Oooowww, that smell

I no longer travel and am parked in my friends' yard.  Nice setup.  I saw one "recipe" for eliminating the sewer smell.  It gets really bad since I'm in triple digits in Nevada.  Besides that recipe, does anyone else have any kind of a cure?  It starts four to five days after dumping.  Grrr...  I can get away with doing it for up to three weeks in the winter but have a big problem in the summer. 

Will appreciate any help.  Thanks!

You should not have an odor coming from your tanks. Have you checked for a poop pyramid?

I keep a bottle of the blue stuff on hand..... Once in a long while, I guess when we do something wrong, such as perhaps not use enough water, dump too soon, or who knows....but when we get a smell issue, I pour in a dose of that blue stuff and problem solved in short order.

Our "blue stuff" is Dawn dishwashing liquid.  It also helps keep the hard water crud from growing in the bowl when not being used.

ArdraF

SeilerBird said:

You should not have an odor coming from your tanks. Have you checked for a poop pyramid?

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I rinsed my black tank the other day after dumping and it held quite a bit of brown that I thought would have came out by itself, I was surprised. The OP may have the pyramids of egypt growing if they dont rinse the black tank.

Triple Slide Jayco said:

I rinsed my black tank the other day after dumping and it held quite a bit of brown that I thought would have came out by itself, I was surprised. The OP may have the pyramids of egypt growing if they dont rinse the black tank.

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I've installed a tornado flush kit in each of my last two travel trailer black tanks.
https://www.amazon.com/Camco-40126-Tornado-Rotary-Rinser/dp/B000BUU5TU

I use a clear fitting on the valve
https://www.etrailer.com/RV-Plumbing/Valterra/T1023.html?feed=npn&gclid=COD2svqS6dQCFQQvaQodJpkGBQ

when I dump the tanks, I hook the regular water hose to the flush valve and turn it on and open the valve and drain the tank. Then I close the valve, and let the tornado rinse the tank while the gray water is dumping. Then I switch back to the black tank. I'll close the black tank 2 or 3 times and let the water run through the tornado 6 or 8 minutes and open again. I do this until I see clear water coming from the tank. Takes a little longer to dump, but I waited in line for my turn, and I'm the one who would have to smell mine if I didn't clean it properly, so the folks behind me can wait their turn too 

when I'm done, I put a couple minutes worth of water back into the black tank with the flush valve before turning it off, cleaning up and leaving. "IT" flows downhill, but "IT" needs plenty of water to flow. If there's no line behind me, I'll go inside and put a
scoop of laundry detergent, or someone above mentioned dawn dishwashing liquid, and a cap of calgon water softener liquid. Then the water sloshing around in the tank on the drive home and to the next campground sloshes around and cleans the tank good on the inside.

also, I will suggest google the 'geo method' (basically what I just described above, but more detailed) and you'll find that doing this keeps your tanks clean which will eliminate any odor.

last thing, make sure you have water on top of the flush valve in the toilet, as that works the same way the traps under the sinks do, the water in there blocks the odors. Make sure you run some water in your sinks occasionally if you don't use them, as the water in the traps evaporates, and lets the odors from the gray tank through, and that can be just about as nasty smelling as anything

It's possible it's not coming from your black tank. It may be from one of your gray water tanks. They say that they can smell even worst than your black tank because of fish/chicken rotting away. You may have a air admittance valve leaking smelly gasses into your RV. Just a thought.

ok another post from me, LOL

so it's starting a few days after dumping, I'm going to ask, when you dump do you put any water back in the tank at all? If you're not putting any water back in the tank to start with, then yes you're going to have poo pyramids building in your tanks. I bought a used camper that had that problem and man was it bad! I basically just put a few scoops of detergent in the tank, and then pour a five gallon bucket of hot water in. I then hooked it up and drove around a few hours just to slosh it. waited over night and dumped it (I have a clean out plug in the yard to the sewer system and can dump at home if I need to)

I did that twice and it fixed the problem, having said all that, I will say make sure you put some water back in the tank after you dump, it'll help things dissolve quicker. Having said all that, it could very well be as Rene and I have both suggested, gray tank odors, and I agree 100% with him it could very well be an air admittance valve under the sink. They use these in stand alone sinks where it's not hooked to the vent pipe going through the roof so it will get air to drain   

good luck and keep us posted on how things are going!

