Stink, oh stink, wherefore art thou????

[Dawn Michelle]

Hey all - could use some opinions.  Those of you that have followed, kind of know the gist.  Juno was purchased in Denver, right before the cold hit, and the BF was never able to do a full check-up on her.  We had to put her in storage and decided we'd just wait til he got her across the country to here in NC where I could take her over.  The PO 'said' he drained everything but...

Well, the first thing I noticed as I looked her over was the rear end smelled like the alley behind a bar.  Not inside, not the toilet or bath compartment, but exterior rear.  I could faintly smell it under the kitchen cabinets if I stuck my head down there.  I kind of hoped someone had used the bolted on cargo box as a urinal, but alas, cleaning that out didn't fix the issue.  I tarped her in advance of getting her to the mechanic (we have a major start and stall issue I have to get taken of as a first priority - then dumping) and hoped it would go away.  LOL.

Fast forward to today, nice warm day, fixing lights.  No, darn it.  That smell is still there.  Emboldened by my success with the lights and fairly dry ground, I wiggled under to see what I could see.  Fortunately she rides high.

Bad news.  I have a broken T-handle.  Good news it's on the grey water side.  So here are pics.  I've done some research but still not quite understanding if this is something I can repair with a replacement handle or if I need to replace the gate (you can see a crack in one of the gate fittings in the second pic)?

I can smell the smell when I'm down there, but it comes and goes.  I check for cracks.  This is the only thing I see - and it looks suspicious but I don't actually see a crack in the tank past the goop:

The "spots" are darkest here, but I do seem them on other piping throughout the undercarriage.  

I do a full flashlight test on all sides of the tanks both gray and black - I don't see anything else, no drips, nothing wet or obvious.  

But what the heck is this (blurry, sorry) - it's just to one side of the black tank - probably below the kitchen...?

And, finally - this is dry (and again, blurry, sorry), but this sealing job seems suspicious?

So any opinions, thoughts, suggestions on a linear process to try to figure this out....?  I assume I have a black tank with sewage in it - that it wasn't drained or cleaned - and I guess my next step is a flashlight and my nose over the toilet to confirm that.  

Anyway, all opinions will will be much welcomed!!!  

[Lakota Wolf]

That handle,,, A.K.A, Gate valve is easy to replace,, 4 nuts and bolts and it slides out and you slide the new one in place. It will be a tad snug but its easily changed,, and oh yea, have a drain pan underneath to catch what ever water that does come out..

[Lakota Wolf]

As far as the last picture,, that looks like a globbed up mess,,, What was they thinking.

[Dawn Michelle]

Do we have any way of knowing if the gate is in the closed or open position? And is it the bolts seen in the first pic? I can't find a good video of this one. Although I think I saw a diagram. Need to find that....

[Lakota Wolf]

The bolts are on each of the 4 corners,,, and its hard to say if the gate is open or closed unless ya pour water down the sink and it either empties or not.

[Rich Thomas]

My guess on the odder Dawn is wind blowing down the vent tube to the black and or the gray water tank. you can put some of the blue chemicals down the toilet to at least make it smell better. Another thing you can do is put some winter antifreeze down all the sink drains; some times the water will evaporate from the sink traps and allow odder's to make it out of the tank. those two small lines are probably tank vents. As far as the goop on the pipe. It looks like a leak repair using JB weld or other two part epoxy. it doesn't look pretty but it may well be a good repair; at the very least you know the PO was at making an effort to maintain the camper. 

[Dawn Michelle]

Doh.  A deodorizer tablet should have been first.  Popped one down the toilet this morning, and yes, as my nose had told me the PO definitely still travels and lives with us.  Will be glad when we can get it dumped.  Isn't it funny, when it's your own it's not so bad?.....

But hopefully this will make it bearable til then.  I just never had it smell OUTSIDE the Bounder when we had her (plenty of smells inside - usually the gray tank needing dumping).  Actually, in the Bounder never remembered having any black tank issues.

That smell very rightly may be from the top vent.  I smelled it before I tarped her, and come to think of it - when I noticed it this weekend it was after I pulled the tarp up a little to work...I just thought it was the heat of the day.  We might be missing some vent caps up there - one came down on the hood on a windy day on the trip over and I think the BF said it looked like there was another pipe missing a cap when he went up there to tarp.  

I also stuck my head below the kitchen cabinets - yes faint smell down there (that's the only place I smell inside) and it looks like the two small tubes I posted above may be my low water lines.  I see where they go down - each has a ring to pull them up (one is pulled up, one is down).  In the Bounder (again, I compare) they were just short little things.

I'll  deal with the water after it's warmer and we're past freezing (whatever the PO did or didn't do I'm going to have to live with - she's already been through 9 and below on the trip over - we won't get anything that cold again here).  The RV antifreeze is a good idea as well.  I read somewhere that helps keep the gaskets lubricated...

And, I did more research last night - I think it's a no brainer to plan to replace both valves and not try to figure out if I can get the rod out and screw in another.  We're just going to have to get to a place I can dump, pull off the cap and hope we don't have a deluge - at least it's the gray. Then deal with the black, backflush, and see if we can't get some needlenoses in there to pull the gray assuming it's in the closed position.  Clean both good then plan a weekend to replace our valves.  I also discovered there are extensions...

...I've been thinking that cargo box has to go (heavy, doesn't hold much, may prevent me from reinstalling a ladder, have to crawl under to deal with sewer...) but maybe not if I can extend the pipe and the handles. Seems fairly simple to do both.  I'll keep an eye on the pipe fitting repair and see if it leaks or just looks fugly.

Now, if anyone wants that cargo box - come and get it - but you gotta figure out how to put the spare back on for me :-)