Penguin 2 gaskets

[Flyinhy]

I need to replace my a/c roof gaskets. After this weekends rain....my bed is wet and the kitchen rug is soaked.  You guys are full of tips and tricks .......any suggestions for which gaskets to buy and what problems I may end up coming across. All 3 are penguin 2 low profile w/ heat pumps and ducted. 

[timaz996]

I have two gaskets under each of my AC units then I snug down four bolts and a few days later I tighten them down again and I checked them every 4 to 6 months to make sure they’re snug. You may be able to just tighten the unit down without replacing the gasket and it will fix it.

[vito.a]

Yes, if you have drain cups on the underside, you'll need two per unit.  I use the Camco gaskets from Amazon.  They have one sticky side.  I stick one gasket to the A/C and one to the roof opening.  Add some gasket sealer in between the two and set the A/C unit onto it.  Be careful, the torque is in inch pounds, not foot pounds.  

Amazon.com: Camco 14-Inch x 14-Inch Universal Camper Roof A/C Gasket Kit | Features a Waterproof Compression Seal, Self-Adhesive Picture Frame Gasket, and Self-Adhesive Leveling Pads (25071) : Industrial & Scientific

[Jdw12345]

As vito mentioned, don’t over torque them, you’ll pinch off the drain tubes too!

[Tom Cherry]

Assuming that the Penguin design was the same as the first.  Read the installation (download) manual.  There is a low (inch pounds) torque spec for compressing the gaskets during the initial installation.  A little research confirmed that.

The Dometic manuals that I have say 40-50 inch-pounds, enough to compress the gasket about 1/2". No thread locker

Then after a few months, check them.  There has been a lot of back and forth here about retorquing and such.  My rule of thumb...  maybe check every year or so. Make sure they are "snug" and don't try to retorque.

This was the advice given at one of the Lazy Days HVAC Seminars way back in 2010.  The lead tech, who did the seminars said that you installed them per the spec.  Then checked periodically.  He said that they did MORE GASKET replacements for owners that religiously re-torqued them every 6 months or so.

As long as you don't have any issues...  then it is a GASKET.  YES, the weight of the HVAC and vibration will cause the gasket to compress.  BUT, if you go back to the original torque spec, then you will pull them down.

I have a certified inch pound torque wrench. I had read that spec and had, prior to the Lazy Days seminar started to "retorque" mine.  I realized, after maybe doing the corner to corner routine, that I was approaching two full turns....that MAYBE I OUGHT TO LEAVE WELL ENOUGH ALONE...

While researching this... I came across a post that also confirmed my own "CURIOUS" research. I was in charge of Quality Control for a carburetor factory and we had an extensive gauge control lab where we certified as well as calibrated all the test equipment.  I played around one day and determined that the "best" I could do with a standard screwdriver (Nut Driver) was around 35 inch pounds.  Here is a 2021 post....

It's interesting that research shows that the average amount of torque that a normal person can apply using a screwdriver is about 4.5 Nm which is about 3½ ft/lbs. So if you use a nut driver or screwdriver with socket bits you could torque them down to about the right torque.

Now, I haven't played that game recently to see how much 50 odd years have taken away with my grip strength.  BUT, over the years I have used the rule of thumb that IF you were installing a new ATS, that you used a palm filling screwdriver and a few wraps of a rough shop towel and "gave it all you had" and then repeated that after all terminals were tightened....that ALL WAS WELL and you were in the 40 of so NEC recommended inch pounds range.

SO...time to look at mine again.  BUT, if you are doing the initial install..  and don't have an inch pound torque wrench... I'd use a pretty good size nut driver handle and and get them about as tight as I could without adding in the shop towel for increased torque (friction of the rag will increase that....up to the point...of actually allowing you to blister your hand)...

That's my take on it...

[jacwjames]

9 hours ago, vito.a said:

Yes, if you have drain cups on the underside, you'll need two per unit.  I use the Camco gaskets from Amazon.  They have one sticky side.  I stick one gasket to the A/C and one to the roof opening.  Add some gasket sealer in between the two and set the A/C unit onto it.  Be careful, the torque is in inch pounds, not foot pounds.  

