Camper smell and taste

[tkarper14]

Originally Posted by NJKris

I'm enjoying reading all this, even though I'm not suffering from same problem. Reminds me of the old "Hints from Heloise" column. She's still alive apparently!

The original Heloise passed away in 1977. Her daughter took over and is still alive.

[D W]

Originally Posted by tkarper14

The original Heloise passed away in 1977. Her daughter took over and is still alive.

I remember her household tips and recipes in the back of TV Guide.

[elob_tx]

We use a Whirlpool HEPA air filter in our 2012 Forest River Solera 24MS motorhome. It has a carbon filter that is changed every 90 days that removes cooking odors and VOC's and a HEPA filter that is changed annually for dust, pollen and mold spores. We run it year round to circulate the air and do its job. It has done a good job for us for almost 10 years. The model we have is no longer available but is good for up to 250 sq/ft and has a sensor that senses VOC's or dust and speeds up the circulation until the level drops.

[Freebird2020]

Exchanging air is the key.

Open all of the cabinet doors and drawers.
Open closet doors in bedroom.
Crack a window at rear of camper.
Open the far bedroom window a bit.
Run bathroom exhaust fan on a higher speed, say 70%.
Let the fan run for a week or so and I would guess it will take a good portion of the odors out.

[Fud]

Well I tried charcoal, baking soda, ammonia , none worked. Then I bought a ozone machine and ran it for 12 hours with fan circulating. NO MORE SMELL. Just fresh air. Thank you so much to whoever suggested that. Happy camper.

[ppine]

Yes.
Open it up. Air it out.
Add some charcoal filters to absorb odors.
It is mostly off-gassing of adhesives, but also some from the insulation and other man-made materials.
Put an open box of baking soda in the refir.

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by ppine

Yes.
Open it up. Air it out.
Add some charcoal filters to absorb odors.
It is mostly off-gassing of adhesives, but also some from the insulation and other man-made materials.
Put an open box of baking soda in the refir.

The OP posted the solution 2 hours ago, in the post before yours.

[mixerman]

Originally Posted by Fud

Well I tried charcoal, baking soda, ammonia , none worked. Then I bought a ozone machine and ran it for 12 hours with fan circulating. NO MORE SMELL. Just fresh air. Thank you so much to whoever suggested that. Happy camper.

That's odd that the ozone machine worked to take care of the odor problem. Four years ago we sold our home here in Montana but before we could sell it, an inspection was done. One of the inspections was an ozone test. The inspector said our ozone in the basement was reading too high. I had been sleeping in the basement for the better part of 29 years and never experienced any ill effects from ozone. According to what I've read, ozone comes from the ground and seeps up through the foundation. So our realtor told us to open up all the windows and leave it like that for a whole week. Evidently that was enough to get an acceptable reading from his testing device. I'm wondering how an ozone machine would have made any difference in your case where there wouldn't be any ozone present. And also, ozone doesn't have a smell as I never noticed any smell in our basement. What's actually strange about ozone is that here in Montana there are old mines which have a high presence of ozone in them which is very strong and people go in them for things like arthritis and other ailments yearly with no ill effects. And even having lived in our basement for all those years, I haven't suffered from any ill effects of the ozone if there ever was any. When the bill came due for the inspector who did the test, I wrote him a letter saying essentially what I have said here and that I had done some research into ozone and told him that all this testing is nothing but a big scam according to what I learned and that I wasn't going to pay the $400 that he wanted for the testing. I did give him $200 but said that's all we were going to give him. I never heard back from him or from anyone else. I even told our realtor about my research and the letter I had written to the inspector and he didn't say anything about it after that. So again, I'm confused as to why an ozone machine would have any effect on the smells you were experiencing from your camper but I'm glad it worked.

