notnksnemor
The Great and Powerful Oz
Pictures of drain at the pan would be helpful.
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Help! A/C problems!
- Thread starter DannyW
- Start date
Get a 3/4 pvc coupling and glue, should be a trap on the line at the coil. Cut the pvc about 2 inchs from the trap, unscrew the trap from the coil and clean it out, blow through the pipe going outside then glue it back together.If the drain pan under the unit has a drain on it, most of the time it won't have a float switch on it. That drain is usually just terminated through the wall at attic level. Blow it out at the pan or cut it there and blow it out and reglue with a coupling. Should fix it. Find where the drain from the pan exits the house and keep an eye on it in the future.If it is leaking you have a problem. Blow both of them out at least once a year.
treemanjohn
Banned
Pour 50/50 bleach and water mix down the drain twice a year. Heat and condensate is a breeding ground for mold and green slime
Artfuldodger
Senior Member
I thought the float switch went on the secondary drain pan? Also Evaporator drains typically have traps, which are designed to keep air from moving in or out of the air handler The absence of a properly working trap could cause an overflow of the condensate drain.
So the evap drain gets a trap otherwise it might not drain right if air blow out of it from the unit. I think this depends on the design of the air handler though, negative or positive pressure type. The secondary pan doesn't need a trap.
If it's an A coil evaporator it could drip outside the evaporator pan if it's really dirty or frozen.
The OP said he was pretty sure his evap pan was draining OK but his secondary pan was stopped up. Thus he has to figure out why or where his air handler is leaking condensate. Maybe his evap pan is leaking or maybe his coil is dripping into his air handler instead of running down the fins like it is suppose to, to the evap pan.
Maybe his evap drain was stopped up and after he got it unstopped, residual water is still leaking out of his air handler into his stopped up secondary pan.
So the evap drain gets a trap otherwise it might not drain right if air blow out of it from the unit. I think this depends on the design of the air handler though, negative or positive pressure type. The secondary pan doesn't need a trap.
If it's an A coil evaporator it could drip outside the evaporator pan if it's really dirty or frozen.
The OP said he was pretty sure his evap pan was draining OK but his secondary pan was stopped up. Thus he has to figure out why or where his air handler is leaking condensate. Maybe his evap pan is leaking or maybe his coil is dripping into his air handler instead of running down the fins like it is suppose to, to the evap pan.
Maybe his evap drain was stopped up and after he got it unstopped, residual water is still leaking out of his air handler into his stopped up secondary pan.
Last edited:
dixiecutter
Eye Devour ReeB
Secondary drain line is clogged, whether there's a float switch or not. That's what's wetting the ceiling. Primary drain pan could be cracked, or rotted- or you got a sweat problem, or air flow problem (something causing the water to exist) that will require addressing. Freezing coils do it too. Mess around up there you'll get it figured out! Advise though- the preventive bleaching or pan tablets is pretty common, it will keep those lines open- but do not put any type of agressive or caustic drain cleaner in or around that line. whatever goes in that line is subject to be partially sucked up into the evap coil, any of those chemicals will dissolve the coil, and I mean like deleting them. It's fatal.
I'm betting you got a cracked primary pan though, considering the unit was continuing to run.
I'm betting you got a cracked primary pan though, considering the unit was continuing to run.
oldfella1962
Senior Member
HA! Yes I have seen that! Not in a home, but on an AC unit for an Army maintenance van. Our HVAC tech showed me how they go inside the drains because it's a nice safe place to do whatever daubers do I guess.
DannyW
Senior Member
The problem is resolved...I think.
First of all, I do pour bleach down the primary drain once or twice a year. I have a gallon sitting beside the unit in the attic.
As I said before, I could not find where the drain for the pan exited the house. Turns out, I was looking in the wrong place. I assumed it was run out of the attic and down the wall to ground level. JR1 gave me a clue about it being at the eve level. I looked up to the 2nd story and there it was. I accessed it through a bathroom window and sucked the water out of the pan.
