Dometic Penguin Drain Kit

[KJRitchie]

We tested the drain line by running water up the drain line, then letting it drain. We discovered the water drain line from the street side cup wasn't draining as well. The way Dometic sets up the drain line is the T fitting that joins the drain lines is offset to the curb side cup. We moved this T fitting so its centered so the drain lines from the cups to the T fitting are equal length We and adjusted the T so the water drains on more of a down slope to the main drain line trying to avoid a "P" trap affect. Found the trailer was low on the street side. The A/C isn't as level as the floor so if the trailer is not level side to side this causes the water to remain in the hose from the down hill cup. Not enough pressure to push the water uphill to the T fitting and the water in the cup overflows to the roof. Once we made the changes we pushed water up through the drain line and when removing the hose it came out much better. Now on the road at a campground it's humid and have been running the A/C for a couple of hours, the trailer is leveled better and the condensate is draining out the wheel well drain as designed. The AS drain pan probably overcomes this issue but its better the cups drain to the roof vs the AS drain pan overflowing to the interior if blocked or off level.

Kelvin

[kscherzi]

Originally Posted by KJRitchie

We tested the drain line by running water up the drain line, then letting it drain. We discovered the water drain line from the street side cup wasn't draining as well. The way Dometic sets up the drain line is the T fitting that joins the drain lines is offset to the curb side cup. We moved this T fitting so its centered so the drain lines from the cups to the T fitting are equal length We and adjusted the T so the water drains on more of a down slope to the main drain line trying to avoid a "P" trap affect. Found the trailer was low on the street side. The A/C isn't as level as the floor so if the trailer is not level side to side this causes the water to remain in the hose from the down hill cup. Not enough pressure to push the water uphill to the T fitting and the water in the cup overflows to the roof. Once we made the changes we pushed water up through the drain line and when removing the hose it came out much better. Now on the road at a campground it's humid and have been running the A/C for a couple of hours, the trailer is leveled better and the condensate is draining out the wheel well drain as designed. The AS drain pan probably overcomes this issue but its better the cups drain to the roof vs the AS drain pan overflowing to the interior if blocked or off level.

Kelvin

I'm getting leaking into the roof from the curbside of the AC, eventually draining next to the door. I removed the shroud and can see some water, condensate, inside the area where the motor is. I can see down into the curbside drain cup and it looked pretty full. However there a large thing in the AC, black plastic, covered in foam that's on top, maybe the condensing unit. I'm assuming there's an obstruction in the pipes connecting the cups and leading down.

How can I access the drain pipes to see if there's an obstruction and, if so, to fix it? There's almost no room between the bottom of the AC and roof of trailer.

[KJRitchie]

We removed the interior mounting plate. I have the older style ADB and the metal rectangular plate the ADB mounts to and the long mounting bolts so I'm not familiar what is used for the newer style ADB. Once my plate was removed then the drain plumbing was readily accessible.

Kelvin

[ASTailgate]

Im in the process of buying a new AC 15K BTU for my 34 ft. Was wondering about brand. Why is it that most of you are buying the dometic? What makes that better than the coleman?

[perryg114]

Coleman has changed hands recently. I am not sure of the quality. I put a new dometic in mine a few yrs back and am not impressed. I think it came down to the drain kit which only half way works but could be improved if I had the time to fix their poor engineering. Mine came with a bad thermostat. Also the design of the airbox does not lend itself to a curved ceiling. It has not died so that is a good thing. Another thing is the heater kit is not thermostatically controlled which is another thing I had to fix.

Another reason they are being bought more often is that Airstream is putting Dometics in trailers so there is more compatibility with past units and the Comfort control center which is some high tech stuff they put on the Fancy Dan newer units that I can't afford.

Perry

[jedi]

Still contemplating if I should install my new AC unit with the drip pan or the drain kit. The drip pan has small holes on the edges in the event that there was a clog in the drain tube, overflowed condensate would exit through those holes.