I always put 3 to 5 gallons of water in the black tank after dumping.

SeilerBird said:

You should not have an odor coming from your tanks. Have you checked for a poop pyramid?

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I always remember to close the valve after dumping EXCEPT one time a few months ago.  (Duh...first thing you learn, right?)  So, my tank was flushed by my RV guy.  So, no poop pyramid.  I also add a lot of water when I flush.

blw2 said:

I keep a bottle of the blue stuff on hand..... Once in a long while, I guess when we do something wrong, such as perhaps not use enough water, dump too soon, or who knows....but when we get a smell issue, I pour in a dose of that blue stuff and problem solved in short order.

Click to expand...

How much of that blue stuff do you use?  I use Dawn for dishes, nothing but Dawn!

I havent tried this yet, but an RV mechanic said to empty the tank, pour one container of cascade dishwashing detergent into the tank, then fill it up with water. Let that sit for a couple hours, then dump. The theory is that the forumula used in the detergent breaks up solids and makes them float.  Once you get the smell out, just do it once a month or whenever your tanks start getting stinky again.

ArdraF said:

Our "blue stuff" is Dawn dishwashing liquid.  It also helps keep the hard water crud from growing in the bowl when not being used.

ArdraF

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I also agree with papachaz.

I too, have never used anything other than Dawn, water softener and lots of water to rinse the black and grey water tanks. Some people add a touch of Clorox to the black water tank. If you do, make sure you dilute the Clorox in a gallon jug before you pour in down the toilet as to not damage the rubber seals. Dawn has enzymes that break down waste material in the tanks.
One other hint:  I wipe all dished, pots and pans with paper towels and try to capture as much of the solids as I can before placing them in the sink to be washed. If I cook outside, I will use a water hose (some rigs have outside shower nozzles, one can even use the hot water from that connection) to rinse the pots, pans and utensils before i bring them in the camper to be washed. At the house we get in the habit of throwing everything in the sink, since we have garbage disposals; not a good habit in the camper.
In the past 2 years since using this simple method I have never had any odor from any tanks. We RV about 100 days a year.

See below for "The Geo Method":

https://sites.google.com/site/cbruni/

StarDancer said:

I no longer travel and am parked in my friends' yard.  Nice setup.  I saw one "recipe" for eliminating the sewer smell.  It gets really bad since I'm in triple digits in Nevada.  Besides that recipe, does anyone else have any kind of a cure?  It starts four to five days after dumping.  Grrr...  I can get away with doing it for up to three weeks in the winter but have a big problem in the summer. 

Will appreciate any help.  Thanks!

Click to expand...

StarDancer
If tank odor, (either black or gray), is getting into your coach something needs fixing that a "recipe" for eliminating  sewer smell can't fix.
See tip #6 of "Polks Top 7 Tips for Eliminating Odors in Your Motorhome" here:
https://www.fmca.com/conventions/polks-top-7-266/3286-polks-top-7-tips-for-eliminating-odors-in-your-motorhome.html

StarDancer said:

How much of that blue stuff do you use?  I use Dawn for dishes, nothing but Dawn!

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sorry, I'm a bit behind and just saw this...... I don't get too hung up on it.  Sorta depends on how bad it is at the time I guess and how full I think the tank is.  It doesn't take much....1/4 to 1/2 a cup or so maybe on average.  Just pour a shot into the toilet or sink, drain it, problem solved.  It doesn't take much.

and by blue stuff, I mean this or similar.  I haven't found many that work as a deodorant better than this.....not that I've looked all that hard either.
http://www.thetford.com/product/aqua-kem-products/
You can pick it up at Walmart. 

