Help identify source of bad smell

gbopp wrote:
This is the Chech Vent snowdance is talking about. This one is from Lowes but, you can get them at any hardware store.

I had odor issues last year and this did the trick. Camper was only 2 years old, and this went bad. Easy fix under my sink, just look at all pipes till you see it. Just unscrews by hand in my case.

An other thing it could be is a critter got in and is dead. Any thing from mouse to.... Have seen that a number of times. Means looking in things and taking things apart.

I was getting a terrible stomach wreching odor that caused me to dry vomit. I couldnt understand where it was coming from until I realized it would come up the toilet when I flushed. it seems the black tank had festered wayyyyy to long between dumps. I filled it and dumped twice and the smell is gone....especially when its really hot out the black tank will get extremely bad even if you think it hasnt been used much. I learned my lesson, Ill be dumping twice before putting her away this Sunday.


What Im trying to say is to dump your black tamk twice and see if the smell goes away.

First make sure all the knobs on your stove are in the OFF position to make sure it's not propane gas coming in from a knob that got knocked into the on position. Been there done that when fellow campers thought it was just a smelly gray tank.....damned near died from that one.

And 'no' the detector did not go off because asll the windows were open and the propane did not have a chance to go down to the floor and actually found it's way to the low point of the sink next to the stove, which is why everyone was convinced it was a stinky gray tank. :R

Then I would go to a CG with full hookups and fill both gray and black tanks with water and then dump several times and clean out both of your tanks. Depending on what all you allow to be put down your RV kitchen sink a gray tank CAN smell really bad. Good Luck

bsinmich wrote:
I had to look up a leonberger to see if it was a hamburger or what. My daughter's English Mastiffs could also drive you out with their bad breath from both ends.

The Leo's our baby. No gaseous emissions there! ;)

snowdance wrote:
General things to check. If hooked to a sewer be sure you drain hose has a dip near the end so it stays full of water to keep the sewer gases from the RV Park/city from using your rig as a vent. Also use your tanks and open your valves to drain only when needed and then close again. Do not leave them open all the time. See if the problem goes away.. Also look for a RV park sewer vent stand pipe near your site. You may find one thats the problem..

Fill every sink and shower drain with water so the P trap works to keep gases from coming in.

Under your sink some place you will find a pipe that just ends and has a screw on thing on the top. It has a rubber flapper in side so when you open the tank to drain it pulls air in. Yours may have a problem. You can get them at most hardware/ RV stores. They are just screw on screw off..

Not hooked up to sewer. The valve is closed. No sewer vent pipes found.
Filled all sinks with some water, plus the tub and let drain.
Found the pipe piece thanks to gboop's link. I took it off and put it back on. Can't tell if there's anything wrong with it but p-ew, it certainly reproduced the bedroom smell in the bathroom.
Anything else? We are keeping the bedroom window open for now. But when I did that last night, we got swarmed by a ton of flying bugs that somehow got in. That was fun. ;)
Keep your ideas coming, please!

I had to look up a leonberger to see if it was a hamburger or what. My daughter's English Mastiffs could also drive you out with their bad breath from both ends.

One other thing you might want to check -
A battery that is getting low on water in one or more cells can emit a strong sulfurous odor that can make you think you have a sewer problem.
This has happened to me, and it's been mentioned in previous posts about odor problems, so my problem wasn't unique.

This is the Chech Vent snowdance is talking about. This one is from Lowes but, you can get them at any hardware store.

General things to check. If hooked to a sewer be sure you drain hose has a dip near the end so it stays full of water to keep the sewer gases from the RV Park/city from using your rig as a vent. Also use your tanks and open your valves to drain only when needed and then close again. Do not leave them open all the time. See if the problem goes away.. Also look for a RV park sewer vent stand pipe near your site. You may find one thats the problem..

Fill every sink and shower drain with water so the P trap works to keep gases from coming in.

Under your sink some place you will find a pipe that just ends and has a screw on thing on the top. It has a rubber flapper in side so when you open the tank to drain it pulls air in. Yours may have a problem. You can get them at most hardware/ RV stores. They are just screw on screw off..