What the h-ll is the smell?

I emptied my black good and used the tank flusher real good.Emptied the other two real good also. Added some water to the black tank and a couple of them deodarizeer things. I start home and stop to get something in the camper and it stinks to high heaven in there. What in the world is going on here ?

Could be one of two things.


Did you leave some water in the bowl like you were flushing it normally ? if your stink fan is running or vent is open it will draw air from the tank.

Your batteries could be over charging.... battery gas. Very Common stinky smell if you have a problem with the charger/battery. Have you checked the water level lately. I let mine run completely dry. totally forgot about checking it.

or a possible third thing,,, you have a propane gas leak.

Your sinks and shower all have traps. If dumping tanks emptied them, you are drawing air from the tanks. Run a little water in each of them and the smell will stop.

Admin wrote:Your batteries could be over charging.... battery gas. Very Common stinky smell if you have a problem with the charger/battery. Have you checked the water level lately. I let mine run completely dry. totally forgot about checking it.

Charlie,

I had this happen to me this spring. Smell was awful and it was battery gas. I spent three days sanitizing the tanks to no avail. By accident my hand touched the side of the battery box and the plastic was extremely hot (a dead giveaway). The battery was toast. Got a new battery and a battery disconnect switch. Problem solved.

Best of luck, whatever the issue.

I don't think it could be the battery because sitting still and plugged in to power or not its fine. Its after I drive down the road and the camper is shaken up that it smells, after it sits for awhile the smell goes away.

I'm still leaning toward the battery with that last post.




The only other thing I can think of is you may have had a overflow that may have leaked some sewage water onto the underpinning.
Could be a pool of stinky water on top of that.



Is there a perticular area your standing in when you smell it ?

If its the battery why is it not happening when i'm plugged into a power outlet? I know its not a leak of the sewer. Would the black tank vent tube everybody talks about being blocked have anything to do with it ? It seems like when the tanks are shook up it stinks.

Since your odor has just started, having a blocked vent or possibly a separated vent could be causing the odor, many people have had wasp build nest in the vent cover and it blocks the tube. You will have to climb on top and look. I checked all my vents this year and had one small wasp nest in the cover for the kitchen vent.

Another question, If you open the toilet foot valve do you smell the same odor coming from the black tank that you smell when you enter the cat.

When I had my class C motor home I would get the same stench when the kids would use the toilet and flush it while going down the road.I would put some water in the toilet bowl, and close all the vents the next time you go down the road and see what you get.

If the anode rod in the hot water heater is not cleaned; it can give off a bad smell.
Happy Camping