It's back....and I'm stumped

[zach477]

Last week I replaced the closet flange seal on my Thetford toilet because I was getting odor in the bathroom when driving or when my fantastic fan was on. At the time it seemed to have worked, but I guess I spoke too soon.

I have plugs in both the bathroom sink and shower drains. The air admittance valve under the sink is brand new and seems to be functioning...no odor under the sink. There is a good 1/2 gallon of water in the toilet bowl.

I'm stumped. I don't know what else to do.

[Community Alumni]

OK I will take a shot at it a couple of thoughts from past experience from me and others.

You have a leak in the tank black or grey leaking into the sub floor. Co-worker had that problem.
The vent pipe is or has been pulled from the tank black or grey and is now venting into the sub floor.
The vent pipe is too short or was put together in more than one piece and that joint has come loose allowing gases into the wall or sub floor.
You have a vent issue where the tank pressurizes like an odd shaped tank where the levels in the tank block the vent causing the tank to pressurize. This happened to me I had grey water blow back through the bath sink.
You have a rotten potatoe in the pantry. :B
Your hot water tank has stagnated and is putting out hydrogen sulfide that does stink, long shot here because you do use the hot with the shower, assuming.
A battery that is going south will also smell up the place.
You have a dead animal in the heater vent at the bathroom

Good Luck
JimR

[lonfu]

I replaced my gasket, rebuilt the toilet valve, checked my sink air check valves, checked my tank vent, all good. Finally out of frustration I replaced the toilet with a new one. I took apart the old one and found a inner rubber vaccum check flapper about the size of a quarter that had become moldy and stuck open. It was small and unrepairable. To get to it I had to break apart the bowl to a point where I couldn't re-glue it back together. Only way was to replace it. So, if your toilet is over 10 years old and it stinks, just replace it. Don't mess with the porcelin bowl toilets, the plumbing is the same as the plastic ones and they last about as long.

[zach477]

I wish I could give a more meaningful update, but I was just promoted at my job and have been at work for 11 days straight now getting everything in order...basically trying to fulfill the duties of my previous position and my new position at the same time.

What I can say is that today I went to camping world to fill up on propane. While waiting, I asked the parts guy about the seal on the hand flusher since that has been mentioned here as a possible culprit. He said that no odor would come from a leaky seal, just water.

I don't know about the validity of that advice, but I have noticed that after releasing the flush handle, if you wait about a second after the water stops, one last spurt of water comes out. So maybe the seal is going bad after all, and maybe it's also letting odor out.


Also, I do not have an overflow hole in the toilet. It is my understanding that "newer" models don't have one.

Hopefully one day soon, I'll get to the bottom of this....

[vance]

Other people have had this problem including myself. The easiest way that I found that cured mine was to buy the venturi directional vent and install one on each tank (grey and black)vent.

[enblethen]

You could be onto something.Vacuum breaker

[AWMIII]

It sounds like sewer gas coming up the overflow tubes in the toilet bowl. Try holding the flush valve up until the water starts going down the over flow holes. There is a trap of sorts in there that can go dry. It can also get emptied when you have the toilet up replacing the gasket. Run a fair amount of water through those as it can't hurt to wash out any dried urine also.

[catldog]

Someone could have stated this already,make sure the p-traps on the sink ,lavatory & shower Have water in them ,if the lavatory has an overflow in it,you could be getting an odor thru that even with the drain plugged.Good Luck

[dougrainer]

Ivylog wrote:
Replace the roof vent, the cheap round cap with an expensive 360 vent or with a PVC T with the holes facing front and back.

This does NOT fix the problem. It just masks the problem. To the OP, You need to verify it is Blacktank odor and not gray odor. Usually people keep the Black tank pretty odor free if they use the Black tank chemicals that are needed to break down the waste. Here is a quick test to verify which tank is the agent for odor. Drain and flush the black tank. Add about 5 to 10 gallons of water. Pour a qt of PINE SOL thru the toilet into the tank taking care to not spill any around the toilet bowl. Then fill the bowl with a qt of water to get a good seal on the ballvalve. Then test drive. IF you get NO smell of Pine Sol, then the Black tank is NOT the cause of the odor, your Gray tank is. If it is the Gray Tank, under the kitchen and Lavy sink is a mechanical pop valve on the gray tank sink plumbing. This is NOT the Black tank flush check valve. Find that valve and install a plastic baggie wrap around it with a rubber band to seal it. If the smell goes away then that pop check valve is defective. 9 times out of 10, I find the odor is the Gray tank. Doug

[Ivylog]

Replace the roof vent, the cheap round cap with an expensive 360 vent or with a PVC T with the holes facing front and back.

[nomad_297]

newman fulltimer wrote:
Close the toilet lid it will help

This is very funny!

Bruce

[RV_daytrader]

zach477 wrote:
It's a 08 Fleetwood Fiesta. Single Bath.

I don't the the exact model of the Toilet, but its the hand flush Aqua Magic. I think it's the V.

The aqua magic V has a non replaceable seal for the hand flush that goes bad. S tick your nose close to the hand flush and see if it smells there.

[zach477]

rondeb wrote:
Are you using your shower. You say you have it plugged. If you haven't put water in the showers p trap in a while it is probably dry and even with a plug, it would probably let the smell come up. That smell from a dry shower p trap is so bad.

Yes. In fact, it last happened right after using the shower. I started boiling water to make lunch, and I turned on the fantastic fan in the kitchen to pull the water vapor from the boiling pot of water out....also to pull out some of the steam from the shower I just took.

[rondeb]

Are you using your shower. You say you have it plugged. If you haven't put water in the showers p trap in a while it is probably dry and even with a plug, it would probably let the smell come up. That smell from a dry shower p trap is so bad.

[enblethen]

When you check the vent, remove the cap and push the pipe down. It may have come out of the rubber grommet that it fits in.

[zach477]

It's a 08 Fleetwood Fiesta. Single Bath.

I don't the the exact model of the Toilet, but its the hand flush Aqua Magic. I think it's the V.

No washer/dryer or washer/dryer hookups.

The vent cover is the stock one that it came with. I do play on upgrading it to a better one, but that would only help while driving, not while parked and using the fantastic fan.

I'll inspect the vent tomorrow, but I don't think it is clogged. No burping from the toilet after flushing, and the tanks drain fine.