Musty Smell

[mcfarlak]

I know this is a long shot but here goes. We have had a musty smell in our 38Rl3 since we have owned it new. My son is using the rig this weekend and he noticed it. He says it is most noticeable around the frig. The rig has been closed up for about 1 month. all sewer vents are closed. No water leaks can be found anywhere and believe me I have looked. Doubletree told me two years ago it was from being on the ocean. NOT. We are non smokers and very meticulas about leaving camper spotlessly clean. Any ideas?

[Okie]

When I had that problem I found two things. There was a water leak on my sink drain and the drain hose for the fridg was leaking.

Okie

[mcfarlak]

Where is the drain hose for the Fridge?

[Okie]

Look in the back of the fridg inside and see a little ledge to catch the water when you defrost. You will find a little hose there. It goes out the back of the fridg and outside the trailer. check out there to be sure it goes out the grill behind the fridg. Mine was stuck inside and the water from it went back in and settled under the fridg. It caused mold and mildew.

Okie

[wingnut60]

The water in the sink drain trap could be moldy--could try water/bleach down that. Also, if no water in the trap, grey tank smell might be noticeable. Same for the shower and lav drains.

Joe

[Diesel-Gypsy]

The under-belly coroplast is far from sealed-up.
Driving in the rain can cause water to get up into the insulation that insulates the under floor area.
Once there is water up in there, you never actually see it, but after a while you can smell it.
The 1st. time I dropped the under-belly liner I was surprised to see the wet insulation, and the source of a mouldy odor.
I pulled out all the wet / damp insulation, replaced it with new, dry insulation, then tried to seal-up the under-belly liner.
I used caulking & black duct tape.
No more smell.

Check your 2 rear storage compartments as well because they can get damp inside depending on various situations.

Rick

[Beaver]

We have had the problem for 3 years. I do believe it is from water leaks which I believe I have fixed, but the smell does not go away. Source of major leaks was the front cap roof seam. Water did make its way down to the belly. Wouldn't the insulation dry out and the smell go away. Its driving us nuts.

[Cheif 2]

We had a similar problem after we had our unit in for reapirs and the fridge was off and got a little moldy. We found the problem to be mold around the door seal for the fridge. After many cleanings with bleach it finally has gone away.

[Gemstone]

" Source of major leaks was the front cap roof seam".....that was caused by a major defect in design, did you bring that to the attention of DRV ? Did they repair and mitigate the damage caused by the water ?

We managed to catch our roof seam defect just before a major rainstorm in '06...your '07 may have been affected by the same error in design.

My belief, which DRV disputed, was that the cap was not engineered correctly, the design did not allow the front cap to be secured down to the deck of the roof properly, and the cap would pop up, leaving a gap of 1"....

Regards
Gemstone

[mcfarlak]

Was it the front or back cap and how did you know it was the roof seam? I can see nothing that looks like it may be leaking on the roof. Our roof on the Elite is metal, would that make a difference.

[Gemstone]

Never heard of a metal roof on an Elite....

The problem on mine was that the front cap did not seem like it was formed correctly...the bend at the top was to slight, it would not allow the front cap to contact the roof deck properly. The trained monkeys at the factory just snugged it down with screws, over-torquing most of them and breaking them off....no problem, a little caulk would fix that...

Send me your e-mail address, I'll send you some photos of before and after.

Regards
Gemstone

[wingnut60]

That would be a fiberglass roof?

[mcfarlak]

kmcfar1948@aol.com
Would you be able to see where the seam might be leaking?

[Gemstone]

In my case, yes....no problem seeing the 1" gap where the leak (more like a flood) would have occurred, had I not found the defect prior to the monsoon.

mcfarlak...I sent you a link to the photo's.

Regards
Gemstone