Foul stale smell from Duetto Thetford C3 cassette compartment.

bumperman

Guest
As above really. We have a horrible stale smell from our Duetto bathroom.

Smells worst in the compartment where the removable cassette lives, especially when the cassette is removed. Only had the van around 2 months & there has always been a bit of a bad odour in the bathroom. I have washed the cassette out thoroughly & funny thing is the cassette itself smells quite good.
We have put bio washing detergent down the shower drains & we always keep the plugs in place & they don't smell bad. I recently removed the bathroom drop down basin to cure a blockage (& retrieved a previous owners face flannel!). We have wiped all surfaces incl inside cassette compartment, but smell remains.

Any ideas please?

bumperman
 
bumperman said:
As above really. We have a horrible stale smell from our Duetto bathroom.

Smells worst in the compartment where the removable cassette lives, especially when the cassette is removed. Only had the van around 2 months & there has always been a bit of a bad odour in the bathroom. I have washed the cassette out thoroughly & funny thing is the cassette itself smells quite good.
We have put bio washing detergent down the shower drains & we always keep the plugs in place & they don't smell bad. I recently removed the bathroom drop down basin to cure a blockage (& retrieved a previous owners face flannel!). We have wiped all surfaces incl inside cassette compartment, but smell remains.

Any ideas please?

bumperman
Click to expand...

We had the drop down basin problem - our previous owner must have had long hair , not pleasant- I added washing soda to water and put it down the back of the basin and left it - worked for us ........ sure others have other such helpful hints.
 
Buy some "zoflora" from most supermarkets and pour neat in all the suss places also try a spray that is used for air-cons,, simply stand in the smelly area and press button, close doors/windows and return 15 mins later this kills all bacterea that causes the smell.
 
Maybe there's something nasty lurking in the waste tank. I had a bad smell in the bathroom and at the kitchen sink. I gave the system a thorough flush through with disinfectant and cold water and it did the trick. I now empty the tank frequently - even if there's only a few pints of waste in there - and the smell hasn't returned.

I've got a cassette toilet, but - daft though it sounds - I never use it. I have an arrangement with some bottles and bags! Silly me, I know!
 
Bad Smell

Hi,
Usually the waste tank not a cassette problem, had the same with our Autoquest solved by putting a sink cleaner in powder form, left it for a couple of hours rinsed the holding tank waste water and not looked back, we also have one of those air fresheners that operate on a timer that works a treat .
:dance:
Clive
 
Smelly Duetto

I have a duetto and its our first year with it.

After a run or two we started to get a smell in the bathroom area. I asked the company where i bought it from and they sent me a bottle of tank cleaner to purge the grey water tank.

If the previous owner had being putting milk down the drain leftovers from breakfast cereal ect that makes them smell.

I have done it three time throughout the year and no more smells.

Good luck Rob.
 
Sounds (smells) like waste tank to me. Had a similar problem - used Thetford tank freshener a couple of times and this cured it.
 
Mastodon said:
Sounds (smells) like waste tank to me. Had a similar problem - used Thetford tank freshener a couple of times and this cured it.
Click to expand...
I would agree if my van is typical then the drain to the waste tank is direct ....no pea traps bottle traps etc with water in them to stop the nasty niffs.

Channa
 
As far as I know there are traps in all my drains but still got the problem - I cleaned everything including behind any panel that comes off to no avail. Finally sussed it when I missed the drain at home when dumping the grey tank... that got my attention. Apparently grease builds up on the tank walls and needs something more industrial to shift it.
 
Crumbled up Bio washing tablets flushed down all plugholes cured our smells. Drive and bounce the van around for a few days with this solution in the waste tank, then drain out.

If all else fails do a few tests with a damp meter, our Avondale caravan had a leaking window seal which when rot set in started to smell - also once had a mouse visit the bedding locker... and they REALLY smell!
 
