saerandy
07-20-2007, 10:45 PM
I have a newer 3-story home with 2 ac units. The unit that serves the upper floors is located in the attic, but it is an open walk-in type so there's lots of room. The unit is mounted horizontally, and there's a pan under the unit that the secondary drains in to and the pan drains out thru pvc to the outside where it drips on to the window sill if there is ever an overflow -- a safety measure I know.
Recently, and this is a new thing, water has been dripping in to the pan and out this secondary drain. The primary has a pretty far run as it goes across the attic, down the three stories, and out under my deck. The end of this pipe sits about 4 inches off the ground, so when everything is flowing nicely, I can see water dripping out of it outside.
Thinking he primary is partially blocked and that the water is just taking the path of least resistance, I opened the panel to access the interior pan, and made sure the holes weren't obstructed. All clear. I then plugged the primary from inside, hooked up my shopvac hose to the exhaust of the vacuum vs the suction, duct taped the hose to the access part of the pvc exit pipe (this is before the trap), and turned it on. Under the deck, There was some sputtering, but no debris came out. There was a good amount of air though, so I know that if it's obstructed, it's minor, it at all.
This didn't appear to fix the problem. still getting water in the pan. is it because I need more pressure in the drain line that what the shopvac can generate? Any thoughts on this? Maybe pour bleach down the pipe in case there's mold partially blocking it?
One more quick question - The installers sealed up the secondary drain pipe with silicone, so when it does leak, it leaks through the seams of the unit and in to the pan - not through the secondary pvc pipe coming out of the unit. Doesn't necessarily bother me, but everything is pretty rusted because of this. I suspect they thought it might "pressurize" the primary drain pipe and keep things flowing by forcing the water to flow every time the unit turns on, but I know that's a stretch as there's more than enough pressure in there to do this even with the small amount of air that would be pushed out of the secondary if it wasn't blocked. Should I dig out this silicone or is this a common practice?
Thanks!
Recently, and this is a new thing, water has been dripping in to the pan and out this secondary drain. The primary has a pretty far run as it goes across the attic, down the three stories, and out under my deck. The end of this pipe sits about 4 inches off the ground, so when everything is flowing nicely, I can see water dripping out of it outside.
Thinking he primary is partially blocked and that the water is just taking the path of least resistance, I opened the panel to access the interior pan, and made sure the holes weren't obstructed. All clear. I then plugged the primary from inside, hooked up my shopvac hose to the exhaust of the vacuum vs the suction, duct taped the hose to the access part of the pvc exit pipe (this is before the trap), and turned it on. Under the deck, There was some sputtering, but no debris came out. There was a good amount of air though, so I know that if it's obstructed, it's minor, it at all.
This didn't appear to fix the problem. still getting water in the pan. is it because I need more pressure in the drain line that what the shopvac can generate? Any thoughts on this? Maybe pour bleach down the pipe in case there's mold partially blocking it?
One more quick question - The installers sealed up the secondary drain pipe with silicone, so when it does leak, it leaks through the seams of the unit and in to the pan - not through the secondary pvc pipe coming out of the unit. Doesn't necessarily bother me, but everything is pretty rusted because of this. I suspect they thought it might "pressurize" the primary drain pipe and keep things flowing by forcing the water to flow every time the unit turns on, but I know that's a stretch as there's more than enough pressure in there to do this even with the small amount of air that would be pushed out of the secondary if it wasn't blocked. Should I dig out this silicone or is this a common practice?
Thanks!