Palomino Columbus 385bh sewer smell

[Davide1981]

Hell there I'm new to the forum and I need some help. I just purchased a used 2015 Columbus 385bh and I have a horrible smell coming from the rear bunk bathroom, I have done every trick I was ever taught as far as flushing...chemical tricks.....calgon....you name it black tank flush like crazy and I can not rid this smell! I live in the unit full time I always leave the black tank valves closed always dump and flush when at least 2/3's full, I do however leave all my grey tanks open as I have three kiddos and don't wanna pull the grey valves every other hour! I'm not real new to living in the trailer this is my second 5er however I'm not real sure how many tanks are on this unit my indicator shows 2 black and 3 grey tanks. Yesterday I dumped all tanks opened every valve till it's all empty, closed all valves and went into the half bath and ran the bath sink for about 10-15 mins then went outside and pulled what I thought was the grey valve 1.5" valve well no water came out! Thought that was really odd, then I pulled the black tank valve 3" valve and all the water came out! Why would the half bath sink fill up the black tank! Can someone please explain why the awful smell and how do these valves work on this palomino Columbus 385BH there is a total of 5 valves I'm assuming 2 for each black tank and 3 for each grey! But that sure does seem like a lot of holding tanks. Any help would be appreciated!

[SeaDog]

Welcome to the forum its a great place to get your questions answered. I don't have knowledge about your specific rig, but sometimes the awful smell may not be coming from the black tank but rather one of the gray tanks for oil and reese build up.

I would try tank cleaner in the gray tanks and see if that solves the problem, on my class A I solved the smell (venting problem) by adding a cyclone vent to the air stack.

Let us know what you find

[RJJ]

Sorry, don't know how your tanks are in your set up, but if you have a washer/dryer in your unit and you haven't used it lately or it's only prepped and not installed, the smell could be coming from an empty P trap. Leaving valves open would allow campground sewer smell to go up your sewer hose and out the trap. Add some water to the P trap. Just a thought.


2015 Georgetown 329DS
2014 Chevy Equinox

[Davide1981]

thanks for the replys appreciate the help, i bought this 5er about 5-6 weeks ago and again i never claim to no everything i have narrowed the smell coming from the back half bathroom, and when i open my pull out cabinets in the kitchen that uses the same wall as the half bath i can see the vent stack behind those pull out cabinet drawers and that the area the smell is coming from, i have a feeling i have a bad seal going in to the tank or my vent stack has fallen down to far. this unit has the syphon 360 vent caps, and has the hepvo waterless p traps, i can not think of anything else it could be. the other day i dumped all tanks then closed all valves i then ran the half bath sink for about 10-15mins then went outside to pull the grey valve and nothing came out then i went back in the half bath and flushed the toilet and water had some how backed up in the black tank and was all the way up to the therford ball valve I've never seen a sink flow in the black tank before, i called an authorized dealer of the Columbus 5er's and was told that some manufactures utilize the black tank for the sinks in a half bath, i personally have never seen that. i have a call in to palomino columbus waiting on a call back. i no when there's a post about smell its typically due to some partial neglect of the black tank flush i cant speak for the previous owner of this 5er but i have filled all the tanks completely full and poured the tank tehcs chemical in all drains and down all toilets let it sit for 24 hrs then flushed it like crazy, even ran a wand down both toilets and flushed like crazy, filled them all back up and then let them soak with calgon, the smell goes away for about a day then its rights back. its over my head. i think at this point i have to assume something bigger i do have a washer dryer prep that's in the master closet at the complete other end of the 5er. i think i'm gonna call a rv repairman ill keep everyone posted to what i find and pass on the info.

[RJJ]

Hope you have a resolution soon.


2015 Georgetown 329DS
2014 Chevy Equinox

[Croaker]

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If you leave your grey water valve open to the sewer, be sure and make a low spot in your sewer hose that traps the gas returning from the park sewer system. (Nasty smell)

Search for "slinky p-trap".
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[TURBS]

Columbus does not use p traps they use a hepvo valve.
One of the bladders may be stuck open, I'd guess an air admittance valve .

WHATEVER YOU DO do not use a drain snake!

Oh and it's common practice to run a sink into the black tank, that's a GOOD thing!

[TURBS]

http://www.hepvo.com/

[Flybob]

Check under bathroom sink for one of these. It is an air gap and can get stuck open. The little black cap on the vertical pipe is the actual air gap. You can try tapping it.

[RJJ]

Originally Posted by TURBS

http://www.hepvo.com/

Turbs, I had not seen these valves before. Thanks for the info.


2015 Georgetown 329DS
2014 Chevy Equinox

[dkvoelter]

We have a 2015 Columbus 295 RL and have had trouble with holding tanks. The first problem was that the tanks were mislabeled at the valve pulls. I was going to do a discharge of gray water at a campground, with permission, hooked the water hose to the cap, pulled the handle on the valve and you can imagine what happened when black water tried to get out the small water hose...messy cleanup with the 3" discharge pipe full of black water. The other problem, which may be part of your problem, is that the valves at the tanks were leaking, leaking into the discharge pipe and leaking on to the underbelly, the covering that seals the underside. This caused a terrible odor in the trailer. I stuck an icepick into the underbelly and contents from the tanks dripped out. It is currently at Fun Town, Giddings, TX being worked on for the second time. I was told that they replaced two valves and now a gasket is crimped and causing the leak. I have five tank level indicators inside the trailer but only 3 tanks, one black, one gray and one galley. Also, we discovered on our first trip that the shower door rail was installed backwards and the weep holes were on the outside of the shower leaking water on the bathroom floor. Fun Town repaired that at no charge. Good luck with your holding tanks problem.

[Davide1981]

Thanks for the info I appreciate it I already have hepvo waterless p traps at ever sink I'll do some more digging in to this and keep everyone informed so it may help the next person