cancel
Showing results forย 
Search instead forย 
Did you mean:ย 

Thetford toilet sewer smell

nextlevel
Explorer
Explorer
I have a 2011 Puma trailer. I am dealing with sewer smell coming from behind the toilet. Does this mean I have a bad toilet to floor seal? I have done everything I know to do for the black water tank but even after I clean the tank, one week later I start getting this smell.
23 REPLIES 23

FoxInTheFall
Explorer
Explorer

We also have a 2011 Puma trailer with a Thetford Aqua Magic V. We began having the same issue with smell coming into the bathroom (got worse when you sat on the seat). What was even more interesting is that the toilet holds water indefinitely, so I knew the flush plate and seal were fine. Oddly enough, after dealing with the smell during our last camping trip, I made up my mind that I was going to get to the bottom of this when we got home. Before we left the campsite though, I gave the whole inside (underside) of the toilet a good scrub and spray so it would be clean to work on. Interestingly enough, I noticed water on the floor behind the toilet when I was done cleaning it (and I know for certain that it didn't come from the outside). I was convinced that it was the bowl-to-floor seal. After removing the toilet from the floor, I decided to clean it even further now that I had access to it from the bottom. With the toilet now upside down, I filled it with a bit of soap and water to give it a good scrubbing - and THAT'S when the problem reared its head. The water was coming out of the seam at the top of the toilet where the base of the toilet is fitted to the top of the toilet. In earlier models, this was assembled with screws and easy to disassemble. The seal between the two was just a clay duct-seal style of material. With this model though, they decided to permanently bond the two together. This is all fine and dandy unless it's a poor bond and the two parts start to separate! This explained why the gases were worse when sitting on the toilet as well as the water on the floor after cleaning it. My solution was very simple. With the whole toilet now super clean and dry, I used a product made by DAP called Ultra Clear. It's a flexible sealant that dries crystal clear and is immediate water ready. It's the best stuff I've ever seen! I simply ran a bead of this along the seal making sure that it fills the joint between the two pieces. Although the floor seal looked good, I replaced it with a new one anyway. Before I put the new floor seal on the bottom of the toilet, I covered the WHOLE seal with silicone grease (must be silicone as anything petroleum-based will deteriorate the seal). Do not use silicone spray, you want silicone grease as it will stay put and create an absolutely water and gas-tight seal where the toilet meets the floor. This same grease is also perfect for lubricating the flush plate and seal! It's been several trips since I had done this and we've never had so much as a whiff ever again. Hope this helps you out in your endeavor to rid your RV of this common problem.

Looks like you provided the same response to different threads. Like the other one, this thread is very old. 


Jeff - 2023 FR Sunseeker 2400B MBS

nextlevel
Explorer
Explorer
Thanks, Pauldub, that sounds like the thing to do. I was leaning that way. Started smelling bad again last night.

mobilefleet
Explorer
Explorer
nextlevel wrote:
I don't have a backflush option on this trailer. I bought a flexible wand to go into the toilet. Seems to work well.
I also do not put the paper into the tank. I keep a small trash can by the toilet with a spring loaded lid. I put a plastic bag inside the can and put all of the paper into the trash can. It never smells and I can use whatever paper I want to. I got the idea from another RV owner.



you don't need the option. Flush king isn't a permanently installed tank flusher. It's used on your tank valve just like you'd put your sewer hose on. It's got its own valve that you keep closed, you simply put it on and then open your trailer's black valve,and then backflush using a garden hose. NONE of the other tank gizmos I've tried, including factory installed tank flushers, have come even close to cleaning as good as one of these.

https://www.amazon.com/Valterra-F02-4350-Reverse-Flush-Valve/dp/B008O9DV78/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1506482798&sr=8-3&keywords=flush+king

Turtle_n_Peeps
Explorer
Explorer
pauldub wrote:
If the toilet is working correctly, it doesn't matter how dirty or stinky your tank may be so don't get distracted by everyone wanting you to clean your tank. I have zero odor leakage after discarding my Aqua Magic and replacing it with a Thetford Style II. Replacing the flange gasket didn't help. Somewhere in the housing of the Aqua Magic is a leak and the whole housing is open to the tank. The leak may be around the flush pedal linkage. You'll see how lousy of a design the toilet is when you pull it out. There's no sealed connection between the bowl and waste chute. If you look online for pricing (hint PPL), you'll see that there's no reason to buy the Aqua Magic over the higher end Style II.


Finally; someone bringing some sanity back into the conversation.

