Hot water smell AFTER sanitizing??

[FirstAscent]

Wondering if anyone has any tips on this one. I have been having a bad hot water smell that aligned with many and a simple clean/sanitize should resolve. However, I've just sanitized it and there is still a strong smell. Maybe not quite as bad but bad enough.

I've had my 381M for a year now and this was the first time I sanitized it so it needed it. Below are the high level steps I took to sanitize it, I have a 12 gallon HW tank.

Turn off HW heater
Drain
Flush with wand
Fill with 50/50 mix of distilled vinegar and water
let sit for 14 hours
Drain
Flush
New Anode Rod
Fill with fresh water
Turn HW heater back on

Since I literally just sanitized it a couple days ago any thoughts on what else it could be? Thanks for any tips!

[OurNewEra]

Wondering if anyone has any tips on this one. I have been having a bad hot water smell that aligned with many and a simple clean/sanitize should resolve. However, I've just sanitized it and there is still a strong smell. Maybe not quite as bad but bad enough.

I've had my 381M for a year now and this was the first time I sanitized it so it needed it. Below are the high level steps I took to sanitize it, I have a 12 gallon HW tank.

Turn off HW heater
Drain
Flush with wand
Fill with 50/50 mix of distilled vinegar and water
let sit for 14 hours
Drain
Flush
New Anode Rod
Fill with fresh water
Turn HW heater back on

Since I literally just sanitized it a couple days ago any thoughts on what else it could be? Thanks for any tips!

What kind of smell? A rotten egg smell or vinegar smell?

[FirstAscent]

definitely rotten egg smell, same smell as before i sanitized. I hate the smell of vinegar too but I'd take the vinegar smell over this.

[Cshyman62]

Are you doing this at home or on the road. Rotten egg smell is usually to much sulfur or iron in the water.

[FirstAscent]

Yes i'm on the road so that could be a culprit. I have stayed here before when I first got my RV a year ago and didn't experience this but that doesn't mean it still couldn't be the water. I'll be here until Sunday then moving on to a new spot, same state but about 3-4 hours away.

I'll drain the tank before I leave here and see what happens at the next location.

[OurNewEra]

definitely rotten egg smell, same smell as before i sanitized. I hate the smell of vinegar too but I'd take the vinegar smell over this.

Rotten egg smell can be linked to the water and a reaction with the metal tank. The owners manual for my WH talks about the rotten egg smell and says how to res ok love it. Check in your WH manual for possible solutions.

[FirstAscent]

Rotten egg smell can be linked to the water and a reaction with the metal tank. The owners manual for my WH talks about the rotten egg smell and says how to res ok love it. Check in your WH manual for possible solutions.

Yeah the manual states it's common and a non-service issue and to sanitize it, which I did. However it does state to run bleach through the system. Most people, in my research, recommend using vinegar instead of bleach because bleach will react with the metal so I used vinegar.

But, with that being said, the manual does not state to run bleach through the water heater, it says to add bleach to the water tank and run it through the system by opening faucets. Basically the recommended procedure for sanitizing your tanks/lines. It doesn't say to bypass the WH.


Suburban Water Heater
"Odor from the hot water system is not a service problem and many water supplies contain sufficient amounts of sulphur to produce an odor. The odor is similar to rotten eggs and is often referred to as "sulphur water". It is not harmful - only unpleasant to smell. Sulphur water can be caused by a chemical action or by bacteria. The solution to eliminate is chlorination of the water system. Add about six (6) ounces of chlorinated common household liquid bleach to each 10 gallons in the water tank. Then run the chlorinated water throughout the system,
opening each faucet one at a time until you smell the chlorine. Let the RV sit for a few days and the chlorine should take care of the problem. Then you will need to take care of the chlorine. Remove the chlorine by flushing the system with fresh water. This may take several attempts. You may consider adding a filtering system that removes chlorine and prevents sulphur water. If the sulphur or rotten egg smell continues, flush the system once again as described above and replace anode rod as necessary."

[OurNewEra]

Change water sources and the smell should lessen or go away. I would use the bleach.

I can't be to sympathetic because in our sticks and bricks we are on a well and our sulphur smell comes and goes. Depends on the time if the year and the level of the aquafer.

[traveldawg]

We ran into this problem earlier in the SW. After a few moves to different locations with good water the smell went away; even our ice cubes smelled. I drained & flushed the water heater and replaced the anode too.

I think getting to some good water (chlorinated water) cleared the smell. Maybe you can rush the fix with some bleach treatment. I thought that a bit extreme and have never done it. Keeping fresh chlorinated water in the tank and frequent use has served me well.

I do have one remaining issue tho.... cloudy water from the bathroom sink (maybe the shower too but haven't bothered to collet any in a container). It's bubbles and they clear if you let the water sit for a bit, but it annoys me.

I'll be flushing again, doing the vinegar 'thing' after pulling the anode and the heating element and plugging the holes during the treatment and then replacing both the heating element and the anode again. I hope it clears up the cloudiness (which I never had before getting the bad water in the SW).

oh - I also (re)purchased a water softener. I had one and sold it - bad mistake I think.

[FirstAscent]

Change water sources and the smell should lessen or go away. I would use the bleach.

I can't be to sympathetic because in our sticks and bricks we are on a well and our sulphur smell comes and goes. Depends on the time if the year and the level of the aquafer.

Since I’m going to a new spot next week I’ll see how the water is there. If I still have issues I think I’ll try a bleach treatment. Good to know you feel my pain haha

We ran into this problem earlier in the SW. After a few moves to different locations with good water the smell went away; even our ice cubes smelled. I drained & flushed the water heater and replaced the anode too.

I think getting to some good water (chlorinated water) cleared the smell. Maybe you can rush the fix with some bleach treatment. I thought that a bit extreme and have never done it. Keeping fresh chlorinated water in the tank and frequent use has served me well.

I do have one remaining issue tho.... cloudy water from the bathroom sink (maybe the shower too but haven't bothered to collet any in a container). It's bubbles and they clear if you let the water sit for a bit, but it annoys me.

I'll be flushing again, doing the vinegar 'thing' after pulling the anode and the heating element and plugging the holes during the treatment and then replacing both the heating element and the anode again. I hope it clears up the cloudiness (which I never had before getting the bad water in the SW).

oh - I also (re)purchased a water softener. I had one and sold it - bad mistake I think.

I’m hoping it’s water but these are all places I’ve stayed at before and don’t ever remember having it this bad but the last couple few months it’s been getting worse. But yeah I’ll try some bleach if the next site is still the same.

Regarding the cloudy water, not sure if it’s exactly the same but I had something very similar recently and was driving me nuts as well. It was odd, it would happen anytime I went to a new site and would last for the first few, maybe 5 gallons or so. I never measured. I have a dog so I always put out her water bowl right away which is how I started noticing it. The cloudiness would “settle” and clear up in the bowl after sitting like you said. This was just normal cold water though. If it’s happening to you on your hot water then this may be different.

I fixed mine simply by replacing the water filter cartridge. Best $8 or whatever I ever spent haha. Now I have no cloudiness even when getting to a new site like before.

I don’t have a water softener or any special filters aside from the cartridge style that my unit takes from the factory.