toilet smell after TT sitting

[Oldcow]

How does one avoid that terrible smell after the TT has sat for a few weeks? Our tank is kept clean with regular flushes and several before we leave the campground. Never have any odor when camping. If it sits for more than 2 weeks or for example the first trip of the year it stinks and needs to be flushed again to get rid of the smell.

Oldcow

[wnjj]

Oldcow wrote:

Tvov wrote:
When our camper is going to sit for more than a week without being used, I rinse and then "disinfect" the tanks - pour maybe a 1/2 to a cup of chlorine bleach into the black tank (through the toilet), 1/4 cup into the grey tank. Fill them up, let them sit for an hour or so, then drain them. I am able to do this at our house.

We are on our last week of camping on Prince Edward Island, need to store the trailer Friday for winter. We can try this the day before but I assume we will still get a smell the first time out after the trailer sitting for 6 months 😞 Any other ideas for long term storage in below 0 conditions?

Oldcow

If your system is empty and dry, cover the shower and sink drains with something like a rubber stopper or flap or maybe a plastic bag under an overturned coffee mug.

[2DHoop]

Oldcow wrote:

Tvov wrote:
When our camper is going to sit for more than a week without being used, I rinse and then "disinfect" the tanks - pour maybe a 1/2 to a cup of chlorine bleach into the black tank (through the toilet), 1/4 cup into the grey tank. Fill them up, let them sit for an hour or so, then drain them. I am able to do this at our house.

We are on our last week of camping on Prince Edward Island, need to store the trailer Friday for winter. We can try this the day before but I assume we will still get a smell the first time out after the trailer sitting for 6 months 😞 Any other ideas for long term storage in below 0 conditions?

Oldcow

As mentioned, keep the traps working as barrierers with RV anti freeze which won’t
evaporate.

[Oldcow]

Tvov wrote:
When our camper is going to sit for more than a week without being used, I rinse and then "disinfect" the tanks - pour maybe a 1/2 to a cup of chlorine bleach into the black tank (through the toilet), 1/4 cup into the grey tank. Fill them up, let them sit for an hour or so, then drain them. I am able to do this at our house.

We are on our last week of camping on Prince Edward Island, need to store the trailer Friday for winter. We can try this the day before but I assume we will still get a smell the first time out after the trailer sitting for 6 months 😞 Any other ideas for long term storage in below 0 conditions?

Oldcow

[Oldcow]

Lynnmor wrote:

NanciL wrote:
After you drain and flush, put a gallon of water with the proper amount of chemicals in - Problem solved

Jack L

That gallon of water may not be enough. Systems that have the drain valve some distance from the tank need to have water added sufficient to fill the pipe and then another gallon or more of water with the chemicals. Don't add the chemicals first because they will just stay next to the drain valve.

Making sure there is sufficiant water in the tank after the flush is what I belive I need to start doing. Case and point, once we are at a campground and I add water to the tank smell is gone.

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts on this, I appreciate it.

Oldcow

[Oldcow]

Turtle n Peeps wrote:
How P traps work

I get it thanks.

Oldcow

[Lynnmor]

NanciL wrote:
After you drain and flush, put a gallon of water with the proper amount of chemicals in - Problem solved

Jack L

That gallon of water may not be enough. Systems that have the drain valve some distance from the tank need to have water added sufficient to fill the pipe and then another gallon or more of water with the chemicals. Don't add the chemicals first because they will just stay next to the drain valve.

[TyroneandGladys]

rockhillmanor wrote:
P-traps and the toilet bowl evaporate when sitting. More so in warm weather climates.

Fill bathroom sink, kitchen sink and shower with water. And fill toilet bowl up to level. The smell is usually from the bathroom sink because many RV bathroom sinks dump directly into the black tank.

But even the kitchen sink that dumps into the gray when the p-trap water evaporates the smell from a gray tank will smell the same as a black tank.

Fill them all up and keep them filled and You will not have any more smell.

X2 seen this fix many a odor problem

[CavemanCharlie]

The smell should not be getting into the RV. Dump a quart of water down all of your drains weekly and keep ester in the toilet bowl. That may be your problem.

I've worked with livestock and there poop all of my life. It is good to keep solids out of your tanks. If you feel the need to wash them go ahead. But, you are never, ever, going to get them clean enough to smell nice inside. That is why there are p-traps and toilet valves with seals in them. But, if you could cut the tank apart and smell it inside trust me it to going to smell bad. Maybe not a lot if it is really clean but, it is never going to be that clean.

The pens in our hog barns have plastic planks separating them. We power wash the barn down with hot water between batches of hogs. If you take one of those plastic planks out and leave it in the open air for months it will still smell like hogs if you put your nose up to it.

Plastic will absorb some things. Maybe if your holding tanks were made of glass you could get them perfectly clean.

[Lwiddis]

“Can you explain please?

Basic plumbing.

[rockhillmanor]

P-traps and the toilet bowl evaporate when sitting. More so in warm weather climates.

Fill bathroom sink, kitchen sink and shower with water. And fill toilet bowl up to level. The smell is usually from the bathroom sink because many RV bathroom sinks dump directly into the black tank.

But even the kitchen sink that dumps into the gray when the p-trap water evaporates the smell from a gray tank will smell the same as a black tank.

Fill them all up and keep them filled and You will not have any more smell.

[Tvov]

When our camper is going to sit for more than a week without being used, I rinse and then "disinfect" the tanks - pour maybe a 1/2 to a cup of chlorine bleach into the black tank (through the toilet), 1/4 cup into the grey tank. Fill them up, let them sit for an hour or so, then drain them. I am able to do this at our house.

In the middle of summer, if I don't do this, I definitely smell the tanks after a couple weeks of the camper sitting.

We are not seasonal campers, weekend camping only.

[2012Coleman]

You said you clean your tank with regular flushes - does that mean you either have a flush system or are using one of those tank wands?

As asked - do you keep your black valve open while camping, or do you let the tank fill with adequate water from flushing the toilet?

When my tanks will sit unused for a period of time, I add Camco Blue Enzyme Toilet Treatment from Walmart and a few gallons of water to both tanks. I don't have a smell issue when returning to use.

[NanciL]

After you drain and flush, put a gallon of water with the proper amount of chemicals in - Problem solved

Jack L

[doxiemom11]

What they mean is that you do not use enough water along with solids, or leave your black tank valve open and the liquids drain off leaving solids in the tank. That then hardens and is difficult to get rid of. We left ours parked for a couple of weeks while on a trip ( we are full-time) and had drained the tank - we had some odor when we got back. The next time we drained it and then ran 10-15 gallons of fresh water into the tank to sit while we were gone. No odor that time. Had a neighboring camper with the dried stuff ( had just bought used motorhome). Always a smell. They had the the company that comes to campgrounds to empty the outhouses and pump tanks come. They emptied, did thorough rinse then gave them something to use in the tank for a week, came back, pumped and rinsed again - no more constant odor. But - first I would try using lots of water every time you flush the toilet. Any solids, fill the bowl, then flush down.