Leaky AC on new Flying Cloud

[ROBERT CROSS]

Long ago learned a lesson from auto AC units....especially on our 95 Burb TV.

A lot of them dripped all over the passenger side floor when AC was running on Auto max cool with the fan on high, the drains couldn't handle the amount of condensate.


When we first got the 03 Classic I also thought the "auto" setting was the way to go. When I noticed water running off the roof AND out the drain I remembered the wet floor fix.

My solution...high humidity, don't use the auto setting.

Turn the temp to max cool and the fan down, the air out the vents will be cooler because the air is spending more time around the coils. The slower fan speed will cut down the volume of air being de-humidified, less water.

It's still what I do with the AS, once the interior was cooled down enough to be comfortable I turn the fan down and set the thermo where it will maintain the interior temp.

No more water off the roof.

Bob

[Tater]

On our 11 FC, we had the A/C turned down to 60 and fan on low. Water poured from the sides of the unit during the night and there was considerable water on the floor the next morning and the A/C was out all day while I was drying things out. I'm not convinced running on max cool with the fan on will work. We were at Daytona Beach last month when this happened.

[ROBERT CROSS]

Tater,

I'm sure it's quite a bit different down in Fla, but if I set it at 60 all night we'd be froze to the sheets in the morning.

"once the interior was cooled down enough to be comfortable I turn the fan down and set the thermo where it will maintain the interior temp."

During our recent run of 90's here I had the unit running 24/7 for a 14 days. The interior was 95+.
When it cooled down inside, I set the thermostat at 78 and let it run. 90+ outside 78 inside was quite comfortable. And all water exiting thru the drain.

Have you been able to ck the pan for cracks and drain for blockage?

Bob

[Snedwid]

I posted here some time ago about my AC unit dripping boocoo amounts of condensate during useage, esp at shutdown. I've had the 2010 FC23FB into the dealer a couple of times and also to the factory several times and the problem has never really been solved. My big concern is the water hitting the floor splashes very close to the electric panel. Hopefully, the factory will eventually come up with a good fix.

[Tater]

Originally Posted by ROBERT CROSS

Tater,

I'm sure it's quite a bit different down in Fla, but if I set it at 60 all night we'd be froze to the sheets in the morning.

"once the interior was cooled down enough to be comfortable I turn the fan down and set the thermo where it will maintain the interior temp."

During our recent run of 90's here I had the unit running 24/7 for a 14 days. The interior was 95+.
When it cooled down inside, I set the thermostat at 78 and let it run. 90+ outside 78 inside was quite comfortable. And all water exiting thru the drain.

Have you been able to ck the pan for cracks and drain for blockage?

Bob

When I had the cover removed, I looked for cracks and didn't notice anything. At the time I did that I did not check the drain. Earlier in the day the water was coming out by the wheel so much that the person camped next to me thought I had a water leak. I am moving the trailer to a mancave next to the house at the end of next month and I will remove the cover and check the pan for cracks since I did not really look for that before, and I will check the line for blockage as well. I should add it never dropped the temperature down to 60 that night and the unit did not work the next day due to the water on the telephone wire issue. The next night I was happy at 78 degrees or any cooling at all. The third day it was all back to normal after everything was dried out. Thanks for the tips.

[smhx4]

Well an hour a got the 15k unit did the big dump of water when it shut down. When it tried to start up again it would stop, start again then stop. The CCC had the E1 code flashing for zone 2 then a moment later zone 1. I turned it off, pulled put the very wet filters in the unit and pointed the table fan at the unit. Had the EE code before, we pulled the cover off and dried everything and was able to reset the unit.

I'm going to let it dry some more, read the manual and try it again. Thankfully its morning and still cool inside.

[Gene]

Originally Posted by fmrcaptevil

The design flaw (post #10) has been addressed: a/c upper units are now being installed at the factory in such a way that some of the condensate is diverted to the roof....perhaps not a perfect solution, but certainly a step in the right direction.

But, do the dealers know this and are they correcting the problem on units installed improperly?

Are there trailers out of warranty where this is a problem and is Airstream fixing this at no cost?

Gene

[Tater]

Our symptoms were the same as post 26 almost to the T. After everything was dried out, we did get it restarted and it ran intermittently for a couple of hours then straightened out ok. Mine is an 2011 and under warranty. I have no confidence in any dealer I have taken our A/S to to adequately fix anything on the first trip. Wouldn't be so bad if they were close by but in our case they are at least and 1 1/2 to 2 hours each way. When you talk with A/S customer service they tell you to take it to a dealer. Quality service is not an A/S strong suit based on my experiences.

