We have a new 2018 Puma 28' Travel Trailer w/ Dometic 300 RV Toilet
For all those out there wondering where the odor is coming from, this is MY story. Your first thought is your Black Tank, and it could be, but not necessarily. Look at this first.
{Disclaimer: This post is graphic. But… smells and sewer/toilet problems are a fact of life in the RVing World.}
Last March after only three trips, we noticed an odor in our bathroom – it was kind of a urine smell but a funky smell. It was not a sewage smell. It began when we stayed at an RV Park in Florida that had sulfur water, so at first we attributed the smell to that. The next trip (2 weeks later) the odor was still there. We ran lots of city water through the lines, cleaned the bathroom really good, scrubbed the toilet, and used double amounts of black tank treatments. The odor lingered the entire 2 weeks.
Then we took the Camper in for some warranty work. We discussed the odor issue with Maintenance at the dealership. Was it a clogged vent pipe? or a leaky toilet? or something under the floor leaking? When we picked up the camper they said a vent pipe under the sink was loose and it had been fixed. Yea!!
But as the camper sat parked for weeks with no one using it,
the smell continued. At the dealership’s suggestion, we purchased a $25 jug of
treatment for the fresh water – they thought the sulfur water had caused
something to grow in the lines ☹.
Our next trip was to the Tennessee Mountains. The smell really progressed at this point. Some days were worse than others and some days were awful. I had essential oils going 24/7, we used Lysol spray, I cleaned the toilet inside and out every other day, I opened the windows and doors and ran fans constantly whenever the heat would allow.
Desperate, I purchased no less than 5 different tank treatments in case it was a black tank problem. I tried the Geo Method, Happy Camper, numerous TST brands (both liquid and packet), as well as some liquid via Amazon that would eat away 8” of concrete (that’s an exaggeration) if you used it in your black tank. We ran tons of water via our Flush Valve on outside of trailer trying to flush black tank smell … al the time assuming it was a black tank issue.
On our July trip to the beach I was embarrassed for our children to come visit due to the smell.
ISince the Dealership had been no help, I contacted a local RV repairman and told him our long story. At this point I no longer cared about the Extended Warranty handling it – I HAD to find out what was causing the smell. He suggested the flap wasn’t closing properly and allowing odors up through the toilet. We greased the flap and began talking about replacing the toilet.
Once again we embarked on a short trip and I could not enjoy the trip for the odor. My husband who’s olfactory glands are not as good as mine (in other words the odor didn’t bother him as much as it did me) began complaining. At this point it became our #1 goal – to fix this problem no matter what.
Here comes the good part and what you really need to pay attention to. We had a Dometic 300 RV toilet. To me it is the cheapest piece of junk anyone could manufacture. We ordered a new Dometic 320 RV Toilet from Amazon – it’s the one with a ceramic bowl and house-like toilet seat. Oh my, when it arrived I was shocked at the superior quality compared to the 300. I hope it works better, too.
Our mobile repairman came to install it (we had no idea how easy it was or we would have done it ourselves). He removed the old Dometic 300 and sat it on the ground outside. I was outside and began to nearly gag at the odor. How could that be coming from a toilet? Last week I had scrubbed every inch inside and outside with Pinesol and Lysol?? I walked over and tilted the toilet to look at the bottom and when I did I felt and heard a substantial amount of liquid slosh. What? Where in the world was that liquid?
As I tilted the toilet backwards (there is an opening on the back of those Dometic 300s) a brown liquid sloshed out on the ground and it took all I had not to throw up.
I have a graphic video, but unfortunately WordPress won’t allow me to upload. Here is a photo of the Dometic 300:
There is a space (cavity) between the inside and the outside
plastic wall. From what I’ve read the flap can malfunction or leak or whatever
and some urine, or feces or whatever can become trapped in this ‘wall space’
and not have a way to get out. It just sits there. [I want to throw up just writing
this].
The smell will permeate throughout your RV and you have no
way of knowing it’s sitting in that ‘wall space’ inside your toilet but the
odor is waffling out of the opening in the back of the toilet. When you turn on
your vent fan to rid the bathroom of odors, it is literally pulling the odor
right out the back of the toilet. When you drive it sloshes and smells even
worse.
Several of our trips were almost ruined due to the smell and I regret that. So I wanted to share this story in hope that it would help someone else out there.
One other note is that I would Google and research “black
tank smell”, “RV sewer issues”, “urine smell in camper” but I never researched “Dometic
300 issues”. If you do you will find
lots of stories exactly like ours.
In closing, after we had replaced our toilet and thrown away
the old Dometic 300, I researched “Dometic 300 problems” and found tons of stories
about these malfunctioning toilets. I also found Dometic will warranty the
problem (obviously they know there is one). If you go to the Dometic website
there is a site/tab where you can complete a form about your defective toilet
BUT you must have the Reg # off of your toilet. They would send you a new
toilet or $160. Sadly there is NO amount
of money worth us retrieving that horrible smelling toilet from the dumpster.
So we lost out on $160, regretfully.
{Update: There are quite a few comments of others having
this exact problem. I posted on several FB sites and the Comments are amazing}
Kelly Kamping & Travels 