Seeking advice for replacing my AC

I'm using a very old Through the Wall AC (LG, Model: LXA1210ACLY3). Today after I dismantled the front cover, I found a lot of water on the bottom plate as attached pic. This AC doesn't have a drainpipe to exhaust the water. Is it normal to have all water on the bottom plate? I'm thinking to buy a new AC to replace it. I found LG - 550 Sq. Ft. Smart Window Air Conditioner Model:LW1217ERSM. I only have a small apartment about 550 square foot. Is it a good choice or do you recommend any other Through-the Wall AC? Many thanks!

 

The cold coil in the front sweats and the condensation runs down into the drip pan. The condensate is supposed to run towards the outside of the unit where it gets picked up by the fan and is sprayed onto the hot coil. This evaporates the condensation. If there is too much water, or the unit is not slightly tipped down towards the outside or the path from inside to outside gets blocked...... the water overflows the drip pan and into the metal chassis. Sometimes that runs outside.... other times it can leak into the wall.

You are replacing a thru the wall A/C. Not all window units can be put into a wall sleeve and work properly. LG does offer other 12k thru the wall units. I wasn't able to locate a direct replacement for yours but there may be.

 

Thank you very much PJmax!
I just found a LG LT1216CER 12,000 BTU 115v Through-the-Wall Air Conditioner. Is this one good? Can anyone is in forum recommend a through-the-wall AC better than what I found?

 

Sorry.... I don't work with many window/wall A/C's so I can't tell you if the product is good.
A member passing thru may be able to offer more information.

I left two links below where customers reviewed the unit.
As with anything.... the reviews are not always accurate or truthful.

Amazon reviews
LG reviews

 

Thank you so much PJmax for those review links!
It's always hard to make up my mind after I see those bad reviews. I'm waiting to see if any member passing thru can recommend a better through-the-wall AC by their expertise.

 

Here is my opinion does this older unit still work? if it does don't replace it yet as they say if it ain't broke don't fix it (replace it).

Newer unit are junk and only last a season or two and to get the same amount of cooling power as these old one you usually have to step-up a BTU rating or two as these older ones usually cooled greater then their advertised rating the newer ones only do the advertised rating in the best (artificial) settings their tests are done by the manufacturer (if done at all).

LG may not be the best company but this AC was made when these were still made with some level of quality control.

 

Thank you CircuitBreaker!
Yes, my old AC is still working. However, I have some concerns (1. I don't know why a lot of water on the bottom plate, it's normal or abnormal. 2. It's not energy saving AC. 3. It doesn't have a remote control and there is no temperature display and I can only set cooling higher or lower. 4. Sometimes it doesn't automatically stop when the temperature is low, I have to manually turn off the AC. 5. It's more than 15 years old and I'm afraid if Freon leaking happens one day, will it cause any health problem? ). I appreciate any further advice.

 

These all are valid concerns you have but here is more information and also my opinion on this subject.

1. Yes the water should not be there but the cold coil sweats when in operation however the water should go to the back of the unit and be swung on the hot coil by the slinger fan. The drain maybe clogged or the unit not installed in the wall sleeve properly.

2. A refrigerant leak should not be a concern as even a small leak will get noticed as these don't even contain enough refrigerant to be an issue and any leak will result in loss of performance which will surely be noticed right away.

3. Energy saving - EER is the biggest scam in the HVAC industry these days. These old units actually don't use anymore energy then an "Energy Saving" unit would the new ones can actually use more because they have to run more to provide the same amount of cooling as these good quality older units.

4. Remote is not an issue. For me at least

5. for better temperature control you can buy a plug in Thermostat to get better temperature regulation of the living space

Option 2

Option 3

Those three thermostats I posted are just to give you an idea of what is available out there if you do get one make sure it can handle the AC's rated current input usually given in Amps (A) and/or Watts (W)

I would stay away from any modern unit especially ones with the so called "Smart" functions.
Some modern units also use flammable refrigerants and that is more of an issue then a little leak from an R-22 system is.

They use R-32 while others use R-410A

 

Thank you CircuitBreaker for your prompt answers!
My most concerned is the water. When I looked at the manual below, I don't see any possible drain pipe that could be clogged and I don't see any drain hole on the back of plate, that's why my AC never drain any water to outside. Could you take a look at the manual and let me know any place that could be clogged and if it's normal that my AC doesn't have drain pipe hole on the back of bottom plate?
https://www.manualslib.com/manual/85...y3.html#manual

 

I can't see anything obvious in the manual but it looks like the water is supposed to drain to the back on the unit through the black thing that is right under the indoor coils I can see a small opening that I assume leads to the back of the unit.

The unit looks really close to the floor are you on the ground floor or are you up on a second or higher story of a building? Any window/wall AC has to have some sort of tilt to the back so that the condensate water can drain to the back and get thrown on the slinger fan and evaporated and any excess (on humid days) will drain out the back.

PS: looking at the manual that unit is from 2003 or sometime there-about.

I would keep it until it no longer works and then replace it.

 

Thank you CircuitBreaker! I live on 3rd floor and the AC wall hole is near the floor. It's so weird that in my AC model's manual, there is no single text mentions about drain.
I found a web page about cleaning drain passageway. I quoted "What typically happens to cause leakage is that an INTERNAL drain passageway that diverts water away from the bottom of the front evaporator coil clogs, preventing the water from reaching the rear condenser “slinger” fan. The only remedy is to take the cover off of the a/c and clean out that passageway, often an awkward process in terms of access."
https://removeandreplace.com/2016/06...ck-how-to-fix/
Does anyone have a detailed example video or images about how to clean the drain passageway under the indoor coil?

