A/C leaks inside...

My Dometic Duo-Therm drips from running through one of the filters. This is happening to just about everyone in the park. I have cleaned up the inside of the unit, dirt and such from traveling, sitting and use I guess, but still have a slight drip.

Unit is not freezing up, but the drip is, well, annoying...

The gaskets, isulation and foam insulation between "zones" inside the cover are well... old.

My thoughts are to put a new gasket on the bottom, stick new gaskets on and replace the old insulation with something newer and better... and drill a couple "extra" drain holes so it will have more places to drain and some more sheetmetal screws holding down the tin, there is only 1 screw per "section" of the shroud tin so it could be, probably is, sucking outside air.

Anyone else had this issue? Or currently having it? If so, how did you fix it?

I had this problem in the 2209T shortly after we got it, Can't remember for sure what I did to fix it but as I remember the thermostat capillary tube was touching the metal housing, the water ran down the tube and dripped inside. Also, I started running the fan on high till the trailer is cool inside and adjust the thermostat till it keeps the temp at around 72-74, colder at night, I don't turn the fan speed down till the temp inside is stabilized. Mine hasn't dripped inside since and that was about 2 years ago.
I took the inside cover off and watched where the drip was coming from.

We had this same problem with our 2004 right after we bought it. We were told by Hi-Lo company that we needed to run the fan on high and just adjust the thermostat to the desired temp which we usually have at around 72 or so and it has never dripped again. They said folks try to run the fan speed low or medium and it just doesn't work with these air conditioners.

I agree on running the fan on high especially during periods of high humidity. Also, be sure to keep the filters clean, the more air flow the better it is.

On my Duo Therm a/c, I took the interior cover off and made sure the 3 mounting bolts were snug and made sure the trailer was level. The drain holes on top were open but water (condensation) seeks its lowest level. No more drips after that.

Bob

Trailer was slightly out of kilter from ditch side to street side making the condenstation have to run from the tubing, which is on the street side, across the unit to the curb side drain... Somehow the water was going around the hole on that side, running under the styrofoam (there is a small channel) and the filling up enough to overfill before it hit the hole and running into the mounting bracket into the inside plastic and through the filter...

The path of least resistance? Really? Seems like the long way around...

I'm still going to replace the foam / insulation stuff inside 'cuz it's old... and well kinda nasty.

Got a roll of foam from Lowe's, a co-worker has some rigid stuff that will work for the "end" pieces of tin (and it's only about 2' x 2', more than enough) and I think I'm going to use a windsheild sun blocker accordion thingy for the bigger section of tin and some more self tapping sheet metal screws. And use the rest of the accordion thingy to line the under-side of the A/C cover to help block / reflect the sun's heat back out of the unit...

I'll take / post pictures of what I do...

AC leak

I agree with your game plan. Replacing the old tired foam is the way to go.

Well I took the advice of others and the RV is listing visible streetside and high in the front... and the leak is worse than it has even been...

Soooo, I went on the roof and took the cover off and the drain area on the curb side is dry... well that makes sense giving you can see the front corner is high, so why is more water leaking in?

I can actually watch the condensation drip off the coils from the compressor and get sucked up into drain channel under the condensor unit... it quite literally went right around the drain hole and the fan is sucking it up into that channel... unreal...

How can this be so? Well if you run your fingers around the drain hole, you can feel that it must have been punched from the bottom side, so it is raised up slightly... not to mention the design of the tub, is well, just like a tub, so the outside areas are high. Well water won't run up-hill... unless a fan is sucking it up-hill that is...

Hammer and a drift (well ok, my 9' 3/8" drive extension) i beat the hell out of the holes so it doesn't have much choice but to go down the hole... My fellow RV'ers must think I'm nuts.

But wait, it gets better... now that the RV is listing streetside, the condensation from the condensor is trying to run out of the streetside hole... but it can't... why? Remember the fan...

sigh

It is obviously an optical illusion or you are in an anti-gravity zone. Call in Kirk and Spock.

Thanks for the reply richr, you are alway so helpfull...

RichR said:

It is obviously an optical illusion or you are in an anti-gravity zone. Call in Kirk and Spock.

Click to expand...

That means I'm out of ideas. Or maybe it's the heat getting to me.

You can try something.

Remind you all, I am a farmer, we ride tractors that constantly change "level" you understand, and they can douse you from time to time when it is humid out and water is not drainning as it should.

