Sewer Smell in bathroom

[dmac1951]

Folks, I am at my wits end and need some help. I have a sewer smell in the bathroom of our 2012 Wildcat 322RK. The last two times we have gone camping the smell will start after about three days. Here is what I have done and I am running out of ideas.
After first trip, I removed toilet from camper and cleaned it top and bottom. It is the Dometic 310 not the 300 that was a bad toilet.
Replaced the vacuum breaker on the toilet that is behind the seat.
Replaced the vacuum breaker on the black tank cleaning shower.
Repeadly dumped, flusher, and showered black storage tank.
Caulked between toilet anfd floor.
Checked vent on top and did not see anything wrong.
Put treatment in tank after flushing.
I am running out of ideas and am getting very discouraged. Any othe rideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Dwight

[fonzie]

Have you check for a defective air admittance valve underneath bathroom sink? Sometimes smell come from grey tank.

[harderd]

I found the one dose of tank stuff (whatever you use) is not enough. I double the dosage for my tank but I have a large black water tank. I also found that the green environment stuff is worthless.

[Stank Bait]

"the smell will start after about three days"

It's hot out there. Why not just dump it the third day.
Are you keeping some water in the toilet bowl all the time?

[crunchman12001]

You do not state where you are located. In hot weather things ferment quicker than in mild temps which is obvious. Add additional odor control products or dump in two days instead of three.
It sounds like you have covered all the bases as far as venting ect. You didn't happen to drill a hole through the wall into the vent pipe to hang a towel rack or something did you?
I dump after every weekend trip, use odor control products and tissue desolver without issues.
Is this 2012 wildcat new to you or did you buy it brand new and this issue just started?
crunchman

[nomad297]

The problem is your air admittance valve under your sink. The cheap black ones used by all RV manufacturers fail way before a good one will.

Remove the black air admittance valve by turning it counter clockwise, then install a new 1-1/2" air admittance valve. There are several brands, but Studor Vent is the most used in the residential plumbing industry. You can also find them made by Oatey, ProFlo and others. Do not buy another cheap one. You should be spending about $20.00 on a good one.

This is going to fix your problem.

Bruce

[davel1971]

if you have a Dometic 300 toilet, that may be your problem. They had a long run of bad ones that create a smell. I had one.

[Tomsher]

I had the same problem with my Sabre 5th wheel.It turned out to be the HepvO valve which is located in the sub basement. After plugging up twice I replaced it with a P trap.
Here is a link to them [URL="http://www.hepvo.com/HepvoUSTechGuide.pdf" .

[mark0224]

Try This put some Dawn Dish soap down the toilet along with a bucket of hot water, if there is anything built up in there it will loosen it up. Let it sit for an hour or so then put a wand tank cleaner down and flush tank good. I tried using the Dawn and calgon to sanitize our tank and it did work but if there is build up nothing seems to work. If you can take the trailer down the road with the hot water and Dawn mixture in the tank the sloshing around will help with the cleaning.

[Flybob]

One more idea. If you are not using the shower, the water in the trap can evaporate or be sucked out during dumping. Try pouring 2 cups of water down the shower drain once you set up.

[dmac1951]

Thanks for all of the ideas. I will try to answer a few questions. We have had the trailer 5-6 months. I have not performed any work that would damage the vent pipes, but that is one area I intend to explore when we get home. we take showers every day and I have examined the vent valve under the lavatory. It seems to be OK and there is no odor under the sink. I put laundry detergent and deoderizer into black and grey tanks before leaving home. Pulled about 20 miles and dumped after setting up. Always put some water into bowl after flushing. The toilet is a Dometic 310 model, which is supposed to be OK. Dumping and rinsing now and will double up on treatment. It is very hot in north Alabama now.

[Flybob]

One more I did not see. If you have a bathroom vent fan, try turning it off before flushing. A vent fan like FF can suck odors from the toilet during flushing especially if the RV is closed up ( ie AC running).

[mjones12]

Good point, Flybob. I always try to turn off fan and close vent before flushing. A few times I have forgotten, and it dramatically proved your point. Especially true if you do the ten-second flushes to put a lot of water in the tank.

[imcruzn]

To FlyBob, we don't use our shower at all. So we need to treat the p-trap of the shower in the trailer just like any p-trap in the house? Always put water down the drain after we set up? We are new to the TT camping so any and all suggestions are greatly appreciated.

[Road-King]

I had the same symptoms in my 5th wheel as the OP. I could smell the sewer in the bathroom and in the basement compartment.

What I did was fill the black tank. I mean all the way to the top where I could see water in the pipe with the flush valve open. Looked in the basement compartment, under the toilet. There was a small crack in the waste pipe. I never would have found it without the water seeping out.

So as a temporary fix I went to the hardware store and bought a can of that Flex-Seal stuff. Sprayed the crack area and the other joint areas on the waste pipe from the toilet. No more smell... It was supposed to be a temporary fix, but I'm going to leave that can on the camper and see if the Flex-seal holds.

[YoungKopernik]

The big ones for us is turning off the vent before flushing and we keep a plug in the shower drain while traveling then add a cup of water when we land.
Plus I'm a stickler on cleaning tanks and lines when I can.
John

[dudleydoo]

I'm having the same problem and have tried some of these solutions. But, it has also been hot so that may contribute to the problem. We just got home and plan to go again in 2-3 weeks so will start with an empty tank and fill with Dawn and Calgon if I can find it.

[poppytoymaker]

I used to keep my grey valve opened at campsite. I had a sewer oder come from rhe bathroom sink liked described earlier I know keep the valve closed and drain the grey tank evey morning when I'm camping

[SkipBest]

Try "Tank Tech RX" We have found it to be a good product for controlling smells and build up.

[Boso]

Make sure that it not your gray water it will smell almost as bad