In the hottest months of summer, your air conditioner can be expected to work extra hard. If you’re finding that your air conditioner is leaking water, consider that this may mean the AC needs to be looked at.
What causes the extra water?
Most modern air conditioning systems have an indoor and an outdoor unit. An evaporator coil is located inside the unit that cools the warm air as it passes over it to create a comfortable indoor temperature.
As warm air blows over the coil, condensation starts to form. Imagine small droplets forming on a bowl of ice water, and that’s similar to what’s happening to your evaporator coil.
As the moisture evaporates, it drips into a drain pan that leads to a condensate drain pipe. This pipe leaves your house, so ideally, you shouldn’t encounter difficulties with your air conditioner leaking inside your home.
Unfortunately, there may be times when your air conditioning unit is dripping water indoors, but again, there’s no need to feel alarmed. We’ll go over some of the reasons this could happen and what you can do to fix it.
What causes the water to overflow?
If your air conditioner is leaking inside your home, it’s probably due to a clogged condensate line. Over time, the line may become clogged with dust, dirt, or mold. If your drain line becomes clogged, the condensation inside the house fails to get out through the pipe, so water can build up and leak into your home.
A wet-dry vac can quickly and easily clear out a drain line that’s clogged with debris. The contents of this obstruction can be emptied, and the water can gain access once again.
If the wet/dry vac method doesn’t work you may need to call the professionals for help. They have access to a special, powerful vacuum that can remove the blockage and free up the drain line.
Low coolant in your system
As the refrigerant within your air conditioner decreases, the liquid level gets lower as well. This may also mean that your evaporator coil will freeze, leading to a mess.
If you observe that your air conditioner isn’t cooling down your home as it should, inspect the refrigerant levels. Other signs include an unusual hissing or bubbling noise, which means that you might have a leak.
Damage to the pipes
You might be seeing water leaking near your air conditioning due to drainage troubles. If your cooling unit is older, you could have rusted or faulty drain pans.
An air conditioner between 12 and 15 years old may need a brand new drain pan. Try changing an old rust pan to see if it solves the problem.
If you notice that there is excessive water around your HVAC unit then it may be important to contact your local heating and cooling professionals. At Andersen Heating and Cooling, our technicians will be able to diagnose the cause for the water, contact us today to schedule a service appointment.