[tpi]

Even though its a factory problem and they're responsible for warranty, it would be interesting to actually see whats up here. Perhaps a trip on the roof (remove shroud) during the interior leakage would reveal if water is backing up in the pan.

If so, I can think of two possible solutions. One is some kind of evacuation pump on the drain line. The other is some "relief" holes drilled in the drain pan so when water approaches a certain level, it will run onto the roof instead of entering the trailer interior. Perhaps these can be on street side encouraging drainage away from awning and door.

[xrvr]

Try Sanders rv north of Gainesville in Alachua. An AS dealer. I am happy with their service. jim

[Tater]

Originally Posted by zigzagguzzi

Try Sanders rv north of Gainesville in Alachua. An AS dealer. I am happy with their service. jim

I have used JD Sanders on a warranty issue a few months ago. I had a leak under the sink and told them it was the pex pipe or fitting. Thier solution was to tighten the fitting (I had already done this) and according to them the leak was fixed. Of course it wasn't so I cut the pex fitting out, put in a sharkbite connector to a short stainless steel sink connector and it hasn't leaked since. They are the closest A/S dealer to me but it's quite a drive there for them not to properly fix and test repairs before the A/S is picked up.

[Fly at Night]

Had the same thing happen. Second time I have used a/c - was running from 9:30 pm to 2 am. When I shut if off, some water gushed out and dripped.

Doesn't drip when running; only after shutdown.

[Fly at Night]

Well, air conditioner is no longer leaking. I wonder why?

l. Was a breaking-in glitch.
2. Is subject to atmospheric conditions, i.e. high humidity.
3. I have a darling of a trailer; it fixes itself!!

[Gene]

Originally Posted by Fly at Night

Well, air conditioner is no longer leaking. I wonder why?

l. Was a breaking-in glitch.
2. Is subject to atmospheric conditions, i.e. high humidity.
3. I have a darling of a trailer; it fixes itself!!

Fly, here's a 4th reason—there was junk in the pan, maybe metal or plastic shavings, that clogged the drain and now it has washed down the drain and all is well.

Gene

[MrUKToad]

Originally Posted by CrawfordGene

Fly, here's a 4th reason—there was junk in the pan, maybe metal or plastic shavings, that clogged the drain and now it has washed down the drain and all is well.

Gene

You're probably right Gene. The AC unit on our 2011 International doesn't "gush" when shut off and I can see that it's draining properly through the drain pipe, so we don't have a blockage; on new units blockages are often caused by the mad caulking employee at the factory who gets a little overzealous and seals the drain hole up! Our AC did drip a bit when we were in New Orleans but I decided that was just the excessive humidity as it stopped when we moved north.

[Fly at Night]

Originally Posted by CrawfordGene

Fly, here's a 4th reason—there was junk in the pan, maybe metal or plastic shavings, that clogged the drain and now it has washed down the drain and all is well.

Gene

Gene, the second time I turned the A/C off, it gushed like Niagara Falls.
Dog was lying underneath enjoying the coolness, and received an unexpected bath!

A late heat wave has hit; A/C has been on every day and the floor beneath is as dry as a bone.

So, I guess my drain unplugged itself too.

All is well....ahhhhhhhhhh, I like that.

[Mike Leary]

Originally Posted by CrawfordGene

Fly, here's a 4th reason—there was junk in the pan, maybe metal or plastic shavings, that clogged the drain and now it has washed down the drain and all is well.

Gene

Thanks for the reminder, after sitting under trees all summer, it's time for me to haul out the compressor and blow the drains from underneath before we head south for the winter.

[Ruffn It]

We're having the interior A/C drip this morning too. Noticed it because the dog was wet and thought she'd been having old lady issues but she had been getting dripped on over night. high humidity. Also seems like the unit is just turning right back on as soon as it turns off. we've been in it for three weeks and this is the first time we've noticed the constant cycling. Doubt it's the first time we've had this much humidity. Going to check for blockages, etc. will follow up if we find anything interesting.

[Ruffn It]

'Doh! Just cycled off and got the gush onto the floor ... And right back on ...

[Tater]

We had the same problem and followed the solution of running the fan continually on high. No leak at Daytona in July.