Air Handler is leaking water

[neo97]

Thanks in a advance for any help.

I have a 3 year old Trane a/c unit and air handler. I recently had to have the compressor replaced because of cracked coils.

Now, for the first time, the air handler in the garage is draining water out of a pvc drain pipe. The unit runs, then when it shuts off, the water comes pouring out.

The pipe does not lead to a floor drain so I don't suspect that it is supposed to put out this amount of water.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

[Wgoodrich]

The A coil will produce water removed from the ambient air inside your home. This is normal. The drain from the A coil is required to be released in a household drain.

You need a drain for this water to drain into. There can be quite a bit on humid days.

Wg

[neo97]

Thanks Wg,

However, the difference is that there has never been water like this coming out of this PVC pipe. It must have been draining somewhere else before. Is it possible that this is an overflow drain and the true drain is clogged? How would I be able to locate the true drain and unclog it if this is the case?

Thanks,
Victor

[Wgoodrich]

Follow where the water flows. You will find the drain. I suspect it will be there if this furnace A coil has been running for years.

It is very common for a drain, especially if undersized, to clog up. What happens is a slime builds up and closes off the drain. To clear this it is commonly easy to do with a normal garden hose.

Take a garden hose and shove it into the drain pipe. Clasp your hand around it to seal it tight. Have someone slowly turn on the water pressure to the garden hose. This slime will normally readily flush out to the larger waste pipes and be flushed from the system by the rest of the drains. Once you know the water hose is pushing water through the drain turn the water on full and let the pressure wash out that drain. You will be good as new then.

What causes this is a very slow trickle of water from condensation from the A coil. The slow flow of water with contaminents in the air mix and promotes crud to grow without any water pressure enough to flush the crud out of the drain pipe. The garden hose will be that pressure to flush this slime out of the drain pipe. Not hard and commonly a five minute repair. Just start slow in case a blockage does not clear to avoid water rushing back in your face from the garden hose and getting everything wet. Start slow then run a while full force once it clears and you are good as new.

Let us know how you come out.

Wg