Coleman CM16FBS Side wall AC Drain

[wahoonc]

That is about what I expected to see.

That pan should have at least a 1/2" lip to turn down over the siding, it also looks like your a/c unit was tilted enough either, but that may just be the camera angle.

Mine "appears" to be draining properly, however eventually I will probably pull it apart just to make sure it meets my standards.

Interesting thing I noted... I have a white shroud, all the other stuff on my trailer is black except the a/c shroud.

Aaron

[MartyG]

Will finish the job today and send more pics. Have decided to use 3 stainless pan washers at each bottom row screw. That will hold black shroud away from wall for drainage into J-Channel, and also keep aluminum angle piece in place.
Also need to dab some caulk in the J-Channel slots, but keep passage clear for water. Should be done after a trip to Lowes in a few hours.
The drain pan is not of bad design. It's a nice, fitted piece of aluminum, turned up on three sides, and they even put a dab of caulk in each of the rear corners. Though the AC was visibly tilted, the drain pan was not. In fact, even with the camper tilted slightly in the desired direction of drain, the pan was close to level. So with a level trailer, the pan must have caught water and built up a head of water before anything came over the outside edge.
Don't know if the change of shroud color was coincidental with a change of design. In mine, at least, all this beautiful water passageway is dammed by the lower section of the shroud. Water can go nowhere until it rises up to the slot level, or (in my case) it finds another way out. Look for more later today! Marty

[MartyG]

OK, it's done, and works great! The key, as I found, is that the bottom of the shroud was sealed, and the water had to rise to get out. My design pushes the shroud out by the thickness of 3 washers, just enough to let water into a J-channel drain. Here are some more pics. You'll see the washers held in place on the shroud by a flat retainer; it's the only way I could get them in place since the J-channel prevent access from below.
It drains great now. I've got a couple of videos, but have not had luck uploading them. Good luck to you when you get in there! Marty

[MartyG]

One more little thing. I place this piece of conduit elbow on the end while parked and the AC running. It does a nice job of taking the water away from running down the skin of the camper. Just pull off to remove before towing.

[sundancer 87]

I bet an RV gutter downspout will work too and can be permanent.
I have J channel riveted to a downspout to act as an extension to the downspout.

[MartyG]

Originally Posted by sundancer 87

I bet an RV gutter downspout will work too and can be permanent.
I have J channel riveted to a downspout to act as an extension to the downspout.

Might look into that idea. At this point I didn't want to pierce the skin of the camper, and really wasn't trying to do "permanent," only "when parked." Thanks for the idea, I'll look around.

[wahoonc]

The A/C is supposed to drain through the slots on the bottom of the shroud. I double checked mine this afternoon and the pan just extends into the shroud. Originally my shroud was mounted too high. CW lowered it and now it drains like it should. If I look up in the slots I can just see the edge of the drain pan. I know my pan does not have a turn up on the inside end. I can get my hand in there with the cabinet bottom off. I only have turn ups on the sides. It does slope, I checked that from inside.

Looks like you may have solved your problem. I don't think my shroud has all the gray tape sealant under it, just a bunch of silicone but I could be wrong on that.

Aaron

[MartyG]

Originally Posted by wahoonc

The A/C is supposed to drain through the slots on the bottom of the shroud. I double checked mine this afternoon and the pan just extends into the shroud. ....
Aaron

Yes, I could see the edge of my drip pan up through the slots also. That much was as planned and designed. But after pulling off a LOT of caulk and rubber foam tape, it was evident water was going down the wall as well. Don't know if was made worse by different tilts (I suspect it was) but also by a spot that was made worse over time. The foam rubber was wet, soaked, and looked like it was breaking up.
Regardless, I have mine the way I want it now. I know there's only one place where water can go, and I can channel it. I don't have to trust what's going on that I can't see. I also pulled all that stupid foam tape, and replaced it with good sticky-one-side rubber insulation. I can remove the shroud now by just pulling the 20 screws, and not have to pry it loose from caulk. I'm good to go now! Take care, Marty

[MartyG]

Originally Posted by wahoonc

The A/C is supposed to drain through the slots on the bottom of the shroud. I double checked mine this afternoon and the pan just extends into the shroud. Originally my shroud was mounted too high. CW lowered it and now it drains like it should. If I look up in the slots I can just see the edge of the drain pan. I know my pan does not have a turn up on the inside end. I can get my hand in there with the cabinet bottom off. I only have turn ups on the sides. It does slope, I checked that from inside.

Looks like you may have solved your problem. I don't think my shroud has all the gray tape sealant under it, just a bunch of silicone but I could be wrong on that.

Aaron

Aaron, just an afterthought: Let's say your water falls out of the drain pan (properly) and into the lower edge of the shroud, i.e. the one with the slots (mine black, yours white). Now think of that slotted, bottom of the shroud. Three sides are walled by the shroud itself, and of course the bottom is slotted to let water out. But what about the fourth side, i.e. the open side against the camper wall? Water tension and tilt must dictate that not every drop goes out the bottom slots. With an open side, some water might creep in that direction, which I believe mine did. The water "rested" against an opening in the wall, and was held back by caulk. Mine gave way at (facing the AC cutout) the lower right corner, and found it's way down. Evident by the black markings on plywood that water leaves.
As soon as a drop of water leaves your drain pan, and hits the white plastic shroud, which way will it go? Towards the slot, or towards the wall?

[wahoonc]

Marty,
I am "hoping" (not expecting) that the shroud was mounted slightly below the cut opening so water could not back up that far, that it would HAVE to run out the slots. At least that is the way I would have done it.

As long as mine appears to be draining properly I am going to leave it alone.

Aaron

[kalm_in_NJ]

Originally Posted by MartyG

After pulling the black shroud, and a LOT of work knifing through the caulk, I got the AC out. Sure
Hoo boy!
Marty

Believe it or not we haven't used our AC yet except when we bought the trailer to make sure the compressor kicked on. This is JUNE right??? Just checking.

We're going to south Jersey this July 4th weekend and will surely be running the AC. We'll check for the drainage problem you had but I'm hoping ours works ok...

If not, I know exactly what needs to be corrected when we get back to the RV repair place.

Thanks again for posting all this great info.

Ken

[Revere411]

This is an advisory for in wall AC on a different brand but should still be similar to what you have. Hope it helps. 6434842.pdf

[MartyG]

Revere, yes, that's it, alright! Mine did have the drain pan, but poorly installed. I traded the unit off four years ago. But this is a great addition to this post for those with this unit! Thanks!