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Old 09-23-2017, 02:56 PM   #1
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Fresh water odor

I have a 2016 Tuscany XTE which I bought new 9 months ago. I've recently noticed a sewer smell in the fresh water coming from my rear bathroom faucet. The other faucets and shower don't have this problem. After running the water for a few seconds the odor goes away. This happens whether we are drawing from the fresh water tank or connected to city water.

We've just returned from Alaska where we did lots of dry camping and not sure of the quality of all the water we filled the tank with.

Any ideas?

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Old 09-23-2017, 04:55 PM   #2
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Don't your bathroom fixtures all empty into the blackwater tank?
try closing plug in the sink drain, and see if it makes a difference.
You might want to add something that smells a bit better to your blackwater tank. (Something like Pine-Sol)

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Old 09-23-2017, 05:29 PM   #3
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If that sink uses a P-trap, it could be losing it's water block. As mentioned previously, try plugging it as a test
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Old 09-23-2017, 06:35 PM   #4
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In the bathroom the sink should drain to the black tank and the shower should go to the grey tank.

Look under the sink there you may find an air admittance valve. Perhaps it is loose or has failed. Since it is under the sink you may think that it is the sink causing the odor.
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Old 09-23-2017, 10:30 PM   #5
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Odor checks

Thanks for all the great input.

If the plumbing layout dwgs supplied to me by Thor is accurate, the drain from the rear lavatory sink is piped into the grey tank.

I tried plugging the drain before running water but still had the smell. An air break valve under the sink seems to be secured and working.

The real enigma is that I cannot smell any odors from the drain but if I run a glass of water I can smell the odor in the glass. Needless to say we aren't drinking the water directly from that faucet.
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Old 09-23-2017, 10:37 PM   #6
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Originally Posted by Wally View Post
Thanks for all the great input.

If the plumbing layout dwgs supplied to me by Thor is accurate, the drain from the rear lavatory sink is piped into the grey tank.

I tried plugging the drain before running water but still had the smell. An air break valve under the sink seems to be secured and working.

The real enigma is that I cannot smell any odors from the drain but if I run a glass of water I can smell the odor in the glass. Needless to say we aren't drinking the water directly from that faucet.
It sounds as if they hooked the faucets up to the balckwater tank: not the drain!
Have the water tested!
I forgot to ask: Are you drawing your water from your freshwater tank, or from a city water hook-up?
If it's from your tank: drain it. and give it a good sanitizing! Then try it again from a known source of good potable water.
(And hook up an external filter to that water supply also!)
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Old 09-23-2017, 11:01 PM   #7
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Water odor

This is the only faucet that has the odor at it! It seems to occur whether I'm drawing from the fresh water tank or connected to city water. I do have a filter on the water supply connection. I'll try draining and sanitizing the fresh water tank. One apparent problem is that the drain valve which is a 2" dump valve does not completely empty the fresh water tank.
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Old 09-23-2017, 11:19 PM   #8
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Sorry, but you got the stink bug in your water line, caused by formation of hydrogen sulfide. You need to sanitize your water system with bleach. Drain your fresh water tank, fill with fresh water and add a cup of bleach, using the pump run water thru each faucet till you can smell the bleach. Let the solution sit for about 4 hours then drain and flush everything with fresh water, should fix the problem.

On Tuscanys the bathroom sink is usually plumbed to the gray tank.
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Old 09-24-2017, 01:22 AM   #9
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Originally Posted by Bob Denman View Post
Don't your bathroom fixtures all empty into the blackwater tank?
try closing plug in the sink drain, and see if it makes a difference.
You might want to add something that smells a bit better to your blackwater tank. (Something like Pine-Sol)

Oh!! Welcome aboard!!
DO NOT add Pine-sol to your black tank, all it does is give you pine scented sh##.
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Old 09-24-2017, 01:26 AM   #10
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Sorry, but you got the stink bug in your water line, caused by formation of hydrogen sulfide. You need to sanitize your water system with bleach. Drain your fresh water tank, fill with fresh water and add a cup of bleach, using the pump run water thru each faucet till you can smell the bleach. Let the solution sit for about 4 hours then drain and flush everything with fresh water, should fix the problem.

On Tuscanys the bathroom sink is usually plumbed to the gray tank.
May also need to sanitize your water hose.
Alsoif you have a Suburban water heater, check the anode rod.
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Old 09-24-2017, 02:07 AM   #11
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Fresh water odor

I will try sanitizing the system once I get back home. I have an Atwood water heater with no anode but there are instruction for flushing it to eliminate sulfur odors.

Thanks again for all the suggestions.
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Old 09-25-2017, 08:45 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SuperD View Post
Sorry, but you got the stink bug in your water line, caused by formation of hydrogen sulfide. You need to sanitize your water system with bleach. Drain your fresh water tank, fill with fresh water and add a cup of bleach, using the pump run water thru each faucet till you can smell the bleach. Let the solution sit for about 4 hours then drain and flush everything with fresh water, should fix the problem.

On Tuscanys the bathroom sink is usually plumbed to the gray tank.
Agree. Most likely Hydrogen Sulfide. If you use well water in hot climates and leave standing for any Length of time it will happen (especially hot water). Easy fix after cleansing is to use city water whenever you are going to leave the unit in storage any length of time.
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Old 09-25-2017, 11:00 PM   #13
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Originally Posted by Travelin' Texans View Post
DO NOT add Pine-sol to your black tank, all it does is give you pine scented sh##.
What's wrong with that??
In my household: that would be a tremendous improvement!!
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Old 10-17-2017, 12:31 AM   #14
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I finally got stopped long enough to sanitize my system with bleach as recommended by SuperD. It worked great. No more stinkys[emoji3]. Thanks again for comments.
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Old 10-17-2017, 11:01 AM   #15
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Originally Posted by Wally View Post
I finally got stopped long enough to sanitize my system with bleach as recommended by SuperD. It worked great. No more stinkys[emoji3]. Thanks again for comments.
Glad you got it taken care of! Happy to help!
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Old 10-18-2017, 06:13 PM   #16
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I had mine flushed by a professional. He said to keep it clean and fresh you should put a 1/4 cup dawn detergent and 1/2 cup of Calgon. Works fantastic.
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Old 10-18-2017, 06:14 PM   #17
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Put it in both the gray and black water tank.
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Old 10-18-2017, 06:22 PM   #18
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How often should you add this Dawn/Calgon mix to the tanks, and how much water should go in with it?
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