Black water odor while driving

[SteveJ]

Originally Posted by Bud

Plastic here for 100,000+ miles, no odor.

Bud

Original equipment on my 2000 RT was an Aqua Magic IV. It was in the van until two years ago, about 160k miles. It had no odor issues. The fill valve broke on it. Instead of throwing parts at an "old" toilet I replaced with a new. Now, two years in I'm getting the stink. I'll see if my fix works soon as we will be traveling again in a little over a week.

[avanti]

Originally Posted by InterBlog

There are two toilet-related threads populating at the same time here, and it's making my head spin. This one and "crappy situation".

I could easily merge these two threads.
What is the sense of the group?

[GallenH]

Sorry to come back with this again, but is there any way that you can test the vent pipe itself for obstructions? I'm thinking of getting up on a ladder and pouring about a cup of water down the vent and let my wife listen; perhaps with the flapper open on the toilet. It should gush into the black tank, right?

I don't believe that the grey water uses this vent also. I do have one of the air admittance caps on a standpipe beneath the bath sink. I'm not sure if they would put both a grey tank.

Unknown territory for me.

[GallenH]

I started "crappy situation" and have been reading both threads. I have no objection to the merge to avoid redundancy.

[booster]

Originally Posted by avanti

I could easily merge these two threads.
What is the sense of the group?

Yes, please. Having it all in one place would certainly be best for everyone.

[booster]

Originally Posted by GallenH

Sorry to come back with this again, but is there any way that you can test the vent pipe itself for obstructions? I'm thinking of getting up on a ladder and pouring about a cup of water down the vent and let my wife listen; perhaps with the flapper open on the toilet. It should gush into the black tank, right?

I don't believe that the grey water uses this vent also. I do have one of the air admittance caps on a standpipe beneath the bath sink. I'm not sure if they would put both a grey tank.

Unknown territory for me.

When I thought we might have gotten acorns down ours, I stuck the hose down into the pipe and had DW watch for the tank gauge to change. Bypassed the macerator just in case, but no acorns. Screen on it now.

[GallenH]

Thanks booster!

[booster]

Originally Posted by GallenH

Thanks booster!

I should have mentioned that we have Seelevel gauges so we saw very quick change in level. Listening as you said would probably be better is you have the level led indicators, as well as watching to see that it doesn't back up into the toilet or sink sink if something is plugged. Our water went almost completely to the grey tank as it is the straighter path, it appears. It may burp out air back out the top if put water in too fast, like I did

[avanti]

Originally Posted by avanti

I could easily merge these two threads.
What is the sense of the group?

Originally Posted by booster

Yes, please. Having it all in one place would certainly be best for everyone.

Originally Posted by GallenH

I started "crappy situation" and have been reading both threads. I have no objection to the merge to avoid redundancy.

Threads merged.

[rtbill]

Originally Posted by GallenH

Sorry to come back with this again, but is there any way that you can test the vent pipe itself for obstructions? I'm thinking of getting up on a ladder and pouring about a cup of water down the vent and let my wife listen; perhaps with the flapper open on the toilet. It should gush into the black tank, right?

I don't believe that the grey water uses this vent also. I do have one of the air admittance caps on a standpipe beneath the bath sink. I'm not sure if they would put both a grey tank.

Unknown territory for me.

On a RT 200, and probably 190 and 170, the grey and black vents are separate. On our 200 the black vent is on the right, grey on the left. The black vent goes straight down to the tank; I've dropped a plumber's snake into it with no problem (and no evidence of an obstruction). The grey vent has some bends. I've not tried to snake it.

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by GallenH

... is there any way that you can test the vent pipe itself for obstructions? I'm thinking of getting up on a ladder and pouring about a cup of water down the vent and let my wife listen; perhaps with the flapper open on the toilet. It should gush into the black tank, right?
.....

I sorta did that when we replaced our OEM roof vent with the 360 Siphon. I think I shoved a broom handle down there to verify that there were no massive accumulations of mud dauber infrastructure - not that they would have had a way in, because the original vent was intact.

I was hoping the 360 Siphon would end my issues. It did not.

[GallenH]

rtbill: thx

[GallenH]

InterBlog: Thx.

