chemical odor absorbed into food

[oscar]

We have a 2012 rpod bought last fall and just finished a 30 day trip. The "new rv" smell is still there and absorbed into a lot of our food that then had to be discarded. Anyone else have this probem?

[LadyWindrider]

Hello, and Welcome to the forums. I don't have your problem and since we keep our camper at home, I make sure and open the door every day, well, most every day. Did this when it was new, to get rid of the "off gassing" of all the new paints, glues, etc. I still open the door most every day, and camper stays smelling fresh, no musty odors, not like it would if remained closed. Plus I check it for leaks after each rain.

[SALTY]

Keep it open when you can to air it out and have you tried any kind of air absorbent

[wayne anthony]

The terry I had, had a wood smell when taken out of storage for the first time after winter,even after 10 years. 2011 (bought in 2010) Forest River 5th wheel has a very slight wood/new smell to it yet. Far as I know neither one caused problems with the food.

[comfun1]

I like the new RV smell. If you are talking about the refridgerator, mine came with some clips that you snap onto the latches when not in use. They enable you to latch the refridgerator door while at the same time holding it open about an inch.

[wayne anthony]

Mine has a little slider thingy to hold the freezer and refrigerator open maybe 1/2 inch. Have to be real careful however, as any slight jar or bump and they will close.

[oscar]

It's not from the fridge and it's not a musty/mold smell. It's a very chemical like smell similiar to offgassing from building materials. The smell was in the trailer when we bought it and was absorbed into the bedspread which had to washed twice. We assumed the smell would slowly disappear and it has a little bit. As I said, we just returned from 30 days on the road so the trailer was well ventilated. The odor seems strongest in the upboard above the sink and that's where we had some cereal. bread, crackers, tortillas etc that picked up the smell even in unopened plastic packages. Anyone else run into this?

[mblanks2]

It sounds as if you are referring to the formaldehyde. Different trailers have very different levels of the smell. I read somewhere that if you turn on your heat and run it to it highest setting for many hours, then open a few windows and turn on an exhaust fan, that it will cause the off gassing process to speed up and disappear. During this time of year I would imagine that the indoor temps of your trailer would exceed anything that your heater could produce. So I would suggest opening a few windows and using an exhuast fan during the evening, then closing it up for a few days. Then repeat.
I tried this with ours at the beginning of the season with the heater since it was not very warm here and it seemed to help. The only issue that I had was that the first night of running the furnace, the formaldehyde destroyed my LP/CO detector and I had to have it replaced. It alarmed constantly.
It did help though.

[oscar]

Thanks mblanks2. I'll try this over the nexr couple of days and post the results.

[oscar]

Repeated the process a few times and it definately reduced the smell but it's still there. I'll try it a few more times.

[sherdep]

If you have like Maxx Air covers over your vent's I would leave the vents open,
I leave my vents open all the time since I have Maxx Air II covers over mine. This allows the off gassing even though my trailer never had this problem.

after each trip I clean my fridge and use something to keep it open so it doesnt get mold or mildew which so far has worked great.