A/C condensation drains from light fixtur

[saflyer]

I had my 2005 HR Ambassador in my building yesterday. Nearly 100° outside and high humidity. I needed to do some work inside so I turned the living area A/C on in the morning. Later that evening I went out to turn it off and found water pouring from the on/off switch of the fluorescent light aft of the A/C. Checked the roof and there was no moisture up there except where it flowed to the side of the coach and down to the ground which is how it’s always been. What I’ve read in the past is that some A//Cs have drain pads and tubes attached to collect the moisture and direct it away while others, like mine, don’t. I believe the units are Penguin IIs. What might cause the water to infiltrate the ceiling and how worried should I be? Should I roll the coach out in the sun to bake the moisture out of the ceiling? I’m concerned about mold developing in the ceiling.

Thanks,             
Ed

 

Edited July 4 by saflyer
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[96 EVO]

Your gasket between the Duo-Therm and roof is leaking.

You can try tightening the 4 long bolts from the underside a little. Don't get carried away. Just remove any slack then maybe a couple more turns.

[saflyer]

2 minutes ago, 96 EVO said:

Your gasket between the Duo-Therm and roof is leaking.

You can try tightening the 4 long bolts from the underside a little. Don't get carried away. Just remove any slack then maybe a couple more turns.

Should have put that in my post. I’ve been slack on that project for a couple of years. Will do that.

[jacwjames]

The condensation from the AC falls into a pan that diverts the water to either side of the roof gasket.  If any amount of dead bugs or stuff gets in the drain holes the pan won't drain and condensation could make its way into the coach.  If it gets into the duct work it could travel through the duct and drain at the next hole/opening.  My overhead lights are right under the duct. there may be a hole up there allowing the condensation to drain into the light. 

When I replace my AC's in 2021 I inspected my duct work with a remote camera, I found a large mouse hole right above one of the light.  I was able to fix it by removing the light and working through a hole in the plywood above the light. 

[saflyer]

9 hours ago, jacwjames said:

The condensation from the AC falls into a pan that diverts the water to either side of the roof gasket.  If any amount of dead bugs or stuff gets in the drain holes the pan won't drain and condensation could make its way into the coach.  If it gets into the duct work it could travel through the duct and drain at the next hole/opening.  My overhead lights are right under the duct. there may be a hole up there allowing the condensation to drain into the light. 

When I replace my AC's in 2021 I inspected my duct work with a remote camera, I found a large mouse hole right above one of the light.  I was able to fix it by removing the light and working through a hole in the plywood above the light. 

Interesting that rvtravel.com daily email newsletter today had an article on water dripping from air conditioners. But they didn’t discuss the moisture traveling away from the units. Your suggestion is worth checking out. Thanks.

[MyronTruex]

Panicked the other day when water poured from one of my AC vents during a serious downpour. Water attempting to get into my nice large HD tv.  Water dripping on bed directly below the AC. 

 

The vent is 10-15 feet from the AC unit.

Remembering the blue stuff on the long long hold down bolts, I carefully removed each bolt while feeling for their tightness. Sure enough. Several were not tight enough.

Our AC's run for hours without turning off here in the heat of Central Florida. The vibration is constant.

When I replaced the AC's I did not use any loctite. I remembered the rear AC dripping once before and after tightening them just shrugged it off. It nearly cost me some serious $$ this time.

Using blue loctite this time I removed the front and rear ac bottoms to retighten and loctite the bolts. 

Did I mention I used loctite. The clue should have been the blue loctite that was already on the bolts. 

 

[jacwjames]

Prior to changing AC's mine would sometimes leak due to high humidity.  Not sure but probably due to the drains holes being stopped up in the drain cups.  When I changed the AC's the drain cups had dead bugs in them so it would drain to the tubing.  But there was no real way to clean them. 

4 hours ago, MyronTruex said:

Panicked the other day when water poured from one of my AC vents during a serious downpour. Water attempting to get into my nice large HD tv.  Water dripping on bed directly below the AC. 

 

The vent is 10-15 feet from the AC unit.

Remembering the blue stuff on the long long hold down bolts, I carefully removed each bolt while feeling for their tightness. Sure enough. Several were not tight enough.

Our AC's run for hours without turning off here in the heat of Central Florida. The vibration is constant.

When I replaced the AC's I did not use any loctite. I remembered the rear AC dripping once before and after tightening them just shrugged it off. It nearly cost me some serious $$ this time.

Using blue loctite this time I removed the front and rear ac bottoms to retighten and loctite the bolts. 

Did I mention I used loctite. The clue should have been the blue loctite that was already on the bolts. 

 

Good point especially with new installation, two layers of the foam gasket so chances are the foam will compress and needs to be checked  several times after install.  This reminds me to check mine.

