Before I get up on the roof I am looking for advice to remove the roof top air conditioner so I can replace the gasket. The installation manual does not cover ducted systems and shows the hold down bolts coming upward from an interior ceiling frame. Obviously our units must be held down from the top side. I have a rood leak coming thru the seam in the living room ceiling, suspiciously beneath the rear aircon unit.

It's not a bad job...

During my "Re-Build" of the RV, that was one of the items that fell apart.

There are 4 bolts holding the canopy on. Remove the canopy.

Then, there are 4 lag bolts that hold the A/C down. If memory serves correctly, you may have to remove the lap sealant from around the bolts.

I don't think you have to remove any electrical.

Pick it up and move it over to the side.

Then, take your camera phone and use the flash. Look each direction inside the ducting. You'll likely find all kinds of sawdust and other debris left behind. You'll also be able to inspect the ducting and see how much foam was sprayed on the inside cutting your air flow down on the return side. Prepare for shock and awe. If you try to dig some of that foam out to increase your air flow, be careful as that foam seals the air from being pulled in from the attic space. The foam strip that you are looking for should be laying just under the unit. You won't have trouble finding that. Use a weather rated aluminum tape. Don't skimp or you will have to do it again. While you're at it, seal up all of the joints around the edge of the unit. You'll see what I mean. Mine is now air tight.

Just another word of caution....Watch where you walk on the roof. Redwood WILL blame you for any roof issues. It doesn't matter how right you are. They blamed me (and others) for walking too close to the edge of the roof and popping all of their 3/8" long staples out of the quarter-round aluminum roof edging. I'm not a tight rope walker and I'm not into living on the edge. I never stepped close to the edge as a matter of fact. Do your best to walk over the top of the joints. Knowing what I know now, I would have video taped my adventures on the roof so I could PROVE that this is not an issue I caused. It was caused by using an inferior product to build a roof.

It took about 2 hours to do each one. Hopefully for you, it won't be in the middle of a 101 degree day of camping like it was when I took mine apart.

Best of luck. If you need any assistance, just write back. I have a lot of pictures of this somewhere on the blog...

Greg,

Thanks for the primer. I''m ready to go to work when it stops raining.

Thanks to Greg for the excellent information. It was spot on.

When I removed the aircon I found a hole about 1/4" diameter thru the roof membrane about a quarter inch away from one of the front lag bolt holes. It was probably an installation error and there was no sign of attempting to seal the hole. The hole was mostly hidden beneath a plastic spacer which is between the roof and the mounting tab that the lag bolt penetrates. I suppose over time the aircon jiggled in transit and eventually exposed the hole, then admitting rain water. The wooden roof panel was wet and spongy in the immediate area. I applied sealant over the area and replaced the aircon. The wet area is exposed thru the edge of the roof cut out and I am running the heat pump to circulate warm air to hopefully dry the area.

BTW, the foam air divider baffle was laying down inside the ceiling duct as Greg described. The installer had tried to glue it to a wooden cross beam which had been covered with saw dust. I know this because the edge of the foam piece was covered with glued saw dust and wood chips, and the wooden cross piece still had lots of saw dust on it. Nice job, Redwood!

Terry
You should check the other one 2. I used aluminum tape to seal mine as the foam had moved on both

I plan to pull the other aircon and check the air baffle when the weather turns warmer.

Warm hear in socal