Replace A/C gasket as preventive maintenance?

Might tighten the mounting bolts a little. My original gaskets are 14 years old.

Mandalay Parr wrote:
Might tighten the mounting bolts a little. My original gaskets are 14 years old.

X2

Roof gasket is not a wear/tear item.
They fail when the A/C Unit hold down bolts are not kept SNUG

SNUG.hand tighten and then just a little bit more using a box end wrench

(Specs are 40 inch/lbs.....INCH not foot)

Gasket fails when bolts are OVERTIGHTENED....crushes gasket and warps gasket/roof

SO if bolts (4 of them under ceiling grille) are loose...SNUG them up

IF gasket has been compressed so that it is less than 1/2" thick IT might be time to replace (new gasket is 1" thick---compress it less ten 1/2" and you can block off evap coil drip pan drain holes)

Very good question and I'm not much help...But I think PM to a/c mounting bolts (ie make sure they are tight) and the actual a/c gasket gets replaced when to compressed at a certain point but not every PM you give it.

Right now we have 2 RV's. On one of them has the "old" style gasket and I remember directions said to replace when gasket was 1/2 way compressed. (I guess I should of measured to see what full size was when it was brand new, so I would know where 1/2 way is). On other RV has a replacement gasket that is different style and has little plastic tabs, those directions said to tighten until gasket bottoms out against the tabs. And I don't remember seeing when to replace that type.

I do know the a/c gasket is on my annual maintenance check list. Six sided bolt, and every year I tighten up (turn bolt) until a new side of the bolt takes the place of the side I just tightened. Or I turn the bolt 1/6 of a turn every year. Our Arctic Fox has a pretty high crowned roof and I easy to see where gasket has a difference of compression between the low side to high side. Also easy to see where a gorilla tightened the high side to much they pulled in the bracket some. I had to beef up the brackets that bolts go through with large fender washers.

I do know next time I need an a/c gasket, the type without the plastic tabs is more user friendly atleast to me.

If you do replace the gasket be very careful of the plastic parts in a/c. I broke one of the plastic "louvers" (the things that direct air flow) and had to special order and paid like $35.00 for a another cheap plastic ONE. And they do get brittle with time. Hope some of this helps.

I've got a 2007 Northwood. I snugged the bolts about 6 years ago because it started dripping. Hasn't been a problem since. Just take a good look for signs of water when you clean the filter and inside cover.

My last few years before retirement I was on I59 between Gadsden and Fort Payne ALA a couple times a month pulling my POPUP over the buckling concrete slabs. There was no escape haha... The best spot to run was the hard shoulder but you had to fight the truck traffic for the space...

I could not go faster than 45 MPH between Gadsden and Fort Payne pulling my OFF-ROAD POPUP as my trailer was always bumping up and down for miles on end. The truckers would be running the hard shoulder and passing me. This scared the **** out of me being passed on the right by the big trucks running the hard shoulders...

After two or three of these runs I noticed my air conditioner was dripping water inside the POPUP when being used... This was first time I had inspected the four bolts holding down the roof mounted air conditioner. I was shocked how loose all of that got. I literally almost lost my air conditioner from being so loose on the roof.

After seeing this a close inspection was performed after every trip up and down I59 in North Alabama.

I did replace my 14-inch square gasket after noticing the compression on one side looked different from the compression on the other side...

Been awhile since I have been down I59 and hopefully all of that got corrected.

Roy Ken

Thank you all very much for the great info! How would I be able to check the gasket compression? I'm not at the camper now, but I did try looking under the a/c from the roof and up through the hole from inside and wasn't able to see the gasket very well.

Should be able to see best from inside. You may be able to see easier with a mirror. In any case, this is where to snug the bolts, just a little, after inspecting the gasket.

Jerry

Ok, great. Thank you Jerry!

If it's not broke, don't fix it.