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Message
re: AC drip pan help
Posted on 5/15/25 at 10:50 pm to King of New Orleans
Posted on 5/15/25 at 10:50 pm to King of New Orleans
I cut off my units while I’m doing my maintenance. If the unit is running while you pour anything into the drain lines, it will blow back out.
As for the outside coils….. if you regularly use a hose with a nozzle to spray the coils, you won’t need to buy any coil cleaner. This is especially important to do if your unit is close to vegetation and plants. Do not use a pressure washer, you will damage the coils
ETA: if you go the foam route…. You spray it in with the unit off, wait 5 minutes and then hose the foam off
As for the outside coils….. if you regularly use a hose with a nozzle to spray the coils, you won’t need to buy any coil cleaner. This is especially important to do if your unit is close to vegetation and plants. Do not use a pressure washer, you will damage the coils
ETA: if you go the foam route…. You spray it in with the unit off, wait 5 minutes and then hose the foam off
This post was edited on 5/15/25 at 10:54 pm
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Posted on 5/15/25 at 10:52 pm to King of New Orleans
In hot humid weather, an a/c puts out one gallon of water per ton per hour i.e. 4 gallons an hour for a 4 ton unit. Set the thermostat on 74 and clear the line from the emergency pan if you can. If your main.line and your over flow line are both clogged you have a tou problem or a serious a/c problem.
Posted on 5/15/25 at 11:04 pm to King of New Orleans
quote:
I got my shop vac
Put it on the outlet of the condensate line. That will likely be the first thing the ac man will do when he gets there. If things get moving, pour some more water in pan and continue to vacuum to flush shite out. Avoid using bleach at all.
Posted on 5/15/25 at 11:15 pm to King of New Orleans
The line out is clogged. There is a shut off in the pan so you don’t flood your house. Ac should work after you drain but will fill again. There are stuff you can buy to clear, but honestly can’t remember. There should be a line from pan to outside. There should also be a “spout” that you periodically ( maybe every 3 months) pour a water and bleach solution down to keep the line clean. I use 1 gallon hot water and 1 cup bleach.
Learned my lesson when that happened t me and no problem dince
Learned my lesson when that happened t me and no problem dince
Posted on 5/15/25 at 11:29 pm to King of New Orleans
On the systems I have had in order for the drip paan to be full, you have to have two drain lines clogged. One drains the air handler and one drains the overflow pan.
I think it will fill up again tonight. However, it is already 11;30 pm and it is not going to get that hot tonight (at least in my area). I’ll bet the unit wouldn’t run all that much anyway from this point on.
I think it will fill up again tonight. However, it is already 11;30 pm and it is not going to get that hot tonight (at least in my area). I’ll bet the unit wouldn’t run all that much anyway from this point on.
Posted on 5/15/25 at 11:31 pm to King of New Orleans
Which drain line is clogged? The main or the secondary? Or did it freeze over or all of the above?
Posted on 5/15/25 at 11:34 pm to dallastigers
Nothing is frozen. It’s running fine now that I emptied it. I’m assuming the main line coming off the pan. That’s usually what my guy goes up and clears.
Posted on 5/15/25 at 11:52 pm to King of New Orleans
You have a shop vac
Clear the drain line yourself
Clear the drain line yourself
Posted on 5/16/25 at 1:02 am to King of New Orleans
Depending on how your rig is set up, you may be able to attach a garden hose to the drip pan and run it wherever you need to.
Water rolls down
Should be a float switch that cuts your ac off when the pan reaches a certain level. If you have one it’s bad.
I’d shopvac it and check it in the morning
Water rolls down
Should be a float switch that cuts your ac off when the pan reaches a certain level. If you have one it’s bad.
I’d shopvac it and check it in the morning
This post was edited on 5/16/25 at 1:05 am
Posted on 5/16/25 at 1:11 am to Slevin7
quote:
If you have one it’s bad.
Huh??
Posted on 5/16/25 at 5:08 am to King of New Orleans
You drained the pan then dropped the thermostat 9 degrees in hopes of turning a corner.
