Continuing Saga of Odor in RV

[NINK]

This is a follow up to the thread entitled "Sound after Water Drains from Kitchen Sink". So, the broken pipe and the air intake valve under the kitchen sink were replaced. I've been assured that the sound being made by the air intake valve is "normal." I'm somewhat skeptical about that since none of the other valves make the sound that the new one makes. However, moving on from that, there is no longer an odor in the storage compartment under the kitchen sink when the door is opened, but there is now an unpleasant odor in the area of the kitchen near the door leading to the shower area. I've checked the shower trap and there is water in it. I can't really identify the odor, other than it is sickening, but it is not a sulfur or ammonia odor. After much reading on this forum and other sites, I'm now thinking perhaps there is a roof vent that is blocked. While we do intend to inspect the roof vent tomorrow, we're out of theories if that doesn't prove to be the culprit. If anyone has any additional thoughts as to what could be causing the odor, please share. Thanks.

[BFlinn181]

Do you have a washer/dryer? Or plumbing for one? The drain pipe for that can dry out and allow odors into RV. Either pour water in to fill the trap and then a little mineral oil to prevent evaporation or buy a plastic cap at a plumbing supply to close it off. (Don't glue it)
You probably have an inspection panel under the shower? Check in there for a leak or odor. Same around the toilet. If the toilet is leaking, it might not be noticed until the floor is rotted.

[mdpuff]

Well we had a similar situation with the coach we just bought, 04 Gulfstream Atrium 330 C7 Cat. Took it out on our maiden trip and all was well until after a couple days a bad sewer smell, checked everything out and found a leak from out sewer drain valve and the toilet wouldn't hold water. Suspect the smell was coming in the vent as the sewer stack was near the rear vent so we turned on the front vent trying to exhaust the smell and it got worse, seams we were just sucking the fumes from the stack outside in through the vent. The black water valve was leaking so all the liquid drained out leaving the solids to smell things up. My solution; went to the RV dealer and dumped and flushed my tanks "Real Good" bought new seals and took it home and replaced the black & grey water Vallarta Blade Valves as well as the toilet seal. All the seals were hard and crusty so it was no wonder they leaked. Slathered all the seals good with di-electric grease and all work great now. Picked up 2 cyclone roof vent stack covers from Camping world and all is great now, drove it back home over 1800 miles and no sewer smell at all. The Cyclone stack vents get rave reviews and I will add my 2 cents worth and agree that they work great! Good luck & I hope you get your problems fixed.

[gruelens]

It is possible that a vent pipe can drop and become to low. What happens is the bottom of the pipe is then submerged in the liquid in the holding tank. The pipe can no longer vent up and out the roof. Any positive air pressure from adding liquid to the tank is then forced somewhere (bubbles out traps perhaps).

Perhaps you can remove the cap from the vent stack on the roof. Then use a rod/hook of some sort to feel where the bottom of the vent pipe is in relation to the bottom of the tank. Sorry I have never done this before to give a more accurate description. I have, when replacing brittle vent caps, checked to make sure vent stack is secure and does not move up and down.

[falconman]

I would replace the other AAV' s under the bathroom sinks. If you can't hear them, they might be stuck open. Air has to follow water to allow for draining, maybe your others ones are defective.

[NINK]

Thanks for your responses. Between work and other things, I haven't yet made it to the roof of the coach to check out things there.

In response to the questions asked:
Bflinn181: We do have a washer/dryer, but there is water in the trap. Checked that last week. Also checked the panel under the shower last week and all is dry and no odor there. We've checked around the toilet and there are no visible leaks, but we'll check that more thoroughly.

Mdpuff: There is no evidence of leakage in the bay where the dump valves are located. Is that where you detected the leakage? The toilet is holding water.

Gruelens: Going on the roof to check the vent pipe is the next step.

Falconman: It seems that the previous owner, or a repair person, secured the other AAVs quite tightly. From what I've read, they're supposed to be only finger tight. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to loosen the other two AAVs, but there is no odor in the cabinets where they're located.

We did cover the shower drain and closed most of the sink drains Sunday night and the odor seemed to disappear. There was a vague odor Monday night, and now, Tuesday morning, the odor is strong again, even with drains closed. We've had both the black and grey tanks closed since we began smelling the odor. We open them only when we dump. The odor seems to be strongest during the morning hours and right after sunset.

