Horrendous smell and pink water coming out of FW tank

ron.dittmer wrote:

I do wonder if any of you who keep your motor home outside in winter just blow out your fresh water lines and traps and do without antifreeze. Maybe a little water remains in the on-board water pump with concern of damage.

Many people do blow out the fresh water plumbing with an air compressor in lieu of using antifreeze solution to displace the water, yours truly among them. It is a straightforward enough process and perfectly effective. Generally antifreeze is still used in the drain traps, partly because getting them free of water is difficult and partly to prevent odors. In some situations a shop vac can be used to suck water out of traps, particularly with non-RV toilets.

It probably does not make sense to purchase a compressor solely for winterization duty.

good luck with that hydrogen peroxide sanitization. IIRC for surface sterilization pharmaceutical firms use a 30% concentration. the stuff you can buy is what 5%?, dilute that down and you basically have nothing left. calculate the cost of x number of bottles required to do what ends up being an inadequate job.
I think this is one of those old wives tales where authors needing something to write about use this to fluff out their article on RVing.
if you use hydrogen peroxide at this level and find your water system to be adequately sanitized, your system didn't need sanitization in the first place.
bumpy

Speede55,

Just to be very clear about the word "Antifreeze" thrown around this thread. The only kind ever to use is specifically for motor home and other RV plumbing. It is also safe and proper to use for regular houses that get winterized. It is PINK in color and is stated on the gallon jug that it is specific for RV plumbing. It is non-toxic. It is sold in jugs identical to the blue windshield washer fluid. It is sold in places like Walmart's automotive department. If you have a home improvement center called Menard's, they run great sales on the stuff in the fall where it is free after rebate.

NEVER EVER use any other kind of antifreeze in your RV plumbing. Theoretically you could use automotive engine anti-freeze in your waste tanks, but there are serious environmental violations along with the unknown of how the waste valves and such are compatible with it. Use only the RV pink jug stuff and you will never go wrong.

I do wonder if any of you who keep your motor home outside in winter just blow out your fresh water lines and traps and do without antifreeze. Maybe a little water remains in the on-board water pump with concern of damage.

The current-day design of the Phoenix Cruiser has some kind of easy winterizing method where you add the pink antifreeze through the city water connection with a winterizing setting as demonstrated HERE at minute #6:00

You can use the bleach as has been described or you can use hydrogen peroxide. Many people have been going to Hyd per because it is not corrosive and is safe to drink in small quantities. Many dentists recommend it for mouth wash and Moms around the world use it on childrens cuts. If you put it into the rinse tank after using the bleach it will kill the chlorine odor too. The only real problem is that you will have a difficult time finding concentrated Hyd Per locally but you can use 2 or 3 drug store bottles to kill the chlorine odor.

I really appreciate all the iinput. I think I have a plan of attack when I get back home with this thing, so it'll be fully ready for next weekend.

When you use bleach, it took me awhile to find just plain bleach without scents or cleansers added. I have no idea what those "frufru" bleaches would do to your innards if you happened to use your potable water for anything.

Also, I had a horrific smell coming out of my Atwood water heater. I found a procedure that used 5 gallons of white vinegar sucked up into the water heater to get rid of the smell, but it worked like a champ and has been odor free for a couple of years.

There's nothing wrong with putting antifreeze in the fresh water tank. Many manufacturers even list it as one of the ways to winterize your unit. I just wouldn't leave excess sitting in the tank after you run it through the lines. Drain the excess out through your low point drain if there is any. It should hurt with it in the lines of tank for 3-6 months. Run water through it afterwards until it's gone. If you are one that drinks from the water lines (we are not), then I would recommend sanitizing it at least once or twice.

With a reported smell, it sounds like water or something else has sat for a long period of time. With only 4000 miles on a 4 year old unit, I would imagine that it hasn't been used in a while.

Speede55,

Do your best to flush out the fresh water tank. Most tanks have a drain right on the tank itself, located in a hidden place. Put your garden hose in running at a slow rate, enough so the drain keeps up with the flow of fresh water. After an hour of that, run the fresh water through the pipes and the hot water tank with it's white plastic drain removed. Once you feel you've gotten rid of the pink antifreeze, then you are ready to disinfect the system.

An annual ritual just before the first RV trip of the season, I disinfect our RV plumbing. I add about a half gallon of household laundry bleach into my 41 gallon fresh water tank and then fill to over-flowing. Then I run the bleach solution through all the faucets. I also fill the hot water tank the same way. I then refill the main tank again to maximize the coverage of bleach solution inside the tank.

Many motor homes have a kitchen faucet, a bathroom faucet, a shower, and an outdoor shower. Be sure to work all of them. Run water through all faucets, hot and cold, with enough solution sitting in the traps to freshen them up too. Let the bleach solution sit in your pipes and tanks for 1 to 2 hours, then flush them all out with fresh water from your flushed-out fresh water tank. It will take about a week of regular use for the water to not smell chlorinated. In the Chicago area, the water smells like that year round so the people in my area feel right at home.

Like most RV people, my wife and I use bottled water for consumption anyway, but it's comforting to know our plumbing is safe.

I also fill our toilet and sinks and add some bleach in them as well to bleach them clean. I also bleach both waste tanks the same way. And after an hour or two, I drain and flush them too.

DO NOT let the bleach sit in anything without flushing it for more than 2 hours for the chlorine can degrade the seals throughout your motor home if left in for extended periods. I have been doing the process I described for 10 years now with our rig because our motor home is stored in our garage below our bedroom. I don't want any hint of sewer gas. All the (pink) flushing (if I had any) and chlorine draining I do is discharged on our driveway. Of coarse the process is started with waste tanks last emptied at a dump station as not to discharge anything bad on the driveway at home. Our driveway starts out smelling ever so slightly yuk but ends up smelling like a swimming pool when I am done.

I haven't read all 3 pages.

Some tanks don't drain completely. The drain is on the side of the tank rather than the bottom. If that is the case, you'll need to feed a tube down into it and siphon everything out.

I bought a used MH with the same problem.

Travelin2 wrote:
That's too bad that you can't see your way clear to use your freshwater system as it was intended. If you sanitize the system and fill with clean water, then it is perfectly safe to use for drinking. If you want an eye opener, you should have a look inside any public water storage tank and the plumbing or check out the inside of your well casing when you change out your well pump. If you want a confidence builder, take a water sample from your RV down to your county water dept. and have it tested. I think you will be pleasantly surprised...Good luck and all the best.

I don't have a problem using my on board water. After servicing commercial ice machines and seeing what happens at hotels with cleaning glasses with dirty towels I feel that my RV is WAY cleaner! Plus if I fill up at home then I have my home water for many of my shorter trips and I feel this is better than getting water on the road.