hot water odor

We have a seasonal site that we go to 2-3 wknds a mo. each time the hot water smells when first turned on, 3/4 the way through my shower (6gal) the smell goes away and is gone the remains of the wknd. We don't drink campground water.

nickthehunter ,i thank you for the attwood site info,i probably didnt need to replace my presssure relief either after reading the attwood info.buckeyebob

thanks guys,its soaking as we speak!!

buckeyebob wrote:
my attwood 10 gallon hot water has developed a smell .probably because i left it full for a couple of weeks,i drained it when i installed a new pressure relief valve.it still has a sulfur smell .how do i make my wife happy and remove this smell,clorine?

This is why I drain my hot water heater after every trip.

You need to use vinegar and flush your hot water heater to get rid of the current problem (page 2 of the attached from Atwood): clicky
Then drain your hot water heater in between uses so it doesn't re-occur.

It is because anaerobic bacteria got a chance to grow because the tank wasn't drained. They are harmless but do make a bad taste and smell. Do the bleach disinfect and flush well. Or do it with a quart of hydrogen peroxide instead of bleach, which will make it easier to flush.

Most likely you picked up some bad water someplace. Same thing happened to us a couple times.

If at a campground, do like already mentioned and drain, flush it a couple times. Re-fill and should be okay for rest of season. At end of season, drain, rinse inside of tank w/ a hot water wand (avail at CW) and leave anode rod out.

Next spring, re-rinse tank w/ wand, install anode rod, add chlorine to fresh tank and fill. Once full, fill the water tank w/ water from fresh tank. Let sit 24 hours, drain everything and re-fill fresh tank and do it all over again.

Doing this will remove/kill and bacteria the tank has. I Never did this before, but now I do. No problems since.

Drain and flush.

Chlorine, then back flush it. Our old TT would get pretty yucky in the water heater. I open the relief valve, then use the garden hose on spray, and spray in the drain hole, working the spray around inside the tank. Let it drain, and repeat. You'll be amazed what comes out. I got stuff out that looked like snot. I do this to the 5er when I get it out in the spring, but it hasn't gotten like the TT did.

Mark