How do we solve this problem?

[sharyl1515]

We have a 2006 Crossroads Cruiser and we have a drain problem. Everytime we run water in the bathroom sink and kitchen sink a very very bad sewer smell comes out of the drain, it is so bad it remails all through the camper, can anyone tell us how to solve this problem?

Thank you!

[jayace]

How long has this been going on? How long have you owned the trailer? Have you triedpouringsome some Drano in the sinks and shower drains? Check to make sure your vent on the roof isn't blocked but you would probably have drainage problems if it were.

[sharyl1515]

We bought the camper last July and had the problem last summer and this summer. We have tried everything, including checking the vents and putting a circular air vent at the top, but it still smells. We have used bleach, the stuff you buy for the tanks, but nothing has helped so far. The drains work fine, it is just the smell.

[Hunter11]

Look under the sinks for "check valves" that might be stuck open. I believe they will be on the end of the drain pipe sticking up under the sinks. Any chance something got stuck in the p traps that is causing the odor? Maybe the post below will help.



http://www.crossroadsrv.com/forum/fo...ID=48038#48038

Edited by: Hunter11

[jayace]

I like Hunter11's suggestion about the Studor vent. Otherwise it's likely the P trap or direct from the tank. Check to make sure the P traps are clear. You might have to remove them to check for sure. Unlikely chance here but make sure you actually have P traps installed, maybe the previous owner removed them for some reason.

[cruzr4-2]

Not sure what model you have but our 200629RE has separate holding tanks for the kitchen and bathroom. They may have a common vent, however. Is the water being drawn from the fresh water tank or city water when this happens? Maybe it has to do with the water and not the holding tanks.
Just a thought
Dennis

[sharyl1515]

We are at a campground site and no one else has been having a problem. We looked under the sinks but didn't see any valves at all. We will be going there this afternoon again to check over once again, but first try we couldn't find any under the sinks. Thanks

[Lloyd]

Here is a link for you to look at. If you aren't familiar with the vent in question, you might not know what they look like.

http://wegofar.com/?tag=studor-mini-vent

[CampMacKay]

Just saw this in another post.
http://www.5starhappycamper.com/

[danskool]

Are you sure it is from the drain? Our camper would sit for a couple weeks without use and when my wife ran the water in the bathroom or shower it would smell bad!. Only in the bathroom.. I flushed all the tanks with bleach and deodorizers.. We were hooked up with shore water with a carbon filter. What i did was i put in about two cups of bleach and about 10 gallons of water in my fresh water tank.. And when i left that weekend i turned off the shore water,(as i always do) Drained the hot water tank and turned on the fresh water pump. I opened all of the faucets to circulate out all the shore water until i could smell the bleach water. When i went out to open my outside shower i realized a potential problem, pink antifreeze came out. Forgot to flush that out early this spring and it is plumbed into the bathroom water supply. ( forget that dang thing all the time ) I continued to flush the outside shower until i smelled bleach and left the site. Two weeks later i arrived at the site, drained the hot water tank again of the bleach water mix. Turned on the shore water (as i always do)and refilled the RV with shore water opening the faucets to flush. Whalla.. No more smell.. Kinda of smell like rotten eggs, Real strong, Stung up the camper. So basically i sanitized the fresh water lines and tank. I spent all that time on the sewer and it was actually the water from sitting that couple weeks. I was thinking it was doing something stinky with the antifreeze in outside shower line or something because the outside shower stunk when i was flushing out the ping stuff. No more smell inside anymore since then.

The benefit of all this "find the smell" was cleaning and sanitizing.. I found the smell, And also by waist tanks have never been so clean. I have done everything i could do for them when i was thinking it was the sewer that was giving us the smell. I won't say what i did the the black tank, And it resulted in my sensors reading again..

Ours didn't smell like sewer, Smelled like rotten eggs. It was nasty and super stong. I guess it would smell like sewer if time went on if i didn't sanitize.

[jayace]

Doing the bleach treatment in the fresh water tank is a good idea. I do that at the beginning of each year to sanitize the tanks and lines. It's quick and could rule it out if that's not the issue.

[BipeFlier]

If it really is the hot water tank creating the sulphur smell you can rinse it with a vinegar/water solution.

From http://www.motleyrvrepair.com
Rotten egg smell in the hot water.





One of the fun things about RV repair is it is very common to find varying

opinions about solutions and caused for the same basic problem. I have found

three different techniques to this problem. The cause always seems to be pretty

much same however.



