It rains under the dash ??

[Steelhorzz]

We just back from our first trip through the Southeast and up the Eastern seaboard. One day my wife tells me, "it's raining on her feet". I pulled over to a rest stop later, and as she prepared lunch, I crawled under the dash for a looksee.
I noticed that everyone of the AC Duct hoses was wet on the outside with BIG drops of water forming along the bottom sides, which would rain on her feet as the drops got BIGGER, or as the vibration dislodged them.
I grabbed a towel wiped off the hoses, and did the same to my side under the dash. This continued each day until we got back out further west on our way home, and the humidity decreased.
My opinion, is that the humid air, cooled by the AC, caused the condensation.

My questions..

Do others experience this, and what do they do about it?

Should I carry a couple of dehumidifiers in the coach?
Or just keep a towel handy?

It's just a bit annoying.

This doesn't happen in passengers cars does it?

Or, is that the water on the ground outside under the car when you stop, because of the way it's vented?

Thanks!!

[Iggy]

Steelhorzz

I just finished a 6,000 mile trip and while in the humid states I was using the AC all the time while driving. I think the system is so good and with the high humidty cause frost/moisture to build inthe ducts.
Some place in time it starts melting or leaking thru the ducts.
I had it on both passenger and drivers side. It seems to started quickly at one time and after a few towels to soak up the water it was back to normal and no water.

So now we have 2 of us who had the drips .
Now we have to hear other opinions why this happens.

Yes the water on the ground is the coils melting the ice that has formed on it. This is normal.

[FLSTC]

Originally Posted by Iggy

Steelhorzz

I just finished a 6,000 mile trip and while in the humid states I was using the AC all the time while driving. I think the system is so good and with the high humidty cause frost/moisture to build inthe ducts.
Some place in time it starts melting or leaking thru the ducts.
I had it on both passenger and drivers side. It seems to started quickly at one time and after a few towels to soak up the water it was back to normal and no water.

So now we have 2 of us who had the drips .
Now we have to hear other opinions why this happens.

Yes the water on the ground is the coils melting the ice that has formed on it. This is normal.

My 2011 350 TS leaked in the passenger floorboard on a recent trip to Myrtle Beach. Only did it once. My AC would also stop blowing cold air sometimes. It did it one time so I turned the fan to high and it blew water out of the defrost vent on the passenger side.

[doughboy]

Check yr ac, must be freezing up due to low freon

[Iggy]

Originally Posted by doughboy

Check yr ac, must be freezing up due to low freon

As far as I know it really is a great AC unit and cools very well.
Don't think it would be low on freon and keeps me cool in Arizona at 110 degrees.

Again this issue only happened once after running all day down the road in very high humid weather.

[MrJoe]

Originally Posted by doughboy

Check yr ac, must be freezing up due to low freon

Yep, low refrigerant can cause the evaporator to freeze up causing an icing condition and water where it shouldn't be. Can also cause an interment period of less than cold air from the ducts. As the pressure drops the compressor should start cycling off on the low pressure cut-out safety.

[Iggy]

Originally Posted by MrJoe

Yep, low refrigerant can cause the evaporator to freeze up causing an icing condition and water where it shouldn't be. Can also cause an interment period of less than cold air from the ducts. As the pressure drops the compressor should start cycling off on the low pressure cut-out safety.

Good information. Hopefully we can keep this thread going as we have very little information about the dash AC.

I know it is NOT part of the FORD Chassis and it seems to be an EVANS unit.
Now how to find out how many oz of R143a it holds would help.
Anyone out there have any work done on their dash AC?

Any help or documentation would be helpful.
Has anyone used Artic Freeze Freon R134a out of a can?

Thanks

[Lostdog]

OK, Ours does the same in really hot/humid conditions, but really not that often. I found that it is produced on the outside of the air ducts on the passenger side at the wife's feet. I believe that the water comes from the humid air in the coach hitting the cold air duct and causing condensation. The first time it happened we were traveling in a strong rain storm and I thought that we had a massive windshield leak. But it happened again a couple of days later in bright sunshine. So...no windshield leak, just condensation.

[Iggy]

Originally Posted by Lostdog

OK, Ours does the same in really hot/humid conditions, but really not that often. I found that it is produced on the outside of the air ducts on the passenger side at the wife's feet. I believe that the water comes from the humid air in the coach hitting the cold air duct and causing condensation. The first time it happened we were traveling in a strong rain storm and I thought that we had a massive windshield leak. But it happened again a couple of days later in bright sunshine. So...no windshield leak, just condensation.

That was my original thought. I will check and see if it does it on next weeks trip to hot, low humidty Las Vegas.
If it still does it there and if I have any money left I will then have it checked.

[Maddog378]

On our 2011 378, we had the a/c compressor replaced underwarranty thru Ford. They prep the chassis, but the ductwork, fan, etc is Evans. Ours drips water occasionally, usually on AC MAX.

[cfsoistman]

EVANS TYPICAL ELECTRONIC ROTARY WIRING DIAGRAM.pdf

Evans%20Parts%20VS%20Ford%20Parts[1].pdf

Evans Tempcon, Inc

Here's all the info on the Dash AC Unit.

