chronic waste tank odors in living space, bighorn...

[centerline]

we are the 2nd owners of this trailer and have only had it for about 2 months, but have not traveled or camped in it yet, so other than what little I have been fiddling with it, i know little about it yet.

additionally, the trailer was supposed to be winterized, and I believe it is, but I havent ran any water or flushed the toilet or messed with any of the tank drain valves, BUT I did pour water down the drains in the galley sink, the vanity sink and the shower, thinking that maybe when they winterized it, they blew the water out of the P traps so there was no chance of it freezing, which would then leave them open to allow odors to back flow....... or maybe the water setting in them got stagnant and needed flushed out... but pouring water down them made no difference

I know holding tank smells are more common in RV's than anyone would want to believe it is, but when tank odors are coming into the living space of your RV, how do you find the source of where they may be coming from?...

has anyone with a 3055 had waste tank odors inside their trailer, and did you ever find to reason for it?

I have found the vacuum breaker vent under the galley sink to be leaking, which caused it to smell a little bit under the counter, so I removed the vent and capped off the opening because it was in the exact same line as the plumbing vent line to the roof. i could see no reason for there to be a vent to the interior, vacuum breaker or otherwise, in the vent line that goes to the roof.... capping this eliminated the smell under the counter space.

the temperature here has been fluctuating between 32 and 50 degrees, and the barometer has been rising and falling, which causes the tanks to "breathe".... which it should be doing, but ONLY thru the vent lines to the roof....

I have sealed around the pipes, under the roof vent caps, to insure what is coming out of the opening isnt being sucked back down in to the trailer if we were to have a ventilation fan on....

after airing out the trailer, it will take about two days for the smell to return, BUT, if I turn on the furnace, the smell is noticeable after reentering the trailer within 15 or 20 minutes....

i have checked all the plumbing behind the partition in the basement, but all the pipes and joints are all in good order....

the problem may be down with the tanks or valves themselves but I really dont want to have to pull the corroplast if there is an inherent problem elsewhere that I should check....

I have thought that if I were to air the trailer out, and then take my shop-vac up on the roof, and reverse the hose so it blows, then blow down each of the vents to see if I can get the odor to show itself immediately, which may possibly offer a clue as to where to find it... its a long shot, but it would tell me if the smell is coming from inside the vent/tank, rather than a small effluent leak that is allowing the odors to waft up thru the trailer.....

suggestions as to where I should look, what I may be missing, or how to further troubleshoot it are greatly appreciated...

one can find gas leaks with an electronic "sniffer", but is there a model that could be used to sniff out waste tank odors? thanks

 

[cookie]

As you have already found out, it's not easy to track down an odor.
But you did touch one one thing that I would explore. You mentioned a gas sniffer as a possible tool to find your sewer odor.
Have you checked for a propane leak?
Two days after airing out the odor was back. A small propane leak could do that.
I mention this because we had a strange sewer like odor pop up and turned out to be propane. Didn't set off the propane alarm.
Speaking of propane alarms, they do have an expiring life. Might be time to check that as well. Remove it and check the date printed on the back side.

Peace
Dave

 

[centerline]

As you have already found out, it's not easy to track down an odor.
But you did touch one one thing that I would explore. You mentioned a gas sniffer as a possible tool to find your sewer odor.
Have you checked for a propane leak?
Two days after airing out the odor was back. A small propane leak could do that.
I mention this because we had a strange sewer like odor pop up and turned out to be propane. Didn't set off the propane alarm.
Speaking of propane alarms, they do have an expiring life. Might be time to check that as well. Remove it and check the date printed on the back side.

Peace
Dave

I will check the possibility of a gas leak, but it doesnt smell like propane, which I work on a LOT of propane powered equipment, so I have a pretty good sense of smell for propane..... but I know anything is possible.

and as im thinking about it right now, I havent checked the drain line for the washer/dryer, as it could be allowing a backflow of air, so I will look at that also even though the tube from the washer is sealed where it goes into the drain line at the wall.... if its a source, it should have a bad smell inside the washer. thanks

 

[rhodies1]

we are the 2nd owners of this trailer and have only had it for about 2 months, but have not traveled or camped in it yet, so other than what little I have been fiddling with it, i know little about it yet.

additionally, the trailer was supposed to be winterized, and I believe it is, but I havent ran any water or flushed the toilet or messed with any of the tank drain valves, BUT I did pour water down the drains in the galley sink, the vanity sink and the shower, thinking that maybe when they winterized it, they blew the water out of the P traps so there was no chance of it freezing, which would then leave them open to allow odors to back flow....... or maybe the water setting in them got stagnant and needed flushed out... but pouring water down them made no difference

I know holding tank smells are more common in RV's than anyone would want to believe it is, but when tank odors are coming into the living space of your RV, how do you find the source of where they may be coming from?...

has anyone with a 3055 had waste tank odors inside their trailer, and did you ever find to reason for it?

