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Old 12-24-2017, 02:45 PM   #1
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Sewage Odor Problem Solved!

Merry Christmas Everyone.

I thought I would share my experience with sewage odor in our coach. There have been several posts about this problem and I would share our lessons learned.

We are on our second month of our first trip south for the winter. The first two weeks we were at a site that did not have sewer connection and we had no problems (except for our flatulent dog ). But as we arrived at a full hook-up site we started returning to a very stinky coach. It was warm so we were kepting the fans on. It was strange because it wasn't coming from the bathroom but around the sink.

After reading uncountable posts on the problem I zeroed in on the AAV under the sink. The valve was just sitting on a pipe by less that a thread. Good, found the problem and off to the local hardware store. For the cost I decided to replace all three valves. I noticed that our coach manufacturer did not use any sealant on the treads so I got out my teflon tape (I was proud of myself for bringing a roll) and installed the new devices.

All fixed except for that little voice in my head telling me that it didn't make sense. Posts had talked about grey water smelling bad but we rarely allowed any food into the grey tank. Then I slowly remembered a post talking about making a P-Trap in his large hose going to the sewer.

Then the rest of the story evolved in my brain. I had switched from our "The SewerSolution" to the classic 4" hose. While the sewer solution was great when we had to pump our waste 50' while we were in WI it does take some time to empty the tank. I figured we were very close to the down pipe so why not use the big hose and be able to dump quickly. And that was where the problem raised it little head.

The fans would put a negative pressure in the coach and the path of least resistance was from the sewer through the grey tank and through the faulty AAV into our coach. Stinky, stinky! So now I made a simple P-trap (see picture) in the hose going to the sewer and all is good. I will also make sure that there is always a window cracked when running the fans.

The many people who have posted in the past helped me figure out what was wrong (and what we were doing wrong) and maybe my experience will help someone else. Thanks to all that have come before me.

John, Donna and Ginger
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Old 12-24-2017, 05:14 PM   #2
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Great idea!
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Old 12-24-2017, 05:42 PM   #3
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Would just closing the gate valve to the hose not accomplished the same thing?
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Old 12-24-2017, 05:51 PM   #4
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are you saying that you were leaving your gray tank handle OPEN when this was happening? With the handles closed there should be no way any air could be pulled from the sewer.
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Old 12-24-2017, 06:10 PM   #5
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Yes I leave the grey tank open when parked at site. That way you don't have worry about water usage.
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Old 12-24-2017, 06:27 PM   #6
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Yes I leave the grey tank open when parked at site. That way you don't have worry about water usage.
It is better to keep it closed. Food drop to the bottom and tend to stay there. Letting the gray water accumulate and then opening creates a whirlpool action that takes the food particles with it. Also, if there is any smelly gunk at the bottom, when closed, the water covers it and limiting the smell.
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Old 12-24-2017, 07:09 PM   #7
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Not such a big deal with leaving the gray open as long as there is a "p-trap" in the sewer line. Should be enough water flowing through it to prevent much food settling. Different story with the black tank though.
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Old 12-25-2017, 08:31 AM   #8
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Thanks for sharing your story, I’ve learned so much from this forum.

Patrick
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Old 12-25-2017, 08:49 AM   #9
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Not such a big deal with leaving the gray open as long as there is a "p-trap" in the sewer line. Should be enough water flowing through it to prevent much food settling. Different story with the black tank though.
Actually, there most often isn’t enough flow to keep the line flushed at the gate valve when it is left open. This is made much worse if any food particles make it into the grey tank. (How well do you wipe off the dishes before they are washed?)

The food particles will settle in the groove where the gate slides and result in not being able to close the valve fully, resulting in a leaking valve. Some on the forum will comment that they leave the valve open all the time and never had a problem.

I just don’t find it that big of an issue to dump the grey tank every 3-4 days if needed. Plus, having a grey tank of water provides a bit of a rinse for the sewer hose after dumping the black tank.

Either way, its your choice.....

Dave
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Old 12-25-2017, 09:10 AM   #10
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...agree--leave both the gray and black tanks closed while parked. Both benefit from large volume flows when you dump them--keeps everything cleaned out and prevents all kinds of "bad things" from coming up in your rig from the CG sewer system. Unless you have an unexpected leak--don't think is "that" difficult to figure out when tanks need dumping--good luck....
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Old 12-25-2017, 10:02 AM   #11
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We've RV'd for over 3 decades and always leave the grey tank valve open when we have full hookups and shut it only the last night when we take our last showers so I have plenty of water to flush out the tanks before leaving. We've never had any issues doing it this way, and it allows us to take as long a shower as we want without worrying about our grey tank filling up. Yes it's not a big deal to monitor the tanks levels, but why do that when I don't have to?
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Old 12-25-2017, 10:09 AM   #12
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I also keep the gate valves closed. Unless the wife has got a lot of laundry and dish washing to do. We have a dishwasher and washer/dryer.
This also brings up the sewer hose expanding plastic elevator, whatever you call it. Needing a "P" trap in the sewer hose is another reason I don't have the elevator, $40 and my coach is so low it won't work if the site stand pipe is even 2" off the ground.
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Old 12-26-2017, 07:49 AM   #13
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The problem with that "P" trap in this hose is some places.. it is illegal.

I just close the waste valves save when I'm dumping.
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Old 12-28-2017, 09:33 PM   #14
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I just added household P traps under the sinks.
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