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Old 10-16-2013, 01:35 PM   #1
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Does Your Air Conditioner Rain Down On You?

Our A/C rained down on me a couple days ago ... inside the Airstream. Upon removing the interior cover and base plate, what I found is that the "high quality piece of crap plastic Drip Pan" (known by some as a Base Pan, Condensation Pan, etc.) is all cracked around the fitting, and that the hole in the Drip Pan, that the fitting screws into, appears to be drilled out larger than the fitting diameter.

Photos attached.

So I contacted Dometic and they don't even sell replacement "high quality piece of crap plastic Drip Pans". Their solution is to purchase a new A/C. I won't express my thoughts on that.

So the RV Tech I met with today discussed it with me and we're going to use an autobody epoxy and permanently plug the current hole that has failed. Then we're going to drill a new hole on the side of the "high quality piece of crap plastic Drip Pan" and install a 90 degree fitting and hook the drain hose to the new fitting.

So, if your A/C is raining down on you inside your Airstream it may be a more serious issue than simply condensation. It may be a poor installation job done at the factory that requires a more in depth review of the situation.
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Old 10-16-2013, 02:58 PM   #2
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Rivet crao plastic

Frank and Mike ,
What an answer ! Buy a whole new AC unit ! What Dolts !!!
As far as finding things that were screwed up at the factory , I hope this one
is as bad as it gets for you , I have found quite a few things that Airstream
did to ours that were simply "don't give a **** construction" related . and one huge engineering problem. Hang in there and muddle through the screw ups , then yours will be a mostly trouble free nice looking trailer.
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Old 10-16-2013, 03:06 PM   #3
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Wow, you must of been beside me when I found the exact same thing with ours. OK, maybe not as bad, I was able to use epoxy around it to seal it.
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Old 10-16-2013, 03:08 PM   #4
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Same with ours. Epoxy fixed it, but what a bad design. We are thinking of replacing the AC to get a larger unit. And the new Coleman Mach 8 unit is looking even more attractive now.
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Old 10-16-2013, 03:10 PM   #5
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Our air conditioner also had a leak in the "high quality piece of crap plastic Drip Pan" because of a crack located where the fitting screwed into the pan.

After finding where the water was actually coming from, and in our case this was the hardest thing, I was able to stop the leak with Household Goop.
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Old 10-21-2013, 07:27 PM   #6
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I've just had that happen to me. I have not had a chance to look to see where the problem is. I will definitely try these suggestions. I will post what I found.
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Old 10-21-2013, 08:42 PM   #7
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The Tech is coming tomorrow to fix the issue. I'll try to take some photos if I can.
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Old 10-22-2013, 04:51 AM   #8
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That would be great. Mine too is a 25ft 2007. I guess the life span of the pan is up.
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Old 10-22-2013, 05:22 AM   #9
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Thumbs up

Check with Lewster, you may need the "kit".

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Old 10-22-2013, 05:29 AM   #10
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Thanks
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Old 10-22-2013, 05:49 AM   #11
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It's a crying shame that AS has embraced the philosophy of "build it light and build it cheap " so it lasts till the warranty expires ! then Who Cares :-(

the factory installed AC on our 1966 AS still works fine and drains to the outside after 47 years of use .
Just saying
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Old 10-22-2013, 07:02 AM   #12
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I also "JB Welded" mine....but I occasionally still had a drip problem in very humid conditions. I found that there was a gap between the top of the pan and the bottom of the A/C unit. When the blower was on high and humidity was high the air turbulence was "damming up" the water and not letting it drain, but rather was blowing it over the top of the pan and down onto the filter area of the cover. A quick test of this is to go outside and then have someone shut off the A/C during a leak condition. If you see a lot (like a pint or more) of water coming out of the drain tube in a sudden rush, it is being held back during operation.

I fixed mine by sealing the top of the pan to the A/C unit.
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Old 10-22-2013, 07:33 PM   #13
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That is an interesting finding. I may have experienced that as well. I had thought it was a plugged drain tube. I haven't been in a really hot humid place since early this summer when it occurred.
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Old 10-22-2013, 08:32 PM   #14
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Plastic isn't plastic and epoxy isn't epoxy.
Once you know what kind of plastic you have, consider West Systems G/Flex. There is a good guide to adhering to different types of plastics here. I've had great luck with this.
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Old 01-13-2014, 10:01 AM   #15
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Cracks!

So, after finding this thread, and a few more it looks like I am suffering from the same pan drips as everyone else. Let me clarify, that my drips are coming from rain water as well. I took some photos of the process of finding these small cracks for the next guy this happens to (Something tells me I wont be the last.) And to save him time, here is how I discovered my AC Plastic Cracks:

Step 1) Remove the plastic interior shroud attached to your interior roof (phillips screws)

Step 2) (photo 1) Find drip on Metal plate. They will find the lowest point (it could be coming out of a screw hole)

Step 3) (Photo 2) Using a 10mm socket and a drill bit attachment, because these are long bolts, remove 3 long bolts that attach metal plate to ceiling. Note: By removing these you are removing how your AC is attached to your ceiling so dont try and drive off. And another more IMPORTANT NOTE don't try to tighten these bolts up with your drill, just torque them by hand. There should be a "50% gasket compression."

Step 4) (Photo 3) Find the black, plastic drip pan, that connects to a hose feeding out to the "drivers side" of tow rig

Step 5) (Photo 4 Back side) Look for small hairline crack(s). I found a total of 3 in my plastic piece of crap drip pan. I removed the grey caulking around the tube to get a good look at whats going on in there.

This is where I am stuck

STEP 6 Where can I find a new plastic drain pan, or what should I patch these cracks up with that will be a long term strong fix. I am all about doing it right the first time...
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Old 01-13-2014, 10:05 AM   #16
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I had the same problem in my former Classic 25. I was able to use Marine Goop to seal everything and never had a problem after that. Marine Goop will even bond to wet surfaces.
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Old 01-13-2014, 10:11 AM   #17
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"Marine Goop" Is that really the name of it?
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Old 01-13-2014, 10:15 AM   #18
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Well, after a quick google search it looks like "Marine goop" is the name and its about 8 bucks on amazon. This could be a good option. I'm going to call a dealer to see if I can get an entirely new drain pan.
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Old 01-13-2014, 10:24 AM   #19
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It's actually called "Amazing Goop" with several packaging labels, including RV, Marine, etc. But if you compare the technical data for RV, Marine, and Automotive, they're all identical, only the label is different. I haven't compared the technical data for the other labelings, but I'd be surprised if they were different. So, look for "Amazing Goop" and don't worry whether the package says Marine, RV, or whatever. If the price is different (anything labeled "Marine" usually is more expensive) get whichever "version" is cheapest.
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Old 01-13-2014, 02:16 PM   #20
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Actually, all the varieties of Goop were side by side at the store and were exactly the same price. Only the Marine Goop label specified that it bonded to wet surfaces, so that is what I bought. It did bond to the outlet of the AC pan where there was still a bit of seepage.
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