I looked at the pan drain line and it was buckled and uneven due to insulation getting underneath it, and probably extreme heat as well. Next project, on a cool/rainy day, is to fasten it down with pipe clamps so it flows level.
Next I went to the exit point of the main drain and put a bucket underneath it. I removed the float switch and poured some bleach and about a gallon of water down the drain. I also added 3-4 drops of food coloring.
Went back outside and the bucket was full of blue water. Perfect, my primary drain was not clogged, at least from the outside of the air handler to the exit point.
Buttoned everything back up and turned the power back on. The unit is cooling, water is now trickling out of the primary drain pipe, and no water is building up in the drain pan.
Thanks for all the help guys.
First of all, I do pour bleach down the primary drain once or twice a year. I have a gallon sitting beside the unit in the attic.
As I said before, I could not find where the drain for the pan exited the house. Turns out, I was looking in the wrong place. I assumed it was run out of the attic and down the wall to ground level. JR1 gave me a clue about it being at the eve level. I looked up to the 2nd story and there it was. I accessed it through a bathroom window and sucked the water out of the pan.
I looked at the pan drain line and it was buckled and uneven due to insulation getting underneath it, and probably extreme heat as well. Next project, on a cool/rainy day, is to fasten it down with pipe clamps so it flows level.
Next I went to the exit point of the main drain and put a bucket underneath it. I removed the float switch and poured some bleach and about a gallon of water down the drain. I also added 3-4 drops of food coloring.
Went back outside and the bucket was full of blue water. Perfect, my primary drain was not clogged, at least from the outside of the air handler to the exit point.
Buttoned everything back up and turned the power back on. The unit is cooling, water is now trickling out of the primary drain pipe, and no water is building up in the drain pan.
Thanks for all the help guys.
Artfuldodger
Senior Member
Did you ever find out how the water got out of your air handler or primary pan into the emergency/secondary pan?
Whitefeather
Management Material
Whitefeather
Management Material
Had that exact problem with my elderly in-laws unit last summer. About drove me crazy because you could blow air or water through it and it was fine. Finally found it and it had a sag in it about 20’ from the inside air handler under the insulation at the exterior wall.
I had my condensate pump get clogged with algae once. Had to disassemble it, clean it out, bleach the heck out of it, etc. Then bleached the heck out of the discharge and drain line to outside.
The kill switch kept us from water damage. I ended up using a ladle to empty it into a bucket before messing with the pump. Being summer in the attic, I think I might have sweated out about as much as was being held in the pan.
Now I go pour bleach down that drain and through the pump at the beginning, middle, and end of the summer each year.
Glad you got it figured out. Always satisfying to solve something without a repair tech bill to pay.
The kill switch kept us from water damage. I ended up using a ladle to empty it into a bucket before messing with the pump. Being summer in the attic, I think I might have sweated out about as much as was being held in the pan.
Now I go pour bleach down that drain and through the pump at the beginning, middle, and end of the summer each year.
Glad you got it figured out. Always satisfying to solve something without a repair tech bill to pay.
They also LOVE to plug the A/C drain lines on tractor cabs,and any kind of Vent. Transmission,rear end,anything that has a vent to relieve pressure buildup. I have seen all sorts of leaks develop because Dirt Dobbers plugged the dang vent & caused pressure buildup to blow out a Seal/Gasket ??
dooner
Member
Clorox every couple of months keeps mine open
DannyW
Senior Member
No. And that still worries me.
Redbow
Senior Member
White vinegar will also keep the drain lines open.
DannyW
Senior Member
Heard a good tip a couple of months ago from a Walmart employee. I was buying some of those gallon jugs of diluted pool chlorine to use in my pool and she asked if I was buying it to use as a cleaner. Said it was really just bleach and twice as strong as Chlorax.
She was right. It has 10% Sodium Hypochlorite vs about 5% in regular household bleaches. And it's cheaper...about $4.50 a gallon. After my gallon in the attic is gone, I'm going to try the pool chlorine down the drain pipes.
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