Sewage Odor

[Siegmann]

Golfarch, check the vent tube up on the roof for blockage. Also, if you drive with full black tanks, TP could build up on the bottom of the vent pipe, in the tank. In this case, use a hose to flush it clear from up on the roof (but do that with the drain valve open!).

[xrvr]

If the fantastic fan is blowing out, it will suck fumes from the toilet, especially when it is flushed. Keep some water in the toilet. Jim

[Foiled Again]

Originally Posted by 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.
Craig

Craig - you are over thinking. The RV toilet is in "IN house" outhouse with a flapper to seal the smell out - except when you flush. There is NO trap to freeze, though the seal could have been damaged. Test the seal by putting water in the toilet and leaving it alone. If the water leaks out, the seal isn't good.

There are a couple of guaranteed ways to put a blue miasma of stench throughout your trailer. The first is to have a fantastic fan with IN/Out controls on "IN" when you flush. The smell will also enter if the fantastic fan cover is OPEN and the fan isn't running because of proximity. The next is more subtle. After you drain your black tank and use the flush sprayers, close the black gate and ADD a gallon or two of clear water to the tank before you use the toilet again. Diluted waste helps dilute the smell. Then remember RV toilets don't use a lot of water - if you have a sprayer it doesn't work without the flapper wide open - if you just have a flush pedal, it only operates full blast when the pedal is fully depressed. So if you're trying to remove all traces of #2 you could be standing there for a while letting the natural gas enter the bath in large quantities. A reasonable alternative is to partially depress the pedal until the bowl fills with 4-6 inches of water, flush quickly and let the valve seal immediately. If the bowl still has traces, refill it and let it sit for a while then flush. USE your bathroom vent fan every time you flush, Some smell gets in, but the vent fan will quickly remove it. (Too bad the on switch doesn't activate whenever someone flushes the toilet!)

Paula

[golfarch]

Paula:

The toilet seal is good, no leaks.

I always partially fill the toilet before using.

Are you referring to the small vent in the bathroom or the Fantastic fan above the bed?

Are the flush sprayers you are referring to in the black water tanks?

Craig.

Originally Posted by Foiled Again

Craig - you are over thinking. The RV toilet is in "IN house" outhouse with a flapper to seal the smell out - except when you flush. There is NO trap to freeze, though the seal could have been damaged. Test the seal by putting water in the toilet and leaving it alone. If the water leaks out, the seal isn't good.

There are a couple of guaranteed ways to put a blue miasma of stench throughout your trailer. The first is to have a fantastic fan with IN/Out controls on "IN" when you flush. The smell will also enter if the fantastic fan cover is OPEN and the fan isn't running because of proximity. The next is more subtle. After you drain your black tank and use the flush sprayers, close the black gate and ADD a gallon or two of clear water to the tank before you use the toilet again. Diluted waste helps dilute the smell. Then remember RV toilets don't use a lot of water - if you have a sprayer it doesn't work without the flapper wide open - if you just have a flush pedal, it only operates full blast when the pedal is fully depressed. So if you're trying to remove all traces of #2 you could be standing there for a while letting the natural gas enter the bath in large quantities. A reasonable alternative is to partially depress the pedal until the bowl fills with 4-6 inches of water, flush quickly and let the valve seal immediately. If the bowl still has traces, refill it and let it sit for a while then flush. USE your bathroom vent fan every time you flush, Some smell gets in, but the vent fan will quickly remove it. (Too bad the on switch doesn't activate whenever someone flushes the toilet!)

Paula

[Jim Flower]

In addition to having the plumbing systems in excellent operating condition, the correct application of negative air to the Airstream will help prevent unpleasant odours from occupying the air space. When the toilet flap is open, ensure that exhaust fans, including Fantastic type cabin vent fans, are not exhausting air. Put them on when the flap is closed. You do not want to extract air from the holding tank into the interior of the Airstream. I also have installed a Cyclone RV Pluming Vent that provides a superior vacuum to the holding tank, ensuring that with a minimum of air movement on the outside of the Airstream, there is negative air supplied to the holding tank. The goal is to provide a path for the gases to exit through the tank vent, not the interior of the Airstream. I also use a bacteria based holding tank solution that works without negative consequences to the environment.
Works for me. Jim


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[Foiled Again]

Originally Posted by golfarch

Paula:

The toilet seal is good, no leaks.

I always partially fill the toilet before using.

Are you referring to the small vent in the bathroom or the Fantastic fan above the bed?

Are the flush sprayers you are referring to in the black water tanks?

Craig.

