FOUL ODOR 2006 Winnebago Journey 36G

[Alching1952]

Need advice/help with an odor problem. We purchased our coach in May and have been plagued with intermittent sewer gas smells in the coach. It primarily occurs when we are out of the coach from 1-5 hours and have the AC on and upon return the odor is prevalent. My best guess is that the return air for the AC is drawing the odors from the laundry cabinet. We do not have a washer/dryer, however the previous owners did. The first thing I did was pour water into the standpipe for the washer drain then sealed it off with tape. This did NOT help. The odor is definitely coming from that area and I have no idea how to access the fitting on the holding tanks to see if they are loose or disconnected. Any advice would be helpful.

[NadaThing]

Guessing but perhaps air intake for A/C and the ambient breezes. When wind is right and A/C on, wind over the roof vents blows the vent gas toward the air intakes.

We had a similar problem when going down the road in our class C. When I rolled down the drivers window it created enough of a differential as to suck the vent gas back into the coach. Smell would go away after stopping so had a heck of a time finding the cause.

[bamaboy473]

Cut up a garbage bag and use that plastic to completely seal the washer/dryer area off. Tape every seam, including door to floor.

Does the amount of odor change? This drill will confirm your diagnosis, or not.

[TonyDi]

Check to see if the vent pipes on your roof are clear down to the tank. Then I would treat the grey and black tank to clean them out. I use Happy Camper and it has kept my coach in nice shape. Good luck with the job.

[Alching1952]

Thanks for the info, I have already planned on trying that next once we get home.

[rvwheeler195]

I have the same problem if I roll windows down. I have looked into the Cyclone vent topper which creates a suction when driving or when a breeze passes over the vent. Any success stories with Cyclone?

[bailiff]

Out old fifthwheel was plumbed for a W/D but we never installed one. The drain line provided for that purpose did not have any roof vent (only our tanks have roof vents) but had a mechanical one way vent like under our kitchen sink.


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[SarahW]

I'll just add...if all else fails, check your batteries. If they boil, the smell is awful.

[Clifftall]

Originally Posted by SarahW

I'll just add...if all else fails, check your batteries. If they boil, the smell is awful.

Yup. That has been the culprit previously.

[LEHAFER]

I had the same problem on my Winnebago Adventurer. The smell was in the cabinet for the washer/dryer. It turned out to be the vacuum breaker on the top of the drain pipe in the cabinet. Instead of replacing the vacuum breaker I just installed a plastic pipe plug. See picture from Bailiff above to know what your looking for, it will be above the trap. Home Depot carries the replacement vacuum breakers in both black or white. Good Luck.

[Alching1952]

(Mod Edit) - Recap...

FOUL ODOR 2006 Winnebago Journey 36Gc
Need advice/help with an odor problem. We purchased our coach in May and have been plagued with intermittent sewer gas smells in the coach. It primarily occurs when we are out of the coach from 1-5 hours and have the AC on and upon return the odor is prevalent. My best guess is that the return air for the AC is drawing the odors from the laundry cabinet. We do not have a washer/dryer, however the previous owners did. The first thing I did was pour water into the standpipe for the washer drain then sealed it off with tape. This did NOT help. The odor is definitely coming from that area and I have no idea how to access the fitting on the holding tanks to see if they are loose or disconnected. Any advice would be helpful.

[dnystrom]

Any odor from the wet bay? Did you check for a plugged vent up on top? Is the W&D in the same place as the toilet? If so is the toilet sealing?

[adonh]

Originally Posted by Alching1952

FOUL ODOR 2006 Winnebago Journey 36Gc
Need advice/help with an odor problem. We purchased our coach in May and have been plagued with intermittent sewer gas smells in the coach. It primarily occurs when we are out of the coach from 1-5 hours and have the AC on and upon return the odor is prevalent. My best guess is that the return air for the AC is drawing the odors from the laundry cabinet. We do not have a washer/dryer, however the previous owners did. The first thing I did was pour water into the standpipe for the washer drain then sealed it off with tape. This did NOT help. The odor is definitely coming from that area and I have no idea how to access the fitting on the holding tanks to see if they are loose or disconnected. Any advice would be helpful.

You may also want to check your batteries. A bad battery can put off a smell that is very similar to a sewer smell. I had a similar issue a few years back and tried to track it down through every drain line I could find. The smell would come and go and then some someone told me to check my batteries. I Opened the battery compartment, bingo that was it.

[bonfield]

Originally Posted by adonh

You may also want to check your batteries. A bad battery can put off a smell that is very similar to a sewer smell. I had a similar issue a few years back and tried to track it down through every drain line I could find. The smell would come and go and then some someone told me to check my batteries. I Opened the battery compartment, bingo that was it.

i had the same problem thought it was sewer and it was one of the two coach batteries/

[Alching1952]

It is definitely coming from the laundry area, and yes the laundry area is in the toilet room, I suppose the odor could be traveling under the floor in a chase. The wet bay does have an odor just not as strong.

[dnystrom]

I'd check the vent on top and see if it's blocked. Not much can go wrong with the Black tank. Vent on top of the coach-toilet or drain in the wet bay. Is the overhead vent in the laundry closed?
The washer..is there stagnant water in there? At this point I don't know if it's a Black water smell or Grey?

[indiana journey]

You can take the drawers out in the bedroom (the ones under the tv) to access the drain for the washer.
If everything is properly sealed off @ the washer drain, you might try some odor-control in the toilet/black tank. We use odor-loss when we are camped for a few days when we can't dump very often. There are several other chemical additives that are available for this problem.
Good Luck,
Indiana Journey

[dnystrom]

I would think that the Clothes washer drain would drain to the Grey tank.
I'm plumbed for a washer and know where the drain is. How is the sealing ring at the bottom of the toilet. Yeah ya gotta pull it up.

[mx08453]

Greetings
My vote is to replace the vent shown in post 7. The Grey tank smells as bad as black or worse.

Menards, home depot sell these vents for about $7.00. I would replace all of them; under kitchen sink, bathroom sink and near washer. I replaced all mine last June and this June had the one go bad in bathroom sink again. I carry a spare now. Worth a shot. Good luck.

[trun57]

Look on roof and check if blk tank vent pipe has worked its way out (up), leaving it disconnected from the blk tank. This happened to my 2005 Journey.



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