Rotten egg smell for water heater
A friend picked up a used motor home that has a few issues. Most of them we took care of, but what do you do about the rotten egg smell water from the water heater
Forum Discussion
Wrong?
I stand by my previous post.
The Atwood has an aluminum tank that acts as the anode while the metal and other contaminants act as the cathode.
This is from the Suburban Service Manual: Suburban Service
E. Odor from Hot Water System
Odor from the hot water system is not a service problem, and many water supplies contain sufficient
amounts of sulphur to produce an odor. The odor is similar to rotten eggs and is often referred to as
sulphur water. It is not harmful - only unpleasant to smell. Sulphur water can be caused by a
chemical action or by bacteria. The solution to eliminate is heavy chlorination of the water system.
Add about six ounces of heavy chlorine (common household liquid bleach) to each ten gallons in the
water tank. Then run the heavy chlorinated water through~ut the system, opening each faucet one
at a time until you smell the chlorine. Let the RV sit for a few days and the chlorine should take care
of the problem. Then you'll need to take care of the chlorine. You may consider adding a filtering
system that removes chlorine and prevents sulphur water.
I've had 2 Atwood and 2 Suburban WH's in 4 RV's and all of them at one time or another had the sulfur egg smell. Replaced an anode (still in good shape, manual states to replace if greater than 75% eaten away) in one of the Suburban heaters and took 2 months off from camping, smell was back just as bad. The only time a sacrificial anode rod on a Suburban Heater needs changing is when it has been eaten away to the point it offers no further electrolysis help. Atwood W/H have no rod and can stink the same. It's from non use. Flush it out and use the darn thing and the smell will disappear.
I stand by my previous post.
The Atwood has an aluminum tank that acts as the anode while the metal and other contaminants act as the cathode.
This is from the Suburban Service Manual: Suburban Service
E. Odor from Hot Water System
Odor from the hot water system is not a service problem, and many water supplies contain sufficient
amounts of sulphur to produce an odor. The odor is similar to rotten eggs and is often referred to as
sulphur water. It is not harmful - only unpleasant to smell. Sulphur water can be caused by a
chemical action or by bacteria. The solution to eliminate is heavy chlorination of the water system.
Add about six ounces of heavy chlorine (common household liquid bleach) to each ten gallons in the
water tank. Then run the heavy chlorinated water through~ut the system, opening each faucet one
at a time until you smell the chlorine. Let the RV sit for a few days and the chlorine should take care
of the problem. Then you'll need to take care of the chlorine. You may consider adding a filtering
system that removes chlorine and prevents sulphur water.
I've had 2 Atwood and 2 Suburban WH's in 4 RV's and all of them at one time or another had the sulfur egg smell. Replaced an anode (still in good shape, manual states to replace if greater than 75% eaten away) in one of the Suburban heaters and took 2 months off from camping, smell was back just as bad. The only time a sacrificial anode rod on a Suburban Heater needs changing is when it has been eaten away to the point it offers no further electrolysis help. Atwood W/H have no rod and can stink the same. It's from non use. Flush it out and use the darn thing and the smell will disappear.