Cause: Sufficient amounts of sulfur in the water to produce an odor. This is

caused by the electro-galvanic action of either the special 15% thickness of the

type 7072 aluminum (pure aluminum and zinc) that is fused to the inside of

Atwood tanks since 1988 or the anode rod in the Suburban. Bacteria in either

brand can also cause it.



Step 1 : Turnoff the water heater and let water cool if need

be.



Step 2 : Drain and flush the tank. By flush I mean let fresh

water run through the tank quite awhile and get out all the sediment that can

settle in the bottom of the tank. The agitation action of the water coming into

the tank should help unsettle and flush the sediment. Compressed air can also

agitate the sediment or you can use a bent stiff wire or brush and go in through

the drain hole to stir things up. If you do this be not to damage the threads.

This is also a "tool" available in most RV stores that hooks on the end of a

water hose and is specifically designed for this purpose. The primary objective

here is to get the sediment out. I might also advise to be certain the water you

use to flush does not have a sulfur odor. Keep the drain hole clear as the

sediment can stop it up.



Step 3 : (optional): Remember the varying opinions? Here is

one. Fill the tank with 2 parts distilled vinegar to 1 part water and let set at

least 2 hours. That is a lot of vinegar! I checked to be certain my manual did

not have a misprint and that is the correct ratio. Let it sit for a couple of

hours and rinse with fresh water. To fill the hot water tank only you must go

through the T&P valve (the valve on the top of the outside of the tank with

a lever and metal tag on it.) Screw a male fitting into it and let gravity feed

the solution in through a funnel and flexible hose (open a hot water faucet to

let air escape). You can also go through the drain valve or anode rod opening

using the same procedure. Your can open the T&P valve to let air escape. Be

sure to hold funnel/hose high. The third way is to pump it through the fresh

water system. This will also pump the vinegar water into most of the rest of the

system. You will need to flush real good before proceeding to the next step.





Step 4 : (optional): Add about 4 teaspoons of household

detergent for every 10 gallons of water into the fresh water tank. If you will

add a little detergent then water then detergent then water, and so on this will

help mix the solution. Run this solution through your whole water system (all

faucets, valves, and toilet). Use your water pump and continue putting in water

and pump through until the detergent is gone. Be certain to remove faucet

aerators and shower heads during this procedure. Reinstall them before the next

step.



Step 5 : (recommended option): Do the same as step 3 using

common household bleach at 5-6 ounces (2/3 to 3/4 cup) per 10 gallons of water.

You might let this set in the system for a couple ours to a few days. Then flush

out till chlorine smell is gone. Some people advise this step may need to be

repeated several times.

As you can easily see, Step 4 & 5 also help freshen your

whole system.



Step 6 : When you are convinced you have all the vinegar,

detergent, and bleach out, close the system and refill the water heater and the

system.

[sharyl1515]

Thank you everyone very much, finally the problem is fixed, as we found a third valve under the camper and turned it tillit closed, and installed a rotary propeller cap on the roof of the gray water tank pipe as a vent cap and now it is as good as new. Now we are happy campers again and apprecite all you input, it was very helpful to solve the problem.

Thank you kindly!

[Lloyd]

Originally Posted by sharyl1515

Thank you everyone very much, finally the problem is fixed, as we found a third valve under the camper and turned it tillit closed, and installed a rotary propeller cap on the roof of the gray water tank pipe as a vent cap and now it is as good as new. Now we are happy campers again and apprecite all you input, it was very helpful to solve the problem.

Thank you kindly!

Glad to hear you got rid of the problem.
I'm curious as to what the third valve is that you found under the trailer and turned off????
Could you post a picture or explain more????

[cruzr4-2]

I'm curious about the third valve also.
Dennis

[sharyl1515]

The third valve is if you are facing the dump valves, the black water is in the middle, the gray water is on the left and the third valve is to the right of the black water and goes in a totally opposite direction from the gray water valve but my manual says they are both connected to the same tank. This camper is a 32 foot if that helps explain why there is three, maybe. I can't get a picture at this time, I am home sick.

[cruzr4-2]

I guess I miss understood what you ment by a third valve.
Ours has three drain valves also. The one to the right of black water is drain for the kitchen.
The one to the left or toward the front of the trailer is for the bath sink and shower.
Ours tanksare not joined together.
Dennis