What's that smell?

[osolow]

the fridge would be my guess dose it smell like ammonia?

[pgr32e]

We didn't get rid of the smell that came with our trailer until we took all the carpet out and replaced it with cork flooring. Also found and cleaned out an amazing amount of dog hair in the weirdest places.......good luck....Phil.

[Isadora]

If you have vinyl wall covering, sometimes it can smell, as it absorbs odors. Also check under the refrigerator for standing water and check the vent screen over the stove, sometimes it can be coated with cooking grease which can hang onto odors for quite a while.

[Cris]

Don't usually reply to these but I couldn't resit on this one. I have a sweet smell in a 88 32S Avion. We've removed the carpet scrubed the whole interior refinished the wood cabinets and bombed the trailer with some sort of chlorine device that you submerge on water. still no luck. we then removed the upholsterd wall panneling (fabric over foam and plywood) from around the bed from where it smells strongest and placed them in our storage shed 75% of the smell is gone. Three years of sitting in the shed in hot California sun and the pannels still stink. So I took one of the pannels and soaked it with some sort of cat urine spray. No change after it dried. I then took the pannel and soaked it in the bath tub filled with baking soda and warm water, still no change when it dried. Last try I filled the bath tub with bleach and water and soaked the panel. Yup no change. There were carpenter ants in a sub floor under the fresh water tank when I bought the trailer but I've replaced that pannel and haven't seen an ant in four years. Any ideas would be appreciatted. Cris

[zedex]

I did vacuum up a bunch of dog hair under the bed There is no carpet in the trailer. The blinds go by by next week switching them out for other roll down blinds. The cushions have all been reupholstered. WTF was airstream thinking putting safety orange cushions in an airstream? I have no idea. Other than that the trailer has been cleaned and cleaned again. Will keep you posted . Its been so cold here last time i stepped inside i did not smell a thing. Too cold for the bloodhound to check it out
As for the fridge? The fridge does not smell at all.
I am wondering if all airsteams smell like this?

[masseyfarm]

I think its come down to "the smell of money!" How much money is it going to cost to purchase something else?
Dave

Originally Posted by zedex

I did vacuum up a bunch of dog hair under the bed There is no carpet in the trailer. The blinds go by by next week switching them out for other roll down blinds. The cushions have all been reupholstered. WTF was airstream thinking putting safety orange cushions in an airstream? I have no idea. Other than that the trailer has been cleaned and cleaned again. Will keep you posted . Its been so cold here last time i stepped inside i did not smell a thing. Too cold for the bloodhound to check it out

Originally Posted by zedex

As for the fridge? The fridge does not smell at all.
I am wondering if all airsteams smell like this?

[NevadaGeo]

Originally Posted by zedex

Hi. I bought a 2004 ccd a few months ago and after towing it it wreaked BAD.

Hmm, there's a clue. What or who you buy said ....coach from.. There's smells most kids know but lots of us adults still don't know.

To help keep the bears out of my trailer, I have a few dishes of PineSol out. Positive results; no bears, and the trailer always has nice smell. I think it's helping keep the mouse count down too.

[gwchitty]

I'm convinced that a great deal of funky odor actually comes from the old insulation between the walls and under the floor. The insulation is attacked by mice and insects. Every time it rains a bit of water wicks in and reactivates the smell. I had limited success getting the " old " smell out of our trailer until I took the inside walls out and replaced the filthy, dusty, infested insulation. After all the work and time of my restoration project, the trailer does't have a smell any more.

I'm sure this doesn't help anyone not in a position to get inside the walls. But it gives another angle to the source of some smells. I work hard now to keep the trailer from leaking. I even went overboard a bit on making sure any holes on the bellypan or floor are closed to bug and mouse access. It's surprising to see the huge holes Airstream chops in the floor to run a drain pipe thru.

