Why Is There A Sewer Smell In Our 5th Wheel Trailer?

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Why Is There A Sewer Smell In Our 5th Wheel Trailer?

by Claudia
(Florida)

My husband lives full time in our 5th wheel because of his job and lately we have been having sewer smells. The camper sits for a long time without moving. Are we suppose to keep the black water tank closed and dump it every so often or can we keep it open and use the toilet and flush and the waste goes out? Give me some advice as what to do.

Thanks

ANSWER: Greetings Claudia thanks for submitting your question on our Ask An RV Question Page.

Even when you are hooked up to a sewer system at an RV park you should always keep the dump valves closed on both your grey water and black water holding tanks. If you do not, the sewer smell from the RV Park’s sewer system can enter your RV.

You will also accumulate a lot of bad smelling human deposits on the bottom of your black water tank as the liquid will go directly in the sewer system and the solids will remain and cause a bad smell that will also enter the trailer.

Once the holding tanks get 1/2 to 3/4 full you need to dump them and flush the tanks. You then close the dump valves and pour about two or three gallons of water into both holding tanks, so the future waste will be diluted by the water at the bottom of the tank.

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Once you have added the water to the tanks you should also pour some Holding Tank Deodorizer and Treatment in each tank. The amount of deodorizer you use depends on the size of your holding tanks. The instructions on the deodorizer will tell you how much to use.

Before leaving the campground always dump and flush your tanks regardless of how much waste they have and then follow the instructions I outlined above.

I hope this helps.

Do you have any suggestions or comments on this topic? You can add them to this page by clicking on the "Click Here To Post Comments" link located near the bottom of this page.

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RVing Al

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Why Is There A Sewer Smell In Our 5th Wheel Trailer?

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Vent Stack may be plugged
by: hansfx

Hi
We noticed a smell in our trailer lately once we had used the toilet, and I noticed a slight smell in my closet - that just happened to house the two Vent poles (stacks) up to the roof. My husband actually ended up going up and taking off he protective cover, and found out that the black water stack was plugged. Once he cleared the blockage (with a very long skinny black pvc pipe) the smell disappeared! Hope this info helps!

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Sewer Smell in your RV
by: Lew Mann

There can be several possible causes of sewer smell in your coach. All the above advice is valid. But, there is more.

Believe it or not, your gray tank can stink more than your black tank. The smell can enter the coach via the P-traps under your sinks and shower. Before you travel, make sure to run enough water down the drain to fill the p-traps. If left unattended the water evaporates.

If you look under your kitchen and bathroom sinks you will see the black pipes that carry the water off. At some point the pipe branches skyward and is capped by a check valve. Find the cap for your toilet too. Sometimes these valves stick open emitting sewer odor to the coach. The caps are cheap to replace. You can find them at most RV dealers or even home improvement stores.

Working at an RV dealer has its advantages. I learn about products that are not well advertised. One such product is "RV Digest-It" from Unique Manufacturing. Recently, my black tank became clogged with solids. My Service Manager added a quart of RV Digest-It to my 45 gallon black tank and filled the tank with water. We let it sit for 24 hours. During that time all the solids were digested by the enzymes and my tank was clean!

Now I use two capfulls of RV Digest-It in my black tank after I have dumped and added water. I also use it in my gray tank.

You should be able to find this or similar product at RV dealers near you.

Lew Mann
Webmaster & "Doer of Many Things"
J.D. Sanders RV Center
Alachua, Florida
www.sandersrvs.com

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Sewer Smell Might Not Be Sewer
by: McElvain

Several months ago we returned from a day trip to find a strong sewer smell in and around our camper. We left the area the next day after thouroughly cleaning the tank and adding all the stuff that's supposed to help. The odor went on for a few weeks until we finally discovered it was not the sewer but the battery. It had overheated and it was sulfur we were smelling! We were told they can potentially explode when that happens. We would have sworn it was a sewer problem. So if your smell is persistent, check the batteries.

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Why Is There A Sewer Smell In Our 5th Wheel Trailer?

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Why Is There A Sewer Smell In Our 5th Wheel Trailer?

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