ew, that smell...

[losingit]

We've had our TT for 4 seasons now, we mostly use it for long weekend getaway and an occasional trip to far away places. We love it! Except for one issue we discovered on our first week long trip. We were introduced to a horrible black tank smell. I flushed the tank, added chemicals, etc... it helped, but anytime we take a trip longer than a few days it comes back. Before our season starts this year I decided to figure out what was causing it and fix it. My first task, check the roof vent. I figured while I was up there I would go ahead and put a new vent cap on, one that is supposed to allow better venting. When I pulled the existing vent cap off I immediately found the problem. The vent pipe didn't come through the cap, it was off to one side, over half the vent pipe was blocked by the cap mounting structure. I was also able to see into the camper ceiling area via a rather large hole next to where the pipe came through. I pulled the entire cap, sealed the hole around the vent pipe, installed the new cap and sealed everything up good. This season should be free of the odor!

[losingit]

Wanted to post an update to this fix. We just returned from our first longer trip and I have to say this was a successful fix. We had ZERO odors from gray or black tanks. I can't say for certain that it was just the new vents that were the fix, as we also had some holes in the roof that were plugged when I installed the new vents. Regardless, we are super happy with the results. This and our new memory foam mattress make us very happy campers!

[losingit]

So went ahead and did the gray tank vent this weekend. Found the same issue, not as bad, as I had with the black tank vent, I snapped a few pics this time to show you what I was dealing with. The picture in the link below doesn't really show the bigger issue, which is I could see inside the camper from the roof once I took the cap off, it was the same with the black tank vent. Also, I know I need to clean up the roof, it's on my list of to dos before the season.

This camping season should be a much better experience for our noses :)!

Gray Vent

[allen8106]

naturist wrote:
Quality build, yup.

First time I used the shower in our brand new TT, I got water on the bathroom floor. Turns out the guy who installed the trap under the shower floor didn't bother to tighten the rings that seal the pipe. Took me 5 minutes to fix (including the time to remove the access door). But he saved probably 30 seconds on the initial job.

We had the same issue with our Jayco. Every single threaded ABS pipe connection was loose and got water where it shouldn't have been. Fortunately it wasn't a lot of water.

[losingit]

CAJW wrote:
Don't discount your gray tank as the possible culprit for odors. We religiously flushed/ treated our black tank, but after about 3 years on our new rig, we started smelling the "ew!". We now treat both tanks with the Dawn/Calgon mixture and installed these new vent caps, which has solved the issue.

360 vent

Oh, and Skynyrd is the best! Saw them in 1977 sandwiched in between Black Sabbath and Rod Stewart ( with the Tower of Power brass section), awesome show. Skynyrd playing Freebird for 30 minutes stole the show! And yes, my ears are still ringing......

That is my next project on the roof (grey vent). The vent cap you linked to is the exact one I installed.

[losingit]

Almot wrote:
A picture would've been nice.

The way it is, it can be understood as the pipe was venting to the inside because it was not centered in the vent flange? Then it was also set too low, because the pipe should go through the roof flange - not through the "cap", and centering it in the hole would still leave it venting into the roof interior space.

The list of things to fix in my trailer was a mile long, and some still remain to be fixed. Some things were so darn stupid by design that were impossible to fix, unfortunately.

Ya, I really should have taken a picture of it, your description is spot on though. I didn't have my phone or a camera with me and I hate climbing up and down the ladder. When I do my grey water vent I will be better prepared to document the findings.

[dewey02]

CAJW wrote:
Oh, and Skynyrd is the best! Saw them in 1977 sandwiched in between Black Sabbath and Rod Stewart ( with the Tower of Power brass section), awesome show. Skynyrd playing Freebird for 30 minutes stole the show! And yes, my ears are still ringing......

Then you saw the full, real band, before the ill-fated airplane crash.
Lucky guy!

[CAJW]

Don't discount your gray tank as the possible culprit for odors. We religiously flushed/ treated our black tank, but after about 3 years on our new rig, we started smelling the "ew!". We now treat both tanks with the Dawn/Calgon mixture and installed these new vent caps, which has solved the issue.

360 vent

Oh, and Skynyrd is the best! Saw them in 1977 sandwiched in between Black Sabbath and Rod Stewart ( with the Tower of Power brass section), awesome show. Skynyrd playing Freebird for 30 minutes stole the show! And yes, my ears are still ringing......

[Almot]

A picture would've been nice.

The way it is, it can be understood as the pipe was venting to the inside because it was not centered in the vent flange? Then it was also set too low, because the pipe should go through the roof flange - not through the "cap", and centering it in the hole would still leave it venting into the roof interior space.

The list of things to fix in my trailer was a mile long, and some still remain to be fixed. Some things were so darn stupid by design that were impossible to fix, unfortunately.

[azdryheat]

Glad to see an RV owner solving his problem and THEN coming here to tell us about it.

[naturist]

Quality build, yup.

First time I used the shower in our brand new TT, I got water on the bathroom floor. Turns out the guy who installed the trap under the shower floor didn't bother to tighten the rings that seal the pipe. Took me 5 minutes to fix (including the time to remove the access door). But he saved probably 30 seconds on the initial job.

[SCVJeff]

GREAT...
Now I have to play It's a Small World to flush Lynyrd out of my head...

[grizzzman]

Horsedoc wrote:
Great work.
When I first read the topic line I thought it was Lynyrd Skynyrd's song by Ronnie Van Zant
https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=song+that+smell+artist+lynyrd+skynyrd

😉

Oh just great....... it"s stuck in my head now!

[Old-Biscuit]

YEP..........

Another high quality factory build using skilled labor and paying 'piece work'

"GUYS, listen up
We have 6 units scheduled for today. You can go home as soon as they are out the door so let's see if we can get done by 11AM. OK! GO, GO, GO!"

[dewey02]

losingit wrote:

Horsedoc wrote:
Great work.
When I first read the topic line I thought it was Lynyrd Skynyrd's song by Ronnie Van Zant
https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=song+that+smell+artist+lynyrd+skynyrd

😉

LOL, you caught my play on words! Love me some Skynyrd!

EXACTLY the first thing I thought of too!