Sewer smell

[peter721]

I have a 2010 park model located in Fla. I leave the black tank closed and empty it once a week. Lately I have gotten a sewerage smell throughout the trailer. Any ideas what would cause that and how to fix it?

Thank-you

 

[jimtoo]

Hi peter721,

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

I'm not one that likes the sewer smell myself...do you have a flush system on the unit? One where you hookup a hose and flush the tank with water when dumping? I'm sure some of our members will jump in soon.

Enjoy the forum.

Jim M

I moved this to a better area for help.

 

[jbeletti]

Check to see that the ball is sealing well in the toilet. Check and clean the rubber seal there as well.

Your park model, is it a Heartland Country Ridge?

 

[TandT]

I get this when I run one of the fantastic fans. It is coming from the vent for the washer/dryer area and stinks up the bedroom. I looked for one of those vacuum check valves on the vent in that area, but could not find one. When I look up along the vent riser that is visible, I can see daylight. I think it is pulling it down from the sewer vent outside the rig. I have a directional vent cap that is supposed to pull the odors out. I am going to put it on and seal that area to see how it works.
I almost always leave all my valves closed, with a "p" trap arrangment in the sewer hose to prevent back draft from the outside sewer.

Regarding the toilet, leave a little water in it to act as a vapor seal. This cuts smells from the stool almost completely.

 

[Rickhansen]

I have a 2010 park model located in Fla. I leave the black tank closed and empty it once a week. Lately I have gotten a sewerage smell throughout the trailer. Any ideas what would cause that and how to fix it?

Peter721 - Under your sinks, you'll find a vacuum breaker check valve in the high points of the plumbing drain lines. These are designed to let air in, but not let air vent back into your rig from the plumbing system. The ones from the manufacturer aren't very reliable. They can be replaced easily (they screw off the drain lines) and cheaply from Home Depot or Lowes for a couple bucks. I'm not sure why these are needed as the plumbing is vented through the roof in multiple places. There is none on the black water system.

Gray water tanks can smell worse than the black, and if you have the gray water drain valves open while camped, the smells from the campground sewer system can vent through your RV system.

As a test, put a sandwich bag over them with a rubber band to see if the smell goes away.

 

[TXBobcat]

One thing that may cause a problem is if you leave your gray tank valves open (your black tank valves should always be closed) when you blow air out, which sucks air from other places you may be getting a smell from the sewer through your gray tanks.

We have found this happens to us sometimes also.

BC

 

[caissiel]

I always let my sewer drain lines lay on the grass and make sure I have a rise to the sewer pipe. It creates a seal from the campground system to the trailer. If the graytank valves are open and the sewer line is slopped towered the sewer the smell makes its way to the vent of the trailer and it could make its way to an open vent. I smell lots of trailer vents when walking in campgrounds.