As some of the posts have said, the waste pipes often don't have traps fitted, P or S. Even when a trap is fitted the water forming the trap is shaken out as soon as the van hits the road, so keeping plugs in when driving is advisable. As soon as you stop it's a good idea to pour a couple of cups of water down the waste to reform the trap.
If you replace waste pipes you can often bend the S in the pipe itself so as to form a trap, or by cutting the waste pipe insert a caravan trap ( about the size of a fag packet).
 
Adding to what everyone else has said.
You specifically say the toilet cassette.
We had an unpleasant smell.
When we flushed the toilet occasional black gungy lumps came out of the
flush tank..
I pored some bleach into the tank itself.
Then I pulled the top of the clear plastic tube clear of its top rubber mounting (this indicates the fill level in the flush tank)
I then filled the flush tank via this pipe (thus back flushing the pipework and tank)
Once it was full i left it for abpout an hour with the bleach mix.
Then used the flush system to empty the tank. Lots of gunge came out. I kept repeating it until the flush system ran clear.
I now add flush tank cleaner and will drain down the toilet when standing for a longer period of time. I hope this in conjunction with
other suggestions helps.

Kev
 
I second Kev. The water in my flush tank went off. I found that if I use no chemicals in it but flush it out twice a year and only use Bio washing liquid in the cassette, we have far fewer smells. I empty the cassette every 3 days with two of us using it. Always leave a bit of water and bio liquid in it while its in use so it sloshes about and cleans the inside.

Richard
 
Foul stale smell from Duetto Thetford C3 cassette compartment.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions so far.............

But I have to stress that the smell is NOT from the cassette as I have cleaned it thoroughly & it smells good.
Cassette is currently empty, but smell in bathroom remains(even when cassette is removed).
Have put soda down bathroom basin & shower plug holes & they smell fine.
We have also removed & cleaned shower curtain & bathroom mat.
No separate "flush tank" on my Duetto, flush water is pumped from fresh water tank.
No "S" bends/traps on my Duetto(assume drain pipes enter grey water tank below water line).
We have put Nutradol in cassette compartment which has helped a bit, also put another air freshener in bathroom.
It seems to us that the bad smell has got into the walls of the bathroom(which we have wiped down) & it may be a long job to completely
eradicate this horrible pong, although we seem to be winning very slowly. Anyone here got a similar experience of walls/plastic holding old
smells like this?

PS we have all sink/shower drain plugs but the shower plugs(7/8 inch dia.) don't stay in well. Our local MH dealer has supplied me with replacements but they are just as bad at staying in place. Any ideas?

thanks
bumperman
 
bumperman said:
we have all sink/shower drain plugs but the shower plugs(7/8 inch dia.) don't stay in well. Our local MH dealer has supplied me with replacements but they are just as bad at staying in place. Any ideas?
Click to expand...


This may work, try roughing the edges of the plugs with coarse sandpaper. It could be that they are too smooth so bounce out.

Cheryl
 
If you don't have a water trap, or unless you keep the plugs in place, you are always going to get the waste tank pong, sweet or otherwise. The waste pipe itself will pong, thats why the trap should be as near to the fitting as possible. See my previous post.
 
before fitting a second hand c4, i had to clean the housing, where the actual cassette sits as presumably something had dripped off the rubber blade when the tank had been removed to be emptied. it obviously sat there, festered, evolved and smelled quite horrendous, but ok after all the nooks and crannies had been cleaned out.
 
If the plugs are not staying in, what about a piece of heavy rubber sheet instead of or on top off the plugs.

Failing that you may have a spillage that has soaked into the floor.:sad:

Richard
 

Today for stupid reasons
MY Fault
I had to take out all the fittings in the toilet compartment.

took about and hour and a bit of choice language.

But behind the fitting was an area that was a bit gungy.

i bleached everything. anyway.

The previous owner had not smeared the cassette rubber
seals with vaseline and some YUKKKK had run onto the floor
and stained it.

Maybe having a good spring clean in the crevises would be .

Oh!!!!!
and vaseline those seals
Makes a world of difference.


kev
 
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