bathroom smells while travelling

[36guy]

Just bought a 29 foot Itasca class c, an 03 e 450 chassis, the bathroom smells like sewer while travelling. The toilet holds water, the seal appears to be ok, any ideas?

[RVER]

WE solved our smell problem by putting stoppers in Kitchen sink and then some water and also bathroom sink and water. NO SMELL even though it definitely smelled like Black Water tank it was Grey Water tank. WE also put down some PineSol into the traps. I like that it is "fixed"

[TechWriter]

RVER wrote:
Tech Writer. Bleach is not good for the seals on your gates of the tanks . . .

Those gate seals are probably made of Santoprene which bleach (sodium hypochlorite) has little or no effect on. Same goes for your ABS plastic holding tanks and polyethylene water tanks.

I think many RVers "bleach fear" comes from polybutylene (or PB) plumbing that was used in houses and RVs from 1978 to 1995. Bleach caused PB plumbing to disintegrate..

[RVER]

Tech Writer. Bleach is not good for the seals on your gates of the tanks either but maybe when it is dilute you are right it will break down to water and salt but not sure. This what I found with the smells in MY rig during driving. I have NO smells except when driving. I put a cyclone on my black water vent tube and it did not make the smells better while driving SO I put a stopper in my kitchen sink, the bathroom sink has a stopper built in so pulled the stopper so it dropped into the drain hole, I made sure there was water in toilet( always is) and took a face cloth and covered the drain in our show because there is no other way of stoppering it and BINGO, NO SMELLS WHILE DRIVING!! Goes to show, KEEP IT SIMPLE and it worked. It was suggested to me by a friend's husband and then I remembered that I had done that to my fifthwheel when I dump because that is when the smells seem to come in to the fiver until I put stoppers and wet clothes etc.

[TechWriter]

RVER wrote:
Bleach in black water tank is not good for the dump stations etc.

Diluted bleach degrades rapidly into water and salt.

What do you mean by "etc"?

[RVER]

Tech writer IT could be the grey water tank or dried out traps. I put a cyclone up on my black water vent and it did not help at all actually. Bleach in black water tank is not good for the dump stations etc.

[rekoj71]

I've had this happen in the bathroom, AND the kitchen sink when traveling. Turning corners hard or going on bumpy roads can sometimes slosh the water out of the P-traps. I was shocked at how bad a grey tank could smell after a particularly curvy road and the odors commin up the kitchen sink were nasty. A quick run of the faucet fixed it quick.

[rockhillmanor]

RVER wrote:
I had sewer odor while driving only

so put a thing on top of the vent tube

which pulls the smells out instead of going into the rig. DID NOT WORK, still smells so now put Pinesol down the drains in the traps in sinks and shower and will see how it goes Tuesday as we travel down the road. Grey water tanks can really stink too so.... I may put something on the vent tube for the grey water and see if that helps IF the Pinesol does not do its truck in the traps.

You do know that the sewer vent on the roof is SUPPOSED to have a cap on it don't you?

I started getting sewer smells and a camper next to me pointed out I was missing the cap. They get knocked off by branches you might go under at a CG site. I had no idea that missing the cap could cause odors.



$4.00 at any RV store or Walmart!

[RVER]

I had sewer odor while driving only so put a thing on top of the vent tube which pulls the smells out instead of going into the rig. DID NOT WORK, still smells so now put Pinesol down the drains in the traps in sinks and shower and will see how it goes Tuesday as we travel down the road. Grey water tanks can really stink too so.... I may put something on the vent tube for the grey water and see if that helps IF the Pinesol does not do its truck in the traps.

[down_home]

No smell til you're moving?
The vent pipe is getting wind down it and it is coming up through shower drain etc if you only have one waste tank.
If you have two then the water in thee bowl would bubble or disappear if a bad seal.
If you are driving with the window(s) open it can cause negative pressure dependent on window pulling it up through the shower etc.
I believe I read of some having a pipe connecting gray and black tanks.
Our gray tank smells of liquid shower soap, laundry soap and softener, scented dish washing soap and shampoo. So if it's scents came through the trap that would be the smell.
One other thing we read of here once in a while is a vent pipe falling into the tanks, from a bad glue job or whatever and the odors coming through wall joints, roof joints ac vents and the like.

[rockhillmanor]

Just another thought.

A gray tank can smell real bad too. If your shower is in the bathroom the smell can build up when you open the bath door.

Check the p-trap in the shower too. I've had mine evaporate all the time because of the skylight above it. Sun beats down and if I don't take a shower every day in it or park the RV and use the CG bath house for showers the water evaporates. Sometimes faster than the sink.

[36guy]

There is no aav, I'm a seasoned rv owner, and have looked, the only thing I've not done is checked the vent, which I will do soon.

[Bobbo]

36guy wrote:
Well, was under the sink, there is no valve there, just the standard setup a residential sink has, a p trap, and nothing else.
It's not the shower, the bathroom is separate, the shower is in the hall and does not smell.
I'm gonna try the next trip by putting the plug in the sink, trying to determine exactly where the odor is coming from. Roof vent is closed, toilet holds water, that only leaves the sink.

I had the seal between the toilet and the black tank flange go bad once. I had to take the toilet up and replace the seal.

I also had the black tank roof vent get stopped up once. It caused the AAV under the bathroom sink to rupture every time I emptied the black tank. I would replace the AAV and the smell would go away until I dumped, then would return. After replacing the AAV a few times, I unclogged the roof vent. Then, when I replaced the AAV I had no more problems.

And, all sink drains HAVE to have a vent of some kind between the sink trap and the tank. Otherwise the vacuum would ALWAYS pull the water out of the trap. Look under the sink again. If you don't have an AAV under there after the trap, it has to be vented through the roof after the trap.

An AAV will be on a PVC stub sticking up above the drain pipe that just ends.

Here is an image off of Google

[drsteve]

bartlettj wrote:
Also check your air admittance valves. There will be one under each sink, screwed into the ABS sewer piping.

Yup. A bad valve can cause unwelcome smells inside the coach when traveling.

[36guy]

Well, was under the sink, there is no valve there, just the standard setup a residential sink has, a p trap, and nothing else.
It's not the shower, the bathroom is separate, the shower is in the hall and does not smell.
I'm gonna try the next trip by putting the plug in the sink, trying to determine exactly where the odor is coming from. Roof vent is closed, toilet holds water, that only leaves the sink.