Why Does My RV AC Smell Like Rotten Eggs? (Sewer, Mold)
No matter what you own you want it to be just right or as we normally say, perfect. Try as we might, things do not always obtain that perfect status. Sometimes an odd odor can ruin your day and you need a quick fix so it doesn’t ruin your week.
Why Does My RV AC Smell Like Rotten Eggs? There are three common causes why there is a rotten egg smell coming out of your RV air conditioner. First, your solid waste container’s valve may be open. Second, your sink’s air admittance valve may have worn out. Third, your RV’s batteries have been overcharged.
These common rotten egg odors issues can easily be fixed. To learn more about why your RV smells the way it dopes, just keep reading our article., We will tell you why and provide you with some solutions. Getting rid of bad smells may not be that hard after all.
RV AC Smells 101
Why Does My RV AC Smell Like Rotten Eggs? An animal issue
The simple fixes for the above rotten egg odor is to close the open dump valves. This will stop the odor from your solid waste container from traveling into your RV. When you have a faulty sink admittance valve, then you just need to go to the closest RV part store and pick up a new one and install it yourself or have a tech do it for you
The most difficult fix is the overcharged batteries. If there is something wrong with the charging system, then you should get a tech to inspect it and correct any problems. If it is a matter of low water levels, then just top it up with distilled water.
There is a fourth possibility for why you have a rotten egg smell coming out of your AC unit. A small injured animal, usually a mouse, rat or bird, has found their way inside your duct system and died.
Its decomposing body will send off that foul odor. You will need to spend a lot of time searching for the animal and remove it as quickly as you can. Then you will need to clean your duct system.
RV Air Conditioner Smells Like Sewer
RVs do not have a lot of space. Even the larger models will have some cramped corners and there is t=he possibility that the sewer line is too close to the duct system. When the sewer line gets clogged, backed up or springs a leak too close to the duct system, then a methane gas may find its way inside your RV.
Methane gas can be very dangerous, so when you think your RV is smelling like a sewer, you wold need to take care of this issue as soon as possible. The best recommendation would be to go to your nearest RV tech and let them find the problem and fix it.
Opening the windows may help the gas leak out but you need to fix the source of the problem if you want to use your RV safely.
RV Air Conditioner Smells Like Ammonia
This is another serious problem that you cannot let slide. When this situation takes place you will not be confused as the odor will bring tears to your eyes. The source for the ammonia odor is your refrigeration unit.
Or more specifically, the cooling system. Unfortunately, there is little to nothing you can do to solve this problem. Cooling unit repairs take an experience tech who knows what they are doing.
The best you can do is keep your RV well ventilated until you find that tech.
RV Air Conditioner Smells Like Propane
If there is one gas an RV uses a lot of besides regular gas or diesel fuel, it is propane. There are a lot of propane operated appliances inside your RV. When you smell propane, the source could be the water heater, furnace, stove,oven and more.
It will take you some time to track down the leak . Not only do you need to check the connections at your propane tanks, you will also need to check the hoses, and the connections at each appliance.
Sometimes all you need to do to stop the leak is tighten the connections. If the hose is leaking then a patch repair kit should handle the job. Just keep your RV well ventilated as you search and work.
RV AC Smells Moldy or Musty
The answer to this question is very obvious and simple. When you get that moldy or mildew odor, then bacteria, fungus, or mold, etc., have found a place to live. The reason for this is that there may be too much moisture inside your RV.
The AC unit is not removing the moisture as fast as it could and the excess has allowed mold, etc., to form. To take care of this issue, a good cleaning is in order with bleach or special cleaners that handle mold and mildew.
A dirty filter can also cause this odor, so take it out and check to see if it needs a good cleaning. Or just replace the filter. Also check your air conditioner drains to make sure they are not plugged and clean any dirty areas surrounding the Air conditioner.
RV AC Unit Smells Like Burning
When you get that burning smell, do not panic. Your RV should not be on fire. If it was, you would be able to see smoke and you could take the appropriate action. Not all burn smells come from from fires or someone’s bad cooking.
If you do notice that smell that indicates something is burning, it is probably one of your capacitors. These parts do wear out and their connections burn from the electricity sent through them. The causes could be low voltage or you are using an adapter.
