Water leak through Air Conditioner...

[mgirardo]

This morning I discovered a "leak". A small puddle in the kitchen under the A/C unit. It rained most of the day yesterday and it's been raining most of the morning. I went on the roof and could not find a tear or puncture on the roof anywhere around the A/C unit. I was just on the roof the other day inspecting it and found no issues the either. We have had a lot of rain the last few weeks and have not found any water inside, we camp seasonally and have been in the unit since the end of April. The puddle is in the path of the bunkhouse and if we had a puddle before it would have been found with the kids going back and forth to the bunk house.

I pulled the cover off the A/C unit inside the camper. The wood all around the opening is dry and there is no obvious signs on the wood that water has leaked in the past. The water appears to be coming in through the opening where the fan is (circled in the photo below). All up in that area was wet. The foam divider is dry.



Since it was raining, I did not pull the roof top shroud to take a look. I am going to cover it for the time being as it is supposed to rain for the next 24 hours or so and we have to go out of town for a few days.

Without seeing photos of the top side of the unit, does anyone have any ideas where the water could be coming in? It hasn't been warm enough to run the A/C, so I don't know if it is functioning properly or not.

One thing I did notice after I discovered the puddle, it really started to drip when the furnace kicked on and it wasn't raining very hard. Right now it is a steady rain and there is no dripping. Could it just be condensation build up? It was chilly last night, mid 40s and the heat is set to 72. There is no condensation on the windows.

Thanks in advanced,

-Michael

[mgirardo]

Thanks all. This is our 3rd RV with an A/C unit and never had a problem with any of the past units.

As I mentioned in my original post, the unit has not been used yet this year. It just seems like rain. We'll be away from the unit for about a week. I covered the entire unit with a tarp just in case. It should be pretty dry while we are away.

I will look at tightening the bolts. Hopefully that is all it is.

Thanks again. Will update when we get back to the TT.

-Michael

[CFerguson]

One of my pet peeves is that RV dealers do not automatically tell their first timers to tighten up those 4 AC bolts after x-thousand miles. It is perfectly normal for them to loosen over time.

[Egor_sRV]

I had a similar leak on a brand new unit just installed.

It sat for days in the rain, not running, and had no leaks. Ran it for several days after the rain and had no leaks.

Then ran it one night during a rain and found everything under it wet and water on the floor. Couldn't find anywhere the leak could be coming in. Did notice that there was no leak if the unit wasn't running; only leaked when unit ran during a rain.

Took it to a qualified dealer who said that the fan was strong enough to pull a vacuum on the inlet side and was drawing rain water from the outside from the pan. He pulled the cover from the top and caulked all around the shrouds of both evaporator and condensing coils to keep the fan from sucking in water. Said was a common problem.

Haven't had a drop of water leak since.

[RGar974417]

It could be leaking in through the gasket that is between the A/C unit and the roof.That happened to one of our old units. The gaskets are pretty cheap and easy to install.

[turbojimmy]

If you had been running the a/c I'd guess a clogged drain tube at the catch pan. But if you haven't been running the a/c, the leak is probably elsewhere and finding its way to the opening for the a/c. You can try snugging down the bolts that hold the a/c to the roof but even if they're loose the weight of the a/c usually keeps the gasket compressed enough to prevent leaks.

[wa8yxm]

That is ... if I"m not mistaken the cold air outlet. IF THE AC was on it might have just been condensation.... But the drip tray and water path to the roof (And then to ground) is a good choice too. Almost no way for water to ENTER via that. has to be condensate.

[Old-Biscuit]

Leaking when running A/C Unit or right after you shut it down....evap coil drip tray overflowing due to clogged drain lines


Leaking when raining.........loose A/C Unit and roof rain water is leaking past roof gasket
The 4 hold down bolts need to be 'snugged' up (snugged up means 40 INCH LBS....in other words just slight tightening past finger tight)

[alfredmay]

The very first thing to do is what Bobbo stated.

[Bobbo]

The Winnebago I bought in 2007 had a leak like that from the day I bought it. I finally tracked it down. The AC unit sits on a rubber or foam gasket. The 4 bolts in the corners of your photo that pull down on the AC unit weren't tight enough. I tightened them to pull the AC unit down about another 1/4 inch and the leak stopped, never to return. Didn't even have to go up on the roof. DO NOT CRANK IT DOWN AS TIGHT AS YOU CAN AND SMASH THE GASKET.

[ItsyRV]

I agree, it's most likely a clogged condensation drain. There is also a chance of a break in the seals around the blower housing. This would cause water to enter the blower housing from the rain. Regardless, up to the roof you go as the shroud will need to be removed to clean the unit and/or to seal the unit.

[Ranger_Smith]

Either a plugged condensation drain tube which you access by removing outside cover or the mounting bolts inside need to be tightened slightly.