drcook wrote:
yep, I may have it backwards as to the construction, still doesn't change the fact that all RV hot water tanks don't have an anode rod.
ours still smells after filling it up after 2 or 3 days
the only way to keep it from smelling is to use a chemical. our water is not chlorinated. if I filled it from a city faucet I might not have this issue. if the last place anyone fills up is pumped from a well (lots of campgrounds) you can have the same issue. there is going to be bacteria in the water
in fact, every once in a while we have to crack the well head open and sanitize it. every time you work on a well and open the well head, you do the same.
drcook,
Sounds like you are on a private well (not chlorinated). Where I live, I also am on a private well. Our water is pretty bad. Oh, it's 100% safe to drink, it's just so full of minerals it makes you wonder what your drinking.
With that said, we have the same problem you do (even in the house). If our water sits (not just a water heater) anywhere, after just a few hours it begins to smell. Not a sulfur smell, just an unpleasant smell. And, as long as the water is moving, it stays clear, but let it sit for just a few moments, and it begins to turn a grey rust color almost immediately. Not to mention a sediment that sticks to everything, and eventually rust.
We solved all of this by getting a whole house filtration system. We went with Kenetico and also got the water softener too. The system is 2 tanks filled with sand, or something. Water filters through one tank and pulls out all the minerals (and smell). The other tank sits idle. (No electricity at all required for this system).
When the first tank reaches a certain point, It begins to back fill and flushes out all the "gunk" down a drain. The second tank immediately kicks in so you have no interruptions in water supplied to the house. When the first tank is completely backwashed, the backwash stops and the house is using the 2nd tank until it need backwashed when the system repeats itself.
The nice thing about this system is, it only cleans itself, depending upon how much water you use. If you go on vacation or something, it will never backwash. There are no timers, no electricity. It's all run based on your water flow.
The important thing is, we now no longer have the minerals in the water, the rust stains in every sink, toilet, and bathtub in the house, and there is no longer that funky smell.
UNFORTUNATELY! the outside spigot is NOT tapped into the system. It's fed before the filters, so when filling the water tank for the trailer, I have to tap into the water faucet for our washing machine. I put a quick connect on it and it has a Y adapter so I don't have to unscrew hoses this way, just plug the one in.
So, I guess what I'm saying is, if you have funky water in your house, you'll never get rid of the smell in your camper ... until you go camping and are able to hook up to a campground water system.
Whenever we are at a campground and especially if it's city water (chlorinated), I always take advantage of that and flush my lines, water heater, tanks everything. I don't use any chlorine or sanitation methods on any of my tanks or lines in the camper. By taking advantage of chlorinated water (when I'm lucky), has worked pretty good for us for 8 years now (since we've moved into our current house).
The only thing I can REALLY recommend if you are using water from your house to keep the smell out .... Use the water when you are using the camper. When done, drain the water heater. The little bit of water left in the lines will flush right out first time you turn the water back on. But .... definitely ... keep that water heater drained and empty when not in use... until you can find a solution for the foul water smell coming from the house.
From what you described (above), there is nothing wrong with your camper, the anode rod (or lack of anode rod), the water heater, fungus growing in your lines, or anything like that. The source is the water itself. I know... been there ... done that. People on wells are in a different category!