[mdpuff]

Sounds like you aren't having much luck. Where our drain valves were leaking was at the valve it's self, liquid from the black tank was dripping out of the fitting where you hook up your sewer hose. Take the cap off and you get a bit of a surprise but that doesn't sound like the problem you are having. It wouldn't hurt to check your vents on the roof, I climbed up there and took the vent cap off and run the garden hose down there and the DW could hear it going into the tanks so stacks were clear. I installed the Cyclone vents on the roof ( got them from Camping World ) and we have "No" odor at all any more. Read a bunch of reviews on the Cyclone vents on Camping Worlds add for the vents and it sold me to get them. Sure can't hurt to pull out bad vapours from your tanks. Also read on other threads on iRV2 about treating you holding tanks with Calgon water softener along with liquid dish soap and it is supposed to a great job of cleaning your tanks. When the weather warms up enough I am going to give ours the Calgon treatment. If you do a Calgon search on iRV2 it will give you the directions on the treatment.
Now this might be a stupid question but do you seem to get the odour any where near you vent fans? Reason I ask is I believe our problem was from there being no liquid in our black tank since it leaked out, so only the smelly solids were left to ferment. We would turn on our Fantastic Fan to get some air movement and it seemed to get worse, DW figured it was coming from the shower or from the washer dryer, (they are next to each other) and happen to be right under the hall way roof vent. Turns out the black water vent stack is only about a foot from the hall vent and when we turned on the Fantastic Fan in the kitchen it was pulling fumes in the hall vent making it smell worse! Putting the Cyclone vents on prevents this from happening so I suggest you check them out.

Good Luck!!

[NINK]

Hello. This is Janice typing now as Bob is away on a business trip, having left me with the stinchy smelling coach. Yesterday I just couldn't stand the stinch any longer, so I thought I'd experiment with a few things.

1. I don't know if this will cause some other problem, but yesterday, early afternoon, I put plastic wrap and a rubber band over/around the new air admittance valve ("AAV") that was installed under the kitchen sink last week. When I filled the sink half way and drained it, there was still that vibrating sound from the AAV, which I presume is the diaphragm. The odor remained.

2. The grey tank was on 4 bars, so I dumped it around 8:00 p.m. I did not dump the black tank. I didn't smell any foul odor when I came inside.

3. When I went to bed, I left the windows open in the living room/dining area (normally they're closed at night), and opened all the sink drains (they were closed the previous night). The shower drain had been covered all day and I left it that way.

It is now mid-day and I have not smelled any stinch ... yet. Since the grey tank was emptied last night, I'm thinking/hoping the roof vent is the cause of the odor. I'm going to leave things the way they are today (sink drains open, with plastic over the shower drain and the recently installed AAV). If the stinch stays away today, I'll remove the plastic from the AAV tomorrow and see if the stinch returns. If the stinch doesn't return right away, I'll start filling the grey tank to see if the odor returns. At least I'll have more information for my husband when he returns next week.

In case you're wondering why I don't go on the roof and inspect the vent myself, we have a policy of not going on the roof unless we're both around for one to watch the other.

[BFlinn181]

The grey tank can smell as bad as the black tank with rancid grease, food particles and other things that can build up. I suggest you clean tank with a dose of Calgon Water Softener, available on Amazon and sometimes local Walmart. Also put in a cup of Dawn dish detergent, then drive to slosh mix all around. You might also pour boiling water and a little Dawn down each drain to help clean drains and traps. We had odor problems, especially with bathroom roof vent open while traveling or fantastic fan on with windows closed. Using the GEO method to clean tanks helped a lot.

https://sites.google.com/site/cbruni/

Next time the grey tank is full, if you close off all drains and open tank drain you might be able to determine if roof vent is working or if air is leaking at some other place, like a cracked pipe or leaking joint. If you tape over the roof top vent and do this it would help really show if the drains are water (air) tight.


https://sites.google.com/site/cbruni/

[jerryhawkins]

A NASCAR bus driver gave me a tip on keeping my gray water tank smelling fresh and clean. Before traveling we put a bottle of pine Sol cleaner in the tank and the sloshing while driving cleans and leaves a nice fresh clean smell.

[dennis45]

Sounds like I'm beating the same drum but, this stuff works. I use the Extreme Cleaner once a year and the regular stuff in between per the directions. I tried numerous methods and chemicals and new Cyclone Vents (the vents really work well) but when it warms up in the summer, the door was back.
Over the course of the year this stuff is relatively cheap compared to other products. Give it a try. It won't break the bank and if it works for you as it did for me, well

Amazon.com: Happy Campers Organic RV Holding Tank Treatment - large 64oz tub (64-treatments): Sports & Outdoors

P/S, my tank sensors work like new after using the Extreme Treatment.

[bdpreece]

I had a smell problem in my last coach. One of the vent pipes in the roof was below cut short and actually was venting between the ceiling and the roof. The pipe was tight so I don't think it had dropped it was just cut short then they just attached the vent cover to the roof. I was able to extend the vent pipe above the roof line and installed a cyclone vent. No more smell.

[Gocoffeer]

What if the odor is not from a sewer vent....what if it is a dead animal in the vent areas? there are other possibilities. I hope it is a simple plumbing issue...but these RVs are traps for rodents too

[HoneyBadger]

Another possibility is that your coach batteries are boiling/gassing off.

Is the coach plugged in? If so, check the coach/house batteries for heat/odor. If your converter is overcharging and/or they are low on water they will emit foul smelling gas.