Where does the Air Conditioner drain?

[sbb2112]

I searched and didn't quite find what I was hunting for and thought somebody might know. I've had the RV for a few weeks now and all in all everything works OK. I had an A/C cycling problem and used a larger cord to shore power and that fixed the problem. I ran the unit for 4 hours and climbed up on a ladder and made sure it was draining somewhere. I had a stream running off the rear of the roof and all seemed well. We took it out for our first trip and got caught in a heavy downpour along the way. After cleaning up the water, all of which was rear of the A/C unit I got a ladder and went up to look at what was up there a little closer. Nothing seems cracked and the roof vents were all closed and everything looks sealed well. I noticed one thing and that was that a PO had put what looks like tar, then silicone and more tar,etc. all the way around the A/C unit leaving one 1" long void on one side near the driver front corner. This was where the A/C was draining when I was up there the first time. After all that explanation, Is the A/C unit supposed to drain all around the base or is the goop there for a reason? I'm thinking that the rain was coming in the side louvers and just had nowhere to go but over the side of the base pan and in to the cabin.

[sbb2112]

I will start to un gook the PO's handywork and try to get to the original metal of the roof. The way I see it is the unit should come completely off after that, cutting the roof seal and removing 4 nuts inside?

[ibdilbert01]

My 72 had a older coleman.    Once you removed the inside shroud, 4 long bolts was all that held it on.    The bottom piece and the top piece just sandwiched together.    Its drain was nothing more than a hole in the pan that leaked out onto the roof, I suspect yours may be clogged. 

[Oz]

Same with the original Coleman I replaced on one of my '74 Winnies.  There shouldn't be any "goop" around the Air Conditioner base.  There's just a spongy, rectangular seal which goes between the unit base and the roof which compresses when you tighten down the 4 bolts creating a good seal.  You don't want to squash it completely though.  Just compress it down to snug.

[sbb2112]

Update on the draining. After scraping off the 3 or 4 layers of "sealer" that the PO(s) had put around the base of the outer top cover, about 2 cups of water ran out. I was able to remove the cover and clean off the rest. There are 4 holes in the base of the pan which would let rain run off onto the roof. This wasn't happening with all the caulking. I removed the 4 nuts on the inside of the coach and pushed up on the bottom to break the seal. It appears there is a butyl type material there that I plan on removing and replace with the foam kit I have on order. The roof looks fine, just appears to be years of misunderstanding about the drainage.

[Oz]

Keep in mind where the water wants to drain when you're camping.  I tended to tilt the rear, driver's side corner down a little... this I learned after the first time when I was walking out from under the awning at the same time the water ran off of it...