Leak from one ac vent on ceiling

Mdaniels4 · 08-16-2018, 01:29 PM

2017 Cottage crs. Glad I'm here today. HEAVY rains. Water is dripping in through one of the many ceiling vents for the ac. Never saw that before. Coming in through the duct, so something not sealed. Any ideas where to look? Obviously under the ac unit, but then all should be leaking that are hooked up to the main ac. Bedroom ac vents NOT leaking. Just main living ac. Right through the vent. Maybe an aberration because of wind and heavy rain? Would have assumed all were sealed underneath the roof. One duct branching out. Thanks for any insight!

RSchleder · 08-16-2018, 01:39 PM

Pull the inside cover off your A/C unit. You will see 4 bolts (kind of up in the square shroud), one on each corner that will tighten the outside unit to the roof. Tighten these bolts until they are snug, do not over tighten as you will crush the outside seal that is between the A/C unit and the roof.
You see water coming out of the low point vent as the water penetrates the A/C unit and runs down the lowest vent, This is not unusual as water seeks the low point and you vent ducting is anything but level!

Mdaniels4 · 08-16-2018, 01:46 PM

Interesting note. Pulled the inside cover off. Felt around the opening as far as I could get my hands in. None of the insulation board anywhere near it is wet. Not top, or around the hole. Theoretically that's a good thing. But that eans it's running in from somewhere.

Mdaniels4 · 08-16-2018, 03:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RSchleder

Pull the inside cover off your A/C unit. You will see 4 bolts (kind of up in the square shroud), one on each corner that will tighten the outside unit to the roof. Tighten these bolts until they are snug, do not over tighten as you will crush the outside seal that is between the A/C unit and the roof.
You see water coming out of the low point vent as the water penetrates the A/C unit and runs down the lowest vent, This is not unusual as water seeks the low point and you vent ducting is anything but level!

Thanks. When it gets dry, I'll get up there and see what I can find. Do you have to take off the main cover?

ICanFixIt · 08-17-2018, 02:18 PM

If you have 2 AC's pull off the cover of the other AC and do they same check for water. The water leak could be coming from the other end of the unit and running to the lowest point.

rracer5 · 08-17-2018, 04:17 PM

http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...ak-152105.html. Check out the above link re; another members issues with leaks from the ceiling. It also reveals my issues & repair.

Mdaniels4 · 08-17-2018, 05:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rracer5

http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...ak-152105.html. Check out the above link re; another members issues with leaks from the ceiling. It also reveals my issues & repair.

Thanks. All good suggestions! I'll look at both a's and probably invest in eternabond as well.

RSchleder · 08-18-2018, 07:36 AM

No, you do not need to take off the outside cover to tighten the a/c unit. No need to even get on the top of the r/v. you tighten the a/c from the inside of your camper.

rracer5 · 08-18-2018, 09:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RSchleder

No, you do not need to take off the outside cover to tighten the a/c unit. No need to even get on the top of the r/v. you tighten the a/c from the inside of your camper.

If your A/C system is completely ducted, meaning there is no ceiling access to the A/C unit then, yes....you have to remove the outside cover from up on the roof to gain access/seal the mounting bolts.

hikerjohn7 · 08-19-2018, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mdaniels4

2017 Cottage crs. Glad I'm here today. HEAVY rains. Water is dripping in through one of the many ceiling vents for the ac. Never saw that before. Coming in through the duct, so something not sealed. Any ideas where to look? Obviously under the ac unit, but then all should be leaking that are hooked up to the main ac. Bedroom ac vents NOT leaking. Just main living ac. Right through the vent. Maybe an aberration because of wind and heavy rain? Would have assumed all were sealed underneath the roof. One duct branching out. Thanks for any insight!

I had something like this happen to me during a very rainy, humid week in Florida. I tried all the suggestions received here and it kept leaking. We had to move to the front bed in the camper to sleep and put a pan on the master bedroom bed to catch the leaking.

Anyway, I read some blog that said, in very humid conditions, condensation can build up internally to the AC ductwork and start leaking out of the vents. So, they recommended during very humid conditions that the AC fans be set to run constantly and on high to help dry up the condensation. Also, one guy said that he put a dehumidifier inside his camper to remove some of the moisture from the air before it returns to the AC which would help reduce the ductwork internal condensation.

