Community Forums

abarkl · 07-03-2005, 06:04 AM

My front Dometic 13K BTU A/C has been leaking overnight into the coach. It's enough to fill a paper cup in about 4 hours. Of course it's leaking right over the guest bed, and of course I invited me mum to spend the weekend with us. It hasn't done this before but it also hasn't been 110F and caused the unit to run for an extended period either. The dew point and humidity temps here in the Southwest are almost in the single digits. I would expect condensate build up when the dew point goes up but not now! The rear unit is not leaking. I'm scheduled to be out for another 2 nights but I'm only an hour from home. Any and all suggestions for a fix are welcome.
Thanks!

abarkl · 07-03-2005, 06:04 AM

My front Dometic 13K BTU A/C has been leaking overnight into the coach. It's enough to fill a paper cup in about 4 hours. Of course it's leaking right over the guest bed, and of course I invited me mum to spend the weekend with us. It hasn't done this before but it also hasn't been 110F and caused the unit to run for an extended period either. The dew point and humidity temps here in the Southwest are almost in the single digits. I would expect condensate build up when the dew point goes up but not now! The rear unit is not leaking. I'm scheduled to be out for another 2 nights but I'm only an hour from home. Any and all suggestions for a fix are welcome.
Thanks!

abarkl · 07-03-2005, 08:38 AM

Strange as it may seem, but I've temporarily removed the filter cover and it's stopped leaking!

rayw · 07-03-2005, 10:32 AM

abarki

...or is leaking into an area you can't see. I would leave it off until I know the cause of the leak..;./

dawg · 07-03-2005, 10:59 AM

Take the exterior cover off. There is usually a tray that collects the water from the unit in front of the front evaporator coil. This tray can become stopped up with various debris and will overflow into the interior of you RV. You might find this is stopped up if you do not have any water running off the roof.
Just something else to check.

abarkl · 07-03-2005, 04:41 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by dawg:
Take the exterior cover off. There is usually a tray that collects the water from the unit in front of the front evaporator coil. This tray can become stopped up with various debris and will overflow into the interior of you RV. You might find this is stopped up if you do not have any water running off the roof.
Just something else to check. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I was wondering if there was a tray and possibly debris clogging a normal drain path.
I will check it ASAP.
Thank you!

Dsouthw524 · 07-04-2005, 03:10 AM

Another thing that is simple and sometimes overlooked - check the 4 bolts that hold the AC . If these are loose the gasket can allow the water dumped on the roof to leak back in.

abarkl · 07-04-2005, 05:28 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by DSouthw524:
Another thing that is simple and sometimes overlooked - check the 4 bolts that hold the AC . If these are loose the gasket can allow the water dumped on the roof to leak back in. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I'll be sure and check those as well. I read somewhere recently that they should be torqued to 25 inch pounds compressing the gasket about 50%.
Thank you.

Newmar 14 · 07-04-2005, 01:21 PM

Hope you found your problem. I jsut bought a new 2005 Monaco knight and am experiencing the same problem in the living room roof air. It is going into the dealer tomorrow to check it out. Would appreciate knowing what you found out about your peoblem.

abarkl · 07-04-2005, 06:26 PM

I removed the exterior cover today and could see water stains in the tray but no obstructions in the large drain holes. I'll remove the interior cover tomorrow and try and find the source of the leak.
Now my problem is bigger and better!...My rear A/C is only outputting 72F air while the front although leaking only at night, outputs at 52F. I couldn't keep my coach at 79F, here in the great Southwest desert with an ambient of 112F.

troth · 07-05-2005, 01:39 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Another thing that is simple and sometimes overlooked - check the 4 bolts that hold the AC . If these are loose the gasket can allow the water dumped on the roof to leak back in. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
DSouthw524's got a good tip here. Many manufacturer's do not snug up the four mounting bolts and compress the foam gasket seal enough. Condensate drips out of the tray onto your roof, then seeps in around the gasket. The bolts are easy to see; just remove your inside ceiling intake cover.

dawg · 07-05-2005, 03:51 AM

You stated there was no debris in the tray or large drain holes. I found on mine that the tray itself did not have any drain holes. I drilled holes in each end where the tray tips were through the base of the unit. you can check this without removing the cover.

Kirk · 07-05-2005, 04:55 AM

abarkl

If the problem is that it is blowing drops of water from the cold air outlet into the RV, it is due to condensation. The humidity outside has little to do with that problem as the condensation is all from the inside air and when you shower and cook in a closed up RV you raise the humidity inside very high.

Probably, if you remove the indside plastic grill work you will be able to look up into the air outlet, where the blower and the cooling coils are located. There should be a plastic drip pan under the cooling coils, next to where the blower is. That drip pan does have a drain to the exterior of the a/c unit and it is probably at least partially plugged. Be sure that the a/c is off, then carefully wipe it out with a clean cloth. Locate the drain holes and use one of the spray cans of compressed air to blow any forign material from the drain holes. If you have room you may be able to run a pipe cleaner through them. RV shops also usually add a fungicide to be sure that nothing grows there to bring the problem back. You can do the same by using a small amount of 10/1 mix water and chlorine bleach. We are fulltime and I have to do mine about once a year if we use them often.

On the cooling of the unit, the only way to check that is to see what the differential temperature is between the air entering the unit from the RV and the air that exits the unit back into the RV. Use a dial thermometer and place it where it will stay for 5 min. in the air inlet and check the temperature. Then move it to the outlet grill and let is sit for five more minutes(a/c needs to be operation all of the time). Compare the two readings. If the air in is at least 18 degrees above the temperature of the air out, your unit is working just fine. RVs are not all well insulated and most have many air leaks so it is normal in very hot weather for RV air conditioners to not be able to keep up with the outside temperatures when it gets near 100 or above.

abarkl · 07-05-2005, 07:26 AM

The only drain pan I found was topside. It encompassed the entire unit. I did find the mounting bolts to be quite loose, almost to the point of being able to spin them with my fingers. I tightened them, but not to 25 inch pounds, as the warp factor of the unit to the ceiling became worse and almost prohibits the filter cover from staying in place.
Thanks for all the suggestions!