Grey Tank Smell

[cgintx]

We have had a grey tank smell in our 2011 RW361 after we began to use it. We bought it new in the fall of 2010 and did not use it over the winter. We noticed the smell next spring after the second time we used it. We brought the unit to the dealer in the summer to look into the smell along with other warranty items. The dealer had the trailer for a month and when I brought it home, the smell problem was not fixed. To make a long story short, after two trips to the dealer (they replaced the vacuum vent/anti-syphon valve each time and supposedly did a vent check) where they had the unit a total of 4 months, the problem still exists without resolution. I called Heartland and got zero support because it is now out of warranty even though I originally brought the problem to the dealer while under warranty. The smell seems to be from the galley tank and can also be smelled in the garage (the galley tank is also connected to the washer hookup behind the garage refrigerator). Any help or suggestions?

 

[cookie]

Do you leave your dump valves open when you are set up? If you do then you could be getting an odor from the sewer system.
There are also some vent caps that you can install that will help keep the odors from entering the coach.
Cyclone Vents has an item that has been popular.

Peace
Dave

 

[cgintx]

I do not keep the dump valves open. I have cyclone vents for black and lav. grey tank. I cannot use them on the galley tank because that vents through the refrigerator vent area is is covered by the refer. vent cover.

 

[TravelTiger]

We were getting some odors from our grey tank, when the tank would get close to half full. In our case the washer drain line drains into the bathroom grey tank (we don't have a washer installed). Through some other threads on this forum, someone made a suggestion that the p-trap on the washer drain line may have dried out, allowing the gasses to come back up that line (even though it was capped). While winterizing, I put some anti-freeze down the washer drain line, and we had no smells the following trip in December.

 

[floridarandy]

we've found that all tanks can emit odors as the materials there sit, especially over an extended period of storage. Even dumped tanks aren't clean and dry after they're empty...grey or black.

as a result what we've found is after draining grey tanks we add 4 oz/40 gal tank of THIS STUFF. The link shows it on camping world but we also have it our local Walmart. After dumping the grey tanks and adding 4 oz of this stuff we add 1 gallon of water. This seems to keep the grey's from developing odor between uses. Similarly with the black tank....dump, rinse, then add appropriate amount of black water chemical (choose your brand) with at least 2 gallons of water. We also add a cup or two of powdered water softener as this seems to help keep the tanks clean as they fill.

Randy & Karen in Florida

 

[oscar]

We also add a cup or two of powdered water softener as this seems to help keep the tanks clean as they fill.

huh?

 

[hoefler]

I do not keep the dump valves open. I have cyclone vents for black and lav. grey tank. I cannot use them on the galley tank because that vents through the refrigerator vent area is is covered by the refer. vent cover.

I think this is the problem. I would relocate the vent so it is out of the free air space behind the refrigerator. You can also sanitize the tank with a bleach solution as well, that will kill anything that is growing in there and making it so aromatic.

 

[Lynn1130]

Calgon or something similar. It works great in all tanks. Keeps things from sticking to the tanks and cuts down the odors in the tanks.

I was going to recommend, in this case, that the tanks be filled with calgon (or other powdered softener) and water, driven around a bit, left to sit for a day then dumped.