Anyoe know anything about home a/c

[00bolt]

Last night I get home and there is a wet spot on my ceiling in the living room, I can actually see drops of water dripping down onto the floor. The spot isn't very big, but its there.
I just got a brand new roof about 2-3 months ago, and it stormed pretty bad yesterday, I thought maybe a leak.

So I go in the attic and find the puddle underneath my insulation and come to find out, its not the roof, its my a/c unit. one of the corners of my a/c unit has a dripping leak. Not super fast, but not super slow either. It is coming out of the corner of the big unit which is past the drain pan. So I put a bucket under it to catch it and dried up everything best I could.

go back up there to look around more and I see the drain pan is pretty dry, just one small puddle. But no water is coming out of the pvc drain pipe at all. Water is dripping (much slower than the corner) out of the a/c unit again. I feel around the pvc drain pipe and can feel air coming out, but feels dry as can be. I find the pvc pipe that goes outside from my roof and its dry.

I do not know much about this stuff, but I am thinking maybe a clogged drain pipe? appears no water is coming out of the drain pipe (but air is) and only coming out of the unit itself. any ideas?

[mstng86]

I don't know much, but it sounds like your evap coil is freezing over and then thawing out. Was the AC blowing cold air? It could be a refrigerant leak that's making it freeze over.

[juiceweezl]

Clogged drain. If the evap coil were icing, the house would get hot as you'd have limited airflow and the air wouldn't be cold.

Go to the home section, and I think you'll see some good pictures. You should have a PVC line coming out with (should have a p-trap) that goes into the main plumbing drain lines. When working properly, this should be the way water moves from the system and to the drain. The second line is short and should just dump into the large pan underneath the unit. This is for cases when the other line is clogged. Typically that is the line you see at the soffit, by a shrub bed, etc. It's very common right now for these to be clogged up. Stopper the sinks and tub drains then blow compressed air through the line. That might clear it.

I was at my parents' house this weekend and had to actually cut the line ahead of the P-trap so I could clean it then reassemble. They had water everywhere as the idiot who worked on it last time had put a cap on the line dumping into the pan underneath the unit.

[yellowstang]

Mine is not dripping onto the ceiling, but sounds like what I have happening, clogged drain lne. CHeck this link

http://www.dfwmustangs.net/forums/showthread.php?t=62707

[00bolt]

It is definitely blowing cold air. in fact, this might just be my imagination, but this morning when I went back up in the attic to check on how full the bucket was from being there overnight, it felt like my attic was air conditioned and cool.

that said, I did take a few pics. They aren't the best. But all I have at the moment. On the picture that shows the pipes....

the pipe on the right goes up and right where the pic cuts off, that pipe is open ended.... and I didn't track where this pipe goes, but I think it goes outside to a dump off right underneath my roof line on the side of my house.

the other pipe on the left has the T fitting and goes directly into the pan, then again... not sure where it goes but I think another outside dump. I don't think I have the sink things like some houses do.

[00bolt]

can I just get my air compressor and blow it down that open ended pvc pipe? would that be strong enough? but wouldn't that also blow air back to the a/c unit as well?

[mstng86]

ah, if its blowing cold and staying cold in the house, it probably is a clogged pipe then.

[mardyn]

I used an air tank & nozzle to blow a stopped up evap drain line over at Robin's house... overflow line must be stopped up too if it's leaking on the ceiling.

Get it cleaned out before the leak does any more damage.

mardyn

[yellowstang]

can I just get my air compressor and blow it down that open ended pvc pipe? would that be strong enough? but wouldn't that also blow air back to the a/c unit as well?

That should work perfectly fine. The clog is usually just mold/slime, not like a grease or hair clog, so air should force it to move on down the pipe. Home Depot also sells some little tablets, not sure what is in them, probably chlorine, LOL, that you use as a maintenance item. Just try to get as good a seal on the opening with the air hose jammed in to prevent blowback. Maybe wear a facemask so you don't take a shower!

[00bolt]

ok, so lets say I put some duck tape or something to close it off, cut a small hole in the tape, then put air compressor nozzle down it. that should prevent the backblow.... well it appears that pipe has 2 places to go, one would be down and out where the clog is I guess? then other would be right back into the a/c unit.... how can I block that without cutting the pipe?

and if this pipe is indeed clogged, isn't that what the second pipe that goes into the pan is for? a backup? why isn't water going to there and to the pan? that pipe is dry as can be. could they both be clogged?

[yellowstang]

ok, so lets say I put some duck tape or something to close it off, cut a small hole in the tape, then put air compressor nozzle down it. that should prevent the backblow.... well it appears that pipe has 2 places to go, one would be down and out where the clog is I guess? then other would be right back into the a/c unit.... how can I block that without cutting the pipe?

and if this pipe is indeed clogged, isn't that what the second pipe that goes into the pan is for? a backup? why isn't water going to there and to the pan? that pipe is dry as can be. could they both be clogged?

I wouldn't worry about the other opening inside the pipe that goes back to the AC unit, the force of air should be sufficient to go straight down and blow out the crap.

That second line is probably also clogged, as it should let it drain outside the house. Is the pan under the AC wet?

[00bolt]

no the pan is pretty much dry. there is a small puddle, but that water isn't coming from the drain pipe. it is dripping down from the ac unit itself like in the corner that caused the wet ceiling.

[mstng86]

How about opening up the unit and looking inside?

[mardyn]

If not going out the main drain outlet, Anything dripping out of the evap case should falling into the overflow pan and going out the pan drain.

Sounds like something is out of position, in addition to the leak

mardyn

[00bolt]

i haven't tried opening it, mainly because I don't really even know what I would be looking for. but I can try that tonight.

I don't think its moved or been adjusted. it is just leaking water wherever it can find an out I think? not like its leaning down.