RV Bathroom Smells

[applejaxs]

We just purchased a used TT (made in 2020) and when it was delivered, the bathroom didn't smell. After 2-3 uses though, the bathroom started to reek of pee! We have cleaned the bathroom top to bottom daily and it seems to help for a short time, but it always comes back! The smell never fully goes away. We have emptied and flushed out the black tank, washed the walls, the floors and, of course, the toilet. We have owned RVs before that were older and have never had this issue. It is bad enough that the bedroom get filled with the smell as well. Any ideas?

 

[Scooterfan]

Two things to look at...the BLACK tank could need a good cleaning (good place to start), the ball valve SEAL could be bad (does it hold water ?), or the vent could be obstructed. The GREY tank can (and will) develop smells that may mimic urine. Although there are many here that will say bleach is not good for our plastic tanks, I use it to flush out and clean my GREY tank (at least yearly) I pour it down both sinks and the shower drains, fill the GREY tank to at least half (if not more), drive around a bit, and empty. NO smell from either tanks. Good luck, and Blessings

 

[marc2912]

Two things to look at...the BLACK tank could need a good cleaning (good place to start), the ball valve SEAL could be bad (does it hold water ?), or the vent could be obstructed. The GREY tank can (and will) develop smells that may mimic urine. Although there are many here that will say bleach is not good for our plastic tanks, I use it to flush out and clean my GREY tank (at least yearly) I pour it down both sinks and the shower drains, fill the GREY tank to at least half (if not more), drive around a bit, and empty. NO smell from either tanks. Good luck, and Blessings

Second the bad seal. sounds like your tanks are venting in the bathroom.

 

[Scotttkd2]

What model of toilet do you have?? There are some Dometic models with known issues. Google dometic 300 toilet smell issues For some examples of issues and fixes. Edit: Doemtic has a recall on at least the 300 model, possible more

 

[Dona40]

Inexpensive things to try: Weathervane tank vent on the roof (wind sucks it out) and RV Digest-It. The stuff is amazing. Hard to find but worth any trip. We just started ordering on-line because hardly anyone stocks it.

 

[RKins]

If you have a washer/dryer in that area the p-trap in the drain may be dry and is letting fumes from the grey tank escape.

 

[Burdy]

We just purchased a used TT (made in 2020) and when it was delivered, the bathroom didn't smell. After 2-3 uses though, the bathroom started to reek of pee! We have cleaned the bathroom top to bottom daily and it seems to help for a short time, but it always comes back! The smell never fully goes away. We have emptied and flushed out the black tank, washed the walls, the floors and, of course, the toilet. We have owned RVs before that were older and have never had this issue. It is bad enough that the bedroom get filled with the smell as well. Any ideas?

 

[applejaxs]

What model of toilet do you have?? There are some Dometic models with known issues. Google dometic 300 toilet smell issues For some examples of issues and fixes. Edit: Doemtic has a recall on at least the 300 model, possible more

I do have a 300 I've been looking into this as well. When we put it into use in the beginning, we were also finding yellow water in the toilet. Though it doesn't do that anymore.

 

[Burdy]

Check that your roof vents for both tanks is clear. Also after driving water in your sink and shower traps can empty from road bumps etc. always run some water down all the sinks and the shower otherwise the air will pass through them and into the trailer. It’s an awe full smell including the grey water tank.

 

[applejaxs]

Two things to look at...the BLACK tank could need a good cleaning (good place to start), the ball valve SEAL could be bad (does it hold water ?), or the vent could be obstructed. The GREY tank can (and will) develop smells that may mimic urine. Although there are many here that will say bleach is not good for our plastic tanks, I use it to flush out and clean my GREY tank (at least yearly) I pour it down both sinks and the shower drains, fill the GREY tank to at least half (if not more), drive around a bit, and empty. NO smell from either tanks. Good luck, and Blessings

Its only the toilet that reeks, all other drains are fine, so it's not the grey tank. I'm going to look closer at the ball seal. We already did a pretty good cleaning of the black tank.

 

[Scooterfan]

Fill your bowl with water...if it stays full your ball seal is most likely OK...if it slowly disappears, replace the seal. IMHO

 

[A-Texan]

We just purchased a used TT (made in 2020) and when it was delivered, the bathroom didn't smell. After 2-3 uses though, the bathroom started to reek of pee! We have cleaned the bathroom top to bottom daily and it seems to help for a short time, but it always comes back! The smell never fully goes away. We have emptied and flushed out the black tank, washed the walls, the floors and, of course, the toilet. We have owned RVs before that were older and have never had this issue. It is bad enough that the bedroom get filled with the smell as well. Any ideas?

