Stinky situation

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UpsManBrad

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Joined
Mar 11, 2018
Posts
18
Little background.....I picked my current trailer up in February, and it had been sitting since late 2016. It was a theft recovery, and the insurance company had it for over a year before it went to auction.

I had some work to do, and got it ready to camp. It had been winterized, and everything that I could test was in working order. Went out the first time this year to a location with full hookups. So I connected my water and sewer line. Upon opening my black tank valve, I was greeted with probably 1/4 tank of old waste that had never been dumped. Gross....

So at the end of the weekend, I rinsed everything just like I should, water was running out clear, etc. and everything seemed normal. So I went on my 2nd trip. Had to use the holding tank that weekend, and it was fine, no problems. Used the dumping station at the park on my way out and got it empty. When I got home, it smelled like a port a potty! Immediately went and got sanitizer liquid and packs. I put a few gallons of water in the tank, added the sanitizer stuff, and the next day the smell was gone.

Loaded it up last week for a Memorial Day weekend trip. Before leaving Thursday night, I added more water to the black tank, so that it could splash around while traveling and hopefully clean it up a little on the inside. Pull into the campground and went directly to the dump station to empty it. As I got out of my vehicle, I hear a beeping on the inside of the camper....carbon monoxide detector. And the camper smelled AWFUL! I dumped and rinsed. Parked and set everything up. Over the course of the next 12-18hours, I added about 10 gallons of water to the tank, with a ton of sanitizer/deodorizer. Had to go buy a glade plug in, sprayed everything with febreeze, and used car air fresheners in the a/c vents lol! No more stink, I already had a tank 1/2 full and I was only there 18hrs! But it took 18hrs to stop smelling like a port a potty. Not easy to sleep with that stink!

When I left yesterday, I went to the full hookup section of the campground rather than the regular dump station, and connected my sewer and water lines. I emptied the tank, added water and just kept rinse/repeat and the water was running clear again. So I added sanitizer, and 1/2 bottle of spic n span to about 3-4 gallons of water. Drove over an hour and stopped at a Flying J travel plaza and went to the dump station. Hooked up water and sewer, and again, dirty poo water flowed out. Luckily...NO STINK in the camper!

So I rinsed again until the water was clear. Added a few gallons and the sanitizer stuff and headed for storage. It did not stink when I dropped it off. My concern is that I am headed to the Michigans UP in June for 2 weeks, and plan on moving every couple of days to a new location. And I?m terrified that it?s gonna stink again! I thought filling it full of water would rinse it out good, but that backfired!

What can I do, besides buy a new tank? I can?t take that smell in my camper. I have no idea how much or what might still be in that tank? Do I travel with some water in the tank? Should I be storing it with water in the tank? The spic n span seemed to do something based on the nasty that flowed out. Can I or should I put more in there and fill the tank and let it sit and dump before my trip? Will the spic n span hurt it? I was thinking about one of those wands to stick in the tank and spray it on the inside?

Any help would be appreciated. I never imagined this happening. But if u have ever dealt with it, you will understand!

Thanks,
Stinky in Indiana
 
Always keep some water in the tank, and in your case keep at least 1/4 full till all the muck is out.  Yes, get or make a wand.
Perhaps the stink is not coming from the black tank, remember that there should be no opening to the interior except while flushing.  A common problem is the air admittance valve for the gray tank, often found under bath and kitchen sinks.  Better parts are available at home centers and they are easy to replace.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0SIN71seig
 
I had a bad/leaky bathroom faucet on my 1st trip, so I actually removed the sink and faucet to find, diagnose and fix the leak. No cheater valves under the bathroom sink. I have not seen one under the kitchen sink, but I will look again to be sure.

I will order a wand this week. I?ve got a few things to do before my Michigan trip. So I will be bringing it home once or twice, and taking it to a shop to get new graphics installed. So I will make sure I get more water in there and plan another dump before the trip for sure.
 
Does your toilet maintain a cup or so of water in the bowl after you flush it?  That water is a vapor barrier.  If not that's probably the real problem.  Most RV toilets have a replaceable seal but there are a few that don't.

The other problem area is the tank vent.  If the vent is clogged there no other way for the gas to escape except into your bathroom.  I'm not sure how to clear one - never had to.

Don't leave the black tank open when connected to a sewer.  Sewer gas can back up into your bathroom, or even worse you'll build the dreaded 'pyramid of poo' because it does not usually flow like water.  Only drain the black(sewer) tank when it's at least 3/4 full to get the proper flushing action.
 
Fill the tank as soon as you can. Then get some Ridex or Riobic septic tank cleaner and add it to the tank. Let it set as long as you can. I would leave it in there until you get to a campground and dump it then. When using the tank, make sure the drain valve is closed even when hooked up to sewage and wait till the tank is at least 2/3  or 3/4 full before dumping. This is the normal procedure.
 
Also, go up on the roof and check the area around where the tank vent line comes up to the roof.  There should be a cover over the vent pipe, but remove the cap and see if there's a gap between the pipe and the roof.

If there is a gap, normal tank odors can seep down into the insulation (particularly if your rig has fiberglass batt insulation) and travel along until it seeps into the rig via the air conditioner or vent cutouts.

Seal up the space and the inside odor problem may disappear.
 
