Air Conditioning Problem

Bluey walked about 2 kms with us this morning. With his harness on, there is no pulling; he just walks between us on a slack lead.

Our replacement rangehood external cover arrived today, so I fitted the new one in the shade under the awning. The other fan was in the sun so that can wait for a cooler day.

We left the critters in the van with the air conditioner running while we went to town for a couple of hours. Water was dripping from the infra red remote control sensor in the roof top air conditioning unit and had left a puddle on the floor mat. We turned off the AC power in the fuse box before removing the filters and unscrewing the internal unit. We wiped off the excess water and put that unit outside to dry.

After a quick internet research, we concluded there was likely a blockage in the drain holes on the external unit on the roof. The Bushtracker is nearly 3 m high, so a ladder was needed. More internet research and a phone call to Total Tools pointed us to Tow World, which had a 3.8 m telescopic ladder in stock for $190. This ladder collapses to about 700 mm high for storage and transportation. If we couldn’t fix the water leak, we couldn’t run the air con, and would mean leaving Tamworth because it is going to be too hot for Bluey and Tilly. Our caravan park fees and the cost of tickets would be wasted money, so the expense of the ladder was unavoidable.

I tied the ladder to one side of the van, then used our Bog Out recovery harnesses as a safety rope. Bog Out is like a flexible rope ladder that wraps around car wheels to help getting unbogged. This was thrown across the top of the van and strapped to a wheel on each side of the van, giving me a secure safety line to hold.. We were too busy to take photos!

I cleaned off leaves, sticks, small stones, and dirt trapped between the air conditioning unit and solar panels. Electrical cables also trapped this debris on the roof. I could not find the drain holes, but used a brush to clean the base of the air coditioner. When we reassembled the unit, it worked with no dripping water.

I have since found more detailed articles about this problem, so will go back on the roof tomorrow to see if I can locate those holes and clean them with a bent wire.

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