Blow it out the top, --- foul odors I mean.

[Paul T]

Blow it out the top, - it may not be a bad idea for isolation of foul odors:

When the tech was giving us our PDI walk around at LD I told him about a friend who had a friend helping him the second night he stopped and hooked up his coach. He was a brand new owner who never had an RV before and had a spanking new one. Seems the friend, unfamiliar with his Phaeton wet bay, thought he was hooking up the fresh water but connected it to the black flush instead. Of course about 30 minutes later they had the flood no one wants to have. Imagine that new coach smell disappearing for the evening!

The tech said: "Tiffin builds these things so tight that if you don't make the mistake of trying to flush the toilet, you'll just blow it out the top" and then said, ----- "don't ask me how I know!"

That led me to think that there must be a better way of isolating the source of a mystery tank odor than just hit and miss, check this, check that, guess at one thing and go for weeks or months wondering where in the heck is that smell coming from. We only have a couple sources of odor from the black tank, the potty and a roof vent being primary unless something is broke. But for the gray tank we have numerous possibilities including sinks, vent valves, P-traps, shower drains, washing machine drains, or just plain infiltration of odors from a smelly wet bay or tank enclosure area.

Prior to sniffing out the source, why not put a temporary cap on the gray tank roof vent, then very very slightly pressurize the gray tank. Not enough pressure to push the water out of a P-traps but just enough to stimulate the flow of air through any potential leak source. That's kind of what happens if leave your gray dump valve open and your campground sewer line is emanating stink, except, all of that should be going out the gray tank roof vent.

Now to decide how to create this very very low air pressure source to check the system with the dump valve closed and a temporary cap on the roof vent. Even a hand bicycle pump would do the job and limit the pressurization period to the down stroke when some one else could have their nose where they don't want it. Now where would one hook up the pump easily?

[ernieh]

"Now where would one hook up the pump easily?"


Get one of the sewer caps that has a fitting for a garden hose built in. At that point you are only a few fittings away from whatever air source that you want to use.