Fluid Dripping from Area Rear of Engine

I have just returned from a few weeks in France and noticed a drip from under the vehicle, (2016 Peageot based Broadway), just to rear of engine. I have come to the conclusion that it is something to do with the air conditioning as it doesn't happen when switched off. The fluid appears to be water as there is no oil mark after drying. All resevoir levels seem ok. The weather was extremely hot when this happened and I was wondering if this is normal or perhaps a problem with the air con, it seems to be working ok.
Has anyone noticed a similar issue.
Regards,
John.

Apart from cooling, or, indeed, heating, air conditioning also dries the cabin air. The water is dumped overboard as you have found.
For that reason alone I never switch air conditioning off. (drying I mean!)

Thanks Roopert and IanH,
That all sounds re-assuring, I thought it might not be something to worry about but as I had never noticed it before I thought I would run it past fellow Autosleeper owners.
Sounds like a good tip to keep the air con on - I had heard that the seals could dry out and leak if not used for extended periods.
Thanks again,
John.

Having the aircon on increases fuel consumption if that bothers you.

I also never turn air con off.  If you do then run it at least once a week to keep seals lubricated and the condenser working , you don't want to know the cost of  a new one.

Good point, probably best to have air con on most of summer and just for a short while during winter.
Thanks again for all the responses.
John

john clemence wrote:Good point, probably best to have air con on most of summer and just for a short while during winter.
Thanks again for all the responses.
John

I don't leave mine on all the time because its not needed and is wasteful but I do ensure it gets periodic use if only for a few minutes.  The only times it is needed are when the fresh air vents are not able to cool the cab sufficiently and when the inside is damp which can happen at any time of year.  Unlike my car(s), I find driving the Peugeot with the door window open to be quite pleasant at least at lower speeds.  I doubt this makes any significant difference to the aerodynamics and therefore MPG.  I haven't tried it, but there is also the option of opening a skylight slightly to improve airflow.

Caraman wrote:Having the aircon on increases fuel consumption if that bothers you.

Well, sort of.

On several past vehicles with air con I have, as always kept a very accurate record of fuel consumption. 
All of this has been with air con on as I never switch it off.
However I tried an experiment and switched it off for 1000 or so miles on two previous vehicles.
Absolutely no difference to the fuel consumption in real terms, perhaps .1 or .2 of an mpg.

In the old days with early medieval systems that was definitely the case, no longer IMHO!

I can't dispute the figures but this is what the RAC and other motoring organisations say - Tip 7

https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/how-to/fuel-saving-tips/

OK we could argue this for years!
Here's how I see it.
Running the aircon all the time is much better for it than being switched occasionally....IMHO
Running the aircon all the time keeps the car and its contents, fabrics, carpets etc etc dry, that alone is worth the perceived cost. IMHO
Without wishing to be rude, or offensive in any way, I simply can't understand this concern for motorhome fuel consumption. You have a 2nd or in many cases 3rd vehicle (2 cars and a motorhome) Willing to bet the most expensive in most cases is the motorhome. It's worth circa £30k +/- a lot. It does, if lucky 3000 to 5000 miles a year. At, and I'm being kind as I've never done better than 28Mpg, say 30mpg that comes to 166 galls (I know we use litres now!) per year If that was 35mpg (mine would have to be on a trailer to get that!) that's 143 galls. so lets do 25mpg. 200 galls. 
So the difference between 25 and 35 mpg is 57 galls per year. That's 253lts circa £455 per year and these are the max and min figures. 
This for a 3.5 tonne vehicle worth circa £30000 doing a whole 3000 to 5000 miles per year!
Why worry, it's an expensive hobby as we all know my figure is an absolute maximum of extremes, difference between air con on or off, is more likely to be 2% so that's 3.3 galls or 15ltr = £26 per year!!!!!!!!!!!

To offer an example we did a 17 day Canaries cruise in January, with Saga, came to near enough £6000 for the 2 of us. This may explain why I can't get excited re fuel consumption!!!

IanH wrote:OK we could argue this for years!
Here's how I see it.
Running the aircon all the time is much better for it than being switched occasionally....IMHO
Running the aircon all the time keeps the car and its contents, fabrics, carpets etc etc dry, that alone is worth the perceived cost. IMHO
Without wishing to be rude, or offensive in any way, I simply can't understand this concern for motorhome fuel consumption. You have a 2nd or in many cases 3rd vehicle (2 cars and a motorhome) Willing to bet the most expensive in most cases is the motorhome. It's worth circa £30k +/- a lot. It does, if lucky 3000 to 5000 miles a year. At, and I'm being kind as I've never done better than 28Mpg, say 30mpg that comes to 166 galls (I know we use litres now!) per year If that was 35mpg (mine would have to be on a trailer to get that!) that's 143 galls. so lets do 25mpg. 200 galls. 
So the difference between 25 and 35 mpg is 57 galls per year. That's 253lts circa £455 per year and these are the max and min figures. 
This for a 3.5 tonne vehicle worth circa £30000 doing a whole 3000 to 5000 miles per year!
Why worry, it's an expensive hobby as we all know my figure is an absolute maximum of extremes, difference between air con on or off, is more likely to be 2% so that's 3.3 galls or 15ltr = £26 per year!!!!!!!!!!!

To offer an example we did a 17 day Canaries cruise in January, with Saga, came to near enough £6000 for the 2 of us. This may explain why I can't get excited re fuel consumption!!!

The aircon only runs when the engine is running so if it is switched on all the time it is constantly going on and off as the engine goes on and off.  This won't happen if the aircon is switched off which could prolong its life although I have no evidence of this.

This isn't just about money - at least it isn't for me.  It's about waste saving.  Even if I won the lottery and therefore had limitless funds, I wouldn't have the aircon on all the time.  The saving in waste maybe small but when it is added to all the other waste saving measures, it becomes significant.  Waste saving is a way of life which we should all be practicing.

Glyne - my comment was in response to Ian's comment "Running the aircon all the time is much better for it than being switched occasionally....IMHO:

The issue is whether an aircon that is turned on and off every time the engine is turned on and off will last longer than an aircon that is turned on and off less frequently than this i.e. only when it is needed and if it hasn't been run for a while.  I don't have evidence to prove it but I suspect it won't last any longer and might even last for less time due to its heavier usage and constantly being turned on and off by the engine.

I think we all agree that it is not good for an aircon not to be used for long periods just as its not good for a motorhome or campervan not to be used for long periods.  Anything longer than 3 months I would say is a long period.

I think we are all in violent agreement that the cab aircon needs to be run regularly!  The question is how regularly.  It doesn't mean all the time.  I read on one website 10 minutes every two weeks.  This seems excessive to me and it won't work for most of us.  We try and use our motorhome every month, including during the winter, so if we haven't used the aircon during a trip, running it for about 10 minutes at the end of the trip is probably a good thing, as you can never be quite sure when the van is going go be used next.  The same presumably would apply if a habitation aircon is fitted, which of course requires an EHU.  We don't have a habitation aircon.  Running the aircon every 3 months is the minimum, which coincides with the maximum period A-S recommend a motorhome should be in storage.