Bad Smell

Tigrbob · 01-21-2019, 07:00 PM

All of a sudden we are having a terrible smell coming from our Splendide 7100 front loading combo washer/dryer. Smells like a dead critter but we can’t find anything. Smell goes away when we run the machine through a cycle...for a while anyway. Any ideas what this might be our how to eliminate the odor?

akeagle · 01-21-2019, 08:10 PM

If your washer is relatively new, you may be the "victim" of an unintended side effect of a front loader. Its natural to want to close the door when finished with the washer, but that traps moisture in the tub. After a few days bacteria will start working on any soap and dirt residue and it will begin to stink. The solution is actually very simple - after a washing session, leave the door cocked open a little, just enough to allow the tub to dry out on its own. The owners manual likely mentions this issue but it may be in small print somewhere.

Diesel-Lover · 02-07-2019, 10:49 AM

As AKEagle stated its probably the water that gets left behind in the machine. Use one of those washer cleaning treatments and thence forward keep the door ajar so that leftover moisture residue has a chance to evaporate. If its a lot of water then it could be a defect leaving too much water behind. Generally the open door policy works though! More humidity to contend with in our boxes eh!

Tigrbob · 02-08-2019, 11:40 AM

Thanks all... we did the washing machine clean out treatment and also cleaned the grey tank. But I think the problem was we were leaving our grey tank dump valve open since we’re at a location with sewer hook up. High winds developed and I think it was sucking sewer odor through our washing machine. Not sure if we have a tank valve problem or not but we’ve left the grey tank dump valve up before and didn’t have this problem. At any rate after the treatments and closing the valve ...no more bad smell!!!

Diesel-Lover · 02-08-2019, 08:31 PM

Congratulations on solving the issue of fumes.

If I recall correctly there is a vent insert (on top of rig) which turns with the wind and creates air flow ie.. negative pressure in the tank vent system therefore in helping to keep fumes out of the coach. The caveat is that there should be some breeze though technically the vent flow should be naturally creating a venting process any way. by the way perhaps adding a U shaped trap might help as well, that will hold water under normal use conditions like the sink does to keep fumes out.