Help please...I have air blowing out a/c drain line

[livingaboard]

Hello,

I was inspecting my upright gas furnace in my garage today and sealing up some supply side leaks. I have a white pvc drain coming out near the bottom of the gas furnace for the a/c water drain. The line comes out to a TEE with a little p trap type of thing where it continues outside....the other part of the TEE goes straight up about 5 inches or so near the furnace and is open; I suspect this is some sort of air gap thing.

I have air coming out of this tee. Is it normal for either heated or cooled air to just be coming out of this pipe? It seems like a complete waste of energy to me.

I have been searching online and cannot find anything yet.

Thanks for any help.

[IdealCo]

Cap it with a 3/4 inch PVC cap at Home Depot $.50 Any thing can be used including a clean rag.

[KLEINman]

Hello,

I was inspecting my upright gas furnace in my garage today and sealing up some supply side leaks. I have a white pvc drain coming out near the bottom of the gas furnace for the a/c water drain. The line comes out to a TEE with a little p trap type of thing where it continues outside....the other part of the TEE goes straight up about 5 inches or so near the furnace and is open; I suspect this is some sort of air gap thing.

I have air coming out of this tee. Is it normal for either heated or cooled air to just be coming out of this pipe? It seems like a complete waste of energy to me.

I have been searching online and cannot find anything yet.

Thanks for any help.

Just put a pvc cap on top of the pipe comming out of the top of the TEE. That is a cleanout for the drain line. Just to for warn you, this is a NO DIY site, so for future reference please use another source. Thank you.

[livingaboard]

Just put a pvc cap on top of the pipe comming out of the top of the TEE. That is a cleanout for the drain line. Just to for warn you, this is a NO DIY site, so for future reference please use another source. Thank you.

Thanks for your reply. I did read the rules and I am allowed, as a home owner, to ask for advice or help in these forums. I did not ask for repair advice or step by step directions as a DIY'er to fix my HVAC system. Asking for step by step instructions to take work away from the HVAC industry is not allowed here according to my interpretation of the rules.

Of course I can cap off the pipe. That is not my concern. My concern is that my heated air, that I am paying to heat, is going out the drain tube for the a/c. If I cap the pipe, it still goes to the outside drain which defeats the purpose for a cap. I was just asking if this was a normal condition. It isn't something that I am going to call out a repair guy on so nobody is losing any work over giving me a simple answer to my question.

Thanks in advance to anybody that might have some insight on the matter.

[beenthere]

Pour some water in the trap. That will stop the air from going outside. And put a cap on the open end of the tee/line in the house.

Lots of installers don't even trap that line. Yours did, and they did it proper.
It is common for that trap to dry out, and blow air out the drain line.

[energy star]

If you don't understand post #5 post a pic of the trap. Sometimes this drain issue gets a bit messy. Some do not trap, some do. Positive side of system, negative side of system......we can point out a few things or at least lead you in the right direction as far a drain goes once we see a the set-up you have.

Beenthere is the big cheese on this site. He keeps things moving in a postive light and will help you.

[IdealCo]

well i hope this isn't going to break DYI rules but instead of pouring in water to the trap use mineral oil in the winter. It won't evaporate or Freeze.

[bmathews]

Just cap the thing and forget about it. It is such a miniscule amount of air compared to the amount of air the unit generates it isn't going to make any difference. You might be wasting a few pennies every few days. You waste more air opening the door to go outside one time than you do in a week of lost air through your drain line.