Sewer Odor

F117plt · 07-06-2013, 07:01 AM

I seem to be getting a bit of sewer odor in the rear area of my Itasca 42QD when I run the air conditioning. Anyone else experienced this? Any suggested solutions? Thanks.
Jerry

lappir · 07-06-2013, 07:20 AM

Do you run your bathroom exhaust fan? Found that I had more Sewer odor when trying to decrease it by running the bathroom exhaust fan. Seems that having the fan on during flush actually drew air from the 4inch opening right below the fan. The fan is OK for decreasing humidity during a shower but shut it off and close the vent when flushing. Once it gets inside the A/C can only move it around until it dissipates. One of the only things I dislike about this full time RV living. Hopefully I can resolve it with my pending build.

Rod

navychaps · 07-06-2013, 07:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lappir

Do you run your bathroom exhaust fan? Found that I had more Sewer odor when trying to decrease it by running the bathroom exhaust fan. Seems that having the fan on during flush actually drew air from the 4inch opening right below the fan. The fan is OK for decreasing humidity during a shower but shut it off and close the vent when flushing. Once it gets inside the A/C can only move it around until it dissipates.

Rod

I agree, turn off the exhaust fan before flush. Also I found that "Ozium" which can be found at Walgreens, will knock down the foulest of odors much better than Lysol. The can is small but it only takes a three second burst....

Cousin Ed · 07-06-2013, 08:20 AM

I also agree. Our bathroom doesn't have a window; so we always leave a hall window open. I fill the bowl with a lot of water then flush very quickly. Rinse & flush quickly until it's clean. As long as the window keeps the air pressure equal and you only open the toilet valve for 1/2 second......works for us.

garykk · 07-06-2013, 10:28 AM

The AC draws air from inside the MH, if you are getting sewer odor when its running, chances are your toilet is leaking the fumes.......or if a bath vent is open and near the toilet vent on the roof it could be drawing it in there.......I have seen both.

ditto · 07-06-2013, 11:04 AM

Not sure what year you have. But given you have electric flush toilets the fan or a/c issue is different than traditional Rv toilets. Winnebago used a marine type hose to transport waste from the toilet to the tank...over time odors escaped from the hose. Winnebago replaced the hose with PVC pipe. I watched the replacement done at Lazydays in January this year...not an easy job..

sdlowe11 · 07-07-2013, 05:49 AM

On my Tour, I was amazed to discover that the vent at the bottom of my shower enclosure was basically an opening into the water/sewer compartment via a 3-inch hose. Of course, the purpose of it is to route warm air into the compartment to keep things from freezing in there on cold days. Heck with that! I taped up that vent completely so it can easily be opened back up if needed, but we very rarely stay in places that cold and I will likely just throw a shop light in the compartment for the night if it's really needed. Now I have no more sewer odors in the bathroom and no heat loss through that vent.

Martind4 · 07-07-2013, 06:56 PM

Is your rig plumbed for a washer/dryer and not used? Ours has all the plumbing but we don't have a W/D installed. The P trap dried out and allowed the odor into the coach. Either run some water in the P trap from the washer or cap the pipe.

jmiller513 · 07-23-2013, 09:41 AM

Speaking from experience odors can be coming from a multitude of issues. For several months we experienced a similar problem. Fixes included:

1. Checked vent pipes and found not one but two loose connections (One at holding tank and one in the ceiling.
2. Check waste pipe for washing machine. Make sure pipe is sealed around washer drain pipe.
3. Always make sure sink drain p-traps have water in them especially after periods of non-use/storage.
4. Seal all floor penetrations to bays below.
5. Replace sewer vent caps with cyclone style caps (at least one per tank)

Most of our problems actually were coming from the grey water tank rather than the black tank. Steps 1 thru 4 above were done by the dealer under warranty and took care of about 95% of the problems. Item 5 was a DIY project and we have been odor free ever since they were installed.

jerichorick · 07-25-2013, 05:09 AM

A tech at Forest City gave us the following idea: a cup of cheap dishwasher detergent that contains enzymes in each tank. I started adding baking soda to them also and the odor is gone for the most part.

We don't close the gray valve when parked so the odor treatment goes down the drain when we travel. It only makes sense that the mechanical issues are addressed before this sweetener formula will work.

Ahhh! RV black-water issues. Do they ever end?