Bad storm or bad A/C seal?

[Mike And Mary Engen]

Our 95 Patriot, has developed some sort of rain leak from the front air conditioner, a DuoTherm.

Last night, it rained harder (Florida Panhandle) than I can ever remember it raining when we were in the coach. The leak started midway through this downpour. The coach was leveled, the thermostat was switched to fan/manual and there was a driving rain. A drip started which we caught immediately and captured about half a cereal bowl of water, with minimal wicking to the ceiling material. I stopped the fan, lowered the jacks a little bit on the back of the coach and the leak stopped with no other problems the rest of the night during a bad rainstorm. It rained again today with no further problem.

Is this typical in a bad rainstorm (the back A/C was ok) or should I be replacing the seal, unplugging something, tightening something?

Is it likely that some rainwater was sucked or blown into the unit somehow and then leaked inside? Or is it more likely that some weather seal failed?

Also I had resealed the roof in November, did not disassemble A/C units though.

We are at Carrabelle Beach< Florida and there is an rv repair tech with several years experience in the area we can call or a Monaco dealer in Panama City, should I contact them? I am very mechanically inclined, but limited on this trip with tools.

Thank you for any information or experiences you can provide.

Mike

[Jerry and Kay Hudson]

We have a 2002 Contessa and we experienced the same problem with a driving rain in January of this year. we had the top resealed and just recently in the past three weeks had both of the a/c seals replaced as a proactive measure. we have not had a chance to get in a driving rain storm since so we do not know if everything will be fine or not.

Jerry and Kay Hudson
2002 Contessa

[Richard And Babs Ames]

Pull the cover inside and you will see four bolts on the corners of the bottom flange of the AC  that extend through the roof and into the AC unit. A quick turn of the bolts should snug the seal as the seal will compress or the bolts lossen over time. Be careful not to over tighten. Seals usually last for many years if not overtighened.

[Mike And Mary Engen]

OK I will try that immediately as we have another bad storm on the way and lots of warnings for the area.

We are at Carrabelle Beach RV Resort 20 miles East of Apalachicola and prepared to evacuate if necessary as they had to a few days ago.

Thank you Ames and Hudson families for the prompt response.

Mike Engen

[Mike And Mary Engen]

This was a relatively easy repair or preventative maintenance item. We have a Duo-Therm 13500 btu unit.

1. Pop off filter access panel and remove it along with filter.
2. Pop off two plastic screw covers with a small jackknife or something with a small blade.
3. Remove 6 phillips screws (be careful if it has just rained, there may be a little water) and drop
   main access panel.
4. I used a 1/4" ratchet (sorry forgot the socket size) and just snugged up. (Our 95 took 4 or 5 ratchet movements.)
    As warned by Richard earlier do not over-tighten, just snug.
5. Reassemble, then check rear unit while you have tools.
6. Inspect unit on roof.

If this does not work, you will need to replace seal.

Also found this 126 page service manual online:
http://bryantrv.com/docs2/docs/acservice.pdf

[Paul Schwalen]

We have a 03 Contessa and about a year ago we had the same problem and found that the ac shroud had developed a crack in one corner and the water somehow infiltrated and caused a large drip in the bedroom in the middle of the night.  The next morning I put some blue tape over the crack and continued our trip.  After arriving home and checking out the cost for new shrouds I decided to repair the cracks (actually upon close inspection there were 4 cracks between both shrouds).  These cracks seemed to be from fatigue at the point where the screws fasten the shouds to the frame of the ac unit. The fix was easy with a fiberglass repair kit from Home Depot that cost about $8.  We have not had a leak since.

[Mike And Mary Engen]

Thanks Paul!

We will be back home in a couple of weeks and I will pull covers and inspect both units.