AC drain

[Bill M.]

We are on the road. Had new AC installed at Campng World a couple weeks ago. They ordered the “correct” parts for Airstream. Had our first serious AC run yesterday, all the condensate water comes out of the unit into the trailer floor. None going out of the outside drain tube. Removing the filters and looking up I see what looks like the drain tube with a lot of caulking.

My question, is there anything I can do from the bottom to maybe correct this? Or does the top unit need to be removed and installed again?

Can I remove and re install the inside unit of the AC without getting on the roof?

[David F]

I don't know. But, possibly pull the inside cover and ensure the trailer drain tube is connected properly to the a/c unit drain/tube. I believe the way it works is that the condensate pump located under the cover on the roof unit is piped to the interior where it picks up the trailer drain tube.

If the drain tube gets clogged, the condensate collection well will overflow onto the roof of the trailer. Or behave exactly as if you did not have a drain tube to begin with. In other words, condensate should never drain to the inside. So, I suspect a split in the drain tube or a connection was not made up properly.

[ROBERT CROSS]

If it is connected properly....

I bought a 10' length of 1/8" ID stiff plastic tubing for the AS tool kit.
I run it up the drain with the AC running every Spring to make sure it's clear.

I filter the water for my only existing wet cell 6v battery.


Bob
🇺🇸

[A W Warn]

Originally Posted by Bill M.

We are on the road. Had new AC installed at Campng World a couple weeks ago. They ordered the “correct” parts for Airstream. Had our first serious AC run yesterday, all the condensate water comes out of the unit into the trailer floor. None going out of the outside drain tube. Removing the filters and looking up I see what looks like the drain tube with a lot of caulking.

My question, is there anything I can do from the bottom to maybe correct this? Or does the top unit need to be removed and installed again?

Can I remove and re install the inside unit of the AC without getting on the roof?

Can you take a photo of the connections, so we can see what you are working with?
Did they install a connection to a drain pan or drain cups?

First thing I would do is make sure the drain tube is not plugged with dirt dauber nest or spider webs.
If you have a vacuum try suctioning from the tube at drain tube on the bottom end, using your hand to create closure. I you don't have a vacuum, try (preferably with something semi-ridged not sharp) to probe up into the tube from the bottom end.

[Belegedhel]

Can you confirm whether you have the older style "drain pan," which was a grey plastic pan that was glued to the roof and the AC sits down in it...Or..Do you have the newer style of condensation catch system that consists of a couple of "cups" that are fastened to the AC underneath the drain holes, and then the condensate is carried inside via a hose from each side?

Either way, you should be able to learn a lot by dropping the ceiling unit. Make sure there is no power to the unit when doing this.

good luck!

[Bill M.]

Thanks. We are also camped without a wi fi at the trailer. Went fishing today. Good day. With the filters out I see a huge gob of what looks like plumbers putty where there ought to be a nice neat connection. It looks like there is a drain pan. I am going to drop the inside unit and clean off the putty and see what I have to deal with. I will either make a good connection or plug the drain and hope it goes out on the roof. I will check back tomorrow with pictures. Thanks.

[Belegedhel]

Proceed with caution!

When you had the AC unit installed, were you replacing an existing AC, or was this installed from scratch (the trailer had no AC in the first place)?

If you have the plastic drain pan, then the tube connection to the pan is just glued in place with a big blob of caulk. Yes, it is messy, but there is no more "proper" connection to be had. The attached picture shows that connection on my trailer. Now, if the connection itself is leaking, then sure, clean it up, reseal it, ensure that the drain tube isn't clogged, and give it a try. Also these plastic pans were notorious for getting cracked and leaking into the cabin, so have a good hard look for cracks in the plastic as well.

If you plug the drain, then the pan will just fill up and continue to drain into your trailer. It will have the same effect as having a clogged drain tube, which could also be what your problem is. In this case try fishing a wire up the drain tube, or attaching a wet vac to it and sucking it out.

good luck!

[Bill M.]

