Stink: Am i doing something wrong?

[JOglesby]

We have a 2021 keystone bullet 290 BHS. We are the first/only owners. The camper stinks. There has always been a sewer smell. Yes we have the dometic 300 and it had the dreaded seal issue. I replaced the toilet about 2 years ago, took it apart first and resealed everything. I don't have the toilet leak issue but there is always a smell. Thr camper is instoragr most of the time ad we are just weekend warriors. I also replaced the anti siphon valve under the bathroom. Sink with a brass more durable one. I suspect the seal to the grey tank for the kitchen is part of my problem but what should I be doing for storage? Any thoughts as to where the smell is coming from?

 

[Peto]

Check all your vents as well.... Do you use any chemicals?

 

[Sandman_SD]

Of course keep the toilet bowl filled with a bit of water at all times, but also cannot let the p-traps dry out in the sinks and shower, or the smell will get into the coach. To me, gray water smells as bad as black. I run water in all of them every couple weeks, and may need to be more often depending on environment.

 

[locomech]

Give both the black and grey tanks a good back flush when breaking camp for the trip home. Use a cheap fabric softener, or Calgon water treatment if you can find it, and add a good cup of laundry detergent or Dawn with about three gallons of water to each tank. That should take care of the odors. Always keep water in the toilet bowl to keep the seal from drying out and add water to the pee traps on each sink and shower.

There are many different kinds of chemical treatments out there, but I can't recommend one over the other. The enzymes in those chemicals would never be in my tanks long enough to make a difference. The tanks on an RV are holding tanks not septic tanks. The important thing is to keep the tanks clean, and never leave the dump valves open while the camper is in use.

 

[essarebee]

If your water heater has an anode rod, be aware that the odor from a depleting rod can mimic holding tank odors. Also, depending on what type of batteries you have, battery venting can do the same thing. You are probably pretty sure where the odor is from, but I'm just putting this out there as possibilities.

 

[bipolarcoder]

We are full timers and are dealing with a random stink issues but ours is grey tank related. I would suggest looking at anode rod in water heater, vents and possibly giving both a black and grey a good cleaning. We just attempted the attached and so far haven’t noticed a smell.

 

[NH_Bulldog]

You mentioned that you replaced the anti-siphon valve under the bathroom sink. I am guessing that you are referring to the black tank flush system (1/2" white PEX lines to and from the backflow valve)? It's good that you did that to avoid an issue down the road, but I have never experienced or heard of one of those causing an odor issue. I would strongly suggest that you inspect/replace the black plastic drain line ChekVents (AAV's) that are located under the bathroom sink and also the kitchen sink. They use inexpensive ($5-$8) ones that work okay for a while, but they are notorious for drying up and letting gases back into the trailer. I replaced mine with Studor Vents that cost $25-$28 but they work great. When you unscrew the existing black ChekVent, try gently shaking it up and down, it should take almost no effort for the spring loaded valve to open and close. If you have to bang it and/or shake it like a can of spray paint, it is taking too much effort and is sticking/binding and should be replaced. The Studor valve uses a different design and no springs, so they last forever (lifetime warranty). I liked them so much I used them in my house on two different lines when I remodeled my kitchen and installed a sink and a dishwasher in an island.

If you have not done so already, I would also suggest a trip up to the roof. Over the bathroom, you should have 2 stack vents on the roof, one for the black, and one for the grey. How close are they to the crank-open 14x14 bathroom ceiling vent? If they are close to the vent, you might be getting some gasses being drawn back into the camper and may have to keep that vent closed.

You can also check the stack vents for blockage. Pry the silicone plug out of the screw hole and remove the cap and shine a light done the hole. There should be a clear path to the tank below. Wasps and other critters love to get up under that cap and block things from venting properly. You should have a 3rd tank vent under the rooftop refrigerator vent cap (elongated cover on the roof directly over the refrigerator). The vent pipe runs up through the side of the refrigerator compartment up to the roof and is wide open at the top under the vent shroud Some will have a wire mesh, some won't, so pull that refrigerator vent cover off and make sure the vent is clear.

 

[CedarCreekWoody]

Those vents are called Air Admittance Valves, or AAV, not to be confused with the black tank anti-backflow valve often located under the bathroom sink. As explained by nh_bulldog above a failed AAV in the bath or kitchen will admit an offensive odor.

 

[DutchmenSport]

Also, another place odors can come from ... when you turn on your ceiling exhaust fans, the suction of the air flow can pull odors from the toilet (if the toilet seal is not working properly / and / or there is no water in the bottom of the bowl. Also, if the P-traps dry out, those ceiling fans can also suck air up the drain, pulling with it the odors from the holding tanks.

