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Old 06-27-2010, 01:22 PM   #1
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Condensation Drain- inside wall or on rooftop?

I had a new A/C unit installed in April and haven't had the opportunity to use it extensively until this past week at Tybee Island, Ga. The temperature was around 90-95 all week with high humidity. The existing condensation line apparently is clogged as I had water dripping in the camper. I tried unsuccessfully to clear the line with the limited tools I had with me. The line is not completely clogged because there is a steady drip while the unit is running. The problem is that when the unit is turned off (either manually or by the thermostat) there is rush of condensation that the drain line can't handle and it overflows. I was able to engineer a temporary fix using a garden hose draining the water into the sink and I rigged up a piece a cardboard to use as a diffuser so the air wouldn't shoot straight down. It worked and pulled us through the week, but it was touch and go there for a little while.

So now the question is do I re-plumb the condensation to the roof or try to get the existing drain line unclogged? The dealer that installed the new unit is going fix it right in either case, but as you can imagine I'm not very confident they're going to fix it long term. Other that the obvious inconvenience of having water drip down the side of the trailer versus draining underneath, are there other drawbacks to this method. Any thoughts or opinions are appreciated.
Thanks,
Todd
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Old 06-27-2010, 03:55 PM   #2
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I cleared mine just by blowing through the tube from the bottom. Been fine for the last 3 years
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Old 06-27-2010, 04:36 PM   #3
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As long as the line is not damaged (crushed) you should be able to clear it with compressed air, or possibly a thin fish line (think electrician's fish line for wire not for the finny ones)

Aaron
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Old 06-27-2010, 06:16 PM   #4
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Thanks for ideas guys. Now that I'm home I'm going to try both compressed air and a fish tape. At this point if I can fix it myself I'll feel better about it. Not to mention the hassle of dropping it off and picking it up at the dealer. What I'm afraid of is that someone made a "repair" to the line at some point. About 5" back between the inner and outer skin you can feel some type of splice with tape around it so I don't think the existing tube is one complete piece. My thinking with the rooftop drain is that it be accessible if there's a problem in the future.
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Old 06-27-2010, 06:30 PM   #5
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I can't remember if the durned thing is fastened down or not, if not you "might" be able to pull a new one down the line by fastening it to the old one and pulling it along.

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Old 06-23-2011, 02:18 PM   #6
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So...after a year of not needing AC when we camped we just returned from our annual trip to Tybee Island. Before we left I was determined to make sure the condensation problem from last year didn't repeat itself. I installed a new continuous piece of hose from the plug on the drip pan, routed it through the inner skin into the overhead cabinets, through the wardrobe and out the bottom, paying attention to the "fall" of the drain tube and making sure gravity would do it's job.

Good news- The majority of the condensation was draining on to the ground and the installation of the new tube worked perfectly.

Bad news- There's a small leak where the drain plug is attached to the drip pan. There's caulking around the plug and the drip is very slight but enough to where we had to keep a towel on the floor to absorb the water and replace it with a dry one every few hours. This work was done at the dealer who installed the unit for me last spring.

The next question is- Is there a product that will adhere to the caulk that's already there and form a bond? Obviously it would be best to have the pan on a work bench, remove the caulk, clean and completely re-do the plug but that's not practical. I think I know the answer about applying another product on top of one that's not doing it's job but I figured I'd ask for some opinions anyway
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