You cant make this shite up.
This post was edited on 5/16/25 at 5:09 am
Posted on 5/16/25 at 5:57 am to King of New Orleans
I’ve taken a shop vac to the condensate line outside and used my hand to make a seal and it broke loose whatever was plugging the line. You might try that.
Posted on 5/16/25 at 6:15 am to King of New Orleans
quote:
I’m 99% sure it’s just a clogged line.
Can you adapt your shopvac to slurp out the line? Maybe some kidn of adaptor to form seal.
Posted on 5/16/25 at 6:17 am to King of New Orleans
You are being quite dramatic about this. How fat are you? 66 degrees?!? Just climb up there and unclog the line. Problem solved.
Posted on 5/16/25 at 6:19 am to King of New Orleans
This is not complicated. There is a plastic pvc line in the unit that has the water pan under it.
The pvc goes thru the roof and bricks, and lets the moisture drip outside your house. You will need to either cut the pvc and put and air hose to it or blow thru it with your mouth. After it’s clear pour some bleach down it. Depending on your HVAC install, you may actually have a piece of pvc stub standing upright off that line, which is a clean out they installed to make it easy.
It should have a cap on top. Remove the pvc cap with your hand and pour the bleach into it.
The pvc goes thru the roof and bricks, and lets the moisture drip outside your house. You will need to either cut the pvc and put and air hose to it or blow thru it with your mouth. After it’s clear pour some bleach down it. Depending on your HVAC install, you may actually have a piece of pvc stub standing upright off that line, which is a clean out they installed to make it easy.
It should have a cap on top. Remove the pvc cap with your hand and pour the bleach into it.
Posted on 5/16/25 at 6:19 am to King of New Orleans
1) shop vac the water out of the safe pan.
2) is the condensate drain line clogged? Pull the cap off the condensate vent tee. See if you can use the shop vac hose on the discharge side and try to blow any obstruction out
3) no obstruction, evaporator coil may have froze. Can check the linesets outside. Do you see ace at the copper lines by the condensing g unit outside. If so. Freon is low or you have a dirty coil and not getting good heat transfer
2) is the condensate drain line clogged? Pull the cap off the condensate vent tee. See if you can use the shop vac hose on the discharge side and try to blow any obstruction out
3) no obstruction, evaporator coil may have froze. Can check the linesets outside. Do you see ace at the copper lines by the condensing g unit outside. If so. Freon is low or you have a dirty coil and not getting good heat transfer
This post was edited on 5/16/25 at 6:38 am
Posted on 5/16/25 at 6:40 am to LSU Neil
quote:
Depending on your HVAC install, you may actually have a piece of pvc stub standing upright off that line, which is a clean out they installed to make it easy. It should have a cap on top. Remove the pvc cap with your hand and pour the bleach into it.
And if you don’t have the stub or tee, cut the line and place one with a cap. It will make your life easier when dealing with this issue, including regular maintenance
This post was edited on 5/16/25 at 6:43 am
Posted on 5/16/25 at 7:02 am to King of New Orleans
I have 2 units. One does this at least 2 times a year. One never does it. It’s the drain line and how it was put in. I shop vac out the water and the pipe and use bleach or white vinegar to do that after I get the water out. Our AC guy came and cleared it once with compressed air when I could not get it to clear. It lasted at least 24 hours before the water came back so you should be fine for a while. I put a water sensor to signal my alarm system in the pain bottom so I now catch it right when it starts to fill instead of getting a full pan. There is a system I saw at Home Depot that drips cleaner in the pipe. I dont know anything about how well it works.
Posted on 5/16/25 at 7:10 am to Hampton
Vinegar, not bleach
Posted on 5/16/25 at 7:12 am to King of New Orleans
After you pay an A/C guy a small fortune to do a simple job get you some of these:
LINK
Put 1 tablet in your pan everytime you change your filter (during the summertime).
LINK
Put 1 tablet in your pan everytime you change your filter (during the summertime).
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