Bad smells inside of living room, not in bathroom

[ORP]

I am sure this has been beaten to death, and I am searching the forum as we speak for solutions, but in the meantime I figured I would start a post. I have a Heartland 2011 30FQBS trailrunner. I love the trailer and am slowing learning more and more about it and TT life. I have been using it a lot. I finally decided to keep it on a campground that has no full hookups. I have a portable tank I pull to the dump station. In the past 3 weeks I seem to be having a smell from the grey water insidfe the trailer but not from the bathroom. We have flushed both tanks a bunch and have not been able to figure out why it is entering the trailer. If you drain the grey water you smell that same smell that is in the cabin and then it stops smelling inside of the trailer. Any ideas as why the greywater would be the one that is creating such a bad smell? It is 100 plus on a daily basis but I think something must be wrong to create such a bad smell in from the "clean tanks". I do use the walmart additive. I am going to order Happy camper also. Thanks in advance for any advice.

And I never had it happen until these extreme temps outside.

 

[jimtoo]

Hi ORP,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum and Family. We have a great bunch of people here with lots of information and all willing to share their knowledge if needed.

Welcome to the RV world of bad smells.... No,, really the gray tank for the kitchen can smell just as bad as the tank for the potty room. Check under the sink area for a "T" near the "P" trap. It looks like a 3--4" plug on the top of the T... It is a vacuum break.. sometimes these stay open and let the smell of the rotten food that is in the tank back into the trailer. They can be replaced easy.. just usually hand tight.. I even wraped mine with clear plastic wrap till I made sure that's what it was.

Let us know what you find.
Enjoy the forum.

Jim M

 

[ORP]

Hi ORP,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum and Family. We have a great bunch of people here with lots of information and all willing to share their knowledge if needed.

Welcome to the RV world of bad smells.... No,, really the gray tank for the kitchen can smell just as bad as the tank for the potty room. Check under the sink area for a "T" near the "P" trap. It looks like a 3--4" plug on the top of the T... It is a vacuum break.. sometimes these stay open and let the smell of the rotten food that is in the tank back into the trailer. They can be replaced easy.. just usually hand tight.. I even wraped mine with clear plastic wrap till I made sure that's what it was.

Let us know what you find.
Enjoy the forum.

Jim M

Hey thanks for the quick response. I had just got off the phone calling my brother which is actually at the trailer to have him check that when I read it in a previous post. That has to be what it is. We noticed a couple of weeks ago that seemed to be where the smell was coming from but when you are trying to get the smell out, well you miss small signs like this. man the smells can really ruin an enjoyable camping trip. Once I finally made the move to leave mine at a lake full time I have been battling this every since. I originally thought it was the black tank but my brother actually noticed while draining the gray it was the gray tank smell that most resembled the smell inside the trailer. Then we determined there was no bad smell coming from the bathroom. Imagine that, go to the bathroom if you don't want to smell the crappy smell LOL.

 

[Bob&Patty]

You might try using Dawn soap and maybe some Calgon or Boraxo in the grey tank. Dawn will loosen the grease and the boraxo will cut the smell. We dont use the stuff from Wallyworld. The only time we get a smell is if the "P" trap dries up. Let the tank get full before you drain it. That way you can get the heavy flow of water to help flush out all the debris.

 

[SJH]

We had a similar situation when we first got the Big Country. As jimtoo eluded to, it was the Air Admittance Valve under the sink. It had simply popped off during the trip from Ohio to Washington. All I had to do was push it back on and all was good. Hopefully your situation will be as easy to fix!

Best Wishes!

 

[ziggy]

We use Dawn soap in both the black and grey tanks. We add Calgon to that in the black tank. No odors so far. If we were in the trailer more, we would put the Calgon in the grey tanks too, but we haven't needed to do that up to this point.

 

[newbie]

The valve under the cabinet, near the kitchen sink at the top of a tee, is an air admittance valve. Mine will occasionally stick open and let some foul smells in. If you stick your head under the cabinet where the valve is located you will definitely know. My valve looks like this one.

John

 

[jmgratz]

I have found the kitchen gray tank to smell as bad or worse than the black tank. Another thing that will cause a foul smell in the unit would be leaving the gray tank drain valve open. The smell creeps back into the unit from the open lines. Keep the valves closed except when draining the tank and that will solve that.

 

[mikeandconnie]

I also agree the grey sink tank smell worst then the black tank... I thought I was installing a extreme vent on my black tank by smelling the vent.. Turns out it was the sink tank... I installed them on all three vents for this reason. My vents where leaking in the roof and odor was cominng from the AC. Extreme vents are the way to go.

 

[Bobby A]

The valve under the cabinet, near the kitchen sink at the top of a tee, is an air admittance valve. Mine will occasionally stick open and let some fowl smells in. If you stick your head under the cabinet where the valve is located you will definitely know. My valve looks like this one.View attachment 15307

John

I get that smell in the kitchen from time to time, mine looks exactly like this. What do you guys mean by getting stuck open ?? My has the holes just like this photo, how do you know if its stuck open or what ?? Mine is hand tight, can I just remove it and look at it ?? What to do next ??

 

[DougLynne]

I had the same ongoing problem and finally installed the Cyclone Sewer Vent on the roof and all is great..../Doug

 

[newbie]

I get that smell in the kitchen from time to time, mine looks exactly like this. What do you guys mean by getting stuck open ?? My has the holes just like this photo, how do you know if its stuck open or what ?? Mine is hand tight, can I just remove it and look at it ?? What to do next ??

Mine doesn't always smell. I just assumed that when the spring operated plunger would open to allow air in, it would sometimes stick open, allowing foul smells out. I guess that after I bounced down the road it would close and the smell would go away. At least this is my theory.

John

 

[jjwink]

We bought a Cyclone vent but haven't installed it yet. How do you determine which roof vent is sewer and which is grey? We have a 2011 Rushmore and there are 2 vents in the area above the toilet.

 

[newbie]

I would have someone run a hose into the toilet (or even a continuous flush) while you put your ear to the vents. You should be able to hear the draining water to ascertain the right vent. Same goes with a sink vent; let the water run and you should be able to hear it from the associated vent.

John

 

[jimtoo]

We bought a Cyclone vent but haven't installed it yet. How do you determine which roof vent is sewer and which is grey? We have a 2011 Rushmore and there are 2 vents in the area above the toilet.

There are several threads about sewer smell and how to locate the vent on the roof..The vent that is right above the toilet is usually the one for the black tank. There have been several ways mentioned on how to make sure it is the one. One of the ways to locate the vent is for you to get on roof,,, have DW hold down flush lever and stick head into toilet and call your name while you listen on the roof at the vents. (Now this is not my suggestion, I just borrowed it.) Now if it does work to locate the vent, please let us know.

This thread also recommends a cyclone vent and I also have one and they do work.

Have fun and use lots of water.

Jim M