AC Blowing Rain Water from Air Discharge

[Bob&Joyce]

I'm hoping someone can offer some suggestions to a weird problem.

I have a 2008 3124KS with what would be the standard AC for that model year. Any time it rains, I get water drops blowing from the air discharge grill on the side by the switch. I removed the filter grille and the plastic shroud around the AC. When I shine a light up into air return opening on the side with the power junction box, I can see water coming in from the side of the AC just above the power junction box. The water is dripping on top of the junction box and in a small area around the box. The water is getting blown by the fan out of the discharge grill.

Any thoughts on where this might be entering? I know there is a gasket that must be periodically tightened. Any idea how to see if that is where it is seeping in from?

Also, I have actually been considering changing out the AC for a lower profile, and hopefully a much quieter, unit. I would think RV AC units are fairly standard size (physically) and footprint, but really have no idea if that is indeed the case.

Are there only certain units that will fit a TM? Or should any brand AC of the same physical size be suitable?

One last question, if anyone has run into this before. When I took the plastic ceiling shroud down from around the AC, I can look up in the ceiling hole and see where the plastic base that the AC sits on contacts the roof of the TM. I see three or four small vertical hairline cracks in the plastic base running from bottom to top of the base. It almost looks like a stress crack perhaps from a screw installed too close to the edge of the plastic, and when tightened caused a small crack in the plastic.

These do not appear to be causing a problem at this time, but my fear is that if I remove the AC and loosen the screws in the base, these cracks might worsen or actually cause a real crack or break in the base and render it unusable. Is the base used by TM a custom part, or is this a standard AC base available from an RV supply house?

Any help at all with any of these concerns would be MOST appreciated.

Cheers All!!

Bob