Sewer smell

[Ryan_and_Ellie]

My wife and I are proud owners of a brand new Surveyor 252. But weve come across the smell of sewer permeating through the bathroom. We are the first owners, so we dont know what to think. Ive only drained the black tank once (its only been 2 weeks since we bought it. And of course I drained the grey water after. Any thoughts? We do live in this trailer full time as our jobs require us to travel. The whole bathroom just smells horribly like sewer. It was a smooth ride off the lot, and a smooth park at our current lot. Needless to say, Its bothersome.

[Traveling Circus]

Originally Posted by Ryan_and_Ellie

My wife and I are proud owners of a brand new Surveyor 252. But weve come across the smell of sewer permeating through the bathroom. We are the first owners, so we dont know what to think. Ive only drained the black tank once (its only been 2 weeks since we bought it. And of course I drained the grey water after. Any thoughts? We do live in this trailer full time as our jobs require us to travel. The whole bathroom just smells horribly like sewer. It was a smooth ride off the lot, and a smooth park at our current lot. Needless to say, Its bothersome.

Either the toilet or the air admittance valve needs replacing. Both are common topics on this board.

[lcv800]

There are small, removable vent caps (name escapes me at the moment) that help vent the grey tank. They are underneath all sinks. They have flaps on them that sometimes stick. Cheap replacements from six to twenty five bucks. No tools needed, twist on.
Rusty

[lazyjj]

Be sure and leave water in your toilet bowl at all times. Also, there are many deodorizer products available for your toilet as well. Ensure the the ball in your toilet bowl is closing completely. Lot's of water in your black tank is your friend an normally helps to keep odors down as well as breaking up of solids.

[GolfingDave]

Are you able to determine if it is toilet or shower/sinks? Use campground utilities for a bit if you have to.

Put stoppers in sinks/shower and fill with a bit of water. Maybe put a wet washcloth over them if they do not seal completely.
Add water to toilet.
If smell dissipates remove one then the others and see if/when smell returns.

I have never had a smell yet in my toilet from the seal and most of the time I do not add water to the bowl. If it holds water it should be air tight from odors escaping there. Now underneath is a different story.

[MarCon]

We are having the same issue with our new Artic Wolf 3660suite. If I keep the sink and shower stoppers in then there is no smell.

[dalford]

Originally Posted by MarCon

We are having the same issue with our new Artic Wolf 3660suite. If I keep the sink and shower stoppers in then there is no smell. Attachment 285282

Shower stopper? No j-traps on sink? Does not make sense for sink but some showeres do not have j-traps but have a one way flapper type valve that lets water flow one way and keep gray tank smell from coming in. These valves over time get clogged with hair and other matter and don’t close tight and let the smell in. It might be time to replace the shower trap.

As far as the sink goes, check to make sure they installed a j-trap. No way odor should get past the standing water.

[Larry-NC]

DO NOT run the vent fan while you flush the toilet. You would create a direct air stream down the roof vent, through the black tank, up the toilet opening, through the bathroom, and out the roof. Or at least, open the bathroom door.

Best to just run the fan before-and-after flushing, but not during.

[MarCon]

Originally Posted by dalford

Shower stopper? No j-traps on sink? Does not make sense for sink but some showeres do not have j-traps but have a one way flapper type valve that lets water flow one way and keep gray tank smell from coming in. These valves over time get clogged with hair and other matter and don’t close tight and let the smell in. It might be time to replace the shower trap.

As far as the sink goes, check to make sure they installed a j-trap. No way odor should get past the standing water.

There is a jtrap under sink, but also a separate horizontal drain attaching to it as well. Pictures are from the basement and white vent cap is actually on the washer drain, others are from bathroom. The pipe going up the wall could be the vent? And the smell is really bad when plugs are not in. Especially when drains are open and the fan is turned on.

[MarCon]

Originally Posted by Larry-NC

DO NOT run the vent fan while you flush the toilet. You would create a direct air stream down the roof vent, through the black tank, up the toilet opening, through the bathroom, and out the roof. Or at least, open the bathroom door.

Best to just run the fan before-and-after flushing, but not during.

Thanks for that...

[dalford]

Sewer small or urine smell.. does it smell like a dirty gas station bathroom?

Also, I’m not sure what the pics are of. Is that 2 different drains? I can’t see what is behind the first pic and I can see much in the 2nd pic..

[stephndudb]

Not necessarily sewer. Gray water can smell really bad, too. The gray tank vent pipe on our fifth wheel was cut too short. It actually ended below the roof vent cap, inside the wall. When we ran the microwave the trailer stunk. Turns out the vent pipe was in the wall behind the microwave. The fan in the microwave created a negative pressure inside that wall and pulled gray tank fumes from that short vent pipe into the trailer. Took a while to figure that one out! Moral of the story: if you can't find the source, take the caps off your roof pipe vents and make sure the vent pipes are actually attached up there.

[NMWildcat]

Replace air admittance valve under the sink first, as many have advised. It's cheap and easy.

[dalford]

Originally Posted by NMWildcat

Replace air admittance valve under the sink first, as many have advised. It's cheap and easy.

X2… sewer smell can travel to many different places… you may think it comes from one place but once it gets into the under structure it can come out anywhere..

[5picker]

Tell us more... smell(s) can come from many sources.

Do you keep your dump valves closed and only open them for dumping? The hook-up sewer gases where you are staying can migrate back into the R/V and that's no fault of the R/V itself. If you do leave the grey dump valve open, make a P-trap in your sewer hose to keep the smell out of your R/V. NEVER let the black valve open!

What model toilet do you have? The Dometic 300 has been known to hold urine (between the upper/lower halves) and stink awful.

Are you using black tank chemicals?

Do you know where the air admittance valve(s) are located and is the smell coming from them? (mentioned several times above)

Have you looked at the vent stack on the roof to be sure it is open? (clogged with bees nest or broken off/smashed by a tree limb)

Are you running the bath roof vent fan while flushing? (they will suck the stink up through the toilet into the R/V)

[jlynn721]

Originally Posted by Ryan_and_Ellie

My wife and I are proud owners of a brand new Surveyor 252. But weve come across the smell of sewer permeating through the bathroom. We are the first owners, so we dont know what to think. Ive only drained the black tank once (its only been 2 weeks since we bought it. And of course I drained the grey water after. Any thoughts? We do live in this trailer full time as our jobs require us to travel. The whole bathroom just smells horribly like sewer. It was a smooth ride off the lot, and a smooth park at our current lot. Needless to say, Its bothersome.

Make sure you leave a few inches of water in bowl at all times. Next, use Happy Campers every time after you dump. I would try this before I start replacing parts.

[ArcticRam]

Do you have a Dometic 300 toilet? https://youtu.be/r5wEBuVsKIA

They are not recalled, but if this is your problem, get in touch with Dometic and they will send you a new toilet. I did "the fix" and have a new toilet as a spare.

[Crazyman819ca]

Unscrew the value under the bathroom sink. And give it a shake. It’s probably stuck open. Also, when ever you stop be sure to pore some water in each drain once you’re setup. This will stop the gasses coming back up through the system. Believe me, the grey tank can small really bad as well as the grey.

[Mattos M]

If your toilet is the Dometic 300 that is your problem. I switched after contacting Dometic to the 310. Look on this site for issues with smell and the Dometic 300.

[Keithfirefighter]

Make sure if your hooked up to the sewer system at the campground that your black and gray drain valves are shut the whole way! Smell from the sewer system comes up threw your sewer pipe and if the valves are open just a little bit the smell will come into the trailer!! I had this happen to me!!