Possibly, low freon caused the coil to freeze up, which resulted in ice melting in the wrong designated location.
I had an HVAC person come out and check my unit because water is sitting in my ducts and has now run through the walls from the attic to the main level in the kitchen. He says that my evaporator coils was leaking freon and it caused the problem. My question is how can leaking freon cause 3 ducts to fill up with sitting water? He was suppose to write a detailed description on the invoice but it wasnt detailed enough. Now I cant get in touch with him. Someone please help me understand how that much water can be generated from leaking coils!
Possibly, low freon caused the coil to freeze up, which resulted in ice melting in the wrong designated location.
Shamgar,
Only AOP professionals are permitted to post advice in the AOP forums.
Kappabeta,
A common symptom of low charge is an iced up coil. I know it doesn't make a it of sense, but when you understand the system, trust me, it does. When that ice melts, it can run into places where you don't want it to be.
If I were you, first, I would delete that guy's number. If he fixed something for you and now won't take your calls, that isn't the tech you want.
You can heck our contractor locator map and see if there is anyone close to you.
It's more then likely a combination of some things. But a leaking evaporator causes a loss of refrigerant, which will cause the coil to ice up. If it happens to shut off and the ice melts then it'll go into the drain pan. Many times the excess water is too much for the drain pan so it goes over the top of it, and then whichever way points downhill. Now stack on top of this excess water possibly a clogged up drain or a drain line not sloped correctly and it really can't get rid of the water how it should. So yet MORE water flows over the main drain pan. Now in all reality it should have an emergency pan underneath the coil to catch any water that flows out of the system, but even if it does the water can very easily get into the plenum and then into ductwork. Is there a reason your tech didn't fix the leak or let you know your options on getting it replaced?
He fixed it by replacing the entire 3 ton air handler and replacing 3 ducts that were full of water. The insurance company is requesting a detailed report of what caused the unit to fail so they can go after the manufacturer because the unit was only 5 years old. At this point I have nothing in detail to give them so I may be out of $! Thanks so much!
Last edited by beenthere; 10-05-2011 at 06:47 PM. Reason: price
thnx
No advice, but, if I had it installed it in an attic, I would have placed a full drain pan underneath the entire unit and installed a float switch in the pan, so that if it filled it would shut off the condenser and save your ceiling
Could all of this cause a drain to clog, thus causing the water to back up in the house
A clogged drain can be any number of things, from slime due to lack of maintenance, joints not glued properly, bugs getting in the trap. Without being there I can't tell you for sure what it was. As for the leaking evaporator causing the clog that's not impossible, but highly unlikely.
You will end up paying for it. It's not the manufacturers fault water ran everywhere. Maybe the installing contractor if the job wasn't done to code. Have you had maintenance done to it in the last few years/months? If it was less than 5 years old. It should have been covered under a parts warranty. If more than 5 years old. Then probably not.
I like DIY'ers. They pay better to fix.