Condensate leakage

Posted by Silver Surfer on August 2, 2008, 9:42 pm

The evaporator coil for my daughter's central air conditioning is leaking
condensate on the basement floor. The drain line is unobstructed and also
flowing some water.

This is a Carrier unit and it was installed with the access panel less than
a foot from the basement wall, presumably because the refrigerant
connections are right below the panel and it's a direct shot from there to
the outdoor unit. Whatever, it was a real pleasure taking the panel off and
getting it back on.

Did not see anything obvious with the panel off, but there wasn't much that
could be seen from back there. It looks like the condensate tray is on the
opposite side of the unit where there is no panel.

Noticed a small cover on one corner. Behind the cover was a drain pipe with
a rubber plug in it, from the factory it appears. What is the purpose of
this other drain connection? Would it help to also run a drain from it?

I'm guessing that the condensate tray may have a leak in it, but I don't see
any easy way of accessing it short of cutting a hole in the housing. I
don't know what these trays are made of or if they are are prone to rusting
out.

What can you suggest?

Posted by Zyp on August 3, 2008, 4:46 pm

Silver Surfer wrote:

> The evaporator coil for my daughter's central air conditioning is
> leaking condensate on the basement floor. The drain line is
> unobstructed and also flowing some water.
> This is a Carrier unit and it was installed with the access panel
> less than a foot from the basement wall, presumably because the
> refrigerant connections are right below the panel and it's a direct
> shot from there to the outdoor unit. Whatever, it was a real
> pleasure taking the panel off and getting it back on.
> Did not see anything obvious with the panel off, but there wasn't
> much that could be seen from back there. It looks like the
> condensate tray is on the opposite side of the unit where there is no
> panel.
> Noticed a small cover on one corner. Behind the cover was a drain
> pipe with a rubber plug in it, from the factory it appears. What is
> the purpose of this other drain connection? Would it help to also
> run a drain from it?
> I'm guessing that the condensate tray may have a leak in it, but I
> don't see any easy way of accessing it short of cutting a hole in the
> housing. I don't know what these trays are made of or if they are
> are prone to rusting out.
> What can you suggest?

If the coil is older than 15 years, it likely has pin holes in the bottom.
There's really no remedy other than replacing the complete coil. Since it's
in the basement, it will likely not allow the newer coils [larger] to fit
without a newer furnace.

Good luck.

--
Zyp

Posted by Silver Surfer on August 3, 2008, 6:41 pm

Thank you for the information Mr. Zyp. You provided the insight I was
looking for. Much obliged.

> Silver Surfer wrote:

>> The evaporator coil for my daughter's central air conditioning is
>> leaking condensate on the basement floor. The drain line is
>> unobstructed and also flowing some water.
>> This is a Carrier unit and it was installed with the access panel
>> less than a foot from the basement wall, presumably because the
>> refrigerant connections are right below the panel and it's a direct
>> shot from there to the outdoor unit. Whatever, it was a real
>> pleasure taking the panel off and getting it back on.
>> Did not see anything obvious with the panel off, but there wasn't
>> much that could be seen from back there. It looks like the
>> condensate tray is on the opposite side of the unit where there is no
>> panel.
>> Noticed a small cover on one corner. Behind the cover was a drain
>> pipe with a rubber plug in it, from the factory it appears. What is
>> the purpose of this other drain connection? Would it help to also
>> run a drain from it?
>> I'm guessing that the condensate tray may have a leak in it, but I
>> don't see any easy way of accessing it short of cutting a hole in the
>> housing. I don't know what these trays are made of or if they are
>> are prone to rusting out.
>> What can you suggest?

> If the coil is older than 15 years, it likely has pin holes in the bottom.
> There's really no remedy other than replacing the complete coil. Since
> it's in the basement, it will likely not allow the newer coils [larger] to
> fit without a newer furnace.
> Good luck.
> --
> Zyp
>

Posted by KJPRO on August 4, 2008, 12:10 pm

> Thank you for the information Mr. Zyp. You provided the insight I was
> looking for. Much obliged.

Till it ends up being something else, that nobody here can see...

Posted by Silver Surfer on August 4, 2008, 9:51 pm

I have another question. Noticed something when I had the cover off, but it
didn't register at the time.

The 1" copper condensate drain line runs from the "front" of the unit to the
back where it connects to the drain hose. This bare copper pipe was
dripping wet, and it's located in the same area where the mystery condensate
is escaping through a joint between the evaporator coil housing and the
furnace on which it's mounted.

There is no cold air flow through the drain because of several effective
traps in the flexible drain hose along its length, but there surely is cold
water flowing through it. Now if the humid air entering the evaporator coil
passes across this drain pipe would there not be undesirable condensation on
its surface?

If that seems feasible then one solution would be to put insulation on the
drain pipe, although it's virtually unreachable as is. An alternative would
be to plug off the existing drain and install the hose on the other unused
drain that is on the front side and is very short and not exposed to
incoming air.

What do you think?

By the way, thank you, Gary, for coming to my defense.

Also, to all you professional HVAC gentlemen out there, I apologize if you
are offended by my asking for help in this matter. I thought that was one
of the purposes of these news groups and numerous others on various topics
where I freely offer help to others whenever my knowledge or experience
provides the answer they are looking for.

And, I don't have any qualms about calling in a pro when I'm in over my
head. However, I take pride in being able to take on and solve problems of
all kinds even when my experience is limited. Isn't that what most of you
do?

>> Thank you for the information Mr. Zyp. You provided the insight I was
>> looking for. Much obliged.

> Till it ends up being something else, that nobody here can see...
>

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