Kitchen drain stinks

[Dagwood]

I have changed the AAV under the sink twice and I still get a smell when I use the sink or run the exhaust vent. I hope someone has a good solution for this. I can stick my head under the cabinet and it will knock you down.

[wa7hra]

I had a similar problem when my coach was still on warranty. I could see what the problem was, but getting to the right person at the National RV shop in Perris, CA was the major stubling block.

The problem was caused by the black water holding tank sagging at the point where the vent stack went into the tank. This allowed the air/gas pressure to build up in the end of the tank at the kitchen drain end when the effluent filled the tank to the level of the vent entry. The build up forced the gas from the tank back up the pipe into the kitchen. I was able to see the top of the tank by removing the cover at the right side end of the tank. I made a drawing of the tank installation which graphically showed the problem. When I finally got to the sevice manager, who spoke English, he looked at the drawing an instructed the tech on the solution.

The solution was to pull the vent stack up towards the roof to eliminate the sag. The vent stack was then anchored in place at the roof line with silicone goop to prevent it from slipping back down.

Bob, wa7hra........

[Fred and Bonnie]

I have stated on numerous occasions that treating your gray tank like a black tank will eliminate many bad odors. We have used OdorLos for years with no odors.

Fred

[Al, Michigan]

People seem to always want to use some chemical type to put in our drain tanks. I have not used anything in our tanks for years now, and we do not have odors from them. Flush them out GOOD when you empty, maybe flush again once in a while. Just trying to keep them odorless is not too hard. You might always get some type of an odor. Al, Michigan.

[rogueii]

Try a little bleach, just like you would in drinking water.

[Dagwood]

Well the tanks are empty and we have used chemicals. I just changed the kitchen and bathroom sinks AAV vents and then swapped them after the kitchen continued to stink. I will now check the roof vents but I dread the thought of trying to get to the tank attachements.Has anyone did that on a dolphin?

[Dagwood]

Has anyone used a solar roof vent? I think they are only about 20 bucks B4 shipping.

[Bedwards]

I bought a 2000 Tropical this spring and we were getting black tank odors inside when driving only. Appeared to be strongest under kitchen sink. I replaced the cheater valve and no improvement. Single roof vent and it seemed to be open. The gray and black tank vents hook together in wall and run up to roof in single vent tube. I ended up sealing the cheater vent valves under the kitchen and bathroom sinks with duct tape. I figured I would remove the tape if it caused any issues, but it has not caused any problems and no more smells. Everything appears to drain fine and we have done 2 long trips with no more odors, from the holding tanks anyways.

[M&EM]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dagwood Well the tanks are empty and we have used chemicals. I just changed the kitchen and bathroom sinks AAV vents and then swapped them after the kitchen continued to stink. I will now check the roof vents but I dread the thought of trying to get to the tank attachements.Has anyone did that on a dolphin?

Dagwood, I believe the root cause is as wa7hra posted above. I also went thru the same factory solution after discovering my gray tank sagging right at the point of entry of the roof vent PVC pipe near the center line of the coach. The problem still persists to this day if I allow the gray tank to become too full. The kitchen sink drain side of the gray tank really needs its own vent! That tank is just too wide and shallow to function properly with a single center venting system. I plan (someday) to run a 3/4 inch plastic tube vent from the kitchen side of that tank up through the refrigerator chimney..

Marty

[Possum]

I had a similar problem with our older travel trailer and fixed the vent pipe by putting a water pump hose gasket and a piece of rubber hose around the pipe right at floor level and then pulling the vent pipe up and fastening the hose clamp while holding it firm to the floor behind the storage drawer below the closet. I had the TT a couple more years and did not have an odor recurrence.

[tims52ford]

Had the same problem with my 03 dolphin lx, chased this problem for quite sometime, as a last resort I changed the vents on the roof with type that rotate,
with the way the wind is blowing. problem solved

[tims52ford]

I had the same prolems with my 03 dolphin, I read some different articles in magazines. That really made sense, So I purchased new vents for the gray water and black water tanks. these roof vents are taller and rotate with the direction of the wind. problem solved.