Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
That vertical pvc pipe on the drain line - I noticed it's blowing cold air into the attic. Should it be open?
(My setup: these are goodman units. Bottom has gas furnace and on top is the ac air handler. )
[Ignore that duct tape , I noticed the aluminum foil has gaps, I need to re-tape those to prevent cold air leaks around the evaporator bo]
So till I can get to fixing it... Can I just put a cap on it? (Not glue it down but just snug, or a piece of sponge). I am guessing the cold air escaping is not a good thing in this 90 to 100 deg weather.
Mine is the same way and I just put a cap on just like you said. Works fine and haven't seen any issues with it blowing out the trapped water or anything. I will say one benefit to doing it this way is I can easily rod out the trap when it gets gunked up every few years. So, instead of the exact diagram posted above, it would be better to have the vent coming straight out above the trap if you re-do it.
Although it is "wrong" I would, as you suggested, just stick a sponge in to block the bulk of the airflow - and not worry about it further. My reasoning is that it will still perform the function, give a quick and easy test point to check the temp coming off the coil without opening the unit up, and give access to a breath of fresh air if doing other work in a hot attic.
I wonder if techs who do this have experienced systems where the water was being pushed out of the traps by the air pressure, and figured this as an easy way to prevent that. (Yeah, that much pressure could be indicative of other problems, I get that.)
Mine looks like that and the builder told me the vertical pipe is a cleanout which should have a cap on it. A couple of times a year you're supposed to take the cap off and pour some bleach or vinegar down the line to eat up the slimy junk that forms in there otherwise. It's useful to have a removable cap on it because you can use a shop vac to blow air down the pipe if you get a clog.
Hey everyone, I have a question along similar "lines." I was visiting my dad's (I live overseas and use mini-splits). His central system is 23 years old, and over the 12 years they've owned it; he's had the puddles on the floor indicating a clog. He cleaned it out, and was good to go. There is no overflow shut-off on this unit. Last week, it was excessively hot and humid...they had a freeze up. I took the cover off the air handler and there were sheets of ice on the coils and a block of ice behind the cover. We let it melt and I decided to make a new condensate line to the drain. I actually put clean-outs on both sides of the trap, with caps. I was concerned about a refrigerant leak, but an audit of his electric bill shows he's been using 37 Kwh per day on a 1800 sf 2 level house with a full basement in VA,,,from June 10th to July 19....fairly light by most standards. A little corrosion on the coils, but not terrible. We started it up, and it was working great. Now here is the problem/mystery...I had to remove all the putty around condensate lines to replace/remove...there is a bit of an air leak, but not a lot...what kind of putty should we re-seal that with? Also...the 5/8 inch (i think) copper pipe that enters the handler, simply enters about a 1 inch diameter hole in the cover of the handler. While this has the standard black pipe insulation on it; there was nothing completely sealing it, where it crossed through the sheet metal...puzzling, though, was that there was no residue of any kind showing it had been sealed before....should I use the same putty on this? There was a lot of cold air leaking out there. Also, the smaller tube 3/8 inch (I think), had a piece of rubber that fit around the tube and onto the sheetmetal, also was leaking air.....should I seal that, too? Should the entire airhanlder be super air tight? BTW, his existing clean out was on the wrong side, too. Funny thing is, that they are the last people on their street of 16 houses, with the original unit....he puts it on 78 and leaves it. Regularly replaces filters with cheapies, but has NEVER had the pirates touch it. Any advice on finishing trhis up correctly would be appreciated. Happy cooling!
gcretro, since the unit is blowing air out of the vent, it means that your coils are above or after the fan motor. In that scenario, which is the most common, no trap is needed. If it makes you feel better you can put a cap on it but I wouldn't bother with it. Rarely will an HVAC unit need a trap or the vent line capped. Some of the bigger units we use that have the fan after the coils, we, as the builder, require a trap to be installed since the vent is in a vacuum or negative pressure condition. It allows the water/condensate to drain more effectively. I doubt you'd know the difference in utility bills by capping it. There just isn't that much loss of conditioned air. The drainline is supposed to have fall though so make sure the line isn't running the water back to the unit or has sufficient fall that the water runs away from the unit. I would guess that something like 99% of all HVAC units installed here for residential use have no trap and have no cap. Considering your install, it should have a secondary drainpan under the unit in the attic and it should be drained to a conspicuous area that you would see it should the primary drainline fail. Code now requires a water level device/alarm in the secondary drainpan. Yours may or may not have one but it's a good idea to have it. The device will shut the unit down if it senses water in the drainpan under the unit.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
, I noticed the aluminum foil has gaps, I need to re-tape those to prevent cold air leaks around the evaporator bo]
