Smell

[Buckb]

I have a 2024 keystone Cougar 364 BHL. First time turning on the heat this year, terrible smell, could it be bad propane or something else. No issues with sewer. Any thoughts

[chuckster57]

If it smelled like burnt oil, then the dealership probably didn’t “burn it off”. Oils are used in the machining process and until the furnace operates at temp for a bit that smell will be there. I had 1 that took 3 tries at 20 minutes each to clear.

[NH_Bulldog]

A “gas” odor can also be from dead rodents

[chuckster57]

Originally Posted by NH_Bulldog

A “gas” odor can also be from dead rodents

True dat! Sort of rare out this way

[Buckb]

Thanks, but the more I’ve investigated, I think it’s something else, took the wall loose in the pass through storage compartment. Smell is coming from right under the front bathroom. Nothing is leaking. Thought for a minute it might be something dead. Not sure what it is. Toilet is tight and secure, so now I’m just not sure what is going on

[JRTJH]

Is the smell more noticeable when the furnace is turned on, but hardly ever goes away completely???

You may have a "rodent nest" in the ductwork in the floor... A dead mouse or worse, the droppings and urine saturation from a "community of mice" can create a nearly impossible to clean mess in the ductwork. The flexible ducting used in trailers is a 4" aluminized dryer duct. It's very easy for a rodent to chew through the duct skin and "set up housekeeping"...

We had a member about 10 years ago that had to tear out the entire ducting system, clean the rigid sheet metal parts and replace all the flexible parts with new ducting.

You may be able to see parts of the ductwork by removing the floor vents and taking photos of the visible parts of the ducting.

[Buckb]

Thanks for the advice, I’m continuing to search, removed the interior panel on the storage pass through, no sign of mice. I think my sewer may not be venting properly, checked on the roof, nothing appears to be stopping up the vents. I left the paneling off the storage compartment and opened the compartment doors, seems to have helped but I’m sure when I close it it up the smell will come back,.

[workinonit]

Are you presently at a CG and connected to the sewer drop? We just had this happen at a CG we were at. Smelled like it was coming from our tanks. Turned out it was something to do with the hook up.

[Buckb]

Yep, we are at a campground, flushed the tanks yesterday, smell is very faint now, probably is either a vent issue or from the campground sewer. I’m going to flush the tanks again before I leave and when I get back home I’ll run something down the vent pipes just to make sure nothing is in the vent pipes thanks for everyone’s input

[LHaven]

You don't leave your discharge valves open, do you? They're made to run closed.

[Buckb]

Nope, after further investigation, it appears I have a vent issue. Will dig into more when I return home tomorrow. Thanks for the input

[PDMarlowe]

I had the same thing a few years back on my Outback 260FL. Ended up being a mouse nest in a heat duct. The mouse ended up in the furnace fan "squirrel cage" which caused a huge vibration and a not so pretty picture when I disassembled everything. I was able to get the nest out with a shop vac down the duct and the smell by pulling a string through the duct using a plastic grocery bag as a parachute and sucking it with the shop vac again. With a loofa soaked in disinfectant tied in the middle of the string I pulled it back and forth many times until it was clean and odor free.

Best of luck with yours.

[Buckb]

Thanks but I found out that mine was a cracked black tank sleeve. Fortunately I have manufacturer warranty remaining.

[LHaven]

Smells can be tough to track down.

For two years I've been complaining that my passthru storage smelled musty. At one point I took everything out of it for a few days into the sun, then put it back in, piece by piece, checking for smell. I thought I had narrowed it down to the "emergency" short extension water hose. Gave it a bleach wash in and out, then put it in a hermetic vacuum bag. A week later, it was obvious it didn't work, so I just started deodorizing the compartment with CD4 a few days prior to trips.

Cut to yesterday, when I realized the smell had moved from my passthru into my garage. It was my bucket of carwash chemicals and cleaning cloths, which I just got done using on the rig but hadn't put back. I need to find a better bucket with a tight lid.