Reduction in condensate

[options]

What would cause a reduction in condensate.

No moisture present in cabinet and trap has water in it, but customer was catching condensate water for her plants and is now complaining that there is little to none coming out of the furnace.

Thanks,
Ron

[karsthuntr]

Its not running or humidity is low.

[I_bend_metal]

Its not running or the humidity is low.










Oh wait...that sounds familiar.

[NRGwise]

wow i think that water from the inducer has some amazing flavor. It makes tomatoes taste like apples

[Shophound]

Not running, humidity low, refrigerant low, someone sped up the blower, the drain pipe is restricted, a ridiculously clogged filter was changed, etc. etc.

[firecontrol]

You didn't specify whether it was an air conditioner or a high efficient furnace (only say this because some people/customers call everything a furnace)...... so it's hard to guess at which gremlins are thirsty. :confused:

[beenthere]

The humidifier stopped working. :)

[hvacman07]

freon low not running humidity low when it was running there must have been alot of condensation for her to water her plants:D

[options]

Four weeks ago, I cleaned the air duct system in this 1200 sq. ft ranch with full basement. System consists of a high efficiency furnace, air conditioning and an electrostatic air cleaner.

In addition to all of the duct work, cleaning including the blower (removed, disassembled and cleaned the housing and squirrel cage), secondary heat exchanger (hand brushed & air washed) and indoor coil (hand brushed, air washed and chemically cleaned both sides of the coil).

The homeowner called this past Saturday claiming that she had noticed an immediate reduction in the amount of condensate coming from her furnace and wanted to know why. I went back to see if there was a problem.

I checked for leaks and there was no moisture present in the furnace cabinet or on the painted concrete floor below or near the furnace, condensate pump or along the vinyl tubing leading to the bucket she collects this water in. I removed the trap and found that it was full or very close to full of water.

During cleaning I had found a 20 + year old humidifier with no drum in it that still had water flowing thru it and I shut the water off. This action alone would account for a considerable reduction in the amount of water from her condensate pump.

We are located in Pennsylvania and she keeps her t-stat set at 65F. While warmer temperatures have reduced the need for heat during the day, the nights are still cool enough for the furnace to run and we have had several days of rain in the past 3 weeks.

I am assuming that under normal operating conditions, her furnace produces 2 to 5 ounces of water each time it fires. I don't recall seeing a dehumidifier in the basement, but could this water simply be evaporating from her condensate pump between run cycles?

With 21 years experience as a millwright, an associate degree in hvac (and iaq) and 7 years experience cleaning ducts, I rarely have trouble figuring out a problem, but this one has me at a loss to explain.

Only other thing I found when I went back was a loose ground that should have been attached to the blower housing, but it may have come apart when I removed the trap to check the water level in it.

I would think that an increase in blower speed would further cool the exhaust gases at the secondary heat exchanger and increase condensate not reduce it, but am going back this week to remove the humidifier and will check the wiring to make sure that I didn't change anything there.

Thanks for your replies,
Ron

[beenthere]

Was the humidifier leaving water leak through to the drain.

By cleaning hte blower and secondary and evap coil. You have reduced run time. So that will lower condensate from the furnace.