Like what was said above; it's really, really simple; you have a leak somewhere. What is not going to be so simple is finding that leak.

Good luck in finding it. They can be difficult in tracking down.
~ Too many freaks & not enough circuses ~


"Life is not tried ~ it is merely survived ~ if you're standing
outside the fire"

"The best way to get a bad law repealed is to enforce it strictly."- Abraham Lincoln

pauldub
Explorer
Explorer
If the toilet is working correctly, it doesn't matter how dirty or stinky your tank may be so don't get distracted by everyone wanting you to clean your tank. I have zero odor leakage after discarding my Aqua Magic and replacing it with a Thetford Style II. Replacing the flange gasket didn't help. Somewhere in the housing of the Aqua Magic is a leak and the whole housing is open to the tank. The leak may be around the flush pedal linkage. You'll see how lousy of a design the toilet is when you pull it out. There's no sealed connection between the bowl and waste chute. If you look online for pricing (hint PPL), you'll see that there's no reason to buy the Aqua Magic over the higher end Style II.

nextlevel
Explorer
Explorer
I don't have a backflush option on this trailer. I bought a flexible wand to go into the toilet. Seems to work well.
I also do not put the paper into the tank. I keep a small trash can by the toilet with a spring loaded lid. I put a plastic bag inside the can and put all of the paper into the trash can. It never smells and I can use whatever paper I want to. I got the idea from another RV owner.

mobilefleet
Explorer
Explorer
I have the same toilet model. I suggest if you have never tried one, buy a flush king and backflush the tank several times. It's the best thing I've found for black tanks. Gets all the gunk, paper etc out of there which causes smell. Toilet tank treatments are a waste of money. Always keep water in the black tank and make sure there's water in the toilet bowl. The tank vent on the roof as suggested previously is a good thing to check also.

nextlevel
Explorer
Explorer
I do have the Aqua Magic V. The flush valve to bowl gasket seems good. It holds water fine. I don't know of any other gasket that can smell on this toilet except the flange seal. Chrisntims indicated that there is another one somewhere near the top on the backside. Where?

nextlevel
Explorer
Explorer
I cannot see the vent pipe coming out of the tank. It must be on top. Anyway, I drained the tank again and now for about a week 5 days everything seems fine. I did check the roof vents again. There are 3 vents and I cleaned all of them again.
I did call Thetford toilets and the tech told me that a deteriorated flange seal might not leak water but could certainly leak fumes. I ordered one and will change it out this weekend. It is 7 years old after all.
After the last episode I stuck a rag behind the toilet and packed it in real good. Maybe that is why I haven't had a smell recently.

danimal53
Explorer
Explorer
i have a thetford toilet as well, and I occasionally get a smell. the gasket between the flush valve and bowl doesn't seem to seal right, the bowl doesn't even hold water (you can hear water dribble right through and of course, watch the water just drain away). I tried cleaning the seal, and even used a little silicon grease to get a better seal, but it was definitely a temporary solution. it helped for a bit, but now right back to what it was. I'm likely going to replace the gasket or the whole toilet next season.
2010 Jeep Liberty Sport 4x4
2016 Coachman Clipper 17BH

bartlettj
Explorer
Explorer
There are two gaskets that can cause a gas leakage in a toilet- one is the floor flange to base gasket, and the other is the flush valve to bowl gasket. Some toilets have an additional gasket between the riser and the bowl, but not all. Replace all the gaskets, I've only had mine last 4-5 years before they stop being gas tight.

The tank is always going to stink, it's designed to do that- it's a big tank full of poop. The trick is to keep the stink confined to the tank and/or vent, out of the bathroom.


I like to wait until the winter to maintain my toilet, then the smell isn't so bad when I have to remove it.

chrisntims
Explorer
Explorer
I had same problem with Aqua magic V toilet. I did the flushing of tank two years ago, did not help. Changed floor seal last year, thought that fixed it. Then got the smell again this year. I read about that there is a seal on the back of the toilet near top that tends to leak after a few years. It can not be replaced. I went to Amazon bought a new Aqua Magi V for around $120 dollars and a Cyclone vent cover for around $20. Less than two hours to install both. That was in the spring of this year and no smells... fingers crossed.
2018 Chevy Colorado
2008 Jayco Jay Feather G2 20BH

pauldub
Explorer
Explorer
What model toilet do you have? My Thetford AquaMagic IV leaked sewer odor. It's a crummy toilet design that is prone to leaking stinky odor.