Smelly leak?

[acritzer]

Camping this weekend we've started to feel like the trailer "smells" like black tank smell. Not sure if it's the usage, weather, dirty towels/socks, or an actual problem. In what mediocre problem solving I can do so far I've only come up with.....the furnace floor vent in the back of the trailer has a potent smell to it. Bathroom doesn't smell, other furnace vents don't really smell. No indications of leaks under the camper.

Gotten hints of this before but it always seemed to be when we first flushed or we just set up in blazing sun. Or maybe a little when we've fired up the furnace for the first time.

Does this seem semi normal? Or could there be a leak somewhere? Seems unlikely without visual evidence somewhere.

[westend]

If the tank isn't leaking and the draims aren't leaking, another location is the toilet seal. Flushed water can leak around the seal, follow the vertical drain to the tank, and somewhere, drain off the top of the tank. Another location is where the drains and vent enter the tank.

The solution to this is to remove any bottom covers, remove any insulation, try to replicate the leak, and then fix the leak.

[acritzer]

Well, the trailer has been at the shop for almost a week. So far they have been unable to reproduce any dripping or noticeable leak. They started by putting water in the fresh tank and running the facets and pump. Nothing. Next I suggested filling the black tank. Which they've done, both gray and black tanks are 2/3 full. Still nothing.
I also suggested putting the nose up a bit, in case the leak just wasn't working down to an exit point.
What the heck?

He did ask if it was possible that I overfilled the fresh water tank when we camped that time. It is possible I suppose. Is there a scenario anyone can come up with that matches these circumstances? Is it possible that the drip was simply run off from overfilling the tank? It got stuck in the underbelly and eventually dripped out? If so, why the pungent smell of the drip? Why the smell from the vent?

[acritzer]

Well. Found a place that can look at it in about a week. And is confident to have it done before our "big trip". With the kids activities it really only means we'll miss out on a possible 2 nighter or so. If guess I'd rather do this and be sure it done properly than mess with it myself. Just for fun I'll post an update later.

[acritzer]

myredracer wrote:

acritzer wrote:
But theres definitely a dripping lean under the camper. Smells like the black tank. This seems to eliminate most of the easier, odor causing problems and make me think it's actual tank leaking. Don't you think?

I forgot to mention that you could dump and flush the black tank then add some food coloring & water and see what drips out. No colored water, no black tank or fitting leak.

Yes. That's a decent idea. Hard part is finding a place I can sit and do that and be able to dump/rinse too. Almost have to use a full hookup site just to get prepared.

[myredracer]

acritzer wrote:
But theres definitely a dripping lean under the camper. Smells like the black tank. This seems to eliminate most of the easier, odor causing problems and make me think it's actual tank leaking. Don't you think?

I forgot to mention that you could dump and flush the black tank then add some food coloring & water and see what drips out. No colored water, no black tank or fitting leak.

[acritzer]

But theres definitely a dripping lean under the camper. Smells like the black tank. This seems to eliminate most of the easier, odor causing problems and make me think it's actual tank leaking. Don't you think?

[myredracer]

It could be a faulty air admittance valve (AAV) under the sink. It's easy to think it's a black tank odor. We had one fail less than a year old while on a trip. Bought a replacement at a Lowes. That failed in a few months. Ended up spending something like $30 on a heavy duty Oatey AAV. No more odors... I've now had to replace the AAV in the kitchen and bathroom in under a year.

A mentioned, the P-trap in the shower could be dry. Need to periodically add water if you don't use it much. In rarer cases, the vent pipe to the roof can drop into the tank and not vent odors outside. Do you have a remote cable operator for the dump valves? Could be a defective valve. If you have an enclosed underbelly, that unfortunately is not a Sunday afternoon re & re.

[acritzer]

TyroneandGladys wrote:
A major source of "black tank smell is not the black tank but the gray tank. Water evaporates out of the J traps and allows grey tank smell to come into trailer. Go to ALL drains and run about a gallon of water down each of them.
As far as your drip it could be very very simple or major you just need to call around and find what is the charge for a look see by a RV Tech

Any chance you could describe a simple problem that would lead to black tank leaking? Seems like most of those would be pretty major.

[TyroneandGladys]

A major source of "black tank smell is not the black tank but the gray tank. Water evaporates out of the J traps and allows grey tank smell to come into trailer. Go to ALL drains and run about a gallon of water down each of them.
As far as your drip it could be very very simple or major you just need to call around and find what is the charge for a look see by a RV Tech

[acritzer]

Ok. So it now appears there is a leak somewhere in black tank line. I found a drip under the camper and a smell test confirmed its from the black tank. So. I'm afraid to ask, but what kind of job is it to replace, repair, or diagnose this problem?

[acritzer]

The idea of a dead critter really bums me out. I took off the vent grate and looked as best as I could but didn't see anything.

Meanwhile, I dropped in another tablet in the toilet and told everyone to use more water. I can't really mess with anything under the camper until I get home.

Really confused by why it's so concentrated in the back floor vent.

[2003silverado]

Possible dead mouse?

[tracyb-oh]

Use more water per flush. Also add holding tank chemicals to help neutralize odors

[bguy]

Don't turn on the powered bath vent until after you flush.