Smelly Sink?

[Rayd888]

Does anyone get a dank smell coming up their sink's grey water tank?

I'm constantly checking out Van Build and Van Tour videos for great ideas but I don't remember seeing a sink drain with a Water Trap.

When I first installed my sink, I did it with a straight tube going down to the grey water tank and pretty soon I noticed a bad smell coming from it. 

It makes me wonder if this doesn't happen to anyone else, which is why I don't see any water traps? 

This is what I see most of the time:

I fixed my smelly sink by simply adding a twist to my drain hose and kept it in place with a tie wrap, and later with electric tape. 

See pictures below. (The pic with the 2 tanks shows the final setup. Setting it up with the mouth facing backwards made the hose with the twist fit better). 

This creates a Water Trap - a place where water never drains, creating a water seal that keeps the smell from floating up the drain hose or pipe. Like the drains in stick and brick houses. 

Amazon sells a cool bendy hose - which I should have used... - Not bad for $14
 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CMFMEV4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_zVgHAbMZVBS4F

But adding that twist did not add any cost or complexity to the setup and it solved my smelly sink issue.

I hope this helps anyone out there who may have this issue as well.

Any thoughts?

 

[Almost There]

I've never had a problem with the straight hose but maybe that's because I empty the tank every 4 dish washes (6 to 7 days) so it never gets a chance to get too stinky!

Not saying the water doesn't have an odor when I'm emptying it but not noticeable in the van between emptying it.

 

[lenny flank]

My sink (a plastic-molded "fish-cleaning sink") drains directly into a five-gallon bucket, which I dump after every use.

 

[rm.w/aview]

I use a hepvo trap for this purpose to save space and believe it may be useful in a moving vehicle vs a p-trap.

 

[deadwood]

I use a hepvo trap for this purpose to save space and believe it may be useful in a moving vehicle vs a p-trap.

I use the Hepvo traps as well. They are perfect for RV's. No water in them to slosh around when driving and no smells that can come up through the trap either.

 

[Rayd888]

The HepvO trap looks good. Adds $25 to the setup but looks like the most professional option.

Thanks!

"I'm a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar."
Build video:

 

[rm.w/aview]

I've mounted it horizontally to free up storage space, followed by the turn(s) to hit the target.

 

[MrNoodly]

My sink (a plastic-molded "fish-cleaning sink") drains directly into a five-gallon bucket, which I dump after every use.

My 'sink" is a bowl and I just toss the gray water outside.

 

[highdesertranger]

the Hepvo is an upgraded design of the old Camco drain trap. when I used to do van conversions back when dinosaurs roamed the earth we used the Camco's they are still around from several manufacturers now. they are a bit cheaper then the Hepvo.

https://www.amazon.com/Camco-37420-...&qid=1518649124&sr=8-1&keywords=rv+drain+trap

highdesertranger

 

[ZoNiE]

I put a little bit of the camco blue stuff for the RV black tank in my RV grey tank. Believe it or not, food waste smells much worse. Also, as you mentioned, a trap will help too, and a vent even more, but I realize that may be more difficult in the 5 gallon bottle waste tank system you are using.

 

[BigRockSpeaker]

**[font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]Amazon sells a cool bendy hose - which I should have used... [/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif] - Not bad for $14**[/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]Or, you can stop in a home depot and buy an actual p-trap for $3.46:[/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-1-1-2-in-Plastic-P-Trap-C9704B/205153793 [/font]

 

[GotSmart]

**[font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]Amazon sells a cool bendy hose - which I should have used... [/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif] - Not bad for $14**[/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]Or, you can stop in a home depot and buy an actual p-trap for $3.46:[/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-1-1-2-in-Plastic-P-Trap-C9704B/205153793 [/font]

In an RV those vibrate dry unless you make sure to add water regularly while traveling ymmv.

 

[mpruet]

Well - that's what traps are for... ;-)

I suppose that you could add some a bit of deoderizer like RV folks use for their holding tanks as well.  I know that most RVs have a vent for the grey water tank.  Also some folks will add a bit of deoderizer to their grey water tanks to prevent smells.

 

[Rayd888]

That's quite a price difference $10 vs $25 or more. Thanks highdesertranger!

I didn't have the problem of losing the water in the trap - maybe because I made the loop in the hose rather big so it would have had to jump quite high to escape the trap?

Great info, from everyone.

It's cool to see al the different solutions from a simple plastic container for one time use to the more complicated RV HepvO traps and everything in the middle.

This is good stuff.

Thanks everyone!

"I'm a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar."
Build video:

 

[rm.w/aview]

"Necessity is the mother of invention" Your hose trap is a great way to put an item to a dual purpose use while keeping costs down (cheap RV living). I chose the hepvo trap with the intention of saving space and justified its cost knowing that I have saved $$ by not being to a barber since the 90's, and my wife & I have been reusing the same two greeting cards to each other for decades (cheap RV living). One of the enjoyable features of this forum is found in the way folks tackle an issue with inexpensive ingenuity which then presents viable options for our own issues, enabling us to live the life (cheap RV living).

 

[Rayd888]

Exactly! I agree 200%

"I'm a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar."
Build video:

 

[Rayd888]

Exactly! I agree 200%

Off topic question:

I'm new to this forum and ive been editing my signature trying to post s text only link to my build video but, on the TapTalk App it keeps showing up as the huge-a$$ video thumbnail. Very annoying and distracting... On the full web site it shows up as text.

Does anyone know,how I can post only the text link? That way,if someone wants to see it, they can simply copy/paste it without having to see that huge ugly thumbnail.

Thanks!

"I'm a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar."
Build video:

 

[rm.w/aview]

^ If there's no reply to this, start a thread in "Forum Issues" for a speedier reply. Your thread title there might get the attention more than "Smelly Sink" title here.

 

[Rayd888]

^ If there's no reply to this, start a thread in "Forum Issues" for a speedier reply. Your thread title there might get the attention more than "Smelly Sink" title here.

Good idea.

Thanks!

 

[Rayd888]

Update: I found a real cheap one with a trap/valve on Amazon $4.99:

[img=75x75]https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41geMfStC8L._SL500_SS75_SS75_.jpg[/img][/SIZE]

Neady Ref. 510 Expandable & Flexible 1-1/2" P-trap 33 Inch 
by Neady 
Link: http://a.co/1b48iKs[/SIZE]