Sweating ducts is very common with high humidity. Pour a glass of soda with ice and what happens? The glass sweats due to the cold of the glass vs. the humidity in the air. The dash AC unit pulls air from inside on max, so unless you're cooling the entire coach with the rooftop ACs, the humidity is being pulled from the whole coach.

The whole unit takes 2-3/4 lbs R134a. There are charts showing ambient temperature and the pressures you should see on a set of refrigeration gauges. Without a proper set of gauges just adding refrigerant will cause a problem. Too much refrigerant is just as bad as not enough.

[kittyskeeper]

It might be that the AC drain is not draining the water out fast enough on high humid days. I have seen some drain pipe installed facing forward thru the firewall so the wind/air pressure would not let the water drain. Also dirt plugging drain.

[Steelhorzz]

That was my thought, the Humid air in the coach is condensating when it touches the cold AC Ducts under the dash.

(Mine too was on max air, with the fan blower on high.)

When we reached Texas and points west, where the humidity was not as high... no water formed, or dripped on us....

However the question remains...

Anyone drive a car in those areas experience water dripping on them?

We drove our PT Cruiser in Savannah, Fredericksburg, Manassas, Gettysburg, and NO water dripped on us from it's AC ducts.

And the AC in that little car is COLD ! ! ! !

So I'm thinking the ducts in cars must be insulated, in some fashion to reduce contact with the surrounding humid air.

I forgot to mention EVERYTIME, I got out of the car my glasses fogged up!

So humid air... coming in contact with a cold surface... water forms...

I'll be crawling under the dash this weekend to take a looksee in the Cruiser.

Maybe RVs could benefit from additional insulation, (if that's the case).

Then maybe "colder" air would come out the vents.

I've traveled all over on business, and never had a rental car back east, or in the Midwest rain on me....

I'm not thinking there is a real problem with the AC ...

Just an opportunity to "upgrade" the RV in some fashion..

[kittyskeeper]

Come up to Minnesota where it's cooler!

[Iggy]

Originally Posted by kittyskeeper

Come up to Minnesota where it's cooler!

I'm on my way. I know I will need a umbrella also.
Here is todays Phoenix forecast.
Phoenix Weather Forecast and Conditions - weather.com

[Travler]

I have had cars have the drain line get cloged and cause the water to get into the cabin. If the AC has been running for some time it shuld have reduced the amount of humidity inthe cabin. If you are getting alot of outside air inside that keeps the humidity high then it could alow moisture to form on the duct work.

Check to see if you have water running out under the vehicle when it is stoped with the AC running. If it is a small amount or nothing then check the drain.

[abjb]

Originally Posted by Iggy

As far as I know it really is a great AC unit and cools very well.
Don't think it would be low on freon and keeps me cool in Arizona at 110 degrees.

Again this issue only happened once after running all day down the road in very high humid weather.

Iggy does you dash unit keep you cool without running the roof units?

When we bought our 2012 I asked if it would.
He answered yes.... in Main, Minnesota etc.
He then said you'll be running both roof units.

We didn't use the dash unit most of the way from Florida to Colorado in early July.

Originally Posted by Maddog378

On our 2011 378, we had the a/c compressor replaced underwarranty thru Ford. They prep the chassis, but the ductwork, fan, etc is Evans. Ours drips water occasionally, usually on AC MAX.

Ford replaced our compressor this spring.

ab&jb

[Oaklevel]

Originally Posted by Travler

I have had cars have the drain line get cloged and cause the water to get into the cabin. If the AC has been running for some time it shuld have reduced the amount of humidity inthe cabin. If you are getting alot of outside air inside that keeps the humidity high then it could alow moisture to form on the duct work.

Check to see if you have water running out under the vehicle when it is stoped with the AC running. If it is a small amount or nothing then check the drain.

X2

My pickup did to my DW last week on the way home from the beach.........

[gartonhl]

Originally Posted by Iggy

Good information. Hopefully we can keep this thread going as we have very little information about the dash AC.

I know it is NOT part of the FORD Chassis and it seems to be an EVANS unit.
Now how to find out how many oz of R143a it holds would help.
Anyone out there have any work done on their dash AC?

Any help or documentation would be helpful.
Has anyone used Artic Freeze Freon R134a out of a can?

Thanks

CLARIFICATION:
We had a compressor issue May, 2012 and called Ford Roadside Assistance. Scott at 1-800-444-3311 stated that the compressor unit IS NOT a FORD compressor, BUT it is covered under the Ford 36/36 warranty. Our compressor was a "Sanden" unit that Ford put on the F53 chassis on our unit....2010 GT 378TS.

Called Evans-Tempcon also. They said they supply all A/C components from the compressor up into the motorhome, ie. ductworks and dash A/C control panel.

If your are having A/C compressor issues, my advice is to call Ford warranty service and verify your compressor unit.

[Iggy]

Originally Posted by abjb

Iggy does you dash unit keep you cool without running the roof units?
When we bought our 2012 I asked if it would.
He answered yes.... in Main, Minnesota etc.
He then said you'll be running both roof units.

We didn't use the dash unit most of the way from Florida to Colorado in early July.
ab&jb

Yes my dash AC keep us cool all the way from Arizona to Buffalo NY in late June and early July this year. On ethe way home is when the ducts leaked one time.

I have used my roof AC last year on the way to California going thru Desert Hot Springs and Palm Springs. Outside air temp was 109 degrees plus.