2003 Roadtrek 200 Popular AC area leaks when raining

UPDATE:
Well, I replaced the seal on the AC cover. Time will tell.

I took the cover off. Removed 3 layers of various gaskets and sealants from BOTH surfaces so I was down to bare fiberglass and cleaned the surfaces very well.

Some of the old well nuts pulled out, some I had to cut off the rubber tops and let the bottoms fall into the roof cavity.

I was able to get a set of 12 well nuts with stainless screws from Amazon for about $15. I only needed 9. I had to cut 3 of the screws a little shorter for the 3 front facing cover screws. They would bottom out against the internal case of the air conditioner.

I used two layers of 1" X 1/16" closed cell foam sticky backed tape on each surface.

You can see from the pics below, that someone before me cut up some foam pads and out them on the top of the AC. I suspect to keep the cover from sagging. It didn't work very well. See the pic with the level. If you look under the level, you can see where the "dips" are where the cover fastens to the roof. Also, the deformed sag in the cover overall. Another pic shoes the cover with one side layer of the black sealing tape. The other pic just shows the completed cover attached.

This is an absolutely HORRIBLE design. There has to be a better way.

We've had significant rain in the last 3 weeks, and so far, no leaks. That said, I haven't parked nose down either, only level, but the van sits a bit high in the back anyway.
Time will tell.
 

Attachments

  • Cover back in place.JPG
    Cover back in place.JPG
    50.5 KB · Views: 29
  • Cover open.JPG
    Cover open.JPG
    88.3 KB · Views: 24
  • Cover with one layer.JPG
    Cover with one layer.JPG
    84.5 KB · Views: 24
  • Cover with level.JPG
    Cover with level.JPG
    66 KB · Views: 28
Update: It still leaks. I am pretty sure it is coming in via the angled vent in the rear of the roof and NOT via the seam to the cover. I'm going to stick with my "this is a real crappy design" assessment. I am going to try and make some kind of a temporary "flap/fold down" cover of some sort, that I can just clip on when parked and not using the AC. It would be removable for driving or AC use.
 

New posts

Try RV LIFE Pro Free for 7 Days

  • New Ad-Free experience on this RV LIFE Community.
  • Plan the best RV Safe travel with RV LIFE Trip Wizard.
  • Navigate with our RV Safe GPS mobile app.
  • and much more...
Try RV LIFE Pro Today
Back
Top