[W5CRE]

Originally Posted by mixerman

That's odd that the ozone machine worked to take care of the odor problem. Four years ago we sold our home here in Montana but before we could sell it, an inspection was done. One of the inspections was an ozone test. The inspector said our ozone in the basement was reading too high. I had been sleeping in the basement for the better part of 29 years and never experienced any ill effects from ozone. According to what I've read, ozone comes from the ground and seeps up through the foundation. So our realtor told us to open up all the windows and leave it like that for a whole week. Evidently that was enough to get an acceptable reading from his testing device. I'm wondering how an ozone machine would have made any difference in your case where there wouldn't be any ozone present. And also, ozone doesn't have a smell as I never noticed any smell in our basement. What's actually strange about ozone is that here in Montana there are old mines which have a high presence of ozone in them which is very strong and people go in them for things like arthritis and other ailments yearly with no ill effects. And even having lived in our basement for all those years, I haven't suffered from any ill effects of the ozone if there ever was any. When the bill came due for the inspector who did the test, I wrote him a letter saying essentially what I have said here and that I had done some research into ozone and told him that all this testing is nothing but a big scam according to what I learned and that I wasn't going to pay the $400 that he wanted for the testing. I did give him $200 but said that's all we were going to give him. I never heard back from him or from anyone else. I even told our realtor about my research and the letter I had written to the inspector and he didn't say anything about it after that. So again, I'm confused as to why an ozone machine would have any effect on the smells you were experiencing from your camper but I'm glad it worked.

I've heard of Radon levels being too high in a basement but never Ozone. I've also never heard of requiring an Ozone test for a home sale. Radon testing is what I've normally seen as a requirement. Are you sure it was Ozone and not Radon testing?

[wyodrums]

Originally Posted by W5CRE

I've heard of Radon levels being too high in a basement but never Ozone. I've also never heard of requiring an Ozone test for a home sale. Radon testing is what I've normally seen as a requirement. Are you sure it was Ozone and not Radon testing?

I agree, it had to have been radon. We do have a lot of testing for that in Wyoming.

[billcrews81]

just like the complaints after Katrina, the RVs are being pushed out the line without being able to properly gas out by sitting in lots for months.

[mixerman]

Originally Posted by tkarper14

The original Heloise passed away in 1977. Her daughter took over and is still alive.

Read her almost every day. Lots of good hints for lots of things.

[mixerman]

Originally Posted by mixerman

That's odd that the ozone machine worked to take care of the odor problem. Four years ago we sold our home here in Montana but before we could sell it, an inspection was done. One of the inspections was an ozone test. The inspector said our ozone in the basement was reading too high. I had been sleeping in the basement for the better part of 29 years and never experienced any ill effects from ozone. According to what I've read, ozone comes from the ground and seeps up through the foundation. So our realtor told us to open up all the windows and leave it like that for a whole week. Evidently that was enough to get an acceptable reading from his testing device. I'm wondering how an ozone machine would have made any difference in your case where there wouldn't be any ozone present. And also, ozone doesn't have a smell as I never noticed any smell in our basement. What's actually strange about ozone is that here in Montana there are old mines which have a high presence of ozone in them which is very strong and people go in them for things like arthritis and other ailments yearly with no ill effects. And even having lived in our basement for all those years, I haven't suffered from any ill effects of the ozone if there ever was any. When the bill came due for the inspector who did the test, I wrote him a letter saying essentially what I have said here and that I had done some research into ozone and told him that all this testing is nothing but a big scam according to what I learned and that I wasn't going to pay the $400 that he wanted for the testing. I did give him $200 but said that's all we were going to give him. I never heard back from him or from anyone else. I even told our realtor about my research and the letter I had written to the inspector and he didn't say anything about it after that. So again, I'm confused as to why an ozone machine would have any effect on the smells you were experiencing from your camper but I'm glad it worked.

I was mistaken. Someone brought it up that I was probably referring to Radon, not Ozone. He was right. Any way I'm glad the Ozone generator worked for you. Crisis averted.

[Fred Herse]

We have a 2017 34RL2 Hathaway and had the same smell. Smell on towels, clothes food, etc. Tried charcoal, dehumidifier, airing unit out with fans, using an ozone generator, but the smell was still there. Ended up purchasing a Healthway brand air cleaner for areas up to 500 sq ft. Locally made in Pulaski,NY.
We would run the air cleaner all night on high speed. moving the unit to different spots of the camper each night. In the morning, would shut the unit off, and open all of the windows and place a large fan in front of the door and discharge the air all day, until it was time to close up the camper and start the air cleaner again. We did this process for 5 days. No more smell.
Every spring, we will do the method again for a couple of nights, and its good for the season.

[Tlchouinard]

We have a 2019 Cedar Creek, which we purchased new in 2020. We are having the same problem. The smell is driving me crazy! It permeates clothing, dishes and even sealed food.

[Fred Herse]

Just purchase the product ( Healthway Compact Air Purifier) at night and use a large fan in the daytime to eliminate the smell. It does work. Read my post -Good luck