[64airstream]

jedi,

It is, of course, ultimately your decision. I did want you to know the Drain Kit also has an overflow. There is a small trough at the top of each drain cup (where it fits against the bottom of the AC). If the drain line plugs or the trailer is off level too much, the condensate overflows from the trough. You'll see condensate running down the side of the trailer like you would with the pan overflow holes.

As background, we installed the kit on a Coleman Mach III Power Saver and it works very well.

Good luck with your installation decisions,

Roy and Marie

[jedi]

Finally got the balls to replace and upgrade my ac & thermostat to a dometic penguin 2 on my 25' FB and used the drain kit using the 2 cups. I used an extra 90 degree 1/2" fitting for the drain kit to attach it to my existing drain tube through the trailer. This thread was very helpful in explaining everything

[tpaull2]

The kit I received only had one 14" x 14" roof gasket, so unless I ordered the wrong kit I was missing one roof gasket. I am converting from a factory drain pan which has no existing gasket, so I had to purchase an additional roof gasket to get the clearance for the plastic cups. However the gasket kit I ordered did include a new set of rear support strips to go with the ones that were in the kit. Just make sure when you are doing a conversion from a drain pan that you have two roof gaskets and two support strips before you start.

[64airstream]

tpaull2,


Thanks for the important detail and welcome to the forums. Great and helpful first post. Thanks.


As you indicated our kit had two roof gaskets and the drain cups have worked well for us so far.


Roy and Marie

[girasoledonn]

Hi, I know this is an old thread. I am doing a restoration and my tailer is gutted. I have my dometic penguin 2 installed but not wired up fully yet. I ordered the drain kit so it wouldn't run down my new paint job. But there is nothing - no old tubing of any kind. What do i need to use that connects from the AC and drains out the bottom of the trailer through the wheel well? What kind of tubing?

[gator.bigfoot]

As long as it is a flexible tubing the right size that is all you need. I bought some for another application at the big box store. It is white. You see it used all over. I used mine for a drain for my water softener. Looks to be 3/4" in size. Most likely you can just use 3/4" pex.

[girasoledonn]

Hi thanks for this info. I read the entire thread on how to install the drain kit, but I am still feeling trepidatious like I can't get my head around it. I was hoping Lewster could also chime in for further clarification. My interior walls are out right now, insulation is in, and I want to install this drain kit and run it down the side before I fab the new walls to install. I put the bottom portion of the AC on with bolts just to keep the AC on top in place in case of a bad storm or something, and to stop the leaking with the giant hole on my roof lol.

I'm a little nervous to get on the roof with another person and lift it on its side. I know I cant lift it myself, but all that weight on the roof, even standing on the ribs, makes me nervous.

There was no AC on my 74 Argosy, so we cut the whole in the roof for it carefully so there would be two ribs to hold it, but it was soooo long ago in my rebuild, that I cant remember if I put down a gasket with tape on it face down secured to the roof, or just a gasket. (asking because I'm not sure if i need to scrape anything off when I get up there?) I know there was no tempo or anything like that- just bolted down to compress the gasket.

I understand I cut a hole for the drain cups to fit, but do the drain cups mount to the base of the AC with screws? And then I place the second gasket on top? Then I flip it back over, and that dual tubing goes down into the trailer.. and I connect that tubing to a piece of pex? And run that pet down a rib? And then cut a hole in my wheel well.. and run the pex out the bottom between the wheels? Do i have this right? Without taking the AC off and having a good look at it, I cant really visualize what I'm doing, but once I take it off and have help to do so, I need to get it done so I have to know what I'm doing before hand.

I read on here that even after doing this, half the condense still runs off the trailer? So is it really that much of a help?

Without the drain kit.. the water will just run down the sides with my dometic right?

Sorry if i sound stupid or something here - these types of projects with my reno are so much harder to me than something like building end caps, because I cant get my head around what it is i'm doing without a video tutorial or something.

Thanks again.

[n2916s]

On mine, the A/C is mounted on a double gasket and the cups are held in place by the A/C frame once the four bolts are cinched down. The street side cup tees with the curbside cup and the 3/8 hose runs down the street side between the inner and outer skins to just forward of the front axle.