Strong urine smell in bathroom

[pbitschura]

Our new to us trailer on it's first voyage has a strong urine smell beginning in the bathroom and after pumping permeates the whole trailer. It's a dometic toilet. It appears to be tight and no seal leaks, I could find. I suspect it's a venting issue. Granted, it was 90 and we stayed hydrated so there is that. But black tank level was 1/3 full. We have not used any tank chemicals other than Galgon to this point.
help please.

[pbitschura]

Boon Docker wrote:
"It was a hot three days with much peeing and very little flushing."

That could be the problem.

Indeed. Much less water conservation next time and we'll see.

[Boon_Docker]

"It was a hot three days with much peeing and very little flushing."

That could be the problem.

[pbitschura]

Durb wrote:
You probably have automatic vents for the gray tank under your kitchen counter and under the vanity in the bathroom. If these go bad, and they do, your gray tank will gladly share all its smells with the trailer. I hope your drain valve is not open and you are not hooked up to the park's sewer. If so, and with bad auto vents, you will get to enjoy the sewage smells of all your neighbors. Some people insist on doing this, can't figure out why.

Try filling your traps slowly in the kitchen and bathroom, then wrap plastic wrap over the auto vents with a rubber band. See if the smell goes away. Could be, the auto vents don't open and are causing your traps to siphon dry.

I would also consider previous mice and rats as being an issue. They don't see well, so they pee everywhere to help them navigate by smell. Stick your head in a storage compartment to see if it is worse. Also, remove an electrical outlet to access the inside of a wall, and give the hole a good whiff. No help here as how to remedy.

I hope your problem is from the auto vents; they are cheap and easy to replace. Who knows, maybe the previous owner liked to eat asparagus and urinate in the shower which goes right to the gray tank.

I'm entrigued by this possibility. But I am more inclined to try chemicals first. It was a hot three days with much peeing and very little flushing. So after three days the smell localized in the bathroom was unmistakebly urine. If dilution with more water and sanitizer doesn't resolve the problem, I will next investigate the vents. It seems like a venting issue. I will look there next. Thanks.

[wildtoad]

I get an ultraviolet light and search for urine. Also if you have the vent open you may be getting the fumes from the vent pipe.

[Durb]

You probably have automatic vents for the gray tank under your kitchen counter and under the vanity in the bathroom. If these go bad, and they do, your gray tank will gladly share all its smells with the trailer. I hope your drain valve is not open and you are not hooked up to the park's sewer. If so, and with bad auto vents, you will get to enjoy the sewage smells of all your neighbors. Some people insist on doing this, can't figure out why.

Try filling your traps slowly in the kitchen and bathroom, then wrap plastic wrap over the auto vents with a rubber band. See if the smell goes away. Could be, the auto vents don't open and are causing your traps to siphon dry.

I would also consider previous mice and rats as being an issue. They don't see well, so they pee everywhere to help them navigate by smell. Stick your head in a storage compartment to see if it is worse. Also, remove an electrical outlet to access the inside of a wall, and give the hole a good whiff. No help here as how to remedy.

I hope your problem is from the auto vents; they are cheap and easy to replace. Who knows, maybe the previous owner liked to eat asparagus and urinate in the shower which goes right to the gray tank.

[StonedPanther]

Improve your aim!

[pbitschura]

Tyler0215 wrote:
You said this is a used unit. You don't know how clean the previous owner kept the bathroom.
Drain the tank add some bleach and a lot of water. 3/4 a tank at least, drain and repeat. Same with the gray tank.
Clean the bathroom really well, outside of toilet, walls, floor, inside of cabinets. If you still have the odor, clean again.

Thank you, bought as new and it is. This pungeant pee rising from the black tank. I can treat. But the fact that it enters the living space so freely that bothers me.

[NamMedevac_70]

I have used several different RV toilet/tank cleaning solutions and smell killers that all worked well. Bought them at Camping World and other dealers. Also leave the overhead vent open all the time if weather permitting. Rolling rolling rolling.

[bob213]

What toilet do you have? This is a common complaint with the 300 toilets. Replace with the 310 is easiest solution.

[Tyler0215]

You said this is a used unit. You don't know how clean the previous owner kept the bathroom.
Drain the tank add some bleach and a lot of water. 3/4 a tank at least, drain and repeat. Same with the gray tank.
Clean the bathroom really well, outside of toilet, walls, floor, inside of cabinets. If you still have the odor, clean again.

[bukhrn]

I'm surprised that you're only getting a urine smell, there are far worse smelling things going into the black tank.
Have you looked for mouse evidence, mouse urine can smell as bad as human after they've been there for awhile.

[pbitschura]

StirCrazy wrote:

pbitschura wrote:
Our new to us trailer on it's first voyage has a strong urine smell beginning in the bathroom and after pumping permeates the whole trailer

treat your gray water tank as well. a lot of the time that actually coming from the gray tank as it gets a lot of food scraps and soaps and such that rot because it is never thought of for tank treatment.

Steve

Will do but urine smell is unmistakable.

[nickthehunter]

Link

[StirCrazy]

pbitschura wrote:
Our new to us trailer on it's first voyage has a strong urine smell beginning in the bathroom and after pumping permeates the whole trailer

treat your gray water tank as well. a lot of the time that actually coming from the gray tank as it gets a lot of food scraps and soaps and such that rot because it is never thought of for tank treatment.

Steve

[pbitschura]

nickthehunter wrote:
90 degrees out sounds like the ideal time to use the black tank treatments to try to neutralize the smells before they occur. At this point it’s probably to late to do anything effective. The likelihood of your vent being clogged is about nil.

DW is reviewing treatment products. Any suggestions?