That and depends on the original install.  After I had a bad leak after a ran I changed the gaskets on my old AC's and found they did a terrible job on alignment of the two layers of gaskets, no wonder I had a problem.  I had tried to tighten the bolts for the AC's but it help, finally figured out why>>> see pictures.

[Mike Fluharty]

I have this issue with water from ac, does anyone have a picture of the drain location or a description of it. I took the cover off of my ac but didn’t see a place for it. 
thanks,

[Ivan K]

If you have a drain line, it would be obvious from inside the coach looking up into the ceiling opening. I have a piece of clear hose there connecting to a pex line, routing the condensation under the coach. Not much to see from the top.

[96 EVO]

44 minutes ago, Mike Fluharty said:

I have this issue with water from ac, does anyone have a picture of the drain location or a description of it. I took the cover off of my ac but didn’t see a place for it. 
thanks,

Front two corners of the unit.

You may need to remove the cover over the evaporator coil to get a better look at them.

[jacwjames]

If you don't have drains cups you would have to go up on the roof and look.  The older AC's had metal shroud over the evaporator coil.  The newer AC's have a plastic cover you can remove.  The condensation drains into a pan. 

On either side of the AC there is a drain that the water would drain to on top of the roof. 

If you have drain cups they are mounted underneath, you can see them if you look under the AC. 

 

Edited July 5 by jacwjames

[VinceB]

On 7/4/2024 at 9:19 AM, jacwjames said:

The condensation from the AC falls into a pan that diverts the water to either side of the roof gasket.  If any amount of dead bugs or stuff gets in the drain holes the pan won't drain and condensation could make its way into the coach.  If it gets into the duct work it could travel through the duct and drain at the next hole/opening.  My overhead lights are right under the duct. there may be a hole up there allowing the condensation to drain into the light. 

When I replace my AC's in 2021 I inspected my duct work with a remote camera, I found a large mouse hole right above one of the light.  I was able to fix it by removing the light and working through a hole in the plywood above the light. 

Mine are that way too. The condensate was overflowing the pan into the return opening under certain conditions. I noticed that the holes in the pan were too small and not quite in the right spot (unless the coach is 100% perfectly level) so I drilled 2 more larger holes on each side of the pan to let the condensate water run out - problem solved. 

I took care not to let the bit grab and puncture the metal roof. I also level up then tilt just a touch to the driver side so that the runoff goes away from the party side. YMMV.

[saflyer]

On 7/5/2024 at 1:14 PM, 96 EVO said:

Front two corners of the unit.

You may need to remove the cover over the evaporator coil to get a better look at them.

I checked both A/Cs for stopped up drain holes. I didn’t find anything appearing to be drain holes in the lower front of the unit bit did find several only at the left rear by the data plat (see picture. Nothing was obstructed.

[jacwjames]

The drains would be toward the front of the AC.   Look at the pictures I posted, the drain cups are the location of the drains. 

On my older Duotherm the evaporator coil is covered with sheet metal, have to remove sheet metal screws and pull up the sheet metal. 

My newer Penguins have a plastic shroud held on with screws, easier to remove and check. 

 

If you to through the trouble of getting to the evaporator I'd take the time to clean it good.  The air is pulled up through from the inside of the coach, basically above the air filter.  There is a squirrel cage fan blade the pulls the air in and pushed it down to the ducts. 

[Mike Fluharty]

Jacwjames, I don’t see a picture with the post. 
thx

[jacwjames]

I posted earlier in the thread, the picture showing the misaligned gaskets shows the drain cups.

[96 EVO]

2 hours ago, saflyer said:

I checked both A/Cs for stopped up drain holes. I didn’t find anything appearing to be drain holes in the lower front of the unit bit did find several only at the left rear by the data plat (see picture. Nothing was obstructed.

Your drain holes are going to be up near the evaporator coil, as that's where the condensate comes from.

[saflyer]

On 7/5/2024 at 9:23 AM, jacwjames said:

Prior to changing AC's mine would sometimes leak due to high humidity.  Not sure but probably due to the drains holes being stopped up in the drain cups.  When I changed the AC's the drain cups had dead bugs in them so it would drain to the tubing.  But there was no real way to clean them. 

Good point especially with new installation, two layers of the foam gasket so chances are the foam will compress and needs to be checked  several times after install.  This reminds me to check mine.

That and depends on the original install.  After I had a bad leak after a ran I changed the gaskets on my old AC's and found they did a terrible job on alignment of the two layers of gaskets, no wonder I had a problem.  I had tried to tighten the bolts for the AC's but it help, finally figured out why>>> see pictures.

This is what I found when I pulled the condenser cover off. Still don’t know where the drain holes are.

[Ivan K]

On ours, I could only see a little bit of the drain pans if I removed the insulation that you still have there. But to clean them, I had to blow from underneath. In your pic, is it a hose in the marked spot? That's where my drain exits the unit but I have a bit more space to monkey around there.