I awoke this morning to the sound of raindrops pattering on the bedroom air conditioner. The patter was punctuated by distant rumbles of thunder. The bedroom was still pretty dark at almost 8, which is why I hadn’t woken up yet.
I’m usually up at dawn, as soon as the first light hits the bedroom windows. So I was given an extra hour or two by the rain. Since I had nothing to do this morning, it was OK.
I love the sound of the rain on the AC; it’s really soothing. But some people hate it. It drives them nuts.
Sometimes I get calls about it, and I go and glue a thick piece of foam rubber on top of the AC to dampen the noise.
One client called about that- but it wasn’t the rain, it was a recalcitrant AC two floors above her that let a constant drop-drop-drop fall on her AC, and I have to say it was pretty annoying. It was so loud a drip I needed to double up on the foam pad.
When I worked as a handyman on the Upper West Side my cheap boss used to use cut up pieces of discarded carpeting for the same thing, we’d cut out holes for the ventilation vanes and then use silicone to secure the carpet remnant to the top of the AC. Of course the carpet in time unraveled and worse smelled like wet carpeting, so if you want to dampen the sound I recommend the foam rubber pads.
I don’t use the pads; both my wife Danusia and I like the sound of the rain. And we live on the top floor so we don’t have any other ACs dripping on ours.
I do however use an aluminum L bar to hold the AC in the window, I take off the bracket that’s screwed on top of the AC and replace it with the L bracket cut to the width of the window. Guaranteed to keep your AC from falling out the window.
Then I use Plexi glass cut to size to fill in the open areas and silicone them in. Watertight, and more importantly airtight, and cuts down on outside noise considerably.

I’ve seen people use cardboard, even shoeboxes. There’s someone across the courtyard from us with an old K-Swiss shoebox keeping out the world. The of course there’s the shitty plastic accordions that come with your new AC, neither water nor sound proof. You get quite a draft through them in the winter if you are the type of person that leaves the AC in the window year round.

This thing is like a sieve.

I do that with my living room AC, it’s too big to store during the winter. But with my double thick Plexi we’re as warm as toast.

To the people who can’t stand the sound of rain patter on your AC, you’re lucky you never heard rain patter on the top of a steel army helmet. I have, when I was in the army, and it almost drove me nuts. But having wet hair is even worse so I put up with it.
I have no idea how it sounds on the new Kevlar helmets; those were just being tested when I got out in 1981. Probably a little softer, but I’m sure it’s still annoying.
Anyway, if you can’t stand the sound, go to the local hardware store and get the padding. Or you can call me; I can always use the work.
I hear it’s going to be hot next week.