The top of the line toilets have a sprayer (like a kitchen sink sprayer) to help remove any TP or #2 from the sides of the bowl. A sprayer can be added to most RV toilets that don't have one, or you can just double flush, or maybe triple flush if needed to clear the bowl. There are also tank sprayers built into your modern Airstream's black tank.

Fans - either the small bathroom fan or the Fantastic can cause problems

1. worst? fantastic fan near the bathroom blowing IN while flushing the john
2. next worse - having the fantastic fan blowing out or just having the lid open - you can drag an ambient flush odor through the Airstream when flushing - once you take your foot off the flush petal the fan will clear the air it has "scented"
3. The vent in the bathroom... now if you've eaten a garlic and slug sandwich with a side of baked beans FLUSHING might not be the source of the problem... especially if you aren't speedy in the "necessary", but under normal conditions, it's best to flush quickly then turn the fan on to clear any "burp" that comes up the hole!
4. If the vent pipe to the ceiling has a wasps nest, acorns, or as others have mentioned, has become filled with TP from rising water in the tank... then ALL the bad odor will be contained until the tank will release every time you flush.
5. I've heard that a vent pipe can drop down into the black tank on a SOB trailer, and so become non-functonal. Supposedly Airstreams (at least the older ones) won't do that because they are glued into a fitting.

I grew up in a town, but schoolmates lived in houses with 4 rooms and a PATH so I DO know sh** about outhouses. They all stink and it's not a smell that gets better with age until the little house is moved and the pit is filled with burned limestone and sealed. After a couple of years the daffodils planted over one will be monsters.

People will tell you that black tanks don't need chemicals - they don't IF:

• the weather is cool to cold
• the black tank is emptied and flushed frequently
• you stay in campgrounds and rarely do anything but #1 in the Airstream

Warm weather and regular use does build up the potential for really noxious odors.

Happy flushing, Paula

[Silversun]

For years we have always used a good slosh of liquid fabric softener in the potty. Smells great and breaks down the tissue, and no chemical smells.

Unless someone knows of a good reason why not in the AS, we will continue.

[golfarch]

Paula:

The problem has evaporated! The fan system was pulling air into the trailer from the vent located on the roof. Great place for exhaust and intake to meet.

Craig

[golfarch]

Jim:

Thanks.

Craig

[xrvr]

You are welcome. Jim

[Inland RV Center, In]

Sewer vent pipe gaskets are almost always the issue, since they only last 2 to 3 years.

Andy

[robert claus]

Something else to check - make sure the OVEN is set to the off position, not to pilot. I thought I smelled sewer gas in the trailer after a trip. It turned out to be the minute amount of gas coming through the pilot that had gone out during the ride home - we had the used the oven that weekend. Propane smells like sewer gas.

[xrvr]

The vent stacks on some AS are really close to the fans. When the fan is sucking in, it can suck the fumes from the stack inside. Also if you have a vent open near a vent stack and a fan is blowing out, it can suck the fumes inside. Even if the gaskets are ok. But if you have the fans blowing out on one end and in on the other and the toilet is flushed, you might as well be sitting in the black tank because of the smell especially if you do not have any windows open. Used to hate that part of AS ownership. Jim
Ll.

[fmr.capt.evi]

Jim, you've reminded me of a similar issue I had several years ago with a Safari 25B: the black tank vent was so close to the exhaust side of the roof air, that sometimes the vent line became 'pressurized', so to speak. A small strip of duct tape, blocking less than 180 degrees of the circumference of the vent cap (between the vent and the air conditioner), solved the problem.

[Jim Flower]

Originally Posted by fmrcaptevil

Jim, you've reminded me of a similar issue I had several years ago with a Safari 25B: the black tank vent was so close to the exhaust side of the roof air, that sometimes the vent line became 'pressurized', so to speak. A small strip of duct tape, blocking less than 180 degrees of the circumference of the vent cap (between the vent and the air conditioner), solved the problem.

Good fix. It was on my 97 25 foot Safari that I initially installed the cyclone vent cap in order to solve the same issue. Jim


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[Jim Flower]

I may have inadvertently stepped on zig so I apologize. Jim


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[xrvr]

Not a problem, jim

[golfarch]

Andy:

Where is Sewer Vent Pipe gasket located and how difficult is it to replace?

Craig

Originally Posted by Inland RV Center, In

Sewer vent pipe gaskets are almost always the issue, since they only last 2 to 3 years.

Andy

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by golfarch

Andy:

Where is Sewer Vent Pipe gasket located and how difficult is it to replace?

Craig

That gasket is under the chrome looking ball park 3" x 5" metal covers that are on the roof.

Andy