Who Cut the Cheese???

One indisputable fact of RV living is there will be odors.  Some pleasant, like an apple pie baking in the oven, others quite onerous, such as the dreaded black tank smells.  In between, you can even get some sour whiffs from the grey tank.

Every once in a while, we would get some smells in the Journey that we tracked down emitting from the grey tank due to the water in the sink P-traps evaporating from the summer heat.

The other day I picked up the Journey from the storage lot and once again my eyes began to tear up, not because I was happy to be driving it (I was) but something really stunk.  I did the usual, let some water run in the sink to refill the P-traps, but this time it didn't work.  Now I had to "nose" around.

First thought was Zoe, the Wonder Dog.  Ruled that out, she went to Doggie Heaven a while ago. 

Next I cast my eye on our new passenger, Tag.

Upon closer inspection, I realized that Tag isn't vented that way.

So, I had to cast my eyes on another potential suspect:

Knowing what is good for me, I decided any accusations of a lady would be detrimental to my health.

I knew I was not the cause, I've laid off those bean burritos in anticipation of my upcoming second attempt at a colonoscopy.

So, what was going on?

In another of my rare moments of brilliance, I turned to the place where all knowledge resides:

In mere moments, I discovered all about this strange contraption under the Journey's kitchen sink:

It is an internal vent pipe, from the grey tank.  There is one in the kitchen and one in the bathroom.  On top of the pipe, which is located under the sink all the way in the back is a vent, which has a little rubber diaphragm that acts like a one-way check valve.  It screws on and off by hand.  The rubber can dry out, become brittle and stick open.

I went to (guess where?), ignored all the cheers from the employees and bought two, for the kitchen and the bathroom.  They were about $4 each.  I figured I might as well replace the one in the bathroom, too, because strange odors have been know to radiate from there.

With a few quick turns by hand, the new vents were in place and the air in the Journey started to clear and smell minty fresh.

Now if strange odors reoccur in the Journey, I'll have to look elsewhere for the guilty party.

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