Sewage Odor

[AtomicNo13]

Is there any interaction between the chlorine and other chemicals? I remember there being a certain boom factor!

[Foiled Again]

Originally Posted by AtomicNo13

Is there any interaction between the chlorine and other chemicals? I remember there being a certain boom factor!

An all too common error is to mix bleach and ammonia - which frees chlorine gas that can be lethal under almost any circumstances. When well ventilated, you'll probably escape with burning eyes and damage to the lungs.

Both chlorine bleach and ammonia vapors are super harsh when NOT combined. If you're using either, have an open window or an exhaust fan working. Neither are gentle on the lungs. When I was a kid, a neighbor kid and I found his mother semi-coherent in the basement, with that never to be forgotten chlorine smell. We got her outside sitting and sitting in a lawn chair where she recovered rather quickly. She'd used the two chemicals together for years but got unlucky because it was cold they'd put in new sealed windows. (She was one of those people who think medicine could only be good if it tasted gross, and that only really strong smelling cleaners worked).

She did go to the doctor - who explained the danger of the gas. A cheerful soul, she noted that she never had a spider in the basement again!

Bobby and I both got the first intimation that parents could make mistakes from that incident.

Paula

[AtomicNo13]

That's what I thought, thanks!

[J. Morgan]

Lol, just use clorox, leave the ammonia out.

[TinShack]

This excerpt is from my 2005 Airstream Manual referring to the black tank.
"THINGS NOT TO PUT INTO TOILET OR DRAINS
1. Facial tissues (they do not dissolve like toilet paper).
2. Detergents or bleach. Use a sewage tank deodorizer, available from dealer.
3. Automotive antifreeze, ammonia, alcohols, or acetone.
4. Table scraps or other solids that may clog the drains."

[KYAirstream]

Originally Posted by Foiled Again

They always say that Airstreamers think their S*** doesn't stink. As a fulltimer in the hot muggy seaside of E. Virginia... I know that isn't literally true (I may be a snob... but reality... All S*** stinks until it dries out or degrades and is digested into worm castings.



If your sink and shower traps have dried out in storage you can get funk from the GRAY tank. If your BLACK tank hasn't been thoroughly cleaned it WILL be funkified. Additionally, when you flush, there is NO trap in an RV toilet, it's a straight shot down to the contents of the tank and a straight shot up for any gases.



So, tank deoderizer or septic tank digesters will help eliminate odors as will having the bathroom exhaust fan on - and having the closest Fantastic fan/ceiling fan on in EXHAUST mode. There is a vent pipe on the black tank, but the open toilet trap while flushing competes with it for exhaust gases.



As a fulltimer I often leave in the morning at 7:00 AM, and might not return til 9:00 at night. I set my air conditioner at 80 F. during the day - just to control the humidity, but not to create an icebox that no one appreciates. The black tank contents will certainly ferment under those conditions and with no one actively flushing the gasses will build up. Me? I use RID-X a septic tank chemical that lasts better than any minty fresh thing I've ever tried. I once bought something that was orange scented and guaranteed no odor because it created an "OIL SEAL" that floated on top of the liquids in the black tank... It worked as advertised, but had one tiny flaw. The toilet paper that was discarded hit the oil and turned to parchment/leather.

So even though the tanks are emptied pretty regularly, the RIDX has time to work? Is that the RIDX for RV's?

[xrvr]

We discovered if a roof vent is cracked open near the black tank vent when traveling, the smell can be sucked into the trailer. Jim

[AtomicNo13]

Yes, I'd like to meet the genus who put the tank stacks a foot away from the fresh air intake vents!
Obviously someone which never spent a night in an Airstream!

[Annabelle]

Thanks again so much for everyone's thoughts. We'll be putting your ideas to good use!

[jcanavera]

I'm assuming that the toilet bowl itself has some standing water in it and that water stays in the bowl and doesn't slowly drop. If there is no standing water, or if the bowl will not hold water, then you could have a bad valve gasket. That will allow the tank smells to leak into the trailer.

Jack

[noreen&sal]

I would think that Clorox would kill the good bacteria. Sal

[J. Morgan]

For a time it might, but a pint or two of concentrate will kill the stink... And then evaporate.

[Jim in Pima]

I had a sewer odor for years with my 75, tried everything, noticed it did not start til tank was partly full??? On inspiration, I removed the toilet one day and filled the tank with ahose, as the water rose, the seal the toilet hooks too started to separate from the tank, never properly attached as no sight of
polyweld on one side. Been like that for 40 years. Hate to say it but a liberal
coat of shoe-goo under and around that fitting sealed it up good, odor gone.

[Foiled Again]

Originally Posted by KYAirstream

So even though the tanks are emptied pretty regularly, the RIDX has time to work? Is that the RIDX for RV's?

AHEM... well not to get too graphic here (Oh why not?). I'm single. I am not retired, so I use the bathroom at work with normal frequency.

So... I've never actually FILLED my black tank. I could literally park for a month without needing to drain the black tank due to a potential flush with no place to go. I don't schedule dumping the black tank, but I do generally dump it at about 10 day intervals. So yes, plain old ordinary garden variety septic tank and home drain Rid-X works just dandy for me.

A family of four camping might go 3 - 5 days depending on tank size and then draining and flushing would be urgent. Even so, Rid-X isn't bad, but it won't have as much time to work. Fecal decay is pretty much an anaerobic process (works in the absence of oxygen) so the closed tank itself accelerates the process... or the more frequently you flush the more oxygen you put into the tank, thus slowing down the digestive process.

