notnksnemor
The Great and Powerful Oz
Pictures of drain at the pan would be helpful.
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.Pictures of drain at the pan would be helpful.
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.
Something has plugged the line. Most likely at the drain pan.I have heard of dirt dobbers plugging them from the outside though. I’d run a long piece of wire down the drain line…
Did you ever find out how the water got out of your air handler or primary pan into the emergency/secondary pan?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.
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.
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Check the drain line to make sure it doesn’t have a sag in it. Makes no sense the pan is full of condensation and not flow out.
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.
Did you ever find out how the water got out of your air handler or primary pan into the emergency/secondary pan?
Clorox every couple of months keeps mine open