A/C Strange Behavior

[Vicky]

We're having overall problems with ac (only 2 years old) cooling like it should and I've read of the many hints and suggestions on this website. I'm planning a major investigation when we get back to the camper and hope some of the ideas work...especially with the duct work. We continue to have a strange behavior when the ac shuts off. Unit throws water on and over the street side of the camper. Water splashes and runs down the outside wall and window. This happened with the old ac as well as this newer one. Water runs down the gutters and off the back rails as it should but we still get the splash and water down the wall for a few seconds. Any ideas what is causing this? My husband is pretty much totally handicapped so I've done any/all maintenance, repair and replacement work up to the ac area and I'm lost.

Thanks for any help.

[Vicky]

I crawled on the travel trailer roof all the time, but being four years older and having an extremely tall fifth wheel tells me to have someone else on the roof checking things out. 🙂 Long story but.......the dealer had to put a new roof on and install a new ac after we bought the unit and it's been under cover since then so I couldn't imagine any damage being done. Daughter doesn't cook often so son-in-law will get up there for a good, home-cooked meal.

Before reading on this forum about the ac duct work, I discovered the vent caps extended so far into the vent that they almost touched the top of the duct. DUH..! Ours was a high-end, expensive rig when it was new and it's hard to imagine that "error" in engineering! I'm in the process of cutting them all down and taping everything. I would encourage everyone to check theirs, first thing, if they're not pleased with the ac functioning. Thanks for responses...especially nice to hear from at least one person who's seen the same thing and doesn't think I'm crazy when trying to explain it! And thanks to all the people who take the time and patience to answer questions and share experiences.

[12th_Man_Fan]

Mine does the same thing. When it discharges a large volume of water at one time the stream goes over the gutter due to the angle of the roof right above it.When water flow is normal it stays in the gutter.

[Farmboy666]

Why don’t you take the cover off and watch what happens?

[wra]

My guess: On the bottom of the Air Conditioner, there is a catch tray that catches the condensed water in the system. There should be drain holes in the tray that lets the water out of the tray. If the holes are clogged, or too small, it could over flow when the unit fan stops. Check the holes, clean or enlarge them to allow more draining.

[Vicky]

It's so immediate....within less than a second of the unit shutting down, the splash happens and the water runs over the side. There isn't a second for anything to melt. So far, I can't find anything to indicate this is affecting the ac, it's just strange. I've never seen it on any other campers we've ever been around.

[ksg5000]

Sounds like normal behavior - ice/water accumulate as the ac runs and when it cycles off it melts and runs off the roof.

[sch911]

It could have a partially frozen evaporator, so when it cycles off that ice melts and you get "extra" condensate running down the side of the rig....

[Lwiddis]

Part of “cooling” is dehumidifing.

[donn0128]

Think of your AC as just another dehumidifier. The water that it takes out of the incoming air has to go somewhere.