Amazon.com: Camco 14-Inch x 14-Inch Universal Camper Roof A/C Gasket Kit | Features a Waterproof Compression Seal, Self-Adhesive Picture Frame Gasket, and Self-Adhesive Leveling Pads (25071) : Industrial & Scientific

I had previously replaced the motor in my front AC unit in 2015 and at that time the drain cups saw better days, I reused them.  I installed two new Penguins in 2021 and knew I'd have to replace the drain cups so I bought kits to do them, which included new tubing, fittings, clamps etc. 

There are instructions on how to install, but basically put the first gasket in place and then cut slots where the tubing will go, install the new cups and tubing, then the second gasket with a liberal amount of sealant/caulk to seal the slot around the tubing. 

When I removed both my AC's the first time the gaskets, which I assume were installed at the factory, were done very sloppy, did not align well.  I had been having a problem with my front AC occasionally leaking during heavy downpour rains and I suspect this was the cause.   Below is a picture, must have been a bad Monday at the factory.   So if you redo yours take your time to get it right.

[Twomed]

Just did a new unit yesterday.  The Camco has glued corners, for a few bucks more about $29 on Amazon you get a one piece die cut gasket.  Perfect match to the Dometic gasket already on the new a/c.  Read the reviews, some folks have had corner leaks, not something I want to go back and do over for ten bucks more.

[georgecederholm]

When I replaced our original units with Penguin 2 models, I bought the Dometic drain kit, which had the second gasket included at the time. When I compared the Dometic gasket to the Camco version, I immediately bought 3 more Dometic gaskets. Fit and alignment was perfect. I followed the Dometic instructions and applied the top gasket to the bottom of the A/C unit, then the second gasket directly to the first. Monaco had put the adhesive side of the bottom gasket to the roof, so I had a mess of the old gasket to clean up, which won’t happen again. Of course, someone at Monaco had dropped a bead of silicone along the outside of one gasket, probably to stop a leak, because it was easier than snugging up the bolts from the inside. Now, I just snug them up when cleaning the filters once a year. No leaks.

[jacwjames]

One thing I'd recommend is to take the time to do a duct inspection.  I bought a remote camera with long cable, mounted on a flexible pole and inspected the duct work front to back.  Glad I did. 

I found mouse holes at both ends and a large one near the front AC.  The duct work actually extended beyond the front and rear ceiling ducts, so I just cut some pieces of styrofoam at a 45 degree angle and positioned them right at the edge of the ceiling opening and then used foil tape to secure and seal them in place.  I think this actually helped with air flow as the air is pushed down/out instead of to a dead end duct.  The largest mouse hole was right at one of the ceiling lights which I was able to remove and fix the hole.

But I also had one of the duct joints that was never sealed at the factory, about a 1/2" gap on 3 sides.  To fix this I cut an opening the same size as the other duct holes and used the opening to access the joint and used foil tape to seal it. 

Doing the above helped a lot, not loosing condition air into the ceiling was wasting a lot of BTU's.

 

The other thing I found was that the rear AC had been removed at one point and the slip joint was never resealed correctly, meaning cold/heated air was just pushed out into the air return.  What a waste.

 

I did a bunch of research on how to replace the AC's and on thing that wasn't shown very well was how to handle the slip joint that connects the AC to the Duct work.  So here's what I did

When I installed the new AC's I removed the slip joint from the old AC and cleaned it up so that I could move it.  Attached it back to the new AC.  I cut a hole in the duct work from below to access the existing hole where the slip joint would mate to the duct work.  This way I could position the AC to center the slip joint, and then moved the slip joint so it was the protruding down into the duct.   I then tightened down the AC using the 4 long bolts.  Once I got it where it needed to be I then pushed the slip joint back up to contact the top of the duct work and then seal it all with foil tape.  After I tested the AC's I used foil tape to seal back the access hole that I cut to work on the slip joint.