Smelly water? No, really smelly water - like sulfur smell?
Most likely it's coming from the water heater, but possibly fresh tank as well.
The cause of this varies with
the source of your water and the temperature outside. Stagnant/standing water and heat/no circulation = yuck!
Here is our suggestion:
1. Turn off and then DRAIN YOUR WATER HEATER COMPLETELY and put plug back in
2. Drain fresh water tank
3. Add some bleach to where you fill your fresh tank (depending on the size of the
fresh water tank) 1-3 cups.
4. Fill fresh water tank, if smell is really bad only fill it about 1/3 - 1/2 full
5. Drive around and let the water slosh around in the tank.
6. Now go in and run all faucets
on the hot side, then the cold.
7. Drain water heater and fresh tank again and refill.
Generator cranks but won't start?
The first thing to check
is that your gas tank is above 1/4 of a tank. Generators have automatic shut offs at 1/4 of a tank.
A mental note for you regarding your rooftop A/C and
extremely hot temperatures.
A RV rooftop air conditioner only cools 20-25
degrees below the ambient temperature. So hopefully you already know the drill, turn it on early in the morning for it to
catch up, keep all blinds shut, open main and window awnings for the maximum amount of shade, do not cook indoors, and clean
or replace the air filter when needed. Oh! and keep kiddos from going in and out and in and out.... =)
Sewage smell in camper?
First of all this
all depends on how long it's been since you've dumped your tanks and what the temperatures are outside. But, the toilets
are designed to hold water just like at home. If when you flush there is water in the bowl and you come back in a bit
and the water is gone, it's more than likely the shutter that opens and closes when you flush is not sealing all the way allowing
the smell to escape. Toilet paper and gunk may be built up and caught preventing it from sealing completely. You can
try pouring some dishwashing detergent to soak then scrub it good with toilet brush. If that doesn't work try a product called
Drain Valve Lubricant and use it every so often. The best way to prevent this is do not let the slider shut until the
toilet paper is gone all the way into tank.
While we are hitting on the smell issue, one thing we
see a lot of rookies do is leave their dump valves open when they are at a campsite with full sewage hookups. This is a NO
NO. The holding tanks are designed on a slant so when you dump your tanks it is a gravity thing. In theory... if you
leave your sewage valve open, all your liquids run out and the solids stay creating a mound...well you surely get the point
by now. It's always easier to dump a fuller holding tank than a not so full one. After dumping tank always try to go inside
and hold the toilet valve for a bit to get a final rinse. - and always pull sewage valve first, then the gray tank, this will
clean out the T area.