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Old 10-01-2012, 10:53 AM   #1
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Sulfur Smell

Just went over to MH and opened door and was met with an awful smell! I was in it last week and there was no smell. Hubby said it smelled like sulfer. Was the same smell we had when we first got the MH and turned the water faucets on! At that time we did a flush on the water system and that ended the smell coming from the faucets. Any ideas what could be causing this smell in MH with nothing on or running on inside? I have fans running to clear out the smell.
Thanks for any help,
Bren
2005 Itasca Horizon 40ft
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Old 10-01-2012, 11:13 AM   #2
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You can get the sulfur smell from a battery that is cooking itself to death. Check the battery bank. Leaving the battery on charge without a float charge can dry one out and cook it. It will explode.

If it is the water system, check the water heater and replace the anode if it has one. Flush the entire water systems with a mixture of water and vinegar. Then flush it with baking soda flush with fresh water, then baking soda and water and then fresh water again.

Ken
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Old 10-01-2012, 12:25 PM   #3
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Do you have a Splendide? We notice if the coach sits for awhile unused, the trap for the washer starts to smell bad (not really a strong sulfur smell but a definite unpleasant smell) because of the remaining standing waste water can't be adequately flushed from that particular trap. The other traps can smell too but if we know the coach is going to sit for awhile, we will pour just a little RV antifreeze down each drain ...we've found the antifreeze tends not to smell as much if sitting in the traps for long periods.

But yes, we agree, if it's a very strong sulfur smell, it may be the batteries.
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Old 10-01-2012, 12:48 PM   #4
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Could be one of 3 things, two already mentioned. Batteries, iron deposits in water heater, or your RV is from H*ll.
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Old 10-01-2012, 12:54 PM   #5
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Bren,
As has been stated, it can be your batteries. I know this for a fact. We have a very similar coach to yours, an '04 Itasca Horizon, 36GD with the 330 CAT and Allison MH3000 trans. Unless yours has been changed, it most likely came with the Dimensions 2000 watt inverter/charger. Can't guaranty it but, it surely could be the same one.

And, that inverter/charger has what's called an "equalizing" charge that happens, as the manual states, about every five cycles of charging. Now, if it goes into that state of charging, and, one of your house batteries has a bad or shorted cell, the charger will go nuts trying to charge it and, trying to equalize the other two batteries.

Normally that inverter/charger has three steps to its charging cycles. I never can remember the three stages but, basically it's a full on hard, high amp charge to get them going after some serious use, then, a mid level charge to get them all to be close to equal and close to topping off and finally, a float charge to keep them topped of while not using.

But, we had that same exact sulfur smell about a month after we purchased the coach, about 18 or so months ago. Long story short, after some diligent exploration and sniffing of all the drains etc. it was determined to be the house batteries, cooking away, on the outside of the coach. One of my (1) year old, Group 29, 12V deep cycle Marine RV, Interstate house batteries was at about 155 degrees was almost "boiling". Talk about seriously hot, yeow!!! So, we changed it out. Not guaranteeing that's your problem but, I'd sure look at those batteries.
Scott
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Old 10-01-2012, 06:28 PM   #6
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Batteries is where I'd start my search. I get it will end there.
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Old 10-01-2012, 06:42 PM   #7
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We had a nasty smell from our hot water faucets ...

We flushed the Hot Water Tank ... wire ... small hose ... repeated flushing until no more residue ... then added vinegar to the tank ... filled the tank ... the smell went away ..

We did have to clean all the screens on all the faucets that have hot water ... it lookes sort of like dryer lint on the sceens ...

All is good now
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Old 10-01-2012, 06:50 PM   #8
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Just changed our batteries for that exact same reason. Take the batteries out and the smell goes with them. It could be an overcharging issue as previously mentioned, may be the alternator doing the overcharging too. Your rig is the same set up as ours I think.
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Old 10-01-2012, 08:38 PM   #9
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Thanks everyone, we checked batteries and one of them was bad! Smell was bout gone an hour later!
Bren
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Old 10-01-2012, 09:29 PM   #10
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Upslady,
You have a PM.
Scott
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Old 10-02-2012, 02:15 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Upslady View Post
Thanks everyone, we checked batteries and one of them was bad! Smell was bout gone an hour later!
Bren
Job isn't done until you double check that the dud batter wasn't caused by a faulty charger/converter
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Old 10-02-2012, 06:47 AM   #12
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Glad you found the problem. But as noted, you need to cehck the charger/converter to make sure it is cooking the batteries. But it could be that the battery was dry due to not being checked. I check the batteries every 1 to 2 months.

Ken
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Old 10-02-2012, 06:47 PM   #13
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Our demented demensions was overcharging our batteries, had it fixed and no more probs. /we didn't have smell, just had propane alarm going off. Sulfur smell will also come if you don't drain the WH between trips.
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