Odors after dumping

[moosewatcher]

We have an 05 Voyage 25A and after dumping the tanks we have an odor within the coach that is irritating. We add chemicals to the blackwater and grey water tanks as usual. We had a washer and dryer combo in the unit but had it removed before taking delivery. The dealer capped of the washer drain with a plug. After a while the odor goes away. My thought is that when we drain the tanks the liquids in the sink drain traps is maybe sucked out allowing the odor to come back into the coach. I run water into every sink thinking this will help. Who knows?

[moosewatcher]

We have an 05 Voyage 25A and after dumping the tanks we have an odor within the coach that is irritating. We add chemicals to the blackwater and grey water tanks as usual. We had a washer and dryer combo in the unit but had it removed before taking delivery. The dealer capped of the washer drain with a plug. After a while the odor goes away. My thought is that when we drain the tanks the liquids in the sink drain traps is maybe sucked out allowing the odor to come back into the coach. I run water into every sink thinking this will help. Who knows?

.....wash your hands and shoes.....kinda like stepping in dog do....geofkaye

[Paul Heuvelhorst]

Welcome to iRV2, Moosewatcher.
I don't claim to be an "expert", but I've never encountered the problem you describe. Let me ask, are you draining the black tank first, then after closing the black tank valve, opening the gray tank valve to drain it and flush your sewer hose? That sequence prevents many difficulties, and makes your clean up much easier.

If, after draining the black tank, you want to flush it to make sure it is as clean as you can get it, do that before continuing to drain the gray tank.

The "p-traps" shouldn't drain when you empty the gray tank, but to insure that the p-traps are full, run each faucet for a few seconds to make sure the water runs down the drain, including the tub/shower.

I hope these suggestions help solve your problem. Continue to add the chemicals as you described.

[Paul Heuvelhorst]

Moosewatcher,
There is another discussion on this site for similar problems to what you described.

Check Tank odor / dumping issue solved! for other possible solutions.

[Doug Polzin]

We used to have the same problem. We added water to all the traps after dumping and we still had the smell for awhile until the air in the coach was exchanged. We would sometimes get the odor in certain weather conditions. Last winter while at Quartzite we bought some dry chemical product(I'll post the name of it when I check it tonight)and almost immediatly the odor was gone. We also bought 2 venturi vent caps($39 each) that I installed. They swivel in the wind and pull the air out of the tanks. Since I put them on and use the new product in the tanks we never get any odor in the coach.

Doug

[Petro]

moosewatcher;
We had that problem with a previous coach. I checked all the drain joints and went over the plumbing system with a fine tooth comb and could not find anything wrong. I thought maybe the drain hose was doing it so I installed caps on the ends of the drain hose and I never had a problem again. There must have been fumes trapped in the hose that came from my compartment into the coach.

Don

[Doug Polzin]

The name of the product is Happy Campers Odorless Tank Treatment. It is guaranteed to out perform all leading brands, or you get a full refund. It far surpasses anything we have tried.

Doug

Remember:.....if you stir a cesspool it smells....and use bleach to kill disease and bacteria and wear gloves....and check that you don't have a pressurezed sewer that is blowing back up and filling the coach with odor when the traps dry out....in the winter use antifreeze and in summer use liquid soap.....we used to have a trailer down on the launch ramp for parties and "business meetings" the sewer hook up under certain circunstances would start to blow sewer gas back and if the traps were dry....OMG!....I no longer have perm hook ups....I have an electric toilet and dump only gray water and condinsate.....geofkaye