 

You stated that this unit is over 15 years old. If this were mine I would replace it, the simple fact that it has no remote control would be unacceptable to me. I bet the front of it is ugly too! LOL
New one might not last 15 years but it will have a cool remote and be real pretty when installed. Lets do this thing. LG (Life's Good) is fine.

 

About the only thing I can think of that may have happened is the pan overflowed and water is now in the bottom pan (where it should not be) and not on that black thing (where it should be) under the indoor coils. I can help more if you can get another picture of the whole front from farther away. I would not pour bleach or anything in there yet as you don't want it to overflow and ruin your wood floor.

@ Former Member:
Yes a remote is nice but I'd rather have a reliable unit that can actually do more then the advertised BTU rating. I also posted links to some remote thermostats if the Original Poster wanted better temperature regulation then the dial thermostat's warmer or cooler settings,

 

 

It looks like this LG was a replacement to a much older unit. I don't know if you own or rent the place but if you rent I would call the management and get the maintenance to look at it. Water should not be on the right side of the unit that black thing is a catch pan and there is a gap that leads to the back of the unit that access can be clogged or otherwise blocked by something and that caused the catch pan to overflow. They may have to pull the unit out of the sleeve to see if these is something blocking that area.

 

Thank you CircuitBreaker!
This apartment is owned by me. However, I don't want to pull out the unit now, because its trim is taped. I will pull out the unit next summer, if I still don't find the clogged reason, then I will buy a new AC. I wouldn't like to buy the AC now, because since the weather is getting cool, I can't fully test it, unless there is a very good deal. Do you recommend any good brand or store to buy the through-the-wall AC from?
By the way, the sleeve (outside case) of this AC is built in the wall hole, when I pulled out the AC in the past, it was open and no outside case. Does it mean I only can buy LG brand which might have same sleeve and so I can't need to pill the sleeve out of the wall hole?

 

No you don't have to stick with LG all of the sleeve units I have dealt with before were open (no casing) the sleeve acts as the case of the unit.

In my honest & humble opinion Friedrich is the only company making decent modern units these days.

Another Option

I don't know how old your building is or where you are located but P.C.Richard & Son are one of the retailers I like to shop at these days.

I don't know if the Friedrich units are out of your price range but if they are tell me and I can look for another decent unit for you.

 

Hi CircuitBreaker, you mentioned "No you don't have to stick with LG all of the sleeve units I have dealt with before were open (no casing) the sleeve acts as the case of the unit.". Do you mean I can leave the current LG sleeve in the wall hole and remove the new AC's sleeve and then push the new AC without sleeve into the wall hole?

I hope I can find the clogged reason of the current AC, because the bad reviews of new AC always scare me.

 

Yes the sleeve is mounted in the wall and stays there (unless you want a giant gaping hole to let bugs & animals in). The sleeve in the wall may not even be an LG one anyway newer units can be made to fit on the older wall sleeves the new units manual states how that procedure is done. Even that LG's manual stated how to adapt it to the older Fedders & Emerson and others types of wall sleeves.

 

Hi CircuitBreaker, when I looked at the Friedrich you recommended and saw its depth is either 18.5 or 21 inches, but my current LG's depth is only 16 inches. Does it mean I have to find a AC with only 16 inches unless I pull out the current AC and measure the real sleeve depth? Do you recommend any budget through-the-wall AC less then 800 bucks?

 

The AC can only be as deep as the wall sleeve (obviously) but the existing wall sleeve may be longer then the 16" of the current LG unit the only way you will know it to pull the AC unit out and measure it and maybe hopefully find and ID tag so you know who actually made the existing wall sleeve.

I am not really familiar with sleeve mounting units, I'm just familiar with the actual inner workings not how they are mounted to the wall sleeve.

For 550SQFT you would need at least a 12K BTU unit this current LG one is only 10K BTU and as I stated the older units cool better but did the LG do a good job of cooling the space now? Do you like your living space cold (I do the closer to 60°F the better). If it did a good job cooling and you don't like the space as cold as I do another 10K BTU unit may work.

 

You'd need to slide the unit out of the sleeve to check for a clogged passage.
You should also check the sleeve as it may not be pitched down outside.

In the diagram.... the blue box is the condensate tray and base.
You can see the round ring on the fan. That is the slinger.
That fan sits in the condensate tray where the slot is shown. There should not be any dripping water.

 

Thank you CircuitBreaker and PJmax!
I saw the water was on both the black condensate tray and the base pan. Is it supposed to see water on both or only the black condensate tray? Where is the drain hole from where the water drain outside? Is the drain hole on the black condensate tray or base pan?

 

One more question, if the new through-the-wall AC can be pushed in the old mounted sleeve without taking off its sleeve, can I just directly push the new AC with its sleeve into the existing mounted sleeve without taking off its sleeve?

 

I'm wondering if I can buy a window AC to slide into the existing mounted sleeve. Do I have to buy through-the wall AC? Because the window ACs seem much cheaper than through the wall AC based on the same BTU. What's the advantage of buying through-the-wall AC?