Sewage smell outside of MH

[125992]

I've been getting some sewage smell outside of our MH. It is winterized and the tanks were flushed a couple of times during our last dump. I don't always smell it but when I do it is fairly strong. I've never smelled it inside the MH. Any ideas?

[SeaDog]

Your tanks are empty and the valves are all closed correct. You may be smelling the air vent from the top of the rig.

[dalford]

You have another post asking about raising your RV to increase your drop for your sewer hose. You say you are in a permanent site. Question, are there other RVs in this park? Sometimes the parks venting system is not good or close to your rig. Are there any sites close to you that may have a dump connection that is not closed off?

If you leave your valves open for grey water then air from the sewer system could be forced up out of your stink pipes. If you can get that extra drop in the sewer line then make a trap with your sewer hose so air can not get by to your holding tanks. Just some ideas..

[marinerjoe]

Originally Posted by dalford

You have another post asking about raising your RV to increase your drop for your sewer hose. You say you are in a permanent site. Question, are there other RVs in this park? Sometimes the parks venting system is not good or close to your rig. Are there any sites close to you that may have a dump connection that is not closed off?



If you leave your valves open for grey water then air from the sewer system could be forced up out of your stink pipes. If you can get that extra drop in the sewer line then make a trap with your sewer hose so air can not get by to your holding tanks. Just some ideas..

One thing to consider is that if you raise your camper to increase the drop (I presume you want a steeper angle on the hose/pipe), don’t go too steep. A too steep angle will be bad because the water that flows with the solids will go too fast, leaving the solids behind. That’s less of a problem if you religiously flush your tanks with lots of water during the dump to keep the solids moving. I am not a plumber (but I did stay in a Holiday Inn Express recently), but there’s a recommended angle for waste lines in a house that minimizes the risk of having the water leaving the solids behind. Note, that angle is not very great.

[125992]

Originally Posted by dalford

You have another post asking about raising your RV to increase your drop for your sewer hose. You say you are in a permanent site. Question, are there other RVs in this park? Sometimes the parks venting system is not good or close to your rig. Are there any sites close to you that may have a dump connection that is not closed off?

If you leave your valves open for grey water then air from the sewer system could be forced up out of your stink pipes. If you can get that extra drop in the sewer line then make a trap with your sewer hose so air can not get by to your holding tanks. Just some ideas..

Sorry that is not me. I'm not on a permanent site. My MH is sitting winterize in my driveway.

[125992]

Originally Posted by marinerjoe

One thing to consider is that if you raise your camper to increase the drop (I presume you want a steeper angle on the hose/pipe), don’t go too steep. A too steep angle will be bad because the water that flows with the solids will go too fast, leaving the solids behind. That’s less of a problem if you religiously flush your tanks with lots of water during the dump to keep the solids moving. I am not a plumber (but I did stay in a Holiday Inn Express recently), but there’s a recommended angle for waste lines in a house that minimizes the risk of having the water leaving the solids behind. Note, that angle is not very great.

Sorry that is not me. I'm not on a permanent site. My MH is sitting winterize in my driveway.

[Thurman]

I have a friend who owns an RV repair service and at times I go over to hang around and help him if I can, let's just call him John for now. I have learned a lot hanging around there. One thing I remember is a MH owner had their unit in for some repairs and asked this same question about the smell even though he had done everything he had learned about dumping and cleaning his tanks. John told him that no matter what he did he could not get the black tank completely clean enough to avoid the decay of solids matter and the smell that come with decaying. You can flush the tank all you want, attach a clear elbow to see if cleaner water is coming out but you will not get ALL of the matter from a black tank. I myself dump at the dump station when leaving a CG and flush my tanks three (3) times after getting home. I use a clear elbow and a macerator pump to send the waste to the septic tank for my garage. I flush until I have really clean water coming from the black tank but I agree with John that there is some solid matter left in the black tank. Actually there is soapy matter that is in the grey tank after cleaning. The material within these tanks will rot and create a smell. With all the valves closed the odor from the decaying will escape out the vent on the roof of any RV. I dump a pint of Simple Green into each tank after a cleaning just for odor control.

[dalford]

Originally Posted by 125992

Sorry that is not me. I'm not on a permanent site. My MH is sitting winterize in my driveway.

Sorry, I don’t know how I messed that up...my apologies

[MCTroy]

On an old TT, we thought there was the occasion sewer smell. Turns out it was a battery going bad. If you smell something like rotten eggs, maybe it is a battery and not the tanks.

[pdqparalegal1]

Originally Posted by MCTroy

On an old TT, we thought there was the occasion sewer smell. Turns out it was a battery going bad. If you smell something like rotten eggs, maybe it is a battery and not the tanks.

Very true. I had a voltage regulator go bad in alternator, cooked two batteries and stunk to high heaven. It did smell like sewage.