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Old 09-03-2014, 01:57 AM   #1
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sewer smell in bathroom only after towing?

All right gang I have a situation I cant seem to put my finger on.

After towing our bathroom and occasionally the bunk room smells like sewer gas.

Bathroom vent open or closed while towing does not matter it still smells after towing.

I have opened the bathroom door and put my nose in the toilet bowl and smell nothing (with and without water in the bowl).

I have smelled the drain in the bathtub and smell nothing.

I have opened the cabinet under the sink and smell nothing (thinking the air admittance valve thing) and it smells just fine.

This happens while towing with the tank empty or full.

I am running out of ideas of where to look.

Have you got any other ideas?
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Old 09-03-2014, 02:32 AM   #2
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Just thinking here, but have you ever had a ceiling leak or a black tank leak. Sounds like when you're towing air is passing through the belly or ceiling and if you have mold somewhere the smell might be seeping into the coach. Another thought is it might be coming from the gray tanks. The J-tubes under the sinks are there to prevent odor from passing from the gray tanks. You might check those areas.
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Old 09-03-2014, 03:04 AM   #3
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Originally Posted by sawpilot View Post
Just thinking here, but have you ever had a ceiling leak or a black tank leak. Sounds like when you're towing air is passing through the belly or ceiling and if you have mold somewhere the smell might be seeping into the coach. Another thought is it might be coming from the gray tanks. The J-tubes under the sinks are there to prevent odor from passing from the gray tanks. You might check those areas.
Agree with sawpilot, run sink faucet before and after each trip to fill sink traps.
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Old 09-04-2014, 05:42 PM   #4
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Thanks guys, I do keep the traps full and drain plugs in them while traveling. I have even traveled with water in both the sink and the tub (surprisingly no mess afterwards) as I thought about the gray tank lines as well.

The mold issues have not been considered though. The trailer does not show any signs of water from above.

We did have an outdoor kitchen pipe not connected at the factory which dumped a lot of water into the belly area the first week we owned it spring of 2013. We did have it dried out insulation replaced and re installed the coraplast.

This smell is something new more than a year after that though so I bet it is something new. I will dig some more I guess.

KEEP THE SUGGESTIONS COMING PLEASE.
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Old 09-04-2014, 07:31 PM   #5
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Don't forget about the shower/tub also.
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Old 09-04-2014, 10:17 PM   #6
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Originally Posted by memgrove View Post

We did have an outdoor kitchen pipe not connected at the factory which dumped a lot of water into the belly area the first week we owned it spring of 2013. We did have it dried out insulation replaced and re installed the coraplast.

This smell is something new more than a year after that though so I bet it is something new. I will dig some more I guess.
The was a recent thread about the outdoor kitchen plumbing that goes to the black tank. Apparently this is how some of them come from the factory... Worth a check.
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Old 09-05-2014, 01:08 AM   #7
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Yes Eric our outdoor kitchen sink goes into the black tank. We travel with the plug in that sink drain and use it frequently so I believe there is always water in that trap. However just now I think there needs to be an air admittance thing under that sink that I have not checked. Occasionally the girls bunk room will also have the sewer smell and that kitchen is under the bunk on that side... So maybe just maybe that will be the culprit. I kind of doubt it because I would think that the way the outside kitchen door opens you would smell it because your face is right in the way as it opens.

I really dont think this is a tank leaking fluids issue because there is never a drip on the ground AND the smell dissipates quickly after reaching our destination. If it were a liquid leak the smell would linger a long time.

Maybe tomorrow I will run over to the farm and pick it up and bring it home for the weekend and rip into it some more.
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Old 09-05-2014, 01:12 AM   #8
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Don't forget about the shower/tub also.
Is there an air admittance thing in under the tub too? I had that access panel off this spring to tighten a loose waterline on the tub faucet but don't recall seeing one in there.

One more thing to check! Thanks, we will get this stink fixed yet!
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Old 09-05-2014, 05:20 AM   #9
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Mike, are you also keeping a couple inches of water in the toilets when you travel? This creates an air barrier also.
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Old 09-06-2014, 01:23 AM   #10
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Yep, we keep water in all the traps and the toilet bowl.

We are having some serious rain tonight or I would have brought the trailer to the house and investigated some more. Tomorrow is supposed a dry day so maybe I can get this figured out.
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Old 09-06-2014, 03:53 PM   #11
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Mike, please keep us posted.....we all learn from each other!
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