LEAKS question

[JMCC730248]

I have been having a leak thru my air conditioner during hard rains;is the common repair for this to replace the gasket between the ac and the roof? and how hard is it to remove the ac? or is eterna bond the answer? Thanks, Tom

[rjsurfer]

fred42 wrote:


Nose down problem: My forward AC is tilted with the nose down. On the model I have, a manufacturer is supposed to drill out the two front 3/8" drain holes in the metal pan when mounting nose down. My manufacturer did not, and during a rain storm water would build up until it water-falled over the pan lip into the cabin (yes, it was over the bed). I drilled them out and fixed the problem.

I had the same problem but with my AC it was nose high so I drilled two holes in the rear corners of the pan to keep water from pondding and rusting out the pan. Never got high enough to flow down into the living area though.

Ron W.

[fred42]

Not sure what brand AC you have, but I have had just about every leak issue you can have with my two AirXcel (Coleman Mach) ACs.

Old seal design problem: My 2012 unit had the old seals in it that were subject to severe compression under normal use. This can cause AC loosening and leaks around the seal, but in my case it just smashed the condensation water drain valves into the soft TPO roof and caused water buildup in the unit and leaks into the cabin. This leak, of course, happens without any rain event. Right around that time or the year before, Airxcel came out with a stiffer seal that would not compress over time as bad. They did not change part numbers unfortunately so you can get old stock even today. I called Airxcel directly to get the right parts and changed both of my AC seals. I have changed seals on several RVs and these were noticeable stiffer. Usually, you are tightening until the yellow tabs are level with the roof and when they get there you feel like the bolt is still too loose and you need to tighten more. With the new design seal, the bolts are much tighter when the proper level is reached.

Nose down problem: My forward AC is tilted with the nose down. On the model I have, a manufacturer is supposed to drill out the two front 3/8" drain holes in the metal pan when mounting nose down. My manufacturer did not, and during a rain storm water would build up until it water-falled over the pan lip into the cabin (yes, it was over the bed). I drilled them out and fixed the problem.

[Tin_Pusher]

100 lb +/- not going to one-hand it, that's for sure. I better plan on some help when the time comes 🙂

[laknox]

Tin Pusher wrote:
So, what's an AC weigh? Can a person squatting on the roof easily pick it up, does it take two, does it take a skyhook?

CW's been running specials for $39 installs. Don't know if that would translate to a new A/C gasket, but for $39, I'd be calling to find out! 🙂

Lyle

[rjsurfer]

One person can lift it off the mounting position but two persons up there assure you that you won't scratch up the roof material.

Ron W.

[dballentine]

Tin Pusher wrote:
So, what's an AC weigh? Can a person squatting on the roof easily pick it up, does it take two, does it take a skyhook?

I took a quick look at A/C units at Camping World. It looks like they range from 90-110 lbs. I'll leave it to you to decide if that's one person, two people, or mechanical assistance needed.

[Tin_Pusher]

So, what's an AC weigh? Can a person squatting on the roof easily pick it up, does it take two, does it take a skyhook?

[Don___Carolyn]

Previous response: "There a a bunch of "weep holes" in the condensate pan. When they are clogged up, the water has no other place to go except for spilling over into the RV."

This is what happened to us. We took the cover off the air conditioner on the roof and used an air compressor to blow out dust and dirt. After we did that, we had no problems.

[JMCC730248]

Thanks for all the advice;sorry about taking so long to reply,but we are traveling nd Wi-Fi has not been available; Tom

[camperpaul]

There is one thing that is frequently overlooked:

There a a bunch of "weep holes" in the condensate pan. When they are clogged up, the water has no other place to go except for spilling over into the RV.

Cleaning the weep holes with a pipe cleaner will prevent/solve your problem.

[SooperDaddy]

DON'T USE caulking or Eternabond! Do follow directions and replace the FOAM seal that is between the AC unit and the roof of the RV. As stated..snug down the bolts holding the Roof AC to the RV first to see if that takes care of the problem.

[Old-Biscuit]

As suggested......tighten the 4 hold down bolts------just 'snug'

You have to remove the whole ceiling grille. Usually 6 screws. 1 on each corner and then 2 in cross bar under air filter cover.
The 4 hold down bolts are in the corners.
They secure the whole A/C unit to the roof and compress the roof gasket.
They can get loose.

The roof gasket is 1" thick when new and gets compressed to 1/2" to seal.
Over-compression can warp the gasket and also block off the evap coil drip pan drain holes.......pan ends up to close to roof and the drip pan can't drain condensation from evap coil (which can cause the built up water to get carried over by blower and leak inside rig from ceiling grille when you run it come summer.)

Check the bolts...snug them up.
If it continues to leak rain water then a new gasket will be needed.
You have to disconnect electrical to the A/C unit (should be able to do that thru opening where air filter is.
Undo the 4 hold down bolts and then lift the whole A/C unit up off/out of roof opening. Remove the old gasket, install new, set A/C back into roof opening (check that gasket is properly aligned)
Install and tighten hold down bolts (snug)...connect electrical wiring.

Then check hold down bolts again after a couple of trips.

Good Luck!......Hope it's just loose bolts

[hukillrc]

I had a problem of a leak and found it was coming in around tv cable.

[donn0128]

First, try tightening down the hold down screws a bit. Be careful to only tighten down evenly and just a bit more. If that does not cure the problem, then a new gasket is the only solution.