Bad Smell

[Maral]

We are new owners of a Bighorn. We are noticing a very strong smell inside the rig. Any ideas for helping to remove this 'new smell' which is probably not healthy for breathing and sleeping.

 

[danemayer]

Hi Maral,

Congratulations on the new Bignorn and welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum.

If you'd describe the smell, the responses you get will probably be more helpful.

Also, is this a new Bighorn, or one that was previously owned?

 

[mlpeloquin]

Most likely source is the air admittance valve under the sink. You most likely have one in the kitchen and one in the bathroom sink cabinets. Take a flashlight and follow the drain pipe up. The device on the end up towards the counter is the valve that allows air into the drain when you run the water. Gray water tanks can smell worse than the black water tank. You can get a replacement valve at Lowe's or Home Depot. Get the expensive one that is approved for home use. The cheep ones just use a rubber flap and fail quickly.

 

[Maral]

Yes it is a new Big Horn. We are very pleased with it although we haven't really taken it out yet. The smell is the off-gassing from the glue, new fibres, rugs etc. I worry about possible health effects. Thanks for your reply to my question.

Marlene

 

[cookie]

Heartland does not use Formaldehyde in the manufacturing of their products if that eases your worries some.
I guess it would be no different than new carpeting in your home.
Give it time to air out.

Peace
Dave

 

[Maral]

Thank you that is a relief. We have the windows open etc. Any other tips?
Marlene

 

[danemayer]

Thank you that is a relief. We have the windows open etc. Any other tips?
Marlene

Run the fans to accelerate air movement through the windows.

 

[Kbvols]

Just like a new vehicle the more you use it the quicker the "new" smell will dissipate. Our first RV used formaldehyde and when in storage and it was hot out it had a strong smell until we opened it up and it cooled down.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Maral]

Thanks for your encouragement! We camped three nights on our way home from picking it up. We are going out for two weeks in July and then a long trip in August. Just getting it organized etc which is also exciting.

Marlene and Al

 

[JohnD]

We purchased our 2015 Prowler one year and one week ago today . . .

And it still has that 'New RV Smell' every time we open after not using it for a few days.

It goes away after airing it out for for a few minutes.

 

[Nabo]

This is just a thought which happened to us. If the smell smells like rotten eggs or suphur, I'm assuming that the camper had been winterized and maybe the dealer didn't clean all the water lines. As the temperature get warmer, the pinky stuff sours in the lines, leaving this stinky smell if it's not thoroughly washed out. We thought we had cleaned all the lines in our camper one year but we had this smell. It was worse in the bedroom area which didn't make any sense. Yes we had run water thru all the line at least we thought we had. Bingo, we forgot about the washer uphook in the bedroom. After attaching a hose and running water thru both hot and cold attachments, the smell went away. It's just a thought