Odor from hot water heater

[dlmfarm]

I just bought my 25.5foot Terry 5th wheel about 6 weeks ago. we have used it several times, but in the past week we notice a rotten egg smell coming from the hot water heater if you leave it for about 3 days. Was wanting to know how to get rid of the smell?

[PNW_Steve]

I lived for several years in an area with very high mineral content water and the "rotten egg" smell was common. The locals told me to remove the anode from my water heater. I resisted because I had copper plumbing and the purpose of the anode is to sacrifice itself to save the copper pipes.

I finally did remove the anode and the smell was significantly reduced. Note: we also had a higher than normal sulphur content.

[Coach-man]

Just stayed at an RV park in Ft. Lauderdale, high sulphur content in water, from well? Went south to another park and ran water thru the system, both hot and cold, smell went away! I have never drained the hot water tank in any of my RV's, and have only had the rotten egg smell twice in almost 12 years. Running "good" city water thru the system will fix it!

[rseymour21]

BB_TX wrote:
Read about the cause and solution on this site.

Thanks for the Link, been some good reading!

[Greg_The_Hammer]

The sacrificial anode Rod May be gone. They are meant to be 'used up' over time. Replace it and also sanitize. I always add a few TBPS of Clorox every time I fill the fresh waster tanks. I get a kick out of my friend who always makes a joke when I say 'hot water heater'. He says it's just a 'water heater'. If the water is already hot, you wouldn't need a heater.... LOL

[Ohiojude]

We just dealt with this and it was a first for us. We drained the water heater, ran a quart of bleach thru then rinsed thru 2x. We are going to drain the water heater after each trip now.

[RCMAN46]

I replaced my drain plug (No anode rod on mine) with a ball valve.

After a trip I flush my tank until cold water comes out. Usually get some sediment each time.

During the summer I leave the tank full and flush again when filling the fresh water tank for next trip.

[sleekcrafter]

I try to run the hose for a few minutes before hook-up. Many of these hook-up's sit dormant for a week or so.

[jimmyfred]

...........One thing to remember , when the trailer is sitting for long periods , Turn off the gas and the electric heating element , because the water will just sit there and Cook with no flow ! It makes NO SENSE to leave the gas or electric on to maintain the 130 to 140f when your not using the hot water except occasionaly . Obviously , during winter it's a different situation .,jf

[BB_TX]

Read about the cause and solution on this site.

[jbbrick]

Lots of information about this on the various sites. Boils down to bacterial growth as said. You need to do a clorox treatment and really sanitize the tank.

[3_dog_nights]

Before I started to routinely drain the heater upon returning from a trip, I would have this problem on occasion. I would drain the tank and hold a water hose to the outlet and back fill as best I could. Usually after about two or three of these cycles it would start to smell sweet again and all would be right with the world.(wife was happy). Good luck, easy fix.

[abc40kids]

Not saying a complete sanitize might not help but the rotten egg smell just happened to me two trips go and it was bad, so bad my wife took a shower in the bath house. The next day I drained the water heater and then let it fill up again. I didn't add anything to the water system and immediately the smell was gone.

Try this first before you start adding anything to your water system.

[naturist]

The odor comes about due to bacterial growth in stagnant water with lack of air. It can be expected in water systems that are not used for some time, especially if the water put in them is NOT from a chlorinated city water system, as campgrounds tend to be. Natural well or spring water, for example, is especially prone to this.

The solution is, firstly, to completely drain your water system, especially the water heater, between trips. In addition, sanitizing the system at least once a year using chlorine bleach is also helpful. For what it is worth, even though the water smells bad when you shower or flush the commode, it won't hurt anything. Tastes awful, too, if anyone holds their nose long enough to drink it. But I'll point out that a lot of famous mineral waters have the same odor for the similar reasons. I recall a trip to Bath, in the UK a few years ago, where the curative properties of the mineral water were legendary (and IMHO mostly trumped up hokum), and that water reeked of rotten eggs.

I think I'd stay away from running vinegar through the system, though, because that would be corrosive to any metal parts, such as the tank of the water heater.

[GENECOP]

You need to sanitize the entire fresh water system, fresh water tanks, maybe check and change the Anode Rod.......Run a mix of water and Vinegar through the entire system.....Then Flush with fresh water.....