Whats that funny Smell??? - Montana Owners Club

sfretts · 05-11-2009, 07:25 AM

Hi,

My wife and I just returned from what has been the most relaxing and enjoyable RV weekend in the year we have had out Mountaineer. The only issue that arose was a smell when you flushed the toilet. This leads me to my question. As we are freshmen to this lifestyle, what is the proper etiquette when flushing the toilet? Do you push the pedal and hold a couple seconds or be quick about it. Neither seemed to change the smell issue.

When we flushed, it was a strong, somewhat sewer smell. I dropped another packet of stuff in the toilet and it helped a little. I checked the tank levels and it showed my grey water was nearly full. I pulled out the laptop and searched the MOC forum for answers. One post talked about odor in the basement, so I checked, looked at lines and found no smells or leaks. Could not get to the tank itself, but nothing obvious. The next morning, I dumped the grey water tank and awhile later, visited the bathroom and soon noticed the smell was gone! Now I'm really confused. I shut off the grey water again and after showers, I checked and there was a little smell again. I can only surmise that the Grey water and Black share a vent or something like that. Could the vent be blocked?

I know this has been hashed over, but it usually traced back to one of two things. Neither are my case as far as I can tell.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

HamRad · 05-11-2009, 02:06 PM

Sfreets,
We put a lot of water in the black tank. We do not dump the black tank until almost full. Then we use the black tank flush and continue until there is nothing but clear water coming out. Obviously a clear elbow is a must to be able to see the water.

When we first started RVing we used the chemicals but soon stopped. They cost a lot of money and in some places they don't want to let you dump if you're using certain types of chemicals. Water and lots of it in the black tank seems to be the secret to reducing and or eliminating odors.

Good luck.

HamRad

boylanag · 05-11-2009, 02:50 PM

We agree with Hamrad and use a lot of water in the black tank when flushing the toilet. We also use the black tank flush and also, when dumping, fill the bowl with water and let it out in one flush. Do this a couple of times each time you dump the tanks and there should be no smell and your tanks will be clean. Lots of water also means no chemicals are needed. Don't pay attention to the gauges because they rarely work properly. When the toilet "burps" when flushing, it is full. The grey tank is full when it comes into the shower floor. Soon, you will know how long to go before you have to dump the tanks.

Art-n-Marge · 05-11-2009, 04:09 PM

Yes, the indicators are FUBAR, mine ALWAYS read a minimum of 1/3, but as soon as I see F(ull) on the Black gauge, I empty it, use the "installed" Tornado backflush to rinse until clean, then follow it with both Grey tanks (They are usually at 2/3 or more when it happens). But I will check each grey and empty when the F shows up because it seems to be accurate on my rig (for now) and I am usually the one in the middle of a shower or washing dishes when the tanks are nearing full, so I learned to dump them when I first see the F indicator. I never want to hear my wife cry out if it happens to her.

These are at several day intervals so it's not so bad.

As for the smell I think a liquid deodorant works better than dry, but I only use those for when I am putting the rig a way for a while. We use a few seconds of water when flushing. It helps with draining and breakdown if chemicals are in use.

Does your rig have a back sprayer? Another device is a Flush king that allows you to back fill up your tanks (especially black) from the sewer outlet, but requires a lot of water. I stopped using it when I got the Tornado, because it did a better job and used less water. It's important to keep the black tank as clean as possible. The last thing I received as advice was to leave about 3 gallons of water in the black tank with the deodorizator to help prevent any solids that don't make it out, to cake on and become a permanent fixture.

I have had other friends who tackled smelly black tanks but they all eventually reported the smells went away over time and after repeated cleanings.

Good luck,

hookman · 05-11-2009, 06:37 PM

We where getting a smell once in awhile in our trailer. We found that if the vent over the toilet is open and we had the Fantastic fan on it would pull in the odors from the black water tank vent.

sfretts · 05-12-2009, 04:39 AM

Thanks for the info. Yes we have a tank cleaner and use it everytime we dump. The smell seems more geared toward the grey water tank than the black tank. I always leave water in the black tank when I finish dumping. I think I will leave more and see what happens.

kmh3212 · 05-12-2009, 04:43 PM

Never flush your toilet with any vent fan running. It pulls the sewer gas through the commode and into your camper. You could also have a leaking toilet gasket. Never leave your black tank open while camping. Only open while dumping and or flushing the black tank.

dandt · 05-13-2009, 03:35 AM

We had a similar problem and upon investagation we found that the silver band around the pedestal had loosed and was allowing small amounts of water to come out and settle around the base. We tightened screw is located around the back and cleaned around base well and smell has stoped. I agree with the vent, if someone close is flushing it can also bring in the smell.

sfretts · 05-13-2009, 05:42 AM

Hi,

Might be on to something. I forgot to mention in my first post that sometimes there is water in the bowl after flushing and sometime, nothing. I cannot find a bubble or any indicator that it leaks through the flush ball (whatever it is called) but I have noticed that at times it keeps water in the bowl and others nothing. Another thing is a couple times flushing it has burped and air bubbles come through when I have water in the bowl. I wonder if that could be from a leak? I have not noticed any fluids on the floor around the toilet though.