[Polo]

Driving home to FL from SD last fall encountered same odor issue with our 06 Winnebago View. Was only dumping black tank every other day during trip. Did not think about the gray water traps so will pay attention to them in the future.

As for chemicals reducing odors, we have had mixed results. We ALWAYS dump the tanks and put new treatment with a gallon or two of water in the black tank before parking the vehicle after a trip.

We recently tried the Geo Method (https://sites.google.com/site/cbruni/) and it seems to have worked well. While some may pooh-pooh using additives to the black tank, there is no dispute that detergents and water softeners contain surfactants which inhibit black water tank contents from adhering the the tank walls.

Our two cents and your mileage may vary!

Paul and Christine
06 View 23H in NW FL

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by Polo

....
As for chemicals reducing odors, we have had mixed results. ....

Odorlos. It does not render tanks as odor-free as claimed, but I have found it to be better than the rest. It was recommended to me by people in the boating community. West Marine is the only brick-and-mortar I've found where I can buy it locally - Walmart does not carry it in-store.

[GallenH]

STATUS: Ok. It's been a while and I have had the RV in storage. Plan to go out in about 10 days so went over to the storage place to check for odors. Can't smell anything in the bath even if I lift the lid and stick my nose in the bowel (unpleasant visual). We'll see how this next trip goes BUT

I want to thank Markopolo for pointing out the overflow tube/trap. I filled that with water before heading to storage and I can't think of any other action which would have caused the odor to disappear.

Thanks, MP!

glenn

[avanti]

Originally Posted by GallenH

STATUS: Ok. It's been a while and I have had the RV in storage. Plan to go out in about 10 days so went over to the storage place to check for odors. Can't smell anything in the bath even if I lift the lid and stick my nose in the bowel (unpleasant visual). We'll see how this next trip goes BUT

I want to thank Markopolo for pointing out the overflow tube/trap. I filled that with water before heading to storage and I can't think of any other action which would have caused the odor to disappear.

Good news.

Kudos to Marko for reminding everybody about that tube. Apparently it is the cause of many people's odor problems.

Your experience really underlines what I consider a basic fact that many people just don't accept:
If your RV bathroom smells then you have a leak. It may not be easy to locate, but it is there. There is no more reason to tolerate sewage odor in your rig than there is in your home. In both cases, the system is designed to be air-tight. Unless it is broken, it will not smell. The folks who constantly throw deodorants into their toilets are wasting time and money on a palliative. They are just kidding themselves and averting their attention from the real problem.

[SteveJ]

Originally Posted by SteveJ

I'm also working through the odor issue but with a foot flush Aqua Magic V, about two years old.

The Dometic 300 appears to be too tall for my installation in a 200 Versatile. There is a cabinet on the back wall that will be inaccessible with a toilet any taller than the AM V.

Options appear to replace with a new toilet every couple of years, lose access to the cabinet, go to a porta potti option, or live with the stink with a lot of air freshener.

I removed the toilet today to look it over. My attempted fix was to soak the internal black foam seal with both white spray grease and motorcycle drive chain wax type lubricant. I then wrapped a pipe cleaner around the post on the top side and soaked it thoroughly with the spray white grease, enough to leave a lot of grease surrounding the mechanism. We'er heading out soon for a

This seems to have worked. The greasy mess seems to be blocking odors coming through. The longest the tank went without draining was eight days. I used no treatments.

[Ron J. Moore]

In your search, you might want to check out Lippert Components 360 Siphon Black Waste Tank Vent Cap. There are numerous demos on UTube, and a great demo by the RV Doctor. Ron

[GallenH]

Excellent! I still haven't replicated the odor I was getting so I am assuming that the overflow vent pipe was the issue. I don't quite understand the issues with the AquaMagic toilet. Many have mentioned a gap where effluent can gather under the toilet. I don't see that in my IV. The bowl drain appears to go directly into the pipe to the black tank. So with a gasket at the base I don't see how it can seep in there. One of these days I'll take it off and do a "restoration" with new valve and flapper; new floor seal. Maybe I'll see what they're talking about then.

But glad YOU found a way to solve your problem. Good work!