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Location: Downtown Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill,Homestead for now
512 posts, read 1,224,884 times
Reputation: 274
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Our a/c is leaking water under the filter especially after the a/c stop ronning. Is the drain pan suppose to have lot of water? Also we dont understand why the kill switch did not prevent this leak. I thought when the drain pan is full it will trigger the switch to stop the a/c.
Our a/c is leaking water under the filter especially after the a/c stop ronning. Is the drain pan suppose to have lot of water? Also we don't understand why the kill switch did not prevent this leak. I thought when the drain pan is full it will trigger the switch to stop the a/c.
Do you have a condensate pump to send that water somewhere else?
The pan is not supposed to collect water.
And yes... if it did get filled it's supposed to shut down the system.
Window AC units ARE supposed to have water in the pan. They have a "slinger" that throws it against the hot coil to increase efficiency and eliminate the need for a dripping drain.
Central air units collect a little bit of water, but a drain tube is supposed to carry that water off. The problem is that the drain tubes get clogged with "snot" and have to be cleared with a shop vac. or compressed air, then a bit of bleach or fungicide run through them to kill the organisms that cause the clog. There are pill-like tabs that can be placed in the drain pan to reduce or eliminate the organisms that cause the clogs.
As to why the kill switch didn't work, it could be clogged up - or - you could have freezing on the coil and the amount of water melting from the ice is too much.
If water is collecting in the pan, the drain hose/pipe is clogged with algae. There are a few things you can do. Purchase pills made for this condition. They are usually used as preventive maintenence so clogging doesn't occur. You may have to use many. Or pour bleach in the pan to disolve the algae. Or this one I had to do. Find the drain pipe on the outside of the house. Run your garden hose up the pipe. Have someone looking at the pan to yell 'stop' when fresh water appears. Let the water drain and repeat to make sure the pipe is clear.
Don't ever use bleach in your A/C drain pan. Not only is liquid bleach in all kinds corrosive its gas is also corrosive which will do damage to your A.C coil.
The drain tabs will work fine but only as a preventive measure. You should clear them with compressed air (nitrogen or CO2 cartridges) first and then use the tabs to keep the buildup from continuing to occur.
Location: Downtown Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill,Homestead for now
512 posts, read 1,224,884 times
Reputation: 274
You are all amazing and i want to say thank you. We go shop vac from a friend and we will try cleaning the pipes tomorrow. We will hook it outside and suck all the junk out and clean the drain pan. I will updated you all soon
I would inspect the kill switch. They're not infallible.
Last year my neighbor's AC began leaking because of the same problem you had. Their unit was in the attic so it leaked down into the ceiling. The kill switch wasn't working.
I check mine annually, usually when I inspect or replace the air filter. While the unit is on and the compressor is running, lift-up on the switch, to trigger as if the pan is filled with water. The outside unit should shut off and the inside unit remain running. If not, call a tech to come out inspect and replace the switch. I wouldn't suggest doing it yourself, per se, because there may be other things wrong than just the single switch.
That you air coniditoning as a kill switch indicates that pan is for water from coil leak problem really. The coil itself will like have a drain directly into sewer line..A pan under the coil menas that the drin line is blocked but still the pan fillign with water means a tech should look at the coil for leakage;normally from rusting out.
One of the first things I do when turning on the central air is to check the condensation drain pipe (they all condensate and leak like the puddle under your car AC) is dripping/leaking. The pipe might be outside the house or in some cases inside the house (draining to the sump pump hole, floor hole, etc.) but it should be leaking/draining after a few days of the AC being on. If not draining/leaking, call someone ASAP.
Location: Downtown Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill,Homestead for now
512 posts, read 1,224,884 times
Reputation: 274
So my husband used wet vac and the water was pretty dirty. We did this on Monday. We also opened the unit and cleaned the drain pan with a small brush. It was rusty. No drip for a while....So this am we had little water dripping. So i poured water in the drain pipe and taped little on it. The water started backing up a little and then went out. We have a small clean tube so that is how i saw the water. I tapped it again and did the same thing. I poured more water and shock the pipe a little water was backing up and was dirty.
I did it again this time nothing. ...I will try pouring water one more time and see if i cleared the tube......maybe we need to blow air in the tube.
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