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Old 08-04-2019, 02:48 PM   #1
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Bathroom Smell

My wife and I are considering a Airstream Globetrotter. I have been told that the airstream toilet system will eventually cause a permanent "smell" similar to one finds in a boat bathroom. Is this a "wives tale"?
Are the current bathroom systems pretty good about eliminating the smell from the toilet and black water storage tank?
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Old 08-04-2019, 02:53 PM   #2
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Greetings from the Florida Panhandle

Welcome to the Forums. We're glad to have you with us.

We have been Airstreaming for over thirteen years. We have spent over 2,000 nights of Airstream camping. We have had three Airstreams. We have never had any long term bathroom smell issue.

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Old 08-04-2019, 03:01 PM   #3
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Airstreams use standard RV toilets, so they are no different than other RVs. The join between such toilets and the black water tank is sealed except when flushing or when the seal mechanism is deliberately held open. The blackwater tank is vented to the outside and the Airstream bathroom has an exhaust fan. So, under ordinary conditions with all equipment in good working order, there should not be any permanent odor.

We have never had a problem with bathroom odor in our 2002 Airstream since we bought it new.

Tim
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Old 08-04-2019, 03:23 PM   #4
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Who was the old wife that told you this?
Perhaps she didn't ad 4 ounces of CampaChem to her black tank after dumping.
Perhaps she didn't keep an inch or two of water in her toilet bowl.
Perhaps she only dumped once each camping season.
Perhaps....
Well, you get the idea.
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Old 08-04-2019, 05:40 PM   #5
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Basically if you don’t make a ‘mess’ on the floor, the bathroom won’t smell of anything.

Our AS has a wet bath, and it stays very clean. A single shower, followed by squeegeeing the walls to get it dry, and it’s all good. We do use chemicals in the black tank, but most of the odor suppression is cleanliness, tank flushing, and proper roof vent maintenance.

Only time we have had any odor was after six weeks of camping before dumping about 1/4 of a black tank. Inadvertently had the bathroom vent running when someone flushed the toilet. Brief stench that dissipated very quickly.
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Old 08-14-2019, 07:23 AM   #6
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Don’t forget to maintain a water seal in the lav & shower traps. You can get some odor from them if the traps dry out.
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Old 08-14-2019, 11:26 AM   #7
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The head on my boat didn't smell either. We cleaned it.

Don't run the exhaust fan and hold the flush valve open when the unit is closed up on AC. The fan will draw air down through the vent, through the tank, and into the bathroom.
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Old 08-14-2019, 09:29 PM   #8
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If you use it the way it's intended, add deodorizer, and use the black flush every once in a while, you won't know it's there.

FWIW, I have spent a lot of time sitting and pondering the OPTIMUM flush, fan, wash, dry sequence for RV travel, and here it is:

-- Enter the bathroom. (I like to make an announcement at this point, to ensure that other trailer travelers are fully aware of the gravity of what's about to unfold.)
-- Make sure exhaust fan is off.
-- Do your business.
-- Close toilet lid.
-- Flush and then let the water fill the bowl back up (enough to cover the seal).
-- THEN, activate the exhaust fan.
-- Wash your hands. Be thorough!
-- Dry your hands.
-- Turn OFF exhaust fan.
-- Exit, making a followup announcement as to the success of the matter. (A standardized rating scale can be helpful since, if you're the type to jabber on, it avoids exposing your travel partners to unnecessarily colorful or overly descriptive adjectives.)
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Old 08-15-2019, 02:43 PM   #9
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Thanks

Thanks everyone for the posts. We went ahead and put a deposit down on a Globetrotter. So we will be part of the AS team. Glad to hear that it should smell great as long as we follow the protocols.
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Old 12-24-2019, 05:12 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Alumaholic View Post
Who was the old wife that told you this?
Perhaps she didn't ad 4 ounces of CampaChem to her black tank after dumping.
Perhaps she didn't keep an inch or two of water in her toilet bowl.
Perhaps she only dumped once each camping season.
Perhaps....
Well, you get the idea.


Your reply is 100% CORRECT! Just read the toilet manual and learn how to properly take care of toilet.
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Old 12-24-2019, 06:25 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Overstreet View Post
The head on my boat didn't smell either. We cleaned it.

Don't run the exhaust fan and hold the flush valve open when the unit is closed up on AC. The fan will draw air down through the vent, through the tank, and into the bathroom.
^^ This
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Old 12-24-2019, 08:12 AM   #12
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I pur my AS in 1976 Have never had long term smell, only smell briefly when using exhaust fan takes care of it, plus use chemical for rv.
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Old 12-24-2019, 08:32 AM   #13
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It is easy to avoid the smell situation....don't create a smell situation in the first place, and it will never smell....We never do that in our Airstream ! There is always a bathhouse a few steps away for that !
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Old 12-24-2019, 08:50 AM   #14
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Well, we live in our old Airstream (1986) half the year and I can’t imagine trotting off to use a public toilet several times a day (and night) so I keep my toilet clean, dump as necessary, flush periodically and I use a product called Campers Friend.

No smells. No problems.

When you are camping and hooked up to sewer you can leave the valve to the grey tank open if you like but leave the blank tank valve closed until you are ready to leave or the tank is full. If you leave the black tank valve open, the liquids drain away and the tank fills with malodorous, difficult to remove paper and organic residue. A full tank with lots of water is a happy tank and will drain quickly and completely when you need it to.
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Old 12-25-2019, 08:27 AM   #15
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If you have a black tank flush and, like mine, there is a vacuum breaker in line under the bathroom sink cabinet, the vent fan, fantastic fans, air conditioner or just driving down the road can suck air down the black tank vent, through the tank, into the black tank flush spray head, and out into the bathroom through the vacuum breaker. My bathroom never smelled until, when I was replacing the dump valves, I decided to pull and clean the stopped up tank flush spray head. The valve is supposed to let air into the pipe but not out. I took it out and took it apart but I couldn’t see anything obviously wrong with it.

Al
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