Thanks for the suggestions. I took off the plastic air shroud. I partially unscrewed the AC mounting bolts and lowered the inside bracket about an 1” so I can see in. There is a steady drip at the drain connection. I now suspect the drain line is plugged because there is no water coming through it outside. I st.I’ll do not know if I have a drain pan or a cup. The collecting vessel is a unit about 12” running across the bottom of the AC unit and about 1.5 inches wide and slanted from 0 on one side to about 2” high on the drain attachment side.
I am going to take Bob’s suggestion and try to find some tubing to clear the line with next. Working on the road everything seems to take days. It is fairly dry where we are now so not a complete flood.

Camping world only put in 3 of the 4 mounting bolts for the AC unit.

[Belegedhel]

Seems like mine only has two in the front and one in the back as well.

You can tell if you have the pan vs. the cups just by looking up at that blob of caulking. if it looks like there is a plastic thing that the drain tube attaches to, then that is the pan. The cups are attached to one another via a plastic tube, that has a "Y" connection that attaches to the drain tube.

The benefit of the cups is that if the drain line gets clogged, then the cups overflow and drip down the exterior of the trailer, whereas a clog with the pan results in an overflow to the interior of the trailer.

good luck!

[A W Warn]

Originally Posted by Bill M.

<snip>do not know if I have a drain pan or a cup. The collecting vessel is a unit about 12” running across the bottom of the AC unit and about 1.5 inches wide and slanted from 0 on one side to about 2” high on the drain attachment side.<snip>

Sounds your trailer has a drain pan.

The drain pan has a plastic trough that spans the roof opening. The drain tube connect into the trough. My drain pan originally a big gob of sealant where the drain tube connected to the pan.

Drain cups are mounted outside so that they cannot be seen from inside. With cups there would be a tube running across the inside opening, connecting the two cups. The tube between the cups would have a pipe tee somewhere in the opening that you can see from inside. From the tee there would be a single pipe conneced to the drian tube with a coupling and clamps.

The good thing about drain cups is that if the drain tube gets stopped up the water runs onto the roof, not inside.

This is a video of the cup install. I did this conversion on one of my airstreams. I will NEVER use a drain pan again!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6qIjJn0DKo

[Wazbro]

Someone asked me to look at a leaking A/C that was installed by Camping World. I tried the weed wacker line up the tube, didn't help. Took the ceiling unit off, saw the cracks in each inside corner of the drain pan and it appeared that they used multiple tubes of caulk to glue down the roof unit. I told them I didn't think the A/C would survive removal and it was beyond what I could handle.

[Bill M.]

The installation was a replacement of an existing AC. Same brand and size. Yes, it appears to be a drain pan. The leak was coming out of the gob of caulk. It actually looks and feels like plumbers putty. No sticky. I took out all of the caulk. there is a plastic fitting on the end of the hose that looks like it is broken out of the end of the drain pan. And a piece missing. I cleaned it all and let it dry 2 days and went at it with Flex seal. I tried to glue down the broken part with the caulk and to replace some of the missing area with tape and then a final gob of caulk over it. Now the weather has turned cool. Maybe we will not need the AC again this trip. Hope. Thinking about just making a little boat under the connection with Flex seal tape if my current try leaks. Hey, it Flex seal with hold up a lighthouse, right?

Can the drain pan be replaced with the cups? Camping world ordered and charged me for the "drain attachement" for the AC. And then used the old one I guess. Is that because they really could not put the cups in?

[Joyman]

I found the cups are on back order every where I checked. A wonderful fellow Air stream forum member sent me a link of a eBay account where I ordered the cups from. But no gasket. So I also ordered a gasket from a second source and made our work. The Dolmetic "cup " set was back ordered and they had to make it work..... I bet. Your New A.C. Needed 4 different pieces to complete one ac system. (Not a easy process to put together......

[A W Warn]

Originally Posted by Bill M.

<snip> Can the drain pan be replaced with the cups? <snip>

Yes.
I removed the pan and added the cup kit.
It takes two 14"x14" gaskets, but only one gasket comes with the cup kit.

[Bill M.]

Thanks. Looking forward towards next spring I will probably try to get and install the cups. Glad that can be done.