Will A/C Leak due to leveling cause permanent damage?

DaveLu_Explorers

On our last trip we experienced severe leaking from the bottom left corner of the AC cabinet onto the interior of our T@b. We were outside and it leaked for a while before we noticed. We quickly researched on all forums and learned the possible cause could be poor leveling letting out the condensation drain pan spill over. Well, we will be more careful from now on with our leveling, but wonder if all the water that leaked down and out may have also leaked into the inner walls of the t@b or if any permanent damage can occur to the Aldi or any components or materials on that side of the unit?

RollingLagrima

I don't think so. If the water drained "in" and "back" out of the pan into the cabin of the t@b as it did in my case (soaking my bedding) from that same bottom left corner, the water wasn't going down the normal drain tube route (when it is levelled).  I don't think there is any way for water to be going down inside the walls. It either goes down the drain tube below the pan slowly, when level, or overflows the pan into the interior of the t@b (when not level) from that corner of the pan.  And that water you see and can mitigate. Somebody may have another opinion, but from living through the same thing and wondering the same thing after, I think we are ok. Mine happened 6 months ago and I have seen NO indication of any after damage.  I won't ever make that mistake again though...

Paula

This happened to me and the bottom of the wood cabinet sustained water damage which was replaced by dealer under warranty. I was told by the service department to make it a little unlevel (tongue end down) bc that is the direction it drains. This seems to work and no problems since. 

KyBawpaw

Related problem. I've yet to see ANY water drain from my A/C. It's been a topic mentioned by several on the TDN app as well. I've run several hours in humid weather and no water from the drain hose appears BUT no unwanted water found inside anywhere. Evaporates?? Mystery here.

Chris_and_Sarah

a couple of comforting things:

1. Though the inside of the t@b is all wood, and the exterior of the a/c cabinet is wood as well, the frame of the a/c cabinet is actually aluminum, and the unit sits on aluminum supports.  The aluminum is bolted to the frame of the t@b, so comforting thought #1 is that, even in the worst-case scenario, if the entire a/c cabinet sustained catastrophic water damage and rotted, your a/c would never fall.

2. The wood on the inside of the a/c cabinet has been treated with some kind of black spray, presumably as a physical barrier against water damage. It seems that they realized that this would could spend a bit of time getting wet, so they took steps to make sure it wouldn't do much harm.

3. The water that does leak out mostly ends up cascading down the window where it dissipates in many directions.  It's definitely enough to soak your bedding and even your cushion, but it would take a whole lot of water before you had to worry about something like the Alde.  Even the interior walls -- there's no real interior to speak of.  It's 3 layers:  fiberglass, styrofoam, and a thin sheet of wood.  It would probably take dozens and dozens of leaks like the one you experienced before it started to be anything more than an inconvenience, and the first casualty would be the easiest to replace: the foam cushion.