'Unusual' amount of drip pan condensate?


  #1  
Old 06-26-05, 07:40 AM
back2boston
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'Unusual' amount of drip pan condensate?

I have an American Standard a/c system, with air handler located horizontally in the attic. The system has been in place for about 8 years, working fine overall. Underneath, there is of course a drip pan (about 2+ inches high), equipped with an auto-shutoff switch (activated via float).

My a/c shutoff for an extended period recently (an hour plus; unusual when running in its typical on-again/off-again state since hooked up to thermostat of course). So, I went up to check, and sure enough, the float had activated and the pan was nearly full. Glad that works! Would have been a wattery mess to upper floor ceiling.

Anyway, I checked the PVC condensate piping leading away from the air handler and out along the attic floor to the side of the house, direct to gutter/s. I then went out onto the roof to take a look at the end. I can see that there is no blockage visually anyway, where pipe ends at gutter, and at that point I could also see about 1 'drip' out the end of it, per second.

Typically, we see the condensate running more or less at a 'steady' rate (more akin to a trickle) down the gutters/downspouts, when we run the a/c for more than a day straight, so something's not quite right----perhaps there's blockage within the run of PVC piping (for the condensate) from the air handler to its end out at the gutter, and that in turn is backing the flow up all the way back to the pan, or something.

I also noted (visually) that when I inspected the space underneath the air handler's underside, where it sits on hard plastic 'legs' that support it over the drip pan, that the 'sweat'/condensate was constant all over the handler's underside, so it was dripping there as well (yet into the pan; hence the design purpose I guess). Still, I was wondering if it should indeed 'sweat' so much. There is no such visible 'sweat' around the insulated trunks/branches/ductwork coming off of the air handler, which I know would be a bad sign, and the system is otherwise operating just fine, cooling the house nicely during the muggy/hot days. The dew point around here in Boston today is about 70, as it was yesterday, so pretty sweltering lately with temps in the 90's. My attic is pretty toasty, but ridge-vented recently with new roof we had put on, but not 'unusual' I'm sure, for up there.

Do I have a possible blockage in my PVC condensate drain pipe to the gutter? Should I call in a plummer to open that pvc up and snake it, etc? Or can I 'do it myself'? I'm pretty handy (or at least like to think so!). I haven't had the system entirely 'serviced' professionally for over 2 years now, so perhaps it's time for a routine maintenance/inspection, or is that just unnecessary $$$ out the window if I can attempt any such maintenance (if so, what to check/do?) myself. Whaddya think? Thanks.
 
  #2  
Old 06-26-05, 05:06 PM
Jay11J's Avatar
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I would take a shop vac and try sucking it out from the outside of the home.. If no go, then remove the cover on the air hander's coil. and see if some thing came undone and block the drain hole.
 
 

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