Perhaps that is the reason you smell the odors in the storage facility. When traveling, the water held in the p-traps will jostle around and splash and eventually splash over the "hump" and then you have an open air passage way from the tanks to the bottom of the sink / bathtub drains. Now odors can come in and up. So, when you put the camper in storage, make sure you add water back into the p-traps to keep a seal. When I winterize, I remove the p-traps completely and then seal off the open pipe with rubber bands and a plastic bag.

Next time you travel anywhere, add about 5-10 gallons of water to each holding tank and travel on. When you reach your destination, dump them. The Josling of the water in the tanks while driving will clean things up. If you add a bit of Dawn, it will clean up even better. Dump when you reach your destination.

 

[bipolarcoder]

Also, another place odors can come from ... when you turn on your ceiling exhaust fans, the suction of the air flow can pull odors from the toilet (if the toilet seal is not working properly / and / or there is no water in the bottom of the bowl. Also, if the P-traps dry out, those ceiling fans can also suck air up the drain, pulling with it the odors from the holding tanks.

Perhaps that is the reason you smell the odors in the storage facility. When traveling, the water held in the p-traps will jostle around and splash and eventually splash over the "hump" and then you have an open air passage way from the tanks to the bottom of the sink / bathtub drains. Now odors can come in and up. So, when you put the camper in storage, make sure you add water back into the p-traps to keep a seal. When I winterize, I remove the p-traps completely and then seal off the open pipe with rubber bands and a plastic bag.

Next time you travel anywhere, add about 5-10 gallons of water to each holding tank and travel on. When you reach your destination, dump them. The Josling of the water in the tanks while driving will clean things up. If you add a bit of Dawn, it will clean up even better. Dump when you reach your destination.

We just started traveling with water in our tanks and it seems to have helped. For our grey tank we used Pinesol instead of Dawn.

 

[{Tpc}]

Typically, my regimen is to dump and do a black tank flush every single trip, to get it as clean as I can. Then when its empty, I toss in my packet of choice, namely one called odorlos, and about 4 gallons of water, prior to the next trip.

I will tell you right now, even if you flush it as clean as can be, or as clean as you think it will possibly be, and leave it empty, you will have a smell the next time you open it up. And it doesn't go away quickly, especially if you are weekend warriors. The only remedy I have found for that situation is to add your chemical pack, fill the blank tank to full with water, site overnite, and dump in the morning or next day. Unfortunately this renders your toilet useless for that time, and if you aren't at a full hook up site, well its a pain to drag to the dump station and back.

Even with my packet/water method above, if its really hot and the water decides to evaporate, you can still have a smell, but it might clear easier since hopefully some solids have dissolved more.

I think the real issue is excessive TP use, and lack of water use, both of which some in my household are record holders for doing. And both with work against each other..as the tp soaks up the small amount of water which is used.

Also keep in mind that in certain instances...well one certain instance lol, your toilet is likely the type that needs the bowl filled with water prior to stepping on that flusher to send it all down. If you don't have a switch or button to activate the water to fill the bowl, you will need to develop the talent to lightly step the flusher to allow the bowl to fill without sending it down. Which may be offputting but is a necessity. Also, after that certain instance, I like to send down a second bowl of water as well. All other "water related" instances can just be sent down, and maybe hold the flusher to add some extra water.

Wow what a long crappy post I just typed!

 

[JackieHWard]

We have a 2021 keystone bullet 290 BHS. We are the first/only owners. The camper stinks. There has always been a sewer smell. Yes we have the dometic 300 and it had the dreaded seal issue. I replaced the toilet about 2 years ago, took it apart first and resealed everything. I don't have the toilet leak issue but there is always a smell. Thr camper is instoragr most of the time ad we are just weekend warriors. I also replaced the anti siphon valve under the bathroom. Sink with a brass more durable one. I suspect the seal to the grey tank for the kitchen is part of my problem but what should I be doing for storage? Any thoughts as to where the smell is coming from?

Buy a power wand and clean the dump pipe beneath the commode. You don't have to take the commode up to do this. Sewage builds up on the plastic pipe even though you flush. I had the same issue some time back. Next, flush a small bit of water down the toilet before you do number 2 to help keep buildup.

 

[Robear-KEY]

I had a sewer odor for a couple years. Tried all the above remedies but to no avail. One day coming home from camping, we couldn’t dump the black tank due to bad weather, so it was about 3/4 full. My driveway is sloped and as I was backing up, black tank fluids began flowing out the bottom of the trailer. Turned out that the top of the black tank was cracked and was emitting foul odors but not leaking while on level ground. I had it replaced, and no problems since. The rv repair guy showed me the old tank and I couldn’t believe how flimsy these tanks are built.

 

[{Tpc}]

We are blessed to have a dump station at our storage location, so at a minimum I will use that. However it does not have water for extra flushing, so that kind of sucks, but at least in a pinch I can use it.