Just some ideas....

rockfordroo · 08-19-2018, 10:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hikerjohn7

I had something like this happen to me during a very rainy, humid week in Florida. I tried all the suggestions received here and it kept leaking. We had to move to the front bed in the camper to sleep and put a pan on the master bedroom bed to catch the leaking.

Anyway, I read some blog that said, in very humid conditions, condensation can build up internally to the AC ductwork and start leaking out of the vents. So, they recommended during very humid conditions that the AC fans be set to run constantly and on high to help dry up the condensation. Also, one guy said that he put a dehumidifier inside his camper to remove some of the moisture from the air before it returns to the AC which would help reduce the ductwork internal condensation.

Just some ideas....

X2. That was my first thought: The humidity is so high the condensate drain can't keep up and the condensate is being carried over into the ducts.

rracer5 · 08-19-2018, 11:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mdaniels4

Interesting note. Pulled the inside cover off. Felt around the opening as far as I could get my hands in. None of the insulation board anywhere near it is wet. Not top, or around the hole. Theoretically that's a good thing. But that eans it's running in from somewhere.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RSchleder

No, you do not need to take off the outside cover to tighten the a/c unit. No need to even get on the top of the r/v. you tighten the a/c from the inside of your camper.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rracer5

If your A/C system is completely ducted, meaning there is no ceiling access to the A/C unit then, yes....you have to remove the outside cover from up on the roof to gain access/seal the mounting bolts.

I feel like a dope.....didn't read OP's post (or...did I experience CRS?), well at any rate, I missed the part about him already taking the inside cover off!

Mdaniels4 · 08-19-2018, 06:14 PM

I'll see about pulling the covers on the two larger vents, to see if I can see any bolts. I didn't find them in the main ac dumps, nor the ducts. So it makes sense the bolts are under the false ceiling. I just can't find them. But I do have two main vents in the bedroom and the living room, on both sides of the ceiling. So I can see there'd be 2 bolts on each side that would hold down the ac plate as it distributes the weight across the roof.

rockfordroo · 08-19-2018, 07:36 PM

Don't know what model AC you have, but they're pretty much the same. See Figure 1 on page 5 of the attached; the bolts are clearly shown.

Mdaniels4 · 08-20-2018, 08:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rockfordroo

Don't know what model AC you have, but they're pretty much the same. See Figure 1 on page 5 of the attached; the bolts are clearly shown.

Thanks. That then looks like it's under the central dump then. That really helps. I'll pull that cover

Mdaniels4 · 09-08-2018, 06:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mdaniels4

Thanks. That then looks like it's under the central dump then. That really helps. I'll pull that cover

Ok. Figured it out. Leaked again this past week. Heavy rains and winds. In the cottage there is no central dump. Just ac vents. So I cannot tighten any bolts. So up today go. Nothing out of the ordinary. Cleaned stuff out from around the ac covers. On my way off the roof I see a plastic dish. It's actually a cover. What's this? Right behind me is an OPEN vent, the same size of the duct. With a bolt coming up that has a stopper. I look at the cover, bolt hole. Screwed it back on, covered up the open vent. Now HOW it got unscrewed is a total mystery. Raccoons playing? Who knows. It's a long bolt.

Now off to find the leak in my rear side entertainment window. That let's water intrude into the inside track. Sealed all around the window itself so it's narrowed down to the bulb seal between the window and the frame. THANKS for ALL the help!!!

kerber77 · 09-25-2018, 08:58 PM

At first, we thought the unit froze up and was de-icing. Removed the ducted cover, the evaporation coil was clean and no ice on it. It was not raining so we did assume rain would be it. Tighten up the (4) hold down bolts, which were loose, still dripping? hmm? So like all, put out pots to catch water till we made it home.
Once home, we turned on unit to see what was happening and noticed the water water was being pulled over to the foam seal as soon as it leaves the drain. It was a small pull to the foam so it took awhile for the unit to run and cause this problem, it was not instant. We removed the ac from roof to find out what was causing this. You could see a dirt/rust trail going under the foam. Our guess is the foam stiffen up and could not provide a water tight seal anymore and the "vacuum" effect from the evaporation coil fan was pulling in the dripping condensate. Well, as it was, the ac was going out so we are putting in a new one with a better seal and have to see if the new seal will hold up better than the old one. Just our experience with ac leaking.

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