The biggest suggestion I can give you is to use something, like silicone or a pucky-putty (used to be used in body shops, or window installs on campers)that I like to use when trying to figure it out. I create a dam, to keep the water where ever it falls from, away from where else you do NOT want it to go. you wont need as tall a dam as I created in my tractors, in fact dam is only semi descriptive, more like a 'water-way'. Seal with silicone any other places it should NOT be allowed to get to, or at least make a dam around it. Sealing is a good idea this way when you travel but water is not all drained yet, it cannot load up the roof with water...

I have 1/2 inch tall waterway that leads from condensors to either side's drain holes, so that I dont get a shower everytime I cross a terrace (which is more or less a man made waterway on hilly fields to keep water from eroding the hill when it rains) On my tractors and combines.

You guys will have less work to do this, since we're using the RV sitting still... all you should have to do is run a fine 1/4 or 3/8ths inch or so, you know bead to lead the water away from your problem to the hole, kind of like a manmade river channel or lake with a drain.

Try it.

2806C AC Leaking

Just finished our first extended trip in our 2806C. We spent 7 days at SanLuis pass Texas on the Gulf of Mexico. Temp over 100 Deg and humity 75% plus. AC was leaking enough to fill up 12 oz glass once a day through filters onto floor. Took off shroud and condensate cover. Drains open but water was in many places it should not be in. ex. other parts of plastic drain pan not designed to hold condensation. How was it getting in those places?
Worked on putting trailer in different positions, left & right front up and down. No real difference water still leaked inside. With air filters out and unit running on hi fan you could see condensate water being pulled from drain tray up into air and falling into filters. Still not grasping what was happening probably because I was mad as Hedouble hocky sticks. I was ready to find someone to service AC.
My wife got cold and turned fan to med instead of high. Never had it occured to me partly because the forum says run it on high and partly because it made the most sense to me. But low and behold after we set fan speed to medium it stopped leaking. The fan was no longer pulling water from drain tray so it could drain properly.
Hoping I have figured out a work around I wanted to put it in print to give someone else a new idea.

Brad Moss
Taylor, Tx

Yeah Brad, I haven't been running any higher than medium... and low and behold... no leaking...

Just for curiousity... is yours a low profile unit? No body in the park with a "regular" height unit seems to have this issue.

I was gone all day and set it to "med" not auto... and was expecting a wet towel I have laid down (hi humidity day... rain) but no wet towel.

So my guess is fan on hi causes a "suction" effect and pulls the water in away from the drain.

If it because of it being a low profile unit, I probably will end up getting another one... can't really see the point of a low profile unit on a Hi-Lo in the first place.

Profile

That is an interesting question. I don't know for sure what it is classified as;however , it is a Dometic Duo-Therm Penquin which sounds like yours. I have been curious if I cut a piece of plexiglass adout an inch or two tall and glued it to the plastic drain tray against the coil if it would keep the water from being pulled from the drain pan and not effect the cooling. It is just to darn hot to get on that roof right now and experiment.

Brad Moss
Taylor, Tx

Sounds like the same unit. Not sure about plexiglass, I was thinking about building a "dam" with putty or silicone caulking ... doesn't need to be real high just enough to stop water from being "pulled" in by the fan...

But the other trick is that it has not leaked a drop in over a week, even with the rain last weekend.

Air Conditioner Leak

I had that problem with my HI-LO. The HI-LO and the low profile Air Conditioner were new from the factory but I experienced an annoying drip inside the HI-LO when the humidity was high, day or night. Never had a leak with my older Jayco POP-UP and high profile AC. Eventually, I removed the inside cover and took a flashlight and observed the water being splashed over the lip of the pan where the air is pulled into the AC from the cabin. The water is really condensation. I tried all of the things previously mentioned to no avail. I finally took off the AC exterior cover and carefully removed the black shroud covering the evaporator coils which is held on with snap clips and a couple of screws. I built up the lip of the pan about one inch using flexible firm plastic and rope caulk. The hole in the pan is oval with a few ess bends. I carefully positioned the plastic on the inside of the pan against the lip and used the rope caulk to hold it in place. You have to work gently to get the plastic in the small channel. I used rope caulk in case I had to remove it later. I have not had a leak in the past two years. My theory is the low profile AC does not have a tall enough lip on the pan where the cabin air enters the AC. When there is high humidity, the squirrel cage fan creates a vortex that lifts and splashes the condensation around until it eventually leaks into the cabin. I have pictures if anyone wants them.

Beach

pictures..

Please post the photos; I have the same problem on mine. I haven't pulled the exterior cover yet. Thanks.

Dee Tillotson
In case your not sure how to post pics, just ask and I will explain it.
I would like to see the pictures also and probably a lot of other people too..

AC leak

Rich,

Explain how to post pictures. Beach