Black Tank leak?

[Going Coastal]

We have been working on determining the source of a "smell" we have in our 2017 Ollie we just purchased.   I found @Wayfinder post on airing out the hull and have been running a fan.  It definitely has helped.   In that post, @Frank C mentioned finding a leak in their black tank.    We have cleaned the black tank out a lot since we picked up the trailer, we realized on the first "flush" that it probably had not been cleaned out in at least three years.... fun.   Now, my husband noticed some discoloration under our black tank likes under the dinette - I am attaching photos below.   For anyone who has had a leak, is this similar to what you found?   Is this a sign of a previous link the trailer may have had? We haven't noticed any new water leaking during our flushes, so no leak we can currently see.   I was able to clean most of this up, but is appears that maybe over time, this "stuff" started to remove the silver lining from the insulation.   

On a side note, I am going to guess that the small cover you can see in the photo is one of the drains for the inner hull?

 

Thanks for all the help everyone!   All the help we have received from all y'all on this forum has been so great!!!!

Now for the photos:  

[topgun2]

Initially I suspected that you just might have had a problem like I had a couple of years back.  In my case, the band clamp on the rubber joint broke.  Yes, it looked fine from the top but the break was where I could not see it and I've never had one of those break before.  However, given the caulk I see in your pics it appears as though the "problem" was with the "glued" joint.  Hopefully that caulk holds up for you.

I can not tell what that "ring" is at the bottom of the sewer pipe.  My 2016 just has the insulation there (i.e. there is no "ring").  

Bill

[John E Davies]

That ring is odd looking, it may be my Aunt Edna's long lost nose ring. You will have to clean out all that gunk to know for sure. The hull "scupper drains" are located lower down that that, in channels. Good luck.

John Davies

Spokane WA

[Patriot]

@Going Coastal

I would suggest sending those photos to Oliver Service and see if they can assist you with a resolution to your issue. You have obviously had a leak or likely still do if you’re smelling a strong odor.  Even though you are years out of warranty they very well may have seen this before and could suggest a fix.
It can’t hurt to ask. 

Patriot🇺🇸

[SeaDawg]

Imo, that little "nose ring" or retaing clip has zero to do with your leak. Too small, and does not appear to fit anywhere in the puzzle above. 

I'd take some better photos, and send on to Oliver. In the meantime, I'd spray the area with hydrogen peroxide, Don some rubber gloves, clean everything in the area with shop towels, and see what I could see, with clean  fresh water draining from the toilet. It doesn't look like a big leak, but who knows how long it was dry.

Have you checked the toilet valve flush  seal? We delivered a used rental  motorhome once, that had sat all summer with a full tank. (🤢) delivery, not ours. 

The toilet valve didn't actually close/seal completely,  which gave off significant black tank odors. It had dried out a bit, and was well,  dirty. Put on my gloves. I cleaned it with a soft toothbrush  (not mine, an old one 🤣), lubed it up to bring it back to life, and voila, no more smell.

Not my motorhome,  and I had few selections for lube on board, so I used neosporin from my first aid kit,  about 99 per cent petroleum jelly. Were I at home, I'd have used rv  valve lube, let it sit awhile, and hoped for the best. At any rate, it worked, along with the cleaning. You'd be surprised how much stink can come from a small/tiny gap in that valve. I was.

In other words, you may have more than one issue. S##t happens when trailers sit a long time, unused and not cared for.

[Frank C]

It’s not causing your leak, but the little round ring IS part of the scupper drain.  Here’s a pic of the one under our black tank.  It’s a small stainless ring with screen, poking through the insulation directly above the outer scupper on the lower hull (same for all of the scuppers on the hull). 

[topgun2]

11 hours ago, Frank C said:

but the little round ring IS part of the scupper drain.  

Interesting!

You learn something new every day.  

As I said above, my 2016 doesn't have those - I wonder when they started putting them in?

Are they "screened" all the way down to the scupper hole?

Bill

[Patriot]

11 hours ago, SeaDawg said:

Imo, that little "nose ring" or retaing clip has zero to do with your leak. Too small, and does not appear to fit anywhere in the puzzle above. 

I'd take some better photos, and send on to Oliver. In the meantime, I'd spray the area with hydrogen peroxide, Don some rubber gloves, clean everything in the area with shop towels, and see what I could see, with clean  fresh water draining from the toilet. It doesn't look like a big leak, but who knows how long it was dry.

Have you checked the toilet valve flush  seal? We delivered a used rental  motorhome once, that had sat all summer with a full tank. (🤢) delivery, not ours. 

The toilet valve didn't actually close/seal completely,  which gave off significant black tank odors. It had dried out a bit, and was well,  dirty. Put on my gloves. I cleaned it with a soft toothbrush  (not mine, an old one 🤣), lubed it up to bring it back to life, and voila, no more smell.

Not my motorhome,  and I had few selections for lube on board, so I used neosporin from my first aid kit,  about 99 per cent petroleum jelly. Were I at home, I'd have used rv  valve lube, let it sit awhile, and hoped for the best. At any rate, it worked, along with the cleaning. You'd be surprised how much stink can come from a small/tiny gap in that valve. I was.

In other words, you may have more than one issue. S##t happens when trailers sit a long time, unused and not cared for.

Wow! I hope your delivery was a short haul and fast. I would not want to deal with that odor for hours of driving. 🤢  Seems a full blank tank up charge might have been in order due to the odor! 😷 

Patriot🇺🇸

[SeaDawg]

8 minutes ago, Patriot said:

Wow! I hope your delivery was a short haul and fast. I would not want to deal with that odor for hours of driving. 🤢  Seems a full blank tank up charge might have been in order due to the odor! 😷 

Patriot🇺🇸

It was. And it was.

[Southbird401]

We have a 2016 and also had a bad smell. I determined it was coming from the shower drain. I took the drain stopper apart and cleaned each piece and the drain the best I could using bleach wipes. Then put gray tank deodorizer in the gray tank and flushed it out a couple of times. Now I use a gray tank deodorizer. We have a drain plug that you step on and it clicks down. We always make sure it is closed when not showering. 

[Patriot]

30 minutes ago, SeaDawg said:

It was. And it was.

And as it should be! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻 

[Patriot]

1 minute ago, Southbird401 said:

We have a 2016 and also had a bad smell. I determined it was coming from the shower drain. I took the drain stopper apart and cleaned each piece and the drain the best I could using bleach wipes. Then pug gray tank deodorizer in the gray tank and flushed it out a couple of times. Now I use a gray tank deodorizer. We have a drain plug that you step on and it clicks down. We always make sure it is closed when not showering. 

Good idea! 👍🏻When we return home from a trip we always dump a few gallons of soapy dawn detergent down the toilet and galley sink and flush out both our tanks. Followed up with a tank blade valve lube to keep the blade valve happy. So far so good!