Community Forums

cavalryman · 07-26-2015, 06:17 AM

Yesterday I had 2 of the 3 ACs running in 90 degree heat. I started to get a drip coming from the rear AC onto the bed.

The coach appears to have a drain line system for the condensation. Two hoses go to the engine compartment and one to the front.

I shut off the rear AC but I still had water dripping from that opening.

It seemed to be worse when I was level. I set it down to ride height and it stopped. At ride height is was not that far off from level.

I'm hoping one of the drain lines is just clogged and not cut. I'm thinking of blowing air back up though the lines to maybe open things up a bit. Does this sound like a good idea?

"007" · 07-26-2015, 06:33 AM

Yes blowing air to clear is a good idea but maybe check the floor drain area of AC on roof to make sure its clean and the stuff blown out of drain tube will not just find its way back to plug tube again.
The water will be blown into duct system if you have one and move to other areas of coach ceiling so it needs to be addressed.
Welcome to irv2.

MattC · 07-26-2015, 07:07 AM

A common problem with all unit A/Cs is that the drain system fails when the inlet air filter gets too restricted. If you have not cleaned or changed that filter recently, try that before you get very far.

Matt

neilnoff · 07-27-2015, 10:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MattC

A common problem with all unit A/Cs is that the drain system fails when the inlet air filter gets too restricted. If you have not cleaned or changed that filter recently, try that before you get very far.

Matt

Ditto Matt's comments

wa8yxm · 07-27-2015, 01:03 PM

The reason more coaches do not use the drain line system is .. The line clogs with algae growth.. (happened to the office I worked at too).

Most RVs just let it drip onto the roof and run off.. Sometimes the drain line types will do that if the drain clogs, others do not.

Other things causing dripping:

If coach is not level (IE Low in front) the inner edge of the drip pan can be below the drip lip may also apply to side to side on some A/C.s (i have one of each).

Gasket can go bad (Between Rooftop unit and roof) or bolts work loose.

This is a biggie for me. Took me a while to figure it out.. DIRTY INTAKE FILTERS on the A/C. This generates a partial vaccum and literaly sucks the water out of the tray to where it can fall down upon you.

ICING of the evaporator coil when the ice melts it may miss the tray.

Cracked drip tray

Dirty evaporator coils

First thing I'd do is clean the filters (Since you can do that inside where it is cool) Second is the drain line (Bit more work outside and hot).

brunsje · 07-27-2015, 01:14 PM

Also run your fan on high speed in humid conditions. Helps get the water draining!

gasman936 · 07-27-2015, 05:30 PM

Never blow air back into drains. All you are doing is blowing the blockage back into the drain pan. Always use a wet vac to suck the drain line clear. This will also remove excess condensate from evaporator coil area.

gasman936
04 Discovery 39s

cavalryman · 07-27-2015, 06:35 PM

Today I was able to determine the source of the dripping water. I blew air up the drain lines and found that when I blew air in the rear AC drain line I could hear the air in the AC unit. When I blew it up the middle AC drain line I did not hear air in the AC but in the ceiling area towards the back of the coach. This was the same area that the water was coming from.

Interesting thing I found several days ago was this hose clamp plier in the middle AC unit. It was clamped on the drain line. I tried to remove it but only was able to loosen it. That's when the dripping started. I talked to the previous owner and he said he put it there when he had the dripping problem years ago. He thought the drain line must have had water in it during winter and froze causing a leak.

I wanted to try to fix this if possible instead of letting it drip down the roof. What I came up with was this: I ran a fish tape through the old line and was able to pull a new line through the inside. It's only a 1/4" ID line compared to the original 1/2" ID so it's smaller, but its only a drain so I think it might work. I have a small drip at the connection because I used a push click fitting. I'm going to change it out for a brass compression fitting this week.