The dawn soap, and other "geo method" ideas are in my mind for different purposes other than what I'm using this stuff for.  I'm not really trying to clean the tank (don't care if its clean, it's a black tank), liquefy anything (the water will do that), maintain a septic cycle (it's storage, not trying to process it), etc.... I'm just looking for a powerful deodorant for an emergency situation.

jks said:

If I cook outside, I will use a water hose (some rigs have outside shower nozzles, one can even use the hot water from that connection) to rinse the pots, pans and utensils before i bring them in the camper to be washed.

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Newbies should be aware this is not allowed at many (or even most) campgrounds. Leaving food scraps on the ground is a pretty good guarantee of smell plus ants, mice, and other unpleasant creatures. I figure my tanks are designed to be used. I would much rather food and toilet waste be removed through a sewer or septic system than be allowed to rot on the ground. I use a lot of water and make sure my tanks are full before dumping them, both gray and black. We use a flush system on the black tank frequently and have no problems there. For the gray tanks (we have 2), once a year or so we put 1/2-3/4 cup of Dawn in each tank, a hefty dose of Cargon, a lot of water (3/4 of the tank at least), and then drive to a destination (hopefully over bumpy roads so lots of sloshing around) where we dump, fill the tanks again, then dump again. We haven't ever had any odors in many years of travel.

Just to beat a dead horse,  we full time and NEVER use anything but water. Dump, flush, add a couple gallons of water and you should be good. Don't flush with an exaust fan running or you suck air out of the tank (stinks). Make sure you have a water seal in the commode after use. Do check the admittance valves (just seal with a plastic bag).

I suspect you are trying to stretch your dump intervals and building an exposed pile of poo. As I recall you have a smaller unit with likely small tanks;  may need to dump more often than you'd prefer.

Ernie

UTTransplant said:

Newbies should be aware this is not allowed at many (or even most) campgrounds. Leaving food scraps on the ground is a pretty good guarantee of smell plus ants, mice, and other unpleasant creatures.

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Not to be flippant about it, but how do you think tent campers wash their dishes and utensils. I read the rules at state parks and have never seen that it was not allowed to wash your utensils and rise off. Now campgrounds do object, once stuff hits your plumbing, and I am certainly not advocating you dump your gray water. I would also be more careful in bear country... well that would be another set of discussions.

jks said:

Not to be flippant about it, but how do you think tent campers wash their dishes and utensils. I read the rules at state parks and have never seen that it was not allowed to wash your utensils and rise off. Now campgrounds do object, once stuff hits your plumbing, and I am certainly not advocating you dump your gray water. I would also be more careful in bear country... well that would be another set of discussions.

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I have tent camped for over 50 years. Guidelines have changed for gray water disposal because of more knowledge and just more people in the same amount of space. When I tent camp now, we use buckets to wash and rinse in. When we are finished washing, the water is drained through a fine meshed strainer to catch any food particles. The food particles are then put in the trash. The liquid (now devoid of any food) is either broadly dispersed away from camp (most places), placed in a sump holes (a few places), or disposed of in a sink in a campground (many National Parks and private parks have them specifically for that purpose). This is the disposal method identified by NPS, NF, BLM, the Mountaineers, NOLS, etc.

Land management areas provide recommendations for gray water disposal based on the local environment.i mostly camp either in deserts or mountains, both pretty harsh environments where things don't decompose readily.

UTTransplant said:

I have tent camped for over 50 years. Guidelines have changed for gray water disposal because of more knowledge and just more people in the same amount of space. When I tent camp now, we use buckets to wash and rinse in. When we are finished washing, the water is drained through a fine meshed strainer to catch any food particles. The food particles are then put in the trash. The liquid (now devoid of any food) is either broadly dispersed away from camp (most places), placed in a sump holes (a few places), or disposed of in a sink in a campground (many National Parks and private parks have them specifically for that purpose). This is the disposal method identified by NPS, NF, BLM, the Mountaineers, NOLS, etc.

Land management areas provide recommendations for gray water disposal based on the local environment.i mostly camp either in deserts or mountains, both pretty harsh environments where things don't decompose readily.

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I stand corrected.