Art-n-Marge · 05-13-2009, 11:36 AM

There should be no burping, bubble, etc when looking at the water in the toilet or when flushing. The vent for the tank should prevent any back pressure of air back up through the bowl. I have never seen that in 7 years of trailering and using an RV toilet.

We often leave a little water in the bowl especially if the rig is in use so I can monitor that the gaskets and flusher stay wet and I would also use it to tell if there is a leak of the gaskets in the toilet at the flusher. If I leave water there, that amount of water better be there at the next use.

Maybe you do have some kind of leak, improper seating, or defect you need to check out for the seat. If water can go down when it shouldn't, then fumes can come up after the water is gone. It's good that you don't see any water on the exterior of the bowl, but that doesn't mean there isn't a compromise somethwhere.

Maybe there is a vent blockage preventing air pressure from being relieved and that's why on a flush you bubble up. I wonder if dropping a snake down the vent tube or uncapping the vent and using a flashlight to look down could help. I'd do this after you've cleaned the black tank pretty good because you wouldn't want too much fumes to be coming back at you. But if the vent tube is blocked you might have to prop open the toilet valve (there is a device sold that allows this) to relieve air pressure, but watch whether you want the water running or not if the flusher is left open and you are connected to the fresh water. You might have to do this to debug your tank and vent tube.

Good luck checking this out.

sfretts · 05-24-2009, 05:57 AM

UPDATE!!!

We are in Lincoln City, OR for a five day weekend. Had not looked into a fix until we got here...I know, smart, what if everything breaks...anyway, I took the suggestions and after I hooked up (really impressed myself getting hooked up in short order) and went to put alot of water in the black tank to soak. As I held the foot pedal down,it again burped some water and there was that familiar foul smell. Then I noticed as I put water in, the sound pitch continued to get higher meaning I was filling up fast. I decided to see what happened and after a few moments, I could see the water level rising in the pipe. As it neared the top, it suddenly cleared and went down. I continued to run water for a few gallons and then periodically checked. No smell, no problem. Seems it was a clog in the down tube. I do not know how the vent pipe is hooked in, but it must have been a partial plug guessing above or at the vent (I blame the wife!)

We are again happy campers. What would we do without the peer assistance here on this site???

I am pleased to say

dsprik · 05-24-2009, 06:26 AM

Steve, your problems might not be over. Sounds like you may have the dreaded "pyramid" that may continue to build up and do the same thing - fill up then suddenly fall back down. the buildup may still be there and it will plug again in short order. There are several MOCers here who have had that problem. It will require several backflushes and a good chemical treatment to resolve the problem long term.

richfaa · 05-24-2009, 12:25 PM

Dave may be on to something. Check for that buildup. TP will clog in the down pipe if you do not use enough water. That happened to the camper next to us in Florida. They were tunned in to that...use little TP and little water myth and had a big problem.. If you are at a full hook what difference does it make ????? We have never let our black tank fill up. If you are at a FH you can dump and flush every day. Also the Galley tank can get very nasty. Food gets down there at it rots if the tank is not well flushed. We leave the gally tank valve closed and dump and flush every day, more if necesary. We are nearly always at a full hook site. We do nothing different in the camper than we do in the stick house..Lots of water and flush, flush..How long can it take to dump and flush every day if necessary.

WorkerB · 05-26-2009, 03:44 AM

I have been getting the burp even after emptying the black tank. I also seem to be filling up prematurely based on the "BURP". After reading this post I started thinking I may have a plugged vent pipe. Then Dsprik mentioned the "dreaded pyramid". Given my symptoms this seems more likely. What is the most efficient dissolver? We were going to treat with Calgon for the first time this morning before breaking down and leaving the campground this AM. Concerning back flush procedure. First, I don't have the clear elbow. I've been holding off to get the combo shut off valve and clear elbow in one unit. In the past I have opened the black tank valve, and used the water to back flush and run for awhile. I have also closed the black tank shut off valve and repeatedly filled and flush using the back flusher. Any comments on the preferred procedure?
Thanks, John

sfretts · 05-26-2009, 01:38 PM

This morning, we were breaking camp and I had a full black tank finally. Had no more smell or burps after what ever that was dislodged. Dumped the black tank and it seemed to empty much sooner than I would expect as it was full. I filled and back flushed, dumped and it would dump ok and then go to a trickle. Ah, another plug. Filled it up halfway while running the tank cleaner and she broke loose again and it drained for some time. This went on for almost twenty minutes till I got clear water out of the tank. Hope its fixed. I filled it with about half a tank and with the great road on US 101 in Oregon, it should have mixed well by now. Will dump again when we get set up in a couple weeks and see if we conquered the &%#&.

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