Walmart Toilet Chemical vs. RV Dealer Toilet Chemical

[jeeptp75]

We have only had our new camper for 3 months and have used it only on 4 different occasions. We are getting a very strong sewage smell from the bathroom. I am using the same toilet chemical purchased from Walmart that I have used for the past 10 years in my old camper. My camper dealer is telling me its the chemical, not something wrong with the camper. They are saying that the chemical they sell works much better. Of course its much more expensive. Im not denying that a more expensive chemical may work a little better but my question is why did this old chemical work so well for 10 years in our old camper and now seems to not work in our new camper.

Tim

[trail-explorer]

fla-gypsy wrote:
Sounds more like a venting problem to me. These systems rely on rooftop vents to vent those tanks. They could be partially blocked or the pipe running from the roof to the tank could be inserted to deep in the tank which when the liquid level reaches the bottom of the vent pipe will force all the gasses produced to push back inside when the toilet is flushed. Is the smell a constant one or happens after some use?

That's what I'm thinking too.

For most of my trips, which are weekend outings, I don't even waste the money on the tank deodorizer.

[camperforlife]

My tank roof top vent is very close to the bathroom ceiling vent. Under the right wind conditions I have to keep the ceiling vent closed or the tank vent smells will be sucked down into the trailer.

[hddecker]

huffaz wrote:
Does a small amount of water say on top of the toilets flush valve indicating a proper seal?

It does in my books.

Most of the time when water will not stay in the bowl, there is a bit of paper stop the sissor valve from seating. You can fix the problem by running, very gently so you don't damage the gasket, a piece of a bent coat hanger or what ever you have around the gasket.

[huffaz]

Does a small amount of water say on top of the toilets flush valve indicating a proper seal?

[john_b1]

hitchup wrote:
We use whatever we can find at WM. After 7 days, it may start stinking in the heat. But we only like to dump every other weekend.

If there's been a formula change, it could be the EPA. I heard recently that AC's after 2012 must use a less efficient refrigerant. So new RV's may need more AC's and use more electricity in the process.

I had not heard that about refrigerant. A few years back they changed from r19 to r 134 but I did not know they changed yet again . Learn something every day Jb

[WandaLust2]

So far we have had 3 RVs and nor one of them had a sewer odor. Only the small Dodge Xplorer with the recirculating toilet would develop an odor - a mixture of stale urine and formaldehyde = horrible! I would never consider a recirculating toilet again. We use no chemicals in our toilets now and have no odor.

[74alex]

We use no chemicals and have no longer any odor problems, once I found the leak.
The opening for the vent pipe through the roof was not properly sealed.
At casual inspection it appeared O.K. but digging deeper it showed that the putty used to seal the opening was not holding.
Been odor free now for twelve years.
Alex

[doxiluvr]

Sounds like a venting problem. But make sure you use lots of water when you use the toilet especially after a bowel movement. Use the easy dissolving t.p. and make sure you keep the black tank closed so that it fills up and then drain it and do a followup rinse of the drain hose with the grey water. We also rinse the black tank out good at least every month and although some people do not use a chemical, we do. We use the packets from WalMart, and have for about 7 years. Since we use our bathroom area 98% of the time,(the two of us), we find we empty the tanks about every other day. As I said though, we use a lot of water as we have full hookups so I don't worry about it. Also make sure you tell any company you have not to through any personal items or Kleenex down the toilet. That can really gunk it up. Hope you find your problem.

[hddecker]

jeeptp75 wrote:
We have only had our new camper for 3 months and have used it only on 4 different occasions. We are getting a very strong sewage smell from the bathroom. I am using the same toilet chemical purchased from Walmart that I have used for the past 10 years in my old camper. My camper dealer is telling me its the chemical, not something wrong with the camper. They are saying that the chemical they sell works much better. Of course its much more expensive. Im not denying that a more expensive chemical may work a little better but my question is why did this old chemical work so well for 10 years in our old camper and now seems to not work in our new camper.

Tim

The chemicals that Wally sells is the same stuff that half the RV dealers sell.

This reminds me of the service writer that told me that they had to replace my brand new spark plugs because they were Champion and not Autolite that the manufacturer used.

I suspect you have a venting problem as pointed out by several other posters.

Only buy what you absolutely have to from an RV dealer. Remember you have a hole in the road that you pour money into and if you buy from and RV dealer you are pour way to much money into that hole.

If you spend a little time searching on the web you will find that probably 90% of the replacement parts that you need can be sourced outside of the RV industry.

Keep as much of your money in your pockets as you can.

[Gadget_Guy1]

As others have said find out what the problem is and repair it, don't waste money on chemicals, in fact if you throw your dollar bills into the toilet you will at least save the gas money on going to the dealer or Walmart and it will do just as much good.

[John-g]

I use to have a lot of sewer odor, 2 years ago I bought a Drainmaster 360 RV roof vent and haven't had any problems since. It was easy to install. This is their site.
http://drainmaster.com/site/products/mini-view4

[francisrubberne]

The wife noticed a bad smell under the kitchen sink. I removed the old cheater vent,it was stuck open. I installed a new one. End of smell. Just for good measure,I replaced the one under the bath sink.We use a little chemical!

[hitchup]

We use whatever we can find at WM. After 7 days, it may start stinking in the heat. But we only like to dump every other weekend.

If there's been a formula change, it could be the EPA. I heard recently that AC's after 2012 must use a less efficient refrigerant. So new RV's may need more AC's and use more electricity in the process.

[mlts22]

Chemicals are a waste of money. The only stuff I put in the black tank is to make the inside slippery and to help break up solids, and hand dish detergent or water softener are perfect for this. The usual chemicals sold with formaldehyde are not septic tank friendly.

As for vent caps, so far the best I've seen is a small fan powered by a solar cell. This helps suck out air regardless if the rig is parked or moving, and regardless of wind speed.