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Foretravel Motorhome Forums => Foretravel Tech Talk => Topic started by: dans96u295ft on March 14, 2020, 10:43:27 am

Title: roof treatment around airconditioners
Post by: dans96u295ft on March 14, 2020, 10:43:27 am
Washed , resealed and waxed my roof this week. I used Meguire's  clean and wax. NO cracks or surprises anywhere. The Dicor self leveling sealant worked well. My only question is the airconditioners.  I really can't get under them to reseal anything. Any thoughts of what I should do? No leaks inside the coach. Leave them alone?
Thanks
Title: Re: roof treatment around airconditioners
Post by: wolfe10 on March 14, 2020, 10:45:03 am
There is a  foam gasket around the A/C opening.  Do NOT caulk or otherwise try to seal it.

If it leaks from rain (i.e. around seal vs from condensate) you can try to further compress the gasket (4 bolts accessible from inside the coach).  But, the gasket is designed to only be compressed about 50%.  Gaskets are not expensive and other than the roof unit being bulky, not hard to replace.
Title: Re: roof treatment around airconditioners
Post by: dans96u295ft on March 14, 2020, 12:48:31 pm
Oh, good. Thanks for that. Now I know
Title: Re: roof treatment around airconditioners
Post by: MT Ted on March 14, 2020, 01:43:26 pm
I just put 2 new atwood ac units up top. The ATWOOD instructions call for a torque of 60 inch pounds.
Title: Re: roof treatment around airconditioners
Post by: wolfe10 on March 14, 2020, 01:55:55 pm
Yup, some A/C units call for a certain torque, others for torquing until gasket compresses to half its original height.

And remember that 60  INCH lbs ain't much-- 5 ft lbs
Title: Re: roof treatment around airconditioners
Post by: Journey, Roam, Explore on March 15, 2020, 05:25:26 am
Yup, some A/C units call for a certain torque, others for torquing until gasket compresses to half its original height.

And remember that 60  INCH lbs ain't much-- 5 ft lbs
Yes but it can take a lot of turning to compress the gasket to that level on a new install. When I removed the old AC units all the bolts were loose.
Title: Re: roof treatment around airconditioners
Post by: Jack Lewis on March 15, 2020, 05:35:05 am
Yes but it can take a lot of turning to compress the gasket to that level on a new install. When I removed the old AC units all the bolts were loose.

This is a very common place for a roof water leak, from loose A/C mounting bolts.  So much so that the dealer I worked for, as part of the the delivery inspection, on every used unit checked and tightened these bolts.    Overtightened bolts also can cause a leak so listen to wolf10 to torque or go to 50%.
Title: Re: roof treatment around airconditioners
Post by: dans96u295ft on March 15, 2020, 09:59:03 am
So. You pull the inside covers off to access these 4 bolts or what? I better check them
Thanks
Title: Re: roof treatment around airconditioners
Post by: wolfe10 on March 15, 2020, 10:16:42 am
So. You pull the inside covers off to access these 4 bolts or what?
Thanks

YES.  Depending on make and model access can be a little different.

Let us know what make and model you have and we can likely give info specific to yours.
Title: Re: roof treatment around airconditioners
Post by: dans96u295ft on March 15, 2020, 11:12:31 am
I'll get the model on air
Title: Re: roof treatment around airconditioners
Post by: dans96u295ft on March 15, 2020, 03:14:14 pm
600 Penguin series. I pulled the vents and FT only bolted the fronts down. It appears the back two bolts are left out and the unit has  some sort of glue on the rear instead of securing bolts. The front two bolts were good and snug on both units.