AC leak ruining my headliner

[Millsie33]

A few yrs ago I had a roof leak. I caulked all the seals and re coated my roof. The leak had seemed to be fixed. We didn't use the unit much because I had neck surgery and was out of commission for longer than I should have been. It seemed that we would occasionally still get water through the roof. But when I would check it after a heavy storm there was no water on the floor. We recently took the motorhome for a weekend trip and although we had no rain, the water started dripping from the headliner where it had pulled away from the ceiling. Last week I took the cover off of the ac unit and found no obstruction anywhere. I ran the unit for a little while and found water leaking out of one of the fittings on the unit. It a 2015 Georgetown XL 352BH. I suspect this has been happening since we bought it 9 yrs ago until it slowly made it's way inside the motorhome. I now have damage to the headliner near both ac units. I can't re glue the headliner because it shrank to the point that there is a 2 inch gap when I push it back up. I know I'm way out of warranty, bit finding this problem would have never been possible as it took awhile to work it's way into the inside. I'm going to pull both units. Make sure everything is sealed and try and tighten the fitting that is leaking. I'm attaching picture of where it's leaking from. I'm assuming the water is following one of the mounting bolts to get in. I'm looking for any suggestions on how to ensure no more water can enter the motorhome from the ac unit once it has stopped leaking at the fitting. Also any suggestions on what to do with the headliner inside. Has anyone ever had the headliner replaced and what kind of cost am I looking at to replace it? Any help one the whole situation would help! Our motorhome is a 2015 with less than 25,000 miles. It took extremely good care of it and thought I was doing the proper maintenance with maintaining roof seals and new coating. It's heartbreaking that this is where the water was coming from. On both ac units also. Not sure if it's a faultee design or If someone just didn't do their job. Thanks for all your help! It's greatly appreciated! The first picture is of inside the unit. The second is a close up with arrow pointed to fitting that's leaking. Can anyone be held accountable? Or is it on me to pay for all the damage?

 

[NXR]

What make and model of air conditioner do you have?

Generally the roof unit uses a foam gasket underneath the roof unit, not caulk, so I have no idea what "seals" you "caulked".

Have you checked the mounting bolts for the proper torque? With our Atwood roof units the bolts are on the inside and use a torque of 4.4 ft-lbs (four point four, not forty four). That's just snugged up, not cranked down.

If there is a foam gasket then loose bolts will allow water through the roof to the inside and they do loosen up. I check mine once a year.

If someone cranked those bolts down tight that also allows water through the roof to the inside.

Ray

 

[NXR]

What make and model of air conditioner do you have?

Generally, the roof unit uses a foam gasket underneath the roof unit, not caulk, so I have no idea what "seals" you "caulked".

The fitting you pointed to probably is not leaking but rather condensation because some of the pipe insulation has departed. The only thing inside an air conditioner is coolant. You'll never see it if coolant leaks because it will evaporate. If you crank down on that fitting you may end up buying a new roof unit.

Have you checked the mounting bolts for the proper torque? With our Atwood roof units the bolts are on the inside and use a torque of 4.4 ft-lbs (four point four, not forty four). That's just snugged up, not cranked down.

If there is a foam gasket then loose bolts will allow water through the roof to the inside and they do loosen up. I check mine once a year.

Normally the air conditioner drips condensation water directly on the roof and the foam gasket keeps the water out of the interior. Since you only get water inside when the A/C is running but not when raining that points to a problem with the roof unit mounting.

If someone cranked those bolts down tight that also allows water through the roof to the inside.

Ray

 

[Millsie33]

What make and model of air conditioner do you have?

Generally the roof unit uses a foam gasket underneath the roof unit, not caulk, so I have no idea what "seals" you "caulked".

Have you checked the mounting bolts for the proper torque? With our Atwood roof units the bolts are on the inside and use a torque of 4.4 ft-lbs (four point four, not forty four). That's just snugged up, not cranked down.

If there is a foam gasket then loose bolts will allow water through the roof to the inside and they do loosen up. I check mine once a year.

If someone cranked those bolts down tight that also allows water through the roof to the inside.

Ray

I'd have to look at make and model. The seals I caulked are the front and back cap. Around the vents, antenna, skylight...etc I pulled both units and it does have foam around the opening. I retaped all around the opening put seam tape over that and put 2 beads of caulk around both sides of the foam. I cleaned and coated the roof that's covered by the ac cover. I'm gonna put a descent bead of geoseal on the roof befor I set the unit back in. Then see if I see any possible leakers. Also going to caulk around Mounting bolt holes and put some silicon in the bolt holes. I could've been doing this since new? 2 yrs ago I seen a small spot and did all the seams and obstacles. We haven't used it much because I had neck surgery and was down for awhile. I wasn't getting water and thought everything was good. I noticed it was getting worse, but wasn't any change after multiple rains. So I bought a kit to re coat the whole roof. Well, we were on a trip this summer and didn't receive a drop of rain. I noticed it was dripping and that's when I realized it was the AC. It was driving me crazy thinking one of the seals was leaking or I had a crack in my roof or something. Hopefully what I'm doing will solve the issue. It was probably coming underneath that foam and following it down the mounting bolts or between side of the opening. I appreciate your response! Please let me know what you think and if you have any other possible tricks. Hopefully everything I'm doing will take care of it. I'll run it for a while once I put them back in.

 

[NXR]

Be careful using caulk around roof air conditioners. Most drain directly out the bottom on to the roof. If you make a mistake you could block water in.

FWIW, I carry this pinless moisture meter: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076VGKSZN/

I don't have the expertise to use it efficiently so I just use it for relative measurements. In other words, I put the meter on a known good area and slowly slide it to the suspected bad area. If the numbers really jump you may want to investigate further.

I haven't used it much but I ran it all over our roof and walls when we got this thing new. I noticed modest increases around the windows, which I suspect is just the aluminum framing. We ordered our Georgetown so it was delivered straight from the factory and suffered no "lot rot".

I used it for someone else on their Class C where they thought they had a cap leak. Wow, the numbers really jumped way up and we could use the meter to kind of find the boundaries of the damage.

Good luck,

Ray

 

[cjd10]

If you have the Dometic AC's like my 2014 351DS there is a thick rubber gasket around the bottom frame of the roof unit. There are 4 bolts, one on each corner, that can be reached through the lower section to snug the upper unit down.
I know this is a poor description. Maybe someone else can describe it better
I do know if they are not tightened down properly, not too tight, it will allow water to leak in.
Mine were loose on both of my ACs right after purchase.

 

[nvs4602]

To fix the head liner around the air conditioner units. Maybe you could put some nice wood molding around them and picture frame them in to hide the shrunken headliner.