grey water tank smells.

[mustang94]

Does any one have a issue with the vent less vents for the sinks going to the grey tanks? We can turn on the ceiling fan in bath room during a shower and this awful smell goes through out the motorhome. I looked under the sinks and the smell got even worse. I am guessing this is bad... Here are a few of what it looks like. https://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&nod...tance%20valves
What to do to stop the smell or should I just replace all of them?

[SuperD]

When I checked our air admittance valves they were both only screwed in about one turn, getting a lot of odor in the bathroom. I removed the valves, wrapped the threads with teflon tape, replaced the valves and hand tightened tightly. I also changed out both black and grey roof vents with the 360 vent covers. No more odors of any kind!

[mcars302]

The bathroom sink drains to the black water tank. That's why the odor is so bad. Follow SuperD's advice.

[EA37TS]

Originally Posted by mcars302

The bathroom sink drains to the black water tank. That's why the odor is so bad. Follow SuperD's advice.

Not on all rigs. My Challenger for one does not have the bathroom sink draining into the black tank. My toilet only drains into black. All other fixtures drain into one of two grey tanks.

[EA37TS]

Originally Posted by mustang94@hot.rr.com

Does any one have a issue with the vent less vents for the sinks going to the grey tanks? We can turn on the ceiling fan in bath room during a shower and this awful smell goes through out the motorhome. I looked under the sinks and the smell got even worse. I am guessing this is bad... Here are a few of what it looks like. https://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&nod...tance%20valves
What to do to stop the smell or should I just replace all of them?

Not sure how your Challenger is plumbed but on my 37ND the kitchen and bathroom sinks have the air admittance valves and both sinks drain into the forward grey tank. The vent pipe for the forward grey tank is connected to the vent pipe coming off of the black tank (grey vent pipe is 45'd in about 42 inches above the tank and 39 inches below the roof). It looks like the vent pipe is T'd into the bathroom sink drain right at the tank.

Based on this if I started noticing a smell from the bathroom sink area I would check the bathroom sink air admittance valve first and then the rooftop vent.

[drhadley]

Originally Posted by dstankov

Not sure how your Challenger is plumbed but on my 37ND the kitchen and bathroom sinks have the air admittance valves and both sinks drain into the forward grey tank. The vent pipe for the forward grey tank is connected to the vent pipe coming off of the black tank (grey vent pipe is 45'd in about 42 inches above the tank and 39 inches below the roof). It looks like the vent pipe is T'd into the bathroom sink drain right at the tank.



Based on this if I started noticing a smell from the bathroom sink area I would check the bathroom sink air admittance valve first and then the rooftop vent.

We were instructed to check these valves as well if we start smelling a odor.

[charlie_kay]

Where are these valves located? Is this for the axis? I have the same issue sometimes.

[drhadley]

Originally Posted by charlie_kay

Where are these valves located? Is this for the axis? I have the same issue sometimes.

I have a 2015 Outlaw. Their is one in the cabinet under the kitchen sink. The other is in the cabinet under the bathroom sink. It looks like you would have to snake yourself into the cabinets to get to them.

[SuperD]

The air admittance valve is a pretty simple device. First make sure it's screwed down tight by hand, if it is and you still have a smell check the valve itself. Unscrew the valve, go to a sink, turn it upside down and fill with water, if it leaks out the valve is bad and needs to be replaced. New valves are available at most plumbing and hardware stores.

The biggest problem is the valves usually aren't screwed in tight from the factory. Remove the valve, put a couple of wraps of teflon tape around the threads, insert and tighten firmly by hand, this usually fixes the problem.

As I said before I added the 360 vent to both tank vents. The factory vent covers are very restrictive and don't get good airflow to vent the rank. Installing a 360 vent is relatively simple and doesn't take long, did both of mine in about 30 min. You will need some self leveling Dicor for the job.

[SuperD]

This is what the factory vent looks like, very restrictive and poor airflow to vent the tank.


This is the 360, not restrictive, good airflow from any direction using a Venturi effect, much better tank venting to keep the smells outside your coach where they belong.

[mustang94]

Just checked and both my sinks flow through the grey water tank. But both air admittance valves under the sinks were only hand tight. I guess I will start by tightening them up first and see how things go. Although I have noticed tanks are slow and hard to drain, like there is no air coming in from the top side.

[SuperD]

Originally Posted by mustang94@hot.rr.com

Just checked and both my sinks flow through the grey water tank. But both air admittance valves under the sinks were only hand tight. I guess I will start by tightening them up first and see how things go. Although I have noticed tanks are slow and hard to drain, like there is no air coming in from the top side.

Time to check the roof vent.

[Travelin' Texans]

The roof vents & air admittance valves as with most of those things on a rv are the absolute cheapest that you could buy (they buy by the truckload so probably cost .25 cents each) , the 360 roof vent & a better quality valve would be where I'd start.

[Fulltimer50]

Originally Posted by mustang94@hot.rr.com

Does any one have a issue with the vent less vents for the sinks going to the grey tanks? We can turn on the ceiling fan in bath room during a shower and this awful smell goes through out the motorhome. I looked under the sinks and the smell got even worse. I am guessing this is bad... Here are a few of what it looks like. https://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&nod...tance%20valves
What to do to stop the smell or should I just replace all of them?

Your solution could be as simple as opening a window. Not that the advice given is bad. If you are blowing air out of your rig it needs to come back in somewhere.

[mustang94]

Originally Posted by Fulltimer50

Your solution could be as simple as opening a window. Not that the advice given is bad. If you are blowing air out of your rig it needs to come back in somewhere.

This is so true and have thought of it a few times, so I opened up another roof vent and still the same, just not as bad. Had this rig for over a year and just lately started haven this problem.

[ComputerChips]

I question my ACE venting. When draining the grey water I can tell that about half way through the dump it is in a vapor lock and will chug a few times before it finishes emptying. The Blackwater tanks drains completely in one continuous flow.
Thank for the air admittance tips. I sometimes have that odor problem too.

[JamieGeek]

Originally Posted by mustang94@hot.rr.com

This is so true and have thought of it a few times, so I opened up another roof vent and still the same, just not as bad. Had this rig for over a year and just lately started haven this problem.

If you've had the rig for a year and now just having the problem, perhaps something happened with the air admittance valves. Maybe they are stuck open or something. When checking if they are loose also check if they only open when there is a vacuum in the tank.

[SuperD]

Sorry, but opening a window does not fix the problem. You should not have a smell in the bathroom unless you are using it for the intended purpose. You will continue to have a smelly bathroom until the actual problem is corrected.