I have found the vacuum breaker vent under the galley sink to be leaking, which caused it to smell a little bit under the counter, so I removed the vent and capped off the opening because it was in the exact same line as the plumbing vent line to the roof. i could see no reason for there to be a vent to the interior, vacuum breaker or otherwise, in the vent line that goes to the roof.... capping this eliminated the smell under the counter space.

the temperature here has been fluctuating between 32 and 50 degrees, and the barometer has been rising and falling, which causes the tanks to "breathe".... which it should be doing, but ONLY thru the vent lines to the roof....

I have sealed around the pipes, under the roof vent caps, to insure what is coming out of the opening isnt being sucked back down in to the trailer if we were to have a ventilation fan on....

after airing out the trailer, it will take about two days for the smell to return, BUT, if I turn on the furnace, the smell is noticeable after reentering the trailer within 15 or 20 minutes....

i have checked all the plumbing behind the partition in the basement, but all the pipes and joints are all in good order....

the problem may be down with the tanks or valves themselves but I really dont want to have to pull the corroplast if there is an inherent problem elsewhere that I should check....

I have thought that if I were to air the trailer out, and then take my shop-vac up on the roof, and reverse the hose so it blows, then blow down each of the vents to see if I can get the odor to show itself immediately, which may possibly offer a clue as to where to find it... its a long shot, but it would tell me if the smell is coming from inside the vent/tank, rather than a small effluent leak that is allowing the odors to waft up thru the trailer.....

suggestions as to where I should look, what I may be missing, or how to further troubleshoot it are greatly appreciated...

one can find gas leaks with an electronic "sniffer", but is there a model that could be used to sniff out waste tank odors? thanks

Dump some RV Antifreeze into all of your sinks. Water will freeze and split your pipes.

 

[Dahillbilly]

possible toilet bowl seal leak, leave some rv antifreeze in the bowls

 

[wdk450]

You can do a definitive system test for propane leaks with a tank pressure gauge used to estimate when you are about to run out of gas. This test WILL NOT specifically locate a propane leak if it is present in the system, but will rather tell you if your propane system IS leaking and you need to do propane sniffer/tracer testing.

To do the propane leakdown test you will need a propane inline pressure gauge, like this: https://www.homedepot.com/p/GASONE-...0060bb8f40d914328341dbafd78cfa35&gclsrc=3p.ds
Connect the gauge inline with a tank with gas in it selected. With all propane devices shut off, turn on the tank gas valve, wait a few seconds, note the gauge pressure reading, then turn off the tank valve. If there are no leaks in your propane system, the gauge should hold pressure for at least 5 minutes.

BTW, if you are thinking of getting a sewer odor electronic sniffer, you probably need one that detects Hydrogen Sulfide gas(rotten eggs smell). Looking on E-Bay I saw one for $49. Methane (a component of sewer gas) is odorless, but the common flammable gas (including propane) electronic sniffers should detect it. I would guess that you and most every one else on the forum know that pure propane is also odorless, but is "marked" with Mercaptan odorant, like natural (home) gas is.

 

[centerline]

Dump some RV Antifreeze into all of your sinks. Water will freeze and split your pipes.

my trailer wont freeze because I have heaters that come on anytime the temp drops below 60 degrees.... I have always kept my RV's and boats heated when we're not using them. it keeps any condensation and mildew from happening....

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thanks for the replies....

I do have water in the toilet bowl, as I know if the seals dry out and go bad they can leak smells into the interior of the rv...

as for a propane leak, this happens when the propane is off, BUT I do have a propane gauge and will plumb it in so I can see what its doing....

I wasnt able to work on it today, but i will get to it tomorrow and see what I learn.... thanks

 

[Chrisandsama]

You mentioned removing the vacuum breaker in the galley. Did you happen to check the condition of the one in the vanity/sink?

 

[TravelTiger]

Another thought to consider since you said running the furnace makes it noticeable — could there be a dead animal somewhere?

Also, aged rv antifreeze can give off a distasteful smell. If possible flush all your lines and tanks, including outside shower and washer lines, and see if that helps.


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[centerline]

You mentioned removing the vacuum breaker in the galley. Did you happen to check the condition of the one in the vanity/sink?

no I didnt.... i thought about it briefly, but then got onto something else and forgot about it.... thanks

- - - Updated - - -

Another thought to consider since you said running the furnace makes it noticeable — could there be a dead animal somewhere?

Also, aged rv antifreeze can give off a distasteful smell. If possible flush all your lines and tanks, including outside shower and washer lines, and see if that helps.


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definitely not a dead animal smell..

and I do need to flush everything and get it ready for service, as we will be needing to use the trailer in a couple weeks...

 

[JohnDar]

Usually a dead critter has a sickly sweet odor, not a mercaptan smell. When I winterized our rig with AF, it was in there from the end of September to early May with no noticeable odor. And there isn’t any sulfur in RV AF. Check the connections to the waste tanks to be sure there are no cracks/leaks/unglued connections down there.
With an inexpensive propane detector, you could immediately tell if there was an accumulation of gas inside or if any connections were leaking.


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