Cosmos

[bukib]

As a long time (six months) owner of a 1993 Land Yacht moho i have a few possibilities to consider:
1. soiled underwear or panties resplendent with skid marks under the bed in an effort to avoid embarassment after a long night of mexican food and the wrong bloody mary mix in cheap vodka.
2. a smushed possum wedged between the front axle and frame that you creamed on the way in from your last excursion.
3. a decayed obama/biden bumper sticker that you used to seal a black tank leak.
4. discarded chicken wings
5. excessive nasal hair pollution for which i wud suggest a 12 hp craftsman shop vac with a cpap nosepiece. use that for three minutes and the whole world will smell like potpourri.
6. a hefty kitchen bag loaded with guacamole, barbecued ribs and the grandkids dirty diapers that you hid in a basement compartment.
7. your beloved fido who was showing signs of weakness before you left on your last trip.
8. a dungeness crab that never made it from soft to hardshell which is not uncommon in bc. it shud be just to left of your right front leveler.
9. ludefisk
10. and finally, not the remains of your recently deceased golden lab...but rather a meth lab.

[eubank]

Originally Posted by zedex

Brand new batteries Shacksman. I replaced them right after i bought the trailer. They were both toast.

In our case, it was a converter gone wild, boiling the battery. It was the boiling acid that resulted in the sewer-similar smell.

In your rig, can you use your nose to locate the source (strongest smell)? That's how I eventually identified the battery as the source in ours.


Lynn

[masseyfarm]

Do you think it might be left over from this???

Penticton is proud to host the 2nd Canadian Organic Residuals

Has about the same time frame.

Dave

Originally Posted by zedex

Hi. I bought a 2004 ccd a few months ago and after towing it it wreaked BAD. Dont know what either sewage somewhere backing up.

Originally Posted by zedex

Anyways.We stripped it, Flushed everything,cleaned everything thrice.
Aired it out.
But still there is an odor. Its not a sewage odor. Its not foul, kind of sweet and sickening. I cant describe it.
So. Have any of you used a commercial ozone generator to get rid of odors?
Thanks

[tintent]

Your propane tanks are empty or about empty,,,Try to litr your stove and let it burn for awhile...

[ddstech]

Does the trailer still smell when you are not in it? I'm just sayin. . . .


I had to replace the plywood floor and paint the entire frame with por15, only then did the nausiating rat smell go away. Some smells just cant be pulled out.

[zedex]

Honestly i think the trailer smell is a non issue. Its not foul.It barely exists.I have walked into clothing stores where the smell is worse so. Dont know what to say.When i pull off some belly pans to repair some outriggers hopefully i will find a dead something but even now it does not bother me. The trailer is from Seattle Wash. and was stored under cover in a clean storage facility but still there could be a dead bird stuck somehere.
Funny though. I went to smell the trailer the other day and while outside i opened the vent that goes from the stove to the outside ,stuck my nose in there ,and you could really smell the smell. Its -6 outside now so im not going to play around with it today but maybe there is a small animal in the vent.
When i brought the trailer home it stunk BAD i mean BAD. The smell of rotting sewage big time. I flushed the ****(there was no ****) out of the tanks, filled with chemical, drove around a bit with full tanks to slosh whatever there was in there. Drained tanks . Maybe that smell is impregnated in my nostrils. So the trailer did not start out its life with us on a positive note.

[NevadaGeo]

Originally Posted by zedex

When i brought the trailer home it stunk BAD i mean BAD. ..Maybe that smell is impregnated in my nostrils. So the trailer did not start out its life with us on a positive note.

Some of my best friendships have started out as an "unfriendly" confrontation.

[Foiled Again]

Have you inspected that crappy OSB floor? Leak around the rear bumper getting the floor soft? OSB Stinks when wet - AND has the strength of wet newspaper.

Hope I'm Wrong!

Paula

Originally Posted by zedex

Honestly i think the trailer smell is a non issue. Its not foul.It barely exists.I have walked into clothing stores where the smell is worse so. Dont know what to say.When i pull off some belly pans to repair some outriggers hopefully i will find a dead something but even now it does not bother me. The trailer is from Seattle Wash. and was stored under cover in a clean storage facility but still there could be a dead bird stuck somehere.
Funny though. I went to smell the trailer the other day and while outside i opened the vent that goes from the stove to the outside ,stuck my nose in there ,and you could really smell the smell. Its -6 outside now so im not going to play around with it today but maybe there is a small animal in the vent.
When i brought the trailer home it stunk BAD i mean BAD. The smell of rotting sewage big time. I flushed the ****(there was no ****) out of the tanks, filled with chemical, drove around a bit with full tanks to slosh whatever there was in there. Drained tanks . Maybe that smell is impregnated in my nostrils. So the trailer did not start out its life with us on a positive note.