Bulging under lining and sewage smell

[Hamilton09]

Been in this camper just about year now and
I just noticed a bulge in the underbelly of our TT near the front by the steps...and also a slight sewage smell.. Please someone tell me this isn't a major problem and its a relatively easy and inexpensive fix.��

2017 springdale 311re
Pics in reply

[wiredgeorge]

If a drain or a tank is leaking and the contents are being held by the stuff covering your underbelly, perhaps the only way to judge what must be done is to open it up and take a look or pay a repair tech to do it. It probably won't go away and no one can tell you if it is minor or major but any leak confined can get to major if not dealt with.

[Hamilton09]

That's what I was afraid of... Thanks for the info.

[roadglide]

Depending where you are camping or not . I would have a couple 5 gallon buckets ready when I punch a hole in the bulge before removing any fasteners.

[JRTJH]

Remember, if you do "punch a hole in the coroplast" that there are many locations on the underbelly where that "outer layer" is in direct contact with the components installed in the belly.

SO, BE CAREFUL WHERE YOU PUNCH ANY HOLES. You could punch a hole in your black tank requiring an expensive repair/replacement when the "real" problem (before you destroyed something) was a leaking valve, several feet away from where you "fixed things permanently" and now there's two problems to deal with.....

[flybouy]

I think I would pick a corner, remove the fasteners at the corner enough to get the corner to drop down a bit, then place a bucket under it and lift the coroplast a bit at a time to "chase" the contents to that corner.

But that's just me, I've never been a fan of swimming in sewage.

[JRTJH]

To expand a bit more on Marshall's suggestion.

If the black tank is in the rear of the trailer, run the trailer tires up on a couple of blocks (raise one side), then lower the tongue as much as possible. Remove those screws and open up a corner of the coroplast (on the low side), put a bucket under that corner. Then raise the tongue slowly. That will force any liquid above the coroplast to that corner. Continue raising the tongue until all the liquid is drained.

Now, if you aren't sure if there's any liquid above the coroplast, crawl under the trailer and push up on the "sagging parts" If there's any water above it, you'll feel/hear the sloshing....

Like Marshall, I'm not a fan of swimming in sewage, nor is showering in it....

[Hamilton09]

Update:
After Flushing from both directions..And still having issues.. Finally got the tech to .com back out and he took down lining and found where it was actually coming from. If I can explain this clearly... It was where the clean out valve connected to the black tank( not the side where the dump spouts are) if that makes sense.. It appears that it had cracked and was repaired with inadequate sealant.. I guess this was not disclosed when the previous owner traded it in and the dealer we bought it from had no clue about it.. Anyway the tech that found and repaired with very good epoxy said that it should probably out last the black tank..! Thank you Jason@ B&B Mobile RV Repair...anyone in the BigBend area of the Florida Panhandleneed a competent repair guy...he's the man!!

[chuckster57]

Glad to hear you got it fixed. That failure is fairly rare, but I have seen it a couple of times. Its not fun to open up the underbelly knowing your going to encounter some dirty water....BTDT