Thanks for all the advise. The toilet does hold water like it should, but being a newbie, maybe I didn?t leave water in it like I should? I will look for vents and check all of that. And I didn?t know to leave the valve closed when connected to a sewer but that makes perfect sense! I will pickup some ridex as well.

I love and appreciate all the advise I get from RV Forum.

Thanks to all!
 
UpsManBrad said:
Thanks for all the advise. The toilet does hold water like it should, but being a newbie, maybe I didn?t leave water in it like I should? I will look for vents and check all of that. And I didn?t know to leave the valve closed when connected to a sewer but that makes perfect sense! I will pickup some ridex as well.

I love and appreciate all the advise I get from RV Forum.

Thanks to all!

Not shutting the valve is a big NO NO. What happens is all the liquids run out leaving solids in the tank. Also after dumping, add 5 or so gallons of water to the tank just so there's liquid in there to continue the breaking down action of any solids which remain and did not get flushed out.
Me personally, I leave my gray water drain valve open all the time. Then a couple of days before I'm going to dump the black tank, I shut those valves to let the tanks fill. Then I use that water to flush out the hose after dumping the black tank. Others feel differently about the gray water valves. 
 
First you may be surprised but the STINK is more likely the GRAY tank.. Do not worry about it. Just air it out

One thing you can do however. Under your sinks, and perhaps shower is something called an "Air Admittance Valve" which is a fancy name for vacuum breaker. I can not describe it outher than a big spot in the pipe.

May need replacement.
 
??? I thought "ridex" and other home septic products were not recommended for RV tanks... so it's ok to use them?
 
Rid-x makes a product specifically for RV's.

The problem (it is a biological) is that Biologicals are designed for LONG TERM and most folks do not leave the "Stuff" in the tank that long.

I am guessing the RV product is way more ... er.. Potent (lots more bacteria) but the key words are "I'm Guessing".
 
My take on this is:

As others have said, the odor may be gray tank air admittance valves, especially if the toilet still contained water on arrival.

As Rene said, if you leave the black tank valve open, liquids leave, solids stay.  This may well have happened before you got the camper.  The good news is the tank was NOT left dry, so the pile should not resemble concrete.  That pile may not be gone yet, and is the source for the unexpected "stuff" coming out.  While Rid X is designed for long term type use, in this situation, it may help, especially if it has a week or two to do its thing.  Any time you move the camper, make sure it is at least ⅓ full and has lots of Dawn or Spic n Span or similar in the tank to slosh and break up the poo pile and clean the tank.  Do this until at least two dumps seem normal, whatever normal is.

The wand will help get it clean as well!
 
Is there anything I should do to clean the gray tank? It can?t hurt. I mean, I don?t know who had the camper or how it was maintained for the 1st 14yrs lol! I know it was recovered from being stolen in 2016 and sat until I got it earlier this year. It?s in great shape and appears to have been well cared for, but that doesn?t mean anything when it comes to the tanks. Maybe pour a little spic n span down the drain and let it slosh around also?
 
Rene T said:
Not shutting the valve is a big NO NO. What happens is all the liquids run out leaving solids in the tank. Also after dumping, add 5 or so gallons of water to the tank just so there's liquid in there to continue the breaking down action of any solids which remain and did not get flushed out.
Me personally, I leave my gray water drain valve open all the time. Then a couple of days before I'm going to dump the black tank, I shut those valves to let the tanks fill. Then I use that water to flush out the hose after dumping the black tank. Others feel differently about the gray water valves.

I have a question about black and gray tanks concerning emptying and flushing.

If I have a gate valve for the main drain where you hook the stinky slinky to and gate valves to the black and gray tanks as well.

Would it help or hurt if I drain the black tank first and once the black tank is emptied close the main gate valve then open the gray tank valve allowing the black tank to fill with gray water and use the gray water to help flush things out of the black tank?

Or am I looking for trouble?
 
Conquest2011 said:
I have a question about black and gray tanks concerning emptying and flushing.

If I have a gate valve for the main drain where you hook the stinky slinky to and gate valves to the black and gray tanks as well.

Would it help or hurt if I drain the black tank first and once the black tank is emptied close the main gate valve then open the gray tank valve allowing the black tank to fill with gray water and use the gray water to help flush things out of the black tank?

Or am I looking for trouble?

Some people do that, if you are sure that the gray tank is not lower than the black and you close the gray before it back flows, then you should be OK.
 
I would never open gray and black tanks valves at the same time.

It's okay to get contents of the gray tank in the black tank, but if you go the other way, there's no way to flush the black stuff out the gray tank.
 
I agree it's not a good idea. Mostly I'd worry about clogging the smaller gray tank drain if it backed up. I find the black tank flush feature works pretty well. My first TT did not have one, though, so I would dump the black, close the valve, then dump a couple of buckets of water down the toilet to stir things up, and then dump again.
 
I just started doing that. I drain the black tank, shut the valve on the end of my sewer discharge pipe then I open the gray tank and allow the water to flow into the black tank. Once equalized, I shut the gray tank then dump the black tank again. Then I dump the gray tank to flush out the hose.
 
I think the key here is to COMPLETELY drain the black tank first.  Then there is nothing to flow into the gray tank.  Also, close the gray tank when they equalize and BEFORE opening the drain valve.  Follow Rene EXACTLY and it should work well.
 

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