water leak

[mapachoo]

first off our first cruiser sighting.cruiser spotted on I-40 at rest area mm 199 it was a couple from Ontario headed home from Texas would have liked to talk to them however we had our hands full at the time.We had a water leak at the a/c unit rain leaked all overWe took off the vent inside too much water leaking to figure out the leak.Went on the roof to check the cover no cracks so i grabbed it to see if it was loose and the whole ac unit slid forward.Went back inside the mounting bolts were very loose.Manual says tight till indicators of the gasket are at roof level got any idea what that means we tightened it till the water stopped coming in.Still raining we are in tupelo tonight maybe it will stop raining tomorrow. 1200 miles and 3 nights into the shakedown cruise and this is all that has happened.Tires show no signs of abnormal wear or breakdown.This is good I was worried about this with all the posts about bad axles and tires.Anyway we are having fun will get the a/c secured after the rain tonight we will dry out

[FB1965]

Don't know what that means,but I have put a new gasket on one camper I had and tighten it until the gasket was compressed to about 1/4 best I remember.I would think if you have it to where no rain leaks in your good to go as long as the bolts are snug.As for the tires,there are several hundred users on this site and there are not that many with problems.You can check the bigger forums and they have more users,but not that many with problems.Keep proper air pressure and watch just as you would any tire.Good luck

[Hamops]

If you tightened the bolts until the leak stopped, then you've probably have the gasket compressed enough to prevent anymore leaks. If this was your first trip since you bought your 5vr, you should be going back to Crossroads for repair of any damage caused by the water leaking in. It's difficult to see the A/C units mounting bolts loosening off on their own if they had been properly tightened. This whole thing looks to melike a warranty issue.

[mapachoo]

Mostly dried out today.I think we caught it before anything got to wet had a lot of water at the time.Thank goodness we had some buckets to catch the incoming.We will have to check the carpet for stains after everything is dry.Can only eyeball the flooring on the slides acct everything else is secured.Got the couch a little damp on the cushion.Guess we will inspect everything after the trip cause i'm sure we will have a few more things that will require attention.All in all a great trip and we love the unit

[ajlight]

I check the bolts on the ac every spring just to make sure the foam is compressed enough. They always seem back out a little.

[riverotter55]

Good info I'll have to check that out on Ours!

[BDLuke]

Holy Cow! I just came in from checking my bolts and two of them where only finger tight! The foam gasket was not compressed but snug. Now everything is tight and compressed.



Sorry to hear of your problem, but certainly grateful you brought up the issue. This is a good item to add to annual maintenance and alsoadd to a new camper PDI checklist.



I can see mine loosening over three years and 10,000 miles, but yours certainly looks like a QC issue at the plant. They need a red dot stuck to the mounting bracket showing the bolts have been checked before the cover plate is attached.



I hope the rest of your trip goes well.

[Hamops]

I looks like I'll have to add this check to my spring checklist.



I normally check the A/C unit for dirt and bugs. I'll also check the bolts. Are they accessible from the top of the A/C unit?

[BDLuke]

The four bolts are accessed from the inside of the camper, 3/8th inch head. Remove the plastic cover, the twoplastic screw caps pop out if pried witha thin blade.









An excerpt from the installation manual " 5. Start each mounting bolt through the ceiling template and up into the unit base pan by hand....... Evenly tighten mounting bolts to compress gasket to 1/2" this will be a torque of 40 - 50 inch pounds."













I found the manual at: http://bryantrv.com/docs2/docs/operating/bairducted.pdf

[Cobra909]

Will definitely have to check this when I get home. I think if any are found loose, I'll use Blue thread locker on the bolts. Should prevent a recurrence.

[BDLuke]

Good idea on the blue thread locker. I haven't buttoned mine up, I'll get some on them tomorrow.

[BipeFlier]

I don't believe things get loose from the bolts turning, but rather from the gasket which will keep compressing from the weight of the AC unit.



Check them every fall before storage to prevent water ingress during the winter.

[mwebber78]

Thread locker is a good thing to use, just be sure you pick the right brand of Locktite to use. Do not pick anything permenant, I believe they have one that stay's soft and prevents backing out of screw but still allows for future removal.



Another similar idea for wood screws - I had a lot of screws on cabinet's on a prior Jayco that use to loosen on cabinet door's and trim. I removed them and put a dab of Gorilla Glue on the screw and let it set. They never backed out again as Gorilla Glue soaks into the wood an swells it around the screw threads.

[Chrisnan23]

The purple lock tite is thread lock and is not permenant. Do not use the red.

[mwebber78]

FYI - Just got back from the unit, we leave on Thursday for our cross country trip. 3 of 4 were hand tight only on the camper. No water entry but it could have occured soon. Mine is a 2009 with less then a few thousand miles!



Someone needs to drink a AMP energy drink at Crossroads and start using a torque wrench per the installation instructions!

[Jersey Guy]

This forum is great. I wouldnever had realized to check the A/C unit bolts. I checked mine and they were all good anyway.Just another pre-season thing to checkI guess.

[mosledder]

I don't mean to sabotage the post but one quick question for BipeFlier. Is your picture on your profile taken at Don's RV park? It sure looks familiar and sense we are from southwest Missouri, I thought it just might be possible.

[BipeFlier]

Originally Posted by mosledder

I don't mean to sabotage the post but one quick question for BipeFlier. Is your picture on your profile taken at Don's RV park? It sure looks familiar and sense we are from southwest Missouri, I thought it just might be possible.

Not Don's. Actually at Majectic Oaks CG on the north shore of Lake of the Ozarks. It is under new ownership in the last couple of years or so. Quiet place to camp fairly close to the "strip" at the lake and has some easy hiking trails and pool. Nice CG.

[mapachoo]

We bought loctite before we left to keep in the tool box for fasteners and stuff that worked loose.However I bought the permanent type.We have been looking for threadlocker type since we discovered the leak.Have not had anymore problems since we discovered the leak.We finished the drive from Arkansas to Georgia,picked up the Grandkids and are in Kentucky right now.Been through several good rainstorms since and put on a lot of miles.I think once a year is plenty but I will probably check each trip for a while till We get the comfort factor back.Thanks for the replies and the specs my friends wont believe i didnt bring a in. lbs. torque wrench to reach the exact spec. I usually have to many tools.

[mwebber78]

I used my calibrated hands for the torque reguirement. Edited by: mwebber78