Hot water smells

[Pamela]

When I am running my hot water heater the water smells like rotten eggs. The guy I purchased it from had removed the anode (sp?) for that very reason but installed a new one for me when I purchased it. Anyone else have that problem. I have a 24 ft. Chinook Destiny.
Pamela

[Bethers]

How long since it's been used? Water sitting in that tank can develop a smell. I suggest running hot water until you know all the "old" water is out and it's heating new and seeing if that does the trick. Especially if it's been sitting, then you might want to drain the tank and let it refill. But make sure it's full before you turn on to heat the water!!! And the tank should be drained periodically and the tank rinsed out to get rid of junk in it anyway ... easy to do.

[AlmostThere]

copied -

It is not uncommon for RV owners to complain of bad water. The first sign of a contaminated water system is usually a bad taste, followed by strange orders emanating from the water supply. Bacteria may have built up in the water tank, especially if the water tank's supply has not been used frequently and has not been replenished with fresh, clean water on a regular basis. When a rig comes out of storage or is being used extensively on a city-water connection, the tank and entire water system should be sanitized before use. Some of the bacterial buildup can cause serious illness; so don't take chances!

Drain the water tank completely, then refill halfway with clean, fresh water.

Mix 1/4 cup of household chlorine bleach for every 15 gallons of tank capacity in a container with a gallon or two of clean water.

Pour this mixture into the water tank. If your RV has a tank fill valve that comes from the city water connection, the mixture can be poured into the hose, or if you use a canister water filter you can remove the filter cartridge and pour the chlorine into it.

Top off the water tank with fresh water.

Pump water through each faucet so that all the lines are filled with the water/bleach. You can easily smell the chlorine odor when it reaches each location.

The hot-water tank holds at least 6 gallons of water. Run the hot-water faucets until this much solution has passed to insure that the old water has been purged from the hot-water tank, and it is now filled with the water/bleach solution from the water tank.

Let the water stand for two or more hours.

Drain the entire water system, and don't forget to drain the water heater.

To remove the bleach odor and taste, mix 1/2 cup of baking soda with a gallon of water and pour into the freshwater tank.

Fill the tank completely and pump this solution through the water heater and the rest of the water lines. Driving the rig around the block will slosh water around and thoroughly clean the tank. Allow it to stand at least two hours.

Drain the entire system and refill with fresh, clean water. Once again pump the water completely through the entire plumbing system.

[Pamela]

The RV had been winterized with the pink stuff but I took it back to him to de-winterize it and was there and helped him flush the tanks (March 8th or so). The anode wasn;t in it and the water didn;t smell. He changed the water purifier filter (Seagull (sp) for me not long after that. As I said, the water only smelled like that when the hot water heater was on. Doesn;t smell like that when it;s just coming out of the tap cold. He is very picky about the motorhome and took excellent care of it. He understood that not having the anode inserted was not the best thing to do but he couldn;t stand the smell so removed it. I will do what you suggested as far as sanitizing but still curious as to if you have heard of anyone complaining about this issue before. He has another Class B (Sprinter) at home and he has owned numerous other rigs. I will ask him if he had that problem with any of the others.

[chalet05]

I had this happen a few years ago in my pop up when I wasn't using the hot water on a trip. I drained the hot water tank - that is all it took. That hot water tank didn't have an anode rod because it was a plastic tank so that has nothing to do with that rotten egg smell.

It also has nothing to do with how a rig is taken care of - it is just a reaction in the hot water tank whether metal or plastic. If you do a search on rv.net, you will find multiple posts about this issue. It also has nothing to do with the fresh water tank so your cold water will not have the smell.

[Pamela]

Thanks for all replies. I am going to drain the water tank before I leave on my maiden journey Friday. I spoke to the previous owner and he also suggested drining the tank as he thinks it may be his water which is where is was filled up.

Pamela

[retiredhappy]

Won't you need water in your fresh tank while you're on the road? At least so you can use the toilet. Glad you decided to take your rig instead of just your car. Have fun.