Sewer odor in Motor Home

[HWilson]

Hello, we have a sewer oder in our motor home some times, it comes and goes, it might be there for a hour then not smell it again for half a day, and then here it is again, and everytime we unhook and leave a camp ground we smell it for while going down the road we have to open windows to get some fresh air as anybody had this problem and any advice or help would sure be appreciated.

[oldcouple]

I had that too, so put water in the drains with stopper and some in the toilet just before I leave, seems like some sewer gas was siphoning in when we started to move. Opening the driver window helped at first as well.

[Dadeaux]

When the black tank is drained it will retain a measure of liquid and lot of odor. We now add odor treatment to the tank and additionally make sure the sewer line is throughly cleaned before storage.

Good luck.

[Wizard]

Just a thought. Sounds a little like what happened to us and it turned out to be the batteries, Would get a sewer like smell in the rear of the coach that would come and go.

Found out later that every time the batteries tried to charge, we would get the smell. New batteries solved the problem.

[IC2]

Check your black as well as gray tank vent pipes on the roof. It may be partially clogged - or you may have a roof vent partially open. The waste tanks are always venting

[Melmoses]

Just a thought- we had what we thought was a sewer odor that came and went. Turned out to be the washing machine! Never would have thought it was that. Someone else told us to check that and sure enough - the washer still has water after washing and if you don't wash for a while it can definitely lead to the smell. I now leave the door open for a while and wipe obvious moisture off with a towel when I know I won't be using it for a few days. If you can't do that then run it through a cycle with nothing in it. Cleared up our problem.

[toneumanns]

I had the same problem & installed a new vent cap that works like a weather vane with the vent opening on the downwind side. The air passing over it works like a venturi pulling the stale air out of the tank. Works well.

[toneumanns]

Here is what it looks like. All I had to do to install mine was remove the vent cap. Slide this unit on & put 3 small screws through the pvc pipe. Easy

http://images.campingworld.com/is/im...=0,-1&hei=1000

[njs42]

The P-trap on the W/D can dry out and then odor comes through. If you open a vent or drive the movement of air creates just enough change in pressure to draw air out of the grey tank through the P-trap. Just run a load of wash and it fills. Also if you do not use the W/D often you can pour anti freeze into the P-trap and it will not evaporate as quickly.

The roof vents are the same way---any two open vents or say a vent and a window in the MH can create enough draw to move air from the vent down in to MH. We installed a similar device on our grey and black tank roof vents and it cured the problem.

[docj]

We had a similar problem and it was caused by the seal on the toilet ball having aged. The bowl sometimes would not hold water for more than a few minutes and when that happened there often would be odors. For Traveler and other common RV toilets there are kits for replacement of the ball.

[Dave Leeper]

when we had that smell, before leaving CG, Drained the black and then left the valve open and took the garden hose and hosed the crap out of the back tank and never had that smell agian,

[sgtjoe]

Before you buy and install the rotating vent check under each sink for a loose anti siphon valve. Look along the black drain pipe and you will find a length that runs up and on the top is a valve that sometimes comes loose. This was my problem. Although it may smell like it's the black tank, my money is on the gray tank, they can really smell bad. I also put the rotating vents on.

[HWilson]

Thanks for all the ideas and sugestions of our oder problems, we will be checking each one of them untill we find and fix the problem,
Thanks again

[wa8yxm]

I keep hearing "Black Tank, Black Tank" when folks talk about odor.. I have had to do some extensive repairs on or near the toilet that resulted in me lying on the floor next to the OPEN pipe the toilet normally sits on.. no odor.. Strange isn't it, No odor (or at least not very much)

Now the GRAY tank on the other hand stinks to high heaven.

Check your drain traps. your vacuum breakers (only on gray lines (Sinks) and do not leave your dump valves open.. That's the best advice I can give.

I tried leaving the dump valves open because one of the toilets has an "issue" and this is forcing me to use the other one which uses way more water so it fills the tank faster. The result was a strong sulfur smell in and near the coach.. Closed the valves and by by smell.

Another thing is a lot of folks use "Black Tank Chemicals" I don't.. I suspect the "Deodorants" are more often than not a "Self Selling" product. that is they are CREATING the offensive odor, not getting rid of it.