Roof AC Maintenance

I removed my covers and the inside cowling on my 3 roof airs this morning so I could blow the dirt/dust off the coils and check the drain lines. I assume everyone who has roof airs, has drain lines that drain the condensation under the bus. It is rather important that we watch the drain lines, and make sure they are not stopped up. I know one Prevost owner who did not do this and it cost him over $8000 for repairs to the ceiling and wall of his coach.

If the lines stop up, it is very similar to what happens in your house. The water has to go somewhere, and when the trough inside the unit gets full, it starts running over. In your house, it usually messes up your carpet. In the bus, the water runs over in your ceiling area. It can do serious damage to ceilings, walls, and floors before you know what is happening. I would recommend checking your drains and running a small amount of detergent down the lines.

Fortunately, all my drains were working, but I still added a few drops of dish detergent and flushed the lines. I was careful not to get any of the detergent on the coils. In my case there is one drain on each side of the AC unit. The 2 lines "T" into one drain line that goes under the bus. It is a rather simple but important maintenance item. At least I have the peace of mind knowing that I "shouldn't" have a problem caused by a stopped up drain line.

Dale I had not heard of using detergent to run down and clean the insides of the drain lines. Can you be a little more specific?

Did you use Hot Water to help clean out the lines to the ground?

It does sound at least, like I could do this job myself. Usually I have to involve Prevost, Panterra, or one of the few friends that still are talking to me.:( :D

I know my lines are still working, cause I see puddles at several places under the bus, when we camp, which is a good thing :)


Gary S.

Gary, I was also seeing the puddles, so I knew mine couldn't be stopped up, but I assume they reach a point where enough junk builds up and they stop up.
In my house I always use a few drops of dish detergent and a little bleach and pour it straight down the line then flush the line. Since I couldn't get directly to the line in the roof AC, I just put a few drops of dish detergent in the trough and took an empty detergent bottle, filled it with clear water and used it to rinse the lines. There's not much room to pour, and I didn't want to spill water and have it run down in the ceiling area. The empty detergent bottle was just right for filling the small trough.

The job only requires removing the 4 screws in the outside cover of the AC then removing 11 screws on the inside cover. I was able to lay the inside cover rearward without even disturbing the seal that is glued to the top of it. While I had it open, I used compressed air to blow the dirt out of the unit. I was actually surprised how clean they were.

Pour lime-away in the drains, that will get rid of scale.