Is Rid-X or any other chemical really necessary? Truth? Doodie itself contains a goodly number of bacteria and will take care of itself in "nature". Problem is that we overwhelm nature by population density (A Hog farm "lagoon" being a prime example.) I use it, but probably only NEED to do it in the summer heat. I'd rather be overly considerate than act like the world revolves around me.
When I just started camping I was in a BIG campground that was 90% empty - and I saw a family start to break camp. Their camper might have been 200 feet from mine on the other side of a stream... and about 5 seconds after they released the contents of their black tank, this wall of stench hit. I've never had that experience since, but I'm determined to avoid inflicting it on anyone else. (One does not want to speculate on the dietary habits of others, but I wonder if waste from their pet sheep was being dumped.)

Paula

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by Annabelle

We are newbies to the travel trailer world. We have a 2010 Flying Cloud. There is a definite sewage odor in the trailer. It was parked not being used for 2 weeks, nothing noticable. We drove on a 3 hr trip and noticed a definite odor when we opened the door on our first stop, about an hour out. It has sanitizer added to the black water tank. Should I add more? Does the warmer weather have anything to do with it?

Annabelle

Hi Annabelle

Much of the advice upthread is irrelevant to your situation or is at best a band-aid that will cover up the underlying problem(s).

The only good advice upthread is that if the trailer's been sitting you might possibly have a dry trap, though this is rare. Now that you've been using the trailer, that shouldn't be a problem. If the stink is gone, great, otherwise read on.

There should be no sewer odor in the trailer, except that at times under certain conditions there may be some odor when flushing the toilet. If there is, you have a leak, and it can and should be fixed.

While there are differences among models, with 2010 trailers and ones made around that time, there are some specific things to check. You should first of all visually inspect the dump valves and the hose clamps in the fittings they attach to. This may require cutting an access hole in the belly pan unless that's already been done. If you can verify that the clamps and bolts are all snug and there are no signs of leakage, great, otherwise fix what you find.

The next thing to do is to seal the floor penetrations. You may find that your trailer was constructed with oversize holes for the hot and cold water lines and drain and vent pipes. Find all of them and seal them with expanding foam sealer. Again, if there are any clamps, check their security.

Beyond that, the next move is to fill the drain systems (black and grey, one at a time) to the point where water is 6-12" above the tops of the tanks and then look for leaks. For the grey tank this will be the point where the shower basin starts to fill. For the black tank you'll start to see water backing up into the base of the toilet.

If there are leaks, fix them.

That takes care of most of the likely causes. If you do all that and don't find anything, no leaks even if it sits overnight, post back and I can suggest other areas to check.

[KYAirstream]

Originally Posted by Foiled Again

AHEM... well not to get too graphic here (Oh why not?). I'm single. I am not retired, so I use the bathroom at work with normal frequency.



So... I've never actually FILLED my black tank. I could literally park for a month without needing to drain the black tank due to a potential flush with no place to go. I don't schedule dumping the black tank, but I do generally dump it at about 10 day intervals. So yes, plain old ordinary garden variety septic tank and home drain Rid-X works just dandy for me.

If a tank has had a formaldehyde based product in it, any issue or serious flushing needed before trying RIDX?

[J. Morgan]

I would guess a dump and one or two flushes will do the trick.

[jcanavera]

It does take a couple of tanks of water to get all that formaldehyde out and the eco friendly tank additives to work properly.

Jack

[AtomicNo13]

The riddex liquid does not have the gravelly content as the granular formula.
I get a good clean in just a weekend.
I follow up with tap.

[golfarch]

Jammer:

I have the issue ONLY when the toilet is flushed the odor penetrates the trailer. I had a frozen pipe burst this winter and the shower head, sink faucet, and spray nozzle at the toilet were ruptured. I had them replaced and asked that they check the toilet, too.

They may not have noticed a crake or leak at the toilet base!

I think that may be my problem. It has been very perplexing that only when the toilet is flushed the odor is released.

I hope this is the problem.

Craig

Originally Posted by Jammer

Hi Annabelle

Much of the advice upthread is irrelevant to your situation or is at best a band-aid that will cover up the underlying problem(s).

The only good advice upthread is that if the trailer's been sitting you might possibly have a dry trap, though this is rare. Now that you've been using the trailer, that shouldn't be a problem. If the stink is gone, great, otherwise read on.

There should be no sewer odor in the trailer, except that at times under certain conditions there may be some odor when flushing the toilet. If there is, you have a leak, and it can and should be fixed.

While there are differences among models, with 2010 trailers and ones made around that time, there are some specific things to check. You should first of all visually inspect the dump valves and the hose clamps in the fittings they attach to. This may require cutting an access hole in the belly pan unless that's already been done. If you can verify that the clamps and bolts are all snug and there are no signs of leakage, great, otherwise fix what you find.

The next thing to do is to seal the floor penetrations. You may find that your trailer was constructed with oversize holes for the hot and cold water lines and drain and vent pipes. Find all of them and seal them with expanding foam sealer. Again, if there are any clamps, check their security.

Beyond that, the next move is to fill the drain systems (black and grey, one at a time) to the point where water is 6-12" above the tops of the tanks and then look for leaks. For the grey tank this will be the point where the shower basin starts to fill. For the black tank you'll start to see water backing up into the base of the toilet.

If there are leaks, fix them.

That takes care of most of the likely causes. If you do all that and don't find anything, no leaks even if it sits overnight, post back and I can suggest other areas to check.