For the last few trips, there has been a strong urine smell in the bathroom of the camper. I realize that's where urine would be, but the smell shouldn't be that strong.
We assumed the black water tank needed "treating." We dumped stuff in it before a couple of trips and it seemed to help, but it wouldn't take long for the stench to come back. It came back on this past trip, too.
I went to YouTube University and was looking for the source of the smell and stumbled onto a video about my specific toilet model. It was a Dometic 300.
It appears this model is notorious for allowing waste water to get past a seal and collect in the bottom half of the toilet, and there's really only two options; Buy a different model toilet to replace the less than stellar model, or "repair" the current bowl. I'm not made of money, so it was time to get dirty.
The repair is nothing more than tearing the toilet apart, cleaning it, and applying a layer of silicone to both sides of two seals. Fun.
The water collects in here.
The seals go here, and this was not a pleasant task.
You can see where the waste water stagnated.
If your camper has the Dometic model 300 and you're experiencing an unpleasant odor, especially towards the end of your trip, there's a good chance this is the issue.
Also, if you recently bought a camper, even a new one, and it had this model toilet, I would advise repairing it while it is still new (clean) or replacing it before it has a chance to become fouled.
We assumed the black water tank needed "treating." We dumped stuff in it before a couple of trips and it seemed to help, but it wouldn't take long for the stench to come back. It came back on this past trip, too.
I went to YouTube University and was looking for the source of the smell and stumbled onto a video about my specific toilet model. It was a Dometic 300.
It appears this model is notorious for allowing waste water to get past a seal and collect in the bottom half of the toilet, and there's really only two options; Buy a different model toilet to replace the less than stellar model, or "repair" the current bowl. I'm not made of money, so it was time to get dirty.
The repair is nothing more than tearing the toilet apart, cleaning it, and applying a layer of silicone to both sides of two seals. Fun.
The water collects in here.
The seals go here, and this was not a pleasant task.
You can see where the waste water stagnated.
If your camper has the Dometic model 300 and you're experiencing an unpleasant odor, especially towards the end of your trip, there's a good chance this is the issue.
Also, if you recently bought a camper, even a new one, and it had this model toilet, I would advise repairing it while it is still new (clean) or replacing it before it has a chance to become fouled.
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