Bad odor in the KITCHEN when taking a shower in the BATHROOM

[HellFyre]

Starting just last weekend on our most recent trip with the Toy Hauler, the following would happen. I would take a shower in the bathroom with a door on it. I'd finish everything I was doing and then when I would walk back out in the main section of the trailer there would be bad smell near kitchen sink/stove area.

I searched for "smell" and "hot water" and "rv" and the general consensus if that it's either algae in the tank or an exhausted sacrificial anode rod. The fixes are to run bleach through the tank and replace the rod, which I will do.

However, the symptoms don't quite line up for several reasons:

• I just took a shower and the hot water coming out of the shower head definitely didn't smell. Smelling the hot water directly from either sink didn't smell either.
• The odor would be coming from by the sink/stove area even though nobody had been doing anything there. I was first up and in the shower
• The smell isn't exactly rotten eggs or propane, but coppery? Hard to explain.
• The odor appears to be coming from approximately where the actual tank is, not from any of the faucets.

Is there a third option it could be? This very consistent.

For reference, this is a "Extreme Mega-Lite 21BT, and here's the ***Link Removed***.

[Bobbo]

I have replaced both of mine, and carry a spare.

[myredracer]

HellFyre wrote:
Thanks for all the pointers, everyone! I looked under the sink and there in fact is an AAV in the general area from which the smell was coming. The downside is that it was way up and tucked in the framing so I'll have to come back to it tonight with better lighting and tools.

You shouldn't need tools to remove it. They're just hand screwed onto the ABS pipe.

[HellFyre]

MudChucker wrote:
these are among the items that we carry a spare part and tools to change out. While they dont fail often, they do fail and when they do, its nasty.

Great advice!

[MudChucker]

these are among the items that we carry a spare part and tools to change out. While they dont fail often, they do fail and when they do, its nasty.

[HellFyre]

Thanks for all the pointers, everyone! I looked under the sink and there in fact is an AAV in the general area from which the smell was coming. The downside is that it was way up and tucked in the framing so I'll have to come back to it tonight with better lighting and tools.

[myredracer]

The first suspect would be a stuck/failed AAV if you have one gray tank. If you replace the AAV, I'd recommend the higher quality Oatey one that was posted above (photo below).

We had the AAV at our kitchen sink go bad in less than a year. Bought a replacement at Lowes and it didn't last long either. Went back to Lowes again and bought the better Oatey version and it has been fine. The AAV for our bathroom sink had to be replaced in under 2 years.

[jnharley]

The air admittance valves go bad all the time. We have replaced both of ours (under bathroom sink and kitchen sink) at least once and need to replace the kitchen one again. You really can smell a stinky smell when they go bad.

[JaxDad]

Also check the vent stack. Generally air, like just about everything else in nature, takes the path of least resistance. That means there's something causing the air admittance valve to be an easier path, it should not be.

[opnspaces]

The air admittance valve like Dutch_12078 posted is in the cabinet under the sink by the P trap. If failed it will let smell out regardless of water in the trap. It's also fairly inexpensive at just under six dollars.
Link

[MudChucker]

The smell won't come from the sink as you have a water filled p trap to prevent this.

[Dutch_12078]

Air admittance valves come in a variety of shapes, but they're interchangeable within a given size. Yours may look more like this one:

[gbopp]

You can get the air admittance valves at Lowe's, Home Depot, Hardware Stores, etc..

[HellFyre]

Thanks, guys! I'll check these things out and report back!

[sch911]

HellFyre wrote:
Would this cause the smell to emanate from valve area instead of the drain in the sink? Because, as I responded to rexlion it doesn't appear to come from the drain. But if it's coming from this valve (assuming I have one) that the smell could be coming up from between the sink and stove, which would make sense.

Thanks!

Yes, and pretty much every RV has one or two of these...