Leaking air conditioner

[Wiesehan]

I returned to my coach today and discovered the front ac unit was dripping
Water on the end of our bed. It had been running all day. Does anyone
Have any suggestion on what to check to resolve problem?
Don

[Art-n-Marge]

Normal operation of an A/C causes water that must be drained somewhere. Oftentimes the drain in the A/C might get clogged which then causes this water to overflow the pan and drip into the rig (like over your bed). You'll need to get on the roof and remove the plastic cover and check for the following:

- clogged drain... clear the clog and the water should drain where it's intended (probably onto the roof)
- drain pan is dirty... if the drain has too much dirt, dust or other debris this could cause the pan to fill too fast or slow the draining process that causes the pan to overflow.
- broken drain pan... might require a replacement pan or if possible just use an industrial adhesive/sealant to repair the break. Make sure the area is clean and dried before applying the fix.
- broken drain line... if present, these can loosen, break or fall off causing the water to divert into another area (like your bed). My prior rig had one but it always worked. My current Monty does not have one and the drain just releases the water onto the roof where it then gets drained off the roof to the gutter system on the rig. More times than not, in my case the water evaporates before getting to the gutter system. But our RVing camp sites are not very humid. If there is high humidity then more condensed water is created.

Hopefully others can come along and add more ideas, but hopefully it's something realitively easy and cheap like I listed above, other than climbing on a hot roof and removing the cover. Please be careful.

[bw2]

I have the Dometic Penguin and it does the same. I have checked and the drain is not clogged and I verified the water runs out of the drain. Mine appears to "leak" when the humidity is very high and I removed the cowling and there was condensation on the metal frame. I have removed the filters from the unit. Since removing the filters the unit has not leaked. We have not had a high humidity situation either. My thoughts are there is not enough air flow into the unit do to the filters. To me the filters seem to be very tight plastic mesh. Now I must be aware of the potential for dust collecting inside the AC unit.

[Jolu]

Seems to me in the past when I had a leak from the air conditioner it was always coming from the rubber gasket under the ac on the roof. All I did was turn the four screws under the inside shroud about a half turn and the leak was fixed. This compresses the gasket just slightly to make a better seal. Got to watch and not over tighten and compress the gasket more than necessary.
I have to say my leaks were rain initiated. If condensation is happening on the outside and traveling in under the gasket this same condition could happen.

[DQDick]

quote:Originally posted by bw2

I have the Dometic Penguin and it does the same. I have checked and the drain is not clogged and I verified the water runs out of the drain. Mine appears to "leak" when the humidity is very high and I removed the cowling and there was condensation on the metal frame. I have removed the filters from the unit. Since removing the filters the unit has not leaked. We have not had a high humidity situation either. My thoughts are there is not enough air flow into the unit do to the filters. To me the filters seem to be very tight plastic mesh. Now I must be aware of the potential for dust collecting inside the AC unit.

Where the dirt will go is into your coils and at some point you will need to clean them in some manner or the air flow will become more and more restricted leading to the unit freezing up and more moisture (when it thaws) in the rig.

[jsmitfl]

I have to agree with Joe on this one. Plus with the unit on the angle of the roof don't help matters. I would definately keep the filter in. If it's not getting enough air flow, maybe run it on high. It was designed to have a filter. JMO

[HOOK]

If it is humid and you allow the AC to cycle on auto, condensation will form on the fins and when it cycles it drips. To prevent this run your fan on high and it will be able to dry the fins.

[racerjoe]

I also think larry and dick have hit it. high humidity could have the coil icing up. running the fan will help that from happening

[Wiesehan]

I will check drain in the morning. I checked filter a it is clean and I'm not running it without a filter either. It has been very humid here.
Thanks,
Don

[Clemson1881]

This has been reported by several Penquin owners. The Penquin's drain pan is shallow. In certain situations like high humidity conditions the pan overflows faster than it can drain. Running the fan on continuous high speed should help. The compressor will still cycle on/off at your temp set point, but the fan will run non-stop. It will keep the moisture off of the fins better.

[nosticks]

I have the same problem with the Penguin. I removed the internal shroud and inspected the bolts and seal and found them to be tight so there was no mechanical reason for the water drip. Went up top and removed the cover and also inspected that and the drains.

What I have discovered as the above post by Clemson1881 mentioned, if you keep the fan on high and set the compressor at something less than max so it will cycle, no water will form and drip.

[Wiesehan]

Got on roof this morning and drain appears clear, but didn't have anything to stick in drain hole. I do already run the fan on low while ac is running. I will try running it on medium or high to see if that helps. If anyone has any other suggestions, let me know.
Thanks,
Don

[1retired06]

I have found that water can collect in the pan even if the drain hole is not plugged; those ACs pans are not always level. I have on occasion drilled out the drain hole to a larger diameter, and added one on the opposite side of the pan and found that helped the draining process.

[Wiesehan]

Well still have the drip. Got on roof again and used a wire to run in the drain this morning. Hopefully that will help, but if not, I have another question. How involved is it to take the cover off the drain Pan? It looks like a few screws are all that hold it in place, but I'm not sure.
Thanks,
Don

[jimcol]

Just a few screws. I think they are torx head. Remove them, all visible from the outside, and lift the plastic shroud off. Jim

[1retired06]

Surprized you got to the drain hole without taking the cover off, (unless pan sitting high on the roof), my experience has been you have to take the cover off first to get to it. As indicated above, just a few screws to get off, you just have to angle the cover a bit to clear.

[Artemus Gordon]

My Komfort's air would sometimes ice-up. It would "spit ice" on the floor after fan came on, and sometimes the ice would just melt and drip. I was told after an ice-up this was common. I am assuming the water OP encountered on his bed was more than just "thawed ice"? It was a good cup or more in our case.

[Wiesehan]

I got the outside cover off and could access the drain. What I really want to take off is the cover on the inside.
Don

[jimcol]

My rig is not here so going from memory. Should be a screw in each of the four corners that go through the ceiling shroud into the ceiling. Remove them. Pop out the dime size rubber button you see on the surface of the shroud and that will reveal a screw that holds the shroud to the air conditioner body. Remove it. Remove the filter grill and filter. Should see another screw that holds the shroud to the air conditioner body. Remove it and the ceiling shroud comes off. Hope this helps. Jim

[snfexpress]

Don,

Our original front AC had been dropped and we could see where it was leaking condensation into our rig as a result.