Stinky bathroom

[bill-e]

Hi folks.
I have a 2015 Cougar and when my black tank starts to stink the bathroom stinks. I opened the underbelly cover and stuck my head in there and could not smell anything so I think it is somehow coming up through the toilet.

As expected the bathroom fan makes it worse. I usually go 2 or 3 short dry camping sessions between dumping which accounts for the build up of odor but it happens even when we're camping on a full hookup site with regular dumping's.

I keep water in the bowl so it's no the flush seal and make sure there's plenty of water in the tank to start. The toilet is one of the plastic lowers/ceramic upper toilets and I'm considering an RTV bead around the base and the joint between the two sections.

Anyone ever had an issue with these two piece toilets?

Thanks
Bill

[LJowdy]

I'd check the vent pipe that runs to the top of your rig. Make sure it isn't plugged up. It will usually have a cap on about a 1 1/2" pipe that protrudes through the roof. I'd also suggest that you use Piranha. It's a liquid you pour into your holding tank and it works far better than any other dry or wet chemicals. http://www.super-seal.com/piranha-holding-tank-cleaner

[Cumminsfan]

How long between sessions? Maybe the water in the black tank is getting absorbed or evaporating and leaving dried poop and TP on the bottom of the tank.
I'd be dumping more often and using the black tank rinse.
Our 5th wheel is going in to it's 5th season and we never have any smell, don't use chemicals either. We just dump after each trip and use the black tank rinse often.

[Cumminsfan]

Dbl post

[bill-e]

This has happened since it was brand new. I do clean it good when we're at full service sites and realize that the tank will stink more with a couple of single person dry camping sessions but this seems to be something else. I'm going to try sealing the toilet....heading out tomorrow to a full service site.

[lanerd]

I suspect you have a bad seal on your toilet flange. Probably need to pull the toilet and install a new seal. Putting an RTV bead can be a temporary fix, but better to do the job right the first time.

Good luck

Ron

[bill-e]

Originally Posted by lanerd

I suspect you have a bad seal on your toilet flange. Probably need to pull the toilet and install a new seal. Putting an RTV bead can be a temporary fix, but better to do the job right the first time.

Good luck

Ron

Do they use a wax ring or a rubber gasket?

[Cumminsfan]

Originally Posted by bill-e

Do they use a wax ring or a rubber gasket?

Rubber.

[daka320]

Something else to check is the vent pipe under your sink to the gray water tank. We had a stink problem for quite awhile and found that the one way air valve on the vent pipe under both the bath and kitchen sink failed. Odors from the gray tank was stinking everything up. We finally just capped off each vent valve and no more stinky problems.

[Reevesfamily]

I suspect it's your toilet flange seal at the floor. That or the vent pipe being clogged which would certainly contribute to the smell. Been camping a long time and only problem I ever had with a smell was when I had a leaking flange seal due to the attachment bracket to the floor breaking. In normal use and condition the black tank fumes will exhaust up the stack and if you don't run your bathroom fan while flushing you should never smell it. If poop dries up in there though you will develop the dreaded poop pyramid. Cure that by keeping 4-5 gallons of water in the tank all the time. When between trips I leave 5 gallons of water in there and one half gallon of chlorine bleach. Never have smells and the tank flushes clean, first dump at the site is to dump the 5 gallons that were left in there to slosh around during travel, then I run a couple gallons of fresh water in the tank and a bottle of chemical and it's good to go. Black tank management will make or break a great camping trip.

[Bob_C]

Originally Posted by wtgjr1

My wife and I have a 2017 GD Reflection 303RLS in Oct 2016 and we really like it. We based our purchase on the Warranty and many reviews from many RVer sites. All are going to have problems and they are no more than a "house" on wheels getting beat to death on our lousy highways. Understand your concern but this is just our experience so far.

[Podivin]

It COULD be the gray tank, they can get just as stinky as the black.
Food bits from the kitchen sink breaking down in the gray tank = yucky smell.

[Twilightzone]

Read about installation of a Lippert 360 Black Tank Vent.
(This is copied from another thread).

$25 on Amazon. Might be worth it. Dunno.

[R2millers]

I would expect that if the rubber seal is bad enough to allows odors that great to smell so bad, I'd expect to see a "water" leak around the toilet too.

If there's a basement, check the no hub connectors.

If the flush seal is also holding water, look to gray as noted above besides the roof vent plugged.