Unusual sewer smells

[Nabo]

Has anyone had unusual sewer smells from your brand new coach? In our 2015 Landmark, we have had strong sewer gas smells since the day we brought her home. Now this isn't our 1st rodeo (5th rv-4th HL product) and I understand poop (which has never happened in this coach) and back washing, but for some reason, there is this smell that backwashing, and chemicals won't clear. We don't even put paper in the tank. I understand that maybe some of the new 1/2 bath coaches are running into this same problem. If you have had this problem, how did you have it corrected?

 

[Hunter11]

Nathan, it is funny you bring this up. We would get sewer smell from time to time in our unit and would get it every time I would flush the black tank. We just kind of expected it when I would flush the tank. Last week I swapped out the stock Thetford toilet for a new Dometic 310. I have flushed the black tank twice now since replacing the toilet and our smell appears to be gone while flushing. So my assumption is that either the seal at the floor or the seal in the bowl or both were leaking allowing the smell to come up into the coach while flushing. This may not be your issue but it might give you something to check.

 

[jimtoo]

Hi Nathan,

I would suggest you check the vent on the roof. Make sure the pipe is up and through the roof and has not slipped down in the tank and allowing it to vent in the attic, or look in the basement behind the wall and see if the pipe is connected to the tank.

Jim M

 

[cookie]

One thing that I have done is to seal around the vent pipe at the roof. Seems that sewer gas was being sucked in while the front AC was running. Fixed my odor, well the sewer odor.
Another thing worth noting is that if you leave a dump valve open while hooked up the the sewer system, the sewer system will vent through your vents.

Peace
Dave

 

[Hunter11]

As the two post above stated I had to seal around all the roof vents where the pipe came up through the roof. I caulked between the pipe and the vent to seal it off then checked the pipe at the tank and it was sealed good. With all this we still on occasion get a sewer smell through our bedroom AC unit. But the new toilet stopped the smell inside while flushing the tank.

 

[Nabo]

Yes we have checked the seal caulking on the roof and bought a new roof vent which we haven't changed yet (because we are in Europe right now). Re-caulking didn't do anything. Yes we keep the tanks closed, draining and backwashing them once every 3 days which is the way we have drained all of our coaches for over 12 years but this one has been a challenge. At first we thought because it was new it needed for the seals to seat but it has gotten worse. I should of had the HL tech look at it at Goshen but didn't think of it in the winter time when the service request forms needed to be turned in. But with my problem and talking with others, there seems to be a problem. Its interesting to hear about Hunter11 changing out the toilet which seems to have corrected the problem.

 

[MCTalley]

Well, we have a 1 1/2 bath and our 1/2 bath exhibits a strong odor every flush. We've replaced the Thetfords with Dometic 320s in both locations, so no change there. I do need to get up top and check/seal the vent pipes. I did that on our last coach and it helped a lot. I suspect the same on this one. I'll try to remember to get back to this thread and let you know the outcome.

 

[lynndiwagoner]

I'm surprised no one mentioned the vents under the kitchen sink and bathroom sink. I suspect this is your problem. Ours just quit working under the kitchen sink and it was a horrible odor. I temporarily duc taped a ziplock bag over it until I can get a new one and no more smell. I hope this is your problem....simple cure.

 

[Nabo]

Thanks for the info Lynndiwagoner but the odor is strictly in the toilet area.
Malcolm, interesting that you have the smell in both toilets areas. Let me know the outcome. Tell Valerie I'm still trying with the crochet but its slow going.
B---

 

[jmgratz]

Be sure your black tank drain valve is completely closed. Also check your roof vent to be sure it is not blocked.

 

[Birchwood]

May not be sewer check for propane leaks !Even your stove being slightly ON.

 

[MCTalley]

No, this is definitely sewer smell. Comes up through the drain when you flush. It's not really much of a problem otherwise, so I suspect the A/C is interacting with the vent pipes up top through the ceiling. Also, we don't really notice it on the front bath, just the 1/2 bath. We have a mild sewer smell when on the road, so I'm thinking it's probably simply the unsealed pipe to vent opening up top.

 

[JohnD]

Do you use any kind of tank sanitizer?

I use those pods (I call them toilet mints) . . . just bought a new bag of them at Camping World the other day.

 

[Nabo]

Yes chemicals are put back into the tank with at least 1 gallon of water after every backwash/cleaning just like the jiffy johns folks do. Like I said earlier, this isn't our 1st rodeo and our 5th camper but the first with the sewer gas smell. Malcoln might have a point about maybe the roof vent might be too short not giving proper height for ventilation. I know when on the roof at Goshen, the vent looked like it was right on top of the roof with less than an 1/2 inch clearance.

 

[cookie]

No, this is definitely sewer smell. Comes up through the drain when you flush.

Two things come to mind here.
One time I had a sewer smell in the coach. Definitely a sewer smell......until I noticed a stove burner slightly on. So please don't discount an LP leak.
Secondly, if the odor comes up when you flush and there is a exhaust fan running it will pull the odors from the tank.
Just a couple more thoughts.

Peace
Dave

 

[Nabo]

Dave - to respond about the bathroom fan running. In our case, I have the fan turn off, locked and covered with a vent insulation pad to keep the heat out. The only time the wonder fan is used is when we are at the beach on 30 amp service. We have done that on all of the other campers without any sewer smell. But it's a good suggestion for rookies.

 

[JohnDar]

Based on your description of the vent, you might try removing the cap and place a short length of PVC (wider ID) and see if that provides better venting. If it does, you might be able to extend the pipe with a union and just enough of the same diameter vent piping to reattach the cap a little higher off the deck. Or mount one of those "Cyclone" vents on it.


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[Nabo]

That's probably what needs to be done John. It's a shame that short cuts are made at the factory level which causes the end user to have to make modification which probably wont be covered under warranty.

 

[JohnDar]

That's probably what needs to be done John. It's a shame that short cuts are made at the factory level which causes the end user to have to make modification which probably wont be covered under warranty.

I think that's one of the reasons we'll keep this "old" rig. We've worked out the bugs (not many, but some) and have made mods to our liking. The warranty and extended warranty are history, so any repairs or appliance problems that arise won't have me chasing a manufacturer. Actually, other than the two TV's, everything is still OEM. Oh yeah, the awning I smucked last year is a replacement.



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[Bob&Patty]

Make sure the "short" vent is not the attic vent (mushroom vent).