution consisting of one-quart vinegar to five gallons of clean water. Re-flush as
necessary.


To the OP: If you decide the odor is coming from the grey tank, the enzyme type tank treatments work in either grey or black tanks. Some folks use them as routine maintenance.
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Old 12-07-2014, 01:30 PM   #8
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I've never winterizing my Campers for 20 some yrs and never had that issue. winterizing ?? as long as you drain the hole system U are Ok, then flush it and U are combat ready for the coming season.
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Old 12-07-2014, 03:06 PM   #9
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We never winterized our old trailer and then last year we had frozen pipes and a busted hot water heater. So this year I wanted to be extra careful. We are in Texas and it does not freeze a lot but I wanted to be on the safe side. Thanks for all your help!!
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Old 12-07-2014, 03:37 PM   #10
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Originally Posted by Msullivan32 View Post
Hello all,

I tried to find this question already answered but no luck. We have a 2015 Jayco 28BHBE, and we have been having a hard time figuring out where the rotten egg smell is coming from. It seems like it's coming from the sinks, but how do I fix this. Right now the trailer is winterized. Last weekend we de winterized it and took it camping. All weekend we smelt it. Then when we returned it got cold again so we had to winterize again. I have turned the gas off to see if that's the problem, but I would think our sensor would have gone off if we had a leak. I have read that it could be the hot water heater, but it is empty and the bypass is open. I use lemon tablets at the end of every campout to avoid any smells. Please help.
It most likely is coming from your sinks. We had the same issue and poured a cup of bleach down each drain and let it set for a while. We do that twice a season. No more rotten egg smell!!!
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Old 12-07-2014, 06:48 PM   #11
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This might be a longshot, but is the propane tank you are using getting low on fuel? Sometimes a nearly empty tank will give off an odor from the ethyl mercapan (the odorant added to propane so you can smell it if you have a leak). It doesn't seem to burn along with the propane and can accumulate in the bottom of the tank.
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Old 12-07-2014, 11:16 PM   #12
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We used to get this a lot from the hot water heater. Happened in several trailers after winterizing and sometimes after they would sit awhile with water in the system (we full time now so the water never sits). What I would do is dump one gallon of bleach into the fresh water tank and fill it. Our fresh water tanks were always around 30 gallons, so this gave the 30:1 ratio for sanitizing. Then, we just used the camper for a weekend and the smell always went away. Dishes seemed a little cleaner too . I have also done this more quickly by running the 30:1 solution through using the water pump by opening all the hot and cold faucets. The first way seemed to work a little better, but the second would do in a pinch.
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Old 12-08-2014, 08:03 AM   #13
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To summarize, you have a variety of things to check:

Battery - possible, but honestly highly unlikely, especially with a new unit. As poster said, easy to check!

Water heater - depending on your model, if it has an anode, that could be defective and causing the smell. Cheap/easy replacement. Many models don't have this, and it is pretty unlikely in a new model.

Water heater - sulphur bacteria growing in the heater. Hence the instructions for bleaching your water supply. Pretty common problem in some areas of the country. Posts on other forums seem to implicate untreated well water as the cause. High possibility.

Water system - same as water heater. Again, bleaching is the answer.

Drains - less likely, but your old friend bleach will take care of what is in the traps.

Grey tank - same as the drains. Again very less likely, as most odors are prevented from escaping via traps (which is what traps are for). Bleach from doing the drains should fix it.

Finally, just the water itself. Drain system and rinse....
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Old 12-08-2014, 11:16 AM   #14
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This has happened to us twice from the gray tank primarily after a long sit. We made sure all traps were filled with water and eventually (within a day) the smell was gone. Now, before we leave, I flush the gray tank.
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Old 12-08-2014, 12:54 PM   #15
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Can you run the bleach water through the hot water heater?
Yes... This is most likely what it is. Bacteria from the water sitting unused in your water heater over the course of camping season. Easiest way to deal with it is to make a mixture of water and bleach (search for the correct ratio... something like 25 to 1) and put it in a large bucket and use the hose you use to winterize your camper.

Once you have water pressure (make sure you do NOT have the water heater bypassed for this), open your hot water line. This will draw the bleach mixture into the water heater. You will need at least 6.5 gallons of bleach solution for a typical 6 gallon water heater. I'd suggest a little more and run the hot water lines in the sinks and bathtub so you kill any residual bacteria in those lines. Let it sit for 24 hours, it should kill the bacteria.

You can just drain your water heater or open your low point drains and all your faucets to get the bleach water out.

Been there... done that. Now I make sure to drain my low points after EVERY SINGLE TRIP.
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Old 12-08-2014, 01:11 PM   #16
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... After some more searching, it could have been the plumbing vent under the sink also?...
I second this possibility. The gray-line vent under the bath sink might be stuck open, allowing gases to enter the TT. Snif it to see, or rubber-band a plastic band over it for a while to see if the odor dissipates.

If it's your sink drain traps, it's easy (but a nasty job) to remove them and clean out the accumulated gunk- just place a drain pan underneath when removing them. I think that is more effective than bleaching them, since you're removing all the "food" for the bacteria.
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