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LeBout's avatar
LeBout
Explorer
Nov 17, 2013

Weird Odor

We have the strangest odor in our TT...it smells like an ash tray! (That's my best description.)

We bought our TT in March, obviously used from CampingWorld and we were able to go into it and look it over before they even had a chance to clean or detail it. (They got it in that same day!) Never even a HINT of bad odors or even anything attempting to cover a bad odor. (Wife and I are non-smokers and can smell it a mile away.)

We stayed in the TT this year for 30 nights throughout the Spring and Summer and had NO issues at all. Late this summer I took the TT to our local RV Repair shop (kind of a ma and pa business) for some minor work. Ever since then it has smelled of cigarette butts. (I know that the wife of the RV shop DOES smoke...but I've seen her doing it and she ALWAYS goes outside. And the repair area is ALWAYS wide open during the summer with tons of ventilation. All that leads to me question HOW it might have picked up an odor there...but that's when it began.

I really love the folks who own the RV Shop, and I'm not planning on speaking to them about it. But I wanted to ask here what the best way might be to get an odor out of the TT. Is it just a matter of airing it out sufficiently or is there something we can get to help out?

18 Replies

  • If it smells like "smoked salmon", it could be the coffee maker. Mine was a couple years old and something burnt-out in it. Kinda smelt like cigs or an ashtray.
  • I would think it is something in the trailer other than smokes. Even if someone had smoked in your trailer it would not linger that long.

    I am guessing either of the suggestions....smoke being drawn in through a vent "1 or secondly that there is a moisture issue somewhere.

    Just curious...It isn't the smell of a dead mouse is it? That is something that is awful like smokes.
  • Please delete - double post. Sorry.

    Use a Bad Air Sponge. I have problems with fragrances. These things work to remove odors and they don't give off any masking fragrances.
  • Use a Bad Air Sponge. I have problems with fragrances. These things work to remove odors and they don't give off any masking fragrances.

    They are used by people who professionally clean disaster sites.
  • My guess is that someone working on the trailer has left some butts in it, in some place that is not obvious. Take it apart with a fine-tooth comb... under the bed, under the dinette seats/furniture, every drawer, cabinet, the space around the water heater, the wardrobe, medicine cabinet, anywhere else they might have been into.

    And if you can't find it, take it back to the shop.
  • We had similar problem until we realized that our MaxxAir fan was working so well that it was drawing in cig smoke from other campers and they weren't that close to us. Took a few days of airing out and some room freshener to eliminate the problem.
  • If it came up all of the sudden it could be a drip/leak causing mold, or overflowing water from the refrigerator drain line or evem condensation leaking onto carpets from "sweating windows".


    Febreze!

    It's actually amazing how well this stuff works! They have sprays, de-oderizers, candles, stickups and they actually WORK!