elite 2 2017 LEII Dometic 13500 AC Leak

[mossemi]

While camping in Arkansas in May of 2019, I found a fair amount of water running off the rear curbside roof while the AC was running.  I figured out that if the lowest point of the Ollie was the curbside, then the condensate water rain off the curbside roof.  If the low point was the street side, the condensate drained through the internal drain tube and out under the Ollie as it should.  That allowed us to manage the condensate water drainage as needed.

When I finally got around to troubleshooting the actual problem I found out Oliver had installed a Dometic accessory drain kit which consisted of 2 white plastic cups and vinyl tubing and 4 screws and 3 or 4 hose clamps.  There is an accessory cup on both sides off the AC unit that receive the condensate from the steel drain pan built into the the base of the AC.  The drain kit tubing connects the accessory drain cups to Oliver’s internal drain tubing.

I could see the internal drain pan after pulling the AC shroud and a few other parts off.  Without the accessory drain kit the condensate would exit the drain pan and onto the roof through a drain hole on each side.  So RV's with the Dometic AC but without the accessory drain kit would experience water running off the roof under normal conditions while running the AC.  Some Oliver owners on the forum have replaced their Dometic AC's and report that the condensate runs off the roof and down the low side of the trailer because there wasn’t a option to connect the new AC to the internal Oliver drain system.

After an initial inspection of the drain system, I leveled the Ollie side to side and front to back and began adding water to the condensate drain pan.  The result was that some water ran off the roof on the curbside and some drained through the Oliver internal drain on the street side.  That result caused me to consider that perhaps there was a blockage in the curbside drain tube, so I disconnected the curbside tubing at the tee fitting that separates the accessory cups and used a can of compressed air to verify the tube was clear and it was.  Then I lowered the curbside side and plugged that tube and then added water to the main drain which resulted in water leaking onto the roof.  The accessory drain cup and tubing connection is not really visible with the AC unit mounted but it did seem to me the water was leaking from that connection.

So I ordered this kit and a second AC mounting gasket because the kit comes with one and two are required to raise the AC unit high enough to allow clearance for the drain cups.  
 

I then sat on the repair parts for months waiting for an opportunity to obtain access to an air conditioned shop a friend has access to.  That happened this month and the repair is complete and the drains work as they should.  It did require removing the AC and flipping it onto it’s back to remove and replace the old gaskets and drain cups and that did make the broken cup connector visible.

Here are few pictures for everyone that stayed awake during this dissertation.

This last picture makes the original break visible by the discoloration on the bottom and sides of the connector.  The lighter portion of the break was on top and still connected when we flipped it over and snapped it off completely.

Mossey

[ShallowGal]

Thanks for sharing with the group, now we know who to contact if we have A/C questions.  Duke and Chris

[Townesw]

Thank you Sir for the dissertation. I appreciate this type of troubleshooting. 

[Mike and Carol]

Good to know!  Thanks for taking the time to educate us all.  Mike

[John E Davies]

Thanks, those are interesting pics, do you think the damage to that drain nipple was due to rough handling when the AC was installed? If you have other pics showing the removal process, I would like to see them.

John Davies

Spokane WA

[mossemi]

On 7/30/2021 at 8:41 AM, John E Davies said:

Thanks, those are interesting pics, do you think the damage to that drain nipple was due to rough handling when the AC was installed? If you have other pics showing the removal process, I would like to see them.

John Davies

Spokane WA

Sorry JD, but I do not have any other pictures and I really don’t have an opinion on the cause of the nipple cracking.

I will add that my friend and I were working off of rolling scaffolding on each side of the trailer.  And we didn’t have any previous experience so we took our time and solved each problem as it came up.  
This is the installation page that pertains to the Penguin ll.

J

Mossey

[Patriot]

Excellent write up. Thank you for sharing Mike.

- Patriot

[michaelclark]

AC gaskets aren’t overly expensive when compared to other RV-related products. You can replace one and not have to spend a significant portion of your savings.

[Geronimo John]

Is there any chance that the existing Dometic drain system could be used or modified to work with the Houghton's?  That would be really grand!

GJ

[mossemi]

On 10/1/2022 at 3:11 PM, Geronimo John said:

Is there any chance that the existing Dometic drain system could be used or modified to work with the Houghton's?  That would be really grand!up

GJ

I do not have any knowledge of the Houghton installation procedure, so I think that question should be directed to the Houghton owners that have completed their own installation.  You would have a better chance of receiving answers from that group.

Mossey