This may sound a bit silly, but how much water are you using when you flush and use the toilet? The reason I ask, is because the first travel trailer we had the kids were not fillig the bowl with water and just flushing for a few seconds each time they used the restroom and this caused a lot of odor. In short, I noticed whenever flushing the toilet the smell was strong, really strong, practically unbearable, but after I dumped that time I started filling the Black water tank with about 5 gallons of water right off the bat. Then be sure to fill the toilet part way with water when using and flush thoroughly (we use the packets to help with the smell as well, but when we were not flushing with a lot of water, smell was an issue initially). Ever since I started filling the tank with about 5 gallons, fill the toilet half way when using, and flushing thoroughly, no smells at all. More water = less smells in my experience. This was especially the situation when camping here in Texas in the summer when it was 100 degrees plus outside and you leave your trailer with the A/C off for hours at a time while out hiking and what not. Also, just to mention, we only dump once we are about 2/3 full, and when we do I go ahead and fill it up to full with fresh water once I realize its at 2/3 full and then I dump to get everything flowing out well.

One last thing we started doing at the recommendation of a friend to keep the tank clean (and it works fantastic) is when we are heading home from a trip, I buy about 4 to 5 bags of ice and pour it down the toilet into the black tank before he hit the road, and when we get near home I dump it at a local state park (by this time it is melted and has been sloshing around for hours) and it really does a good job cleaning out the black tank and keeps the sensors working great.

Just my 2 cents on what helped our TT stop smelling. Below are the type of drop in additives we use but they only work well when you got plenty of water in the tank, there ain't nothing worse then the bathroom smelling when out camping in my opinion.

 

[applejaxs]

UPDATE! it's a dometic 300 issue! Thanks everyone. We just purchased a used TT (made in 2020) and when it was delivered, the bathroom didn't smell. After 2-3 uses though, the bathroom started to reek of pee! We have cleaned the bathroom top to bottom daily and it seems to help for a short time, but it always comes back! The smell never fully goes away. We have emptied and flushed out the black tank, washed the walls, the floors and, of course, the toilet. We have owned RVs before that were older and have never had this issue. It is bad enough that the bedroom get filled with the smell as well. Any ideas?

 

[LMHS]

It sounds like possibly....

A) someone was accustomed to using the toilet and doing #1 and letting it "mellow" (a oft recommended way to get out of having to dump the black tank less often). This may have resulted in urine drying in the toilet bowl. Try using a product designed for removing pet urine stains and smells or use a bottle of hydrogen peroxide to clean the toilet bowl with, paying particular attention to the seal.

And/Or
B) urine has collected on the floor and seeped under the base and/or mounting flange of the toilet. All the cleaning will not remove what you cannot get to. Remove the toilet, clean under the toilet then clean again using a product designed for removing pet urine stains and smells or use a bottle of hydrogen peroxide.

And/Or
C) The seal/boot/gasket designed to act the same way as a wax ring on a residential toilet has become damaged and no longer functions as it should. OR someone has allowed the black tank to fill a bit too high (some people ONLY urinate in their RV toilet, others don't use the toilet at all as they think it will harm the resell value). Since this is a used RV, someone may have used a wax ring on the toilet. Remove the toilet, pull the seal/boot/gasket/wax ring and replace it. Before replacing the piece, clean the area using a product designed for removing pet urine stains and smells or use a bottle of hydrogen peroxide. I prefer to use a "waxless" ring. There are several different styles with various prices. You can buy them at Lowes/Home Depot/Ace type places. (one example of a waxless ring Fluidmaster Better Than Wax Universal Wax-Free Toilet Seal 7530P24 - The Home Depot )

I've flipped many a house that the bathroom smelled like urine. My cleaning suggestions are the methods I used. My last Class C was used and didn't smell but it did have a residential style wax ring on the Thetford RV toilet which we discovered when we had to replace a rusted spring on the valve.

You can find videos online on how to remove an RV toilet.

 

[Bob K4TAX]

If you have a "Dometic 300" toilet, these are known to leak into the base of the toilet. It does not drain and thus accumulates mostly liquid waste. It stinks!

The solution is to remove the Dometic 300 and put it in the trash. Don't even think of trying to repair it. Replace with a Dometic 310. Or 320 if you have the space. They are elongated and require a bit more room.

I had to do this with ours.

Bob