Odd Smell/Odor

Grit dog wrote:

Gdetrailer wrote:
Is the odor smell more like "dirt" or "earthy" like?

OP said chemical smell...

Depends..

Mold, mildew and wood rot from well hidden water leaks can smell like a lot of things, often like damp dirt or "earthy", musty smell.. Musty smells can sometimes smell a bit like "chemicals" and will have a long, long "hang time" in soft absorbent items like clothing, bedding items even when you have removed them from the source for days and even weeks.

OPs RV should have enough age now that most "chemical" smells from glues, plastics, carpeting, flooring should have dissipated by now to the point of not being detectable.

Odors from black tank if they use chemical treatments can and will hang for very long periods of time, persistent odors from heavy black tank chemical treatments are very possible if the toilet blade seal is not working as it should or you have bad gasket between toilet and tank.

Odors from a malfunctioning air admittance valve are NOT going to smell like chemicals unless someone has dumped a chemical treatment down a sink drain. Instead you will get a highly nauseous sour smell a lot like dank, stale swamp water.

Mice can be an issue though, they use everything as a "litter box" and their urine is extremely pungent and has a heavy AMMONIA component (chemical smell), they love to burrow into fiberglass insulation and saturate it with their urine and high moisture in the air and or high temperatures seems to bring the odor back with a vengeance..

I am betting the OP has severe hidden water damage with lots of wood rot.. OR they have a severe mouse infestation with lots of nests.. Both cases would require some major surgery to walls and ceiling..

So it does not smell dirt or earthy or even like sewer water. We even bought a special air filter that is suppose to be used for formaldehyde that made little difference. It has always smelled chemically/perfume. I have never smelled the smell, sticking my head into a bulk head or cabinet or smelling right up against the wood.

So this weekend I located both of the black AAV valves, removed both, and simply put doubled up plastic wrap over both the kitchen and bathroom vents. I then used tape to secure/make sure they are air tight. I've also made sure that all p-traps have water and then stopped up all sink/bath drains and added water so that I can visually tell that there is nothing coming through those areas. I did the same for the toilet. I have now left it open to air out for going on 48 hours now and I have to say the small is significantly better today.

We took out everything that wasn't glued/bolted down out of the trailer on Friday and all of that stuff carries that smell. So now we will febreze anything cloth (window valences/blinds) and see if that helps removing any residual smell from anything fabric/soft surface.

This is starting to make sense though as the rear bunk area has never had the smell as badly (furthest away from kitchen, but has the same cabinet/wall/floor building materials. The main area/master are more open to the kitchen which has one of those AAV valves, and at times the bathroom has had the smell, but it often has the door closed.

Thank you for the input and I will report back after we give it a few more days, but so far this is the most progress we have made in months!!

Perhaps the OP will return and have more input.

Gdetrailer wrote:
Is the odor smell more like "dirt" or "earthy" like?

OP said chemical smell...

It could be a mechanical valve problem, but I doubt it -- Remember, they have nothing to do with the black tank, only the gray tank -- Put some black tank chemicals in the gray tank with water & drive around - If the smell goes away, good, if not, it`s not your plumbing -- You could a mold problem -- Bill Willard

We had a foul but not strong smell coming from the mattress in our Jayco (Australian Jayco) that was there from new and we put it down to formaldehide that was somehow used in the construction of the mattress. Once we replaced it the problem was solved, no more smell. BTW... The matress was made in China would you believe. Jayco wouldn't budge and replace it so we had to pay but it was worth it!

Air Admittance Valve has failed. Check under 1 of your sinks, should be hand tight. Available at any hardware store. Buy 2, they are cheap. Can also be called a Mechanical Plumbing Vent

Our 2017 camper gassed off so bad it set the propane detector off in hot weather while sitting in driveway. Took over 2 years to dissipate to the point it quit going off in those conditions.

From your description it really sounds like off gassing. Mine was built in the days of Heavy formaldehyde smell from all the glues. For years when going in after a sitting in storage I would have to hold my breath and go open a bunch of windows and let it sit overnight. It was so bad I would get a sore throat from smelling it if I didn't air it out. Once aired out the small was there but very faint.

On yours I would put covers on all roof vents so they can stay open 24/7 That should help air it out and reduce the smell while in storage.

wildtoad wrote:
From what the op said, it’s probably not black or gray tank smells. For the first couple of years in our Newmar we had an “odd” smell which I had smelled before, at the Newmar factory. They use a lot of glue/sealant on these things.

A grey tank can have a strange chemical odor - mine does under certain conditions.