A/C condensation drip

[Bralbo]

We used our new rockwood esp 2280bhesp for the first time this weekend. It was hot and very humid. The a/c ran constantly and cooled things great. My question is with the condensation drip. It ran off the roof and along the canvas seam of the rear pullout and dripped off the bottom corner. The cloth piping seemed to act as a wick. There was no leak in the camper. Is this the norm?

[Iwritecode]

Yes, that's completely normal.

[cfo111]

some people will add a drip rail and terminated it were they want it.

[GalsofEscape]

yep - normal. We attached a J shaped trim to the back edge of the roof to make a little gutter. Some people have cut a pool noodle in half (lengthwise) and put that under the roof to form a gutter. Pool noodle did not work well for us - but may for you (and cheap thing to try).

[Grnsl2]

This ^^^ is a fun idea. I just don't think you probably want to drive with it on. :-) Actually you'd probably have a hard time closing it.

I never thought about adding a little J drip channel. Seems like just depends on where we park what corner it'll fall off of. If I did that chances are it's going to end up landing on my outside table. We'd probably have to plan for that a little.

[GalsofEscape]

LOL - yep the pool noodle is only in place when you are set up, supposed to just slide it in between the roof and the tent. you would have to take it off when you close up (like i said - it never really worked for me, but at the time i had a highwall. was really hard to reach).


With the J channel - you just have to be sure that you are ever so slightly high on the curb side - all the water then runs to the road side. And if you are ever so slightly tongue high - it all runs to the back corner. (i still do this with my hybrid - condensate always runs off the back road side roof corner).

[Amartin453]

Originally Posted by Bralbo

We used our new rockwood esp 2280bhesp for the first time this weekend. It was hot and very humid. The a/c ran constantly and cooled things great. My question is with the condensation drip. It ran off the roof and along the canvas seam of the rear pullout and dripped off the bottom corner. The cloth piping seemed to act as a wick. There was no leak in the camper. Is this the norm?

I’ve tried it all. Leave it alone let the water drip down the side of the canvass. I don’t like either but it affects nothing and you will get use to it.

Also, you’ll know that the AC is draining properly and you don’t have to worry about it dripping on your table.

[samTummo]

Try running a double bead of caulk forming a channel on the roof to where you want it to drain.
SamTummo

[GalsofEscape]

Originally Posted by Amartin453

I’ve tried it all. Leave it alone let the water drip down the side of the canvass. I don’t like either but it affects nothing and you will get use to it.

Also, you’ll know that the AC is draining properly and you don’t have to worry about it dripping on your table.

but then you are ALWAYS dealing with wet canvas.

[PathfinderESP]

This 'feature' bugs the hell put of me and I was going to do something about it when I had the cover off the AC unit for cleaning out the roof unit a couple of weeks ago.

I had planned to install some condensate hose to take the flow away where I want it to go to the side however I have decided to leave it as is. Reason being, there isn't just one condensate drain hole in the roof AC mounting tray that catches the drips. The tray has 6 or more holes in it that drain onto the roof whatever your levelling is like. Not wanting to pipe to them all, but also not wanting to block any off I think better to leave it as the last thing you need is the condensate backing up in the tray.

So I'm going to live with it and try to remember to switch the AC off when we start packing up camp so it's dried by the time we lower the roof (if it's raining it's wet anyway so does not matter as it will have to be opened up again at home anyway.)

It will always bug me though especially as it seems to some down either left or right seam at random.

[Capt America]

I also added a j-channel. We found on our camper that over time, not only did the constant stream to that corner stain the top of the bunk (sort of a rusty color), but it started to soak into the canvas at the corner, which started to mildew. The j-channel works great. You're right that you might get it dripping on the entry side some of the time. For us that hasn't been a problem as it drips pretty close to the camper.

[Amartin453]

Originally Posted by GalsofEscape

but then you are ALWAYS dealing with wet canvas.

Dry it off with a towel when packing up, it takes an extra 5 minutes if that!

[Fish N Farm]

Hi, I am new here and am not sure if what I do is correct but, I cheat the leveling process to have the left rear be lower by just a tad so that the water drains that way and I have a split piece of hose to drain it off the roof. I wonder if the cable on the left rear roof corner could be adjusted to come up a little bit less to make the water drain that way. What I don't know is if that would harm the roof or the lift system. The choices are have the refrigerator slightly out of level, flex the roof or have the canvas wet all the time. So someone with more smart than me please give their thoughts.

[Grnsl2]

Personally I would never miss with the cabling system. Last thing you want to do is void a warranty or cause something to be a little bit out of shift and cause uneven wear.

I've always set up the camper as level as possible and let the cards fall where they might. Sometimes the wind pushes it one direction then the other. since it runs down the bunk end canvas, it's far enough away that it doesn't actually bother me.

[Amartin453]

Originally Posted by Fish N Farm

Hi, I am new here and am not sure if what I do is correct but, I cheat the leveling process to have the left rear be lower by just a tad so that the water drains that way and I have a split piece of hose to drain it off the roof. I wonder if the cable on the left rear roof corner could be adjusted to come up a little bit less to make the water drain that way. What I don't know is if that would harm the roof or the lift system. The choices are have the refrigerator slightly out of level, flex the roof or have the canvas wet all the time. So someone with more smart than me please give their thoughts.

Glad you asked the question! Let gravity take the water whatever direction it may be and always level the unit using some sort of a leveling system i.e. 4’ level.

Never mess with the roof system other than maintenance. The canvass is meant to get wet.

I don’t like the water running down the side or back of the bunk canvass either but it’s minor con in lieu of not having AC.

[Scrapper]

Those of you worried about the refrigerator being slightly out of level, if you can lie down to sleep without feeling you're going to roll out of bed or the feeling your head / feet are too high, your fridge will operate just fine. As far as the refrigerator is concerned a 5 degree side to side or 10 degree front to back will not harm it.

[hobienick]

When we had a PUP the annoyed me as well. I used J channel but made mine removable. I stapled strips of rough velcro to the inside of the roof at the bottom edge. A 6" stip at each end and in the middle. Front and back of the roof. Then I cut the J channel 8" longer than my roof was wide. I cut it to fit the roof width with a 4" overhang on each end. When lifting the roof I would install the gutter and pitch it to the side I wanted it to run. The velcro primarily held it in place during set up. Once the canvas was deployed it push the gutter in place and the velcro kept the pitch.

There was no need to alter level from side to side. I could choose to send the water either fore or aft with Jack. It worked for several years and with PUG's. No issues with rain and wind.