To fix this problem and rid yourself of the smell, just identify which capacitor burnt and replace it. These are not expensive and you can find a replacement quite easily at any RV part store. You should see signs of burning on the capacitor making identification simple.
A smell that is similar to burning is gunpowder. When your RV starts to smell that someone fired a gun inside, then you have a problem with the fan motor or your circuit board shorted out.
To solve this situation, you will probably have to replace one or the other or both. It all depends on which one failed. If the parts are older, they maybe near the end of their life so you should check the parts and replace before they break.
Why Does My Air Conditioner Smell Like Skunk
We all know what a skunk smells like and it is not pretty. When this odor hits your nose, you may think you hit a skunk or one set its defense mechanism off. Or it may have found a place under your RV to die.
These scenarios are rare, thank fully, but your RV can still smell like a skunk was near by. The ingredient methyl mercaptan can smell like a skunk and it can go everywhere in your RV.
That is because it is found in gas. When you smell that skunk odor, you have a serious problem. You have a gas leak and it is not safe for you or your family to be inside. Let a professional handle the problem.
Closed Up Stale RV Storage Smell
This odor can begin when you do not use your RV very often and it sits closed up tight for a long time. People do not want animals, leaves and other contaminants getting inside so they make sure the RV has no open spots anywhere.
What this situation does is let odors grow and build off of each other. If you let your RV sit, the odors can become very powerful. One way to solve this is to install good vent covers. These covers allow you to leave roof vents open slightly.
With the vents open bad air can escape taking the foul odors with it. Or you can use solar powered vents to help draw the air out better. Once your RV starts smelling after sitting for along time, you will have to do some heavy spring cleaning to rid the interior of the odor.
No spot can remain untouched.
Smelly RV Carpet
One of the cost cutting steps RV manufacturers took was to place wall to wall carpeting inside their RVs. This is a lot cheaper than most of the alternative floor covering options.
Once the carpet starts to smell, you can clean it with a good carpet cleaner and machine but RVs do not have a lot of space. They do have lots of obstacles that make cleaning the carpet very difficult.
The best fix to a smelly carpet is to tear it out and replace it with better flooring material that doesn’t hold odors. Professional cleaning can be another option to use but that may be expensive.
If you travel with your pets, then you may get some pet odors if you are not careful. Good cleaning will take care of that problem and you should make sure your pets are well behaved when they are inside your RV.
Why Does My Air Conditioner Smell Like Exhaust Fumes
Almost all RV air conditioners run on electricity. These units will not produce an exhaust fume smell. When you do smell exhaust fumes they can only come from your RV’s engine.
When exhaust fumes get inside they can be a bit dangerous due to the carbon monoxide and other gases that come with fuel. Once you smell exhaust fumes, it means you have a leak somewhere.
The leak may or may not be obvious and it could take some time to find where it is located. After you find the leak, it may be minor enough for you to handle on your own. If it isn’t, you should go to an experience RV tech to get the problem solved.
Why Does my RV Smell Like Feet
It could be the shoes you keep inside your RV that are creating that odor or there are some unwashed socks lying around. Barring that, you may have a problem with your AV unit’s drain system.
A clogged drain can keep water sitting for long periods of time and create the odor of stinking feet. Besides regular filter checks, you should check your the AC draining system in your RV.
Unclogging it and cleaning the system should remove the smelly foot odor and make your RV livable again.
Why Does my RV Smell
Besides the many smells listed above, your RV may just smell. You cannot detect the type of odor, you just know that it smells bad and you want the odor out of your RV ASAP.
The cause for the fouls odor could be that your RV’s AC unit’s coils have become too dirty to operate correctly. Dust and dirt can accumulate hindering your coils from working properly.
Once this happens, the coils will emit a bad smell. Only a thorough but careful cleaning will tackle this job. You have to be careful not to damage the coils when you are cleaning it.
A quick fix to get you home or to your next stop would be to spray a little Lysol inside the air intake of the AC. This will cover the smell until you can deal with it properly
Some Final Comments
When you bought your RV it is possible that you thought that RV life would be nothing but fun and games. Sadly, the world is not perfect and you will have to deal with foul odors from time to time.
Now that you know the source for most of those odors and how to fix them, you can act promptly and get rid of them before they do any harm. Taking care of you RV means taking care of all the sources of bad odors.
They are not as hard to fix as it sounds and in most cases you can let the professionals handle it.
