Documenting your A/C Water Leaks

Steve, Anne, and Paige the Rat Terrier 2008 Lexus RX 400h hybrid with factory towing package 2011 RP-177 (The Circus Wagon)

   Ok, it seems that there have been more then a few people with water leaks that is caused by condensation in A/C unit leaking into the trailer.    While I am not going to get into the whole thing on how folks can fix it themselves, I wanted to give folks enough know how to document their leaks and present the information to the dealer so they can get it fixed.

The two most common causes of leaks are:

#1 Condensation drain holes plugged in unit so condensation overflows condensation pan into trailer.
#2 Seal around base of A/C unit installed properly or is damaged allow condensation/rain to enter into the trailer.

Regardless of the cause its important to be able to document how much water is coming into the trailer, and exactly where the water is appearing.   There is no better way to do this then using plenty of photo's and/or video.     Taking pictures of the white plastic cover on  doesn't show much to the dealer/tech so I put some photo's together on how to take the cover off to better determine source of the water.

There are a total of 8 screws that hold the plastic assembly up to the roof of the cabin.   Four of them are circled in picture below.

There are two more; one at each end of the unit

Then there are two under the plastic side vent things.  You can carefully remove the side vents to get at the screws.  You just gently bend them to pop them out.  TO get at the screw below.

Ok, the cover should basically fall off once those screws are removed.  If it doesn't double check your unit to make sure there isn't another screw.   Their might be variations in make/model on the different units.   Mine is a 2010 172.

Once cover is off, you will see a big grey plastic/metal piece.  This is the piece that literaly holds the AC unit to the trailer.   There are four main bolts that hold the AC unit to the trailer.  (DON'T REMOVE THOSE)   

Now if you are experiencing a leak.  Look around to try to determine where the water is running out of the above assembly.  Is it comming out the sides, the air intake, the returns, etc.  And take plenty of photos.

The AC unit makes up a sandwich. With AC unit on top, a thick foam rubber seal, the roof, then the bottom bracket. The bolts hold everything together at the right tension to keep unwanted water out. If you look up into the holes in your unit you can see the large foam gasket and assess how possible sources of leaks.

In the picture below you can see that the gasket is nice and flush, its under compression and doesn't appear to have any damage or leaks.

The same in this next picture.  You can see the foam gasket is flush with the opening.  The duct tape, opening and foam is all flush and well attached.

Now in the next picture youc an see a potential problem.   This is looking up the left air hole which is on the left in picture #4 above.   The foam gasket protrudes about 3/4 of an inch into the air intake vent.   It is not flat but is angling down somewhat.   What has happened is when unit was torqued down the gasket squished out of the gap and into the air instake opening.   In the example below, its not leaking but if it had squished in 1/4 of an inch more it could have been leaking.

The cover goes back on just as easily as it came off.   Just reverse your disassembly instructions.   It helps if you have someone to hold the piece while you are taking it on or off.   

I hope this helps those of you are experiencing leaks.  All this takes is a philips screw driver and a camera and you should be able to take enough pictures to document where water is coming from which should go a long way towards getting your dealer to fix things for you.   Its hard to argue with photos.