Insane AC drain story....

Kick Back and Relax in the Cheers! Forum. Thoughts on life or want advice or thoughts from other pca members. Or just plain "chill". Originator of da Babe threads.
User avatar
FlyingPenguin
Flightless Bird
Posts: 32773
Joined: Wed Nov 22, 2000 11:13 am
Location: Central Florida
Contact:

Insane AC drain story....

Post by FlyingPenguin »

So we've been living in this new house for almost 2-1/2 years now. Keep that number in mind...

We have three AC units in this house, and one is for the master suite and since my wife is an alien from a frozen planet, she likes to keep it 69-71 degrees in there. The main part of the house is 74-75, and Dad has his own unit in the guest suite which he keeps at 77.

So Monday night around 11:30pm, while I'm gaming with Nuby and the boyz, my wife says the AC in the master suite stopped working and it's now 73 in there, and she's melting :)

Okay, so I see that the drain pan is full and the overflow cutoff switch is tripped, so I figure no big deal, the drain line is clogged.

So I confidently grab the shop vac and go outside and proceed to look for the drain... AAAAND... there' no drain. NADA! NOTHING! Now I know there's drains poking out of the ground next to the other two units - I see them all the time when I'm weed spraying, but I never really have noticed a drain on the master suite AC before, which is on the opposite side of the house from the other two units.

I looked everywhere, wondering if maybe they plumbed it out in a different location and... nothing.

Convinced I've been drinking too much, but determined to solve the mystery, I pull up construction photos. I'm OCD about taking photos of construction work so I find lots of photos of the AC unit, and none of them show a drain. I'm starting to wonder if it got broken off sometime before the pebble beds were laid down six months ago, but I can't even find it in photos almost 2 years old.

I finally see it in a photo taken right before the foundation was poured, and this is the ONLY photo it appears in, and it's exactly where it should be, they ran the pipe along side the larger pipe for the freon lines just like the others. In this photo (I circled it) it's just capped until the AC units are installed:

Image

So I decide to start digging at 1 AM, because now I WANT TO KNOW WHERE THIS DRAIN IS. I rake the pebbles out of the way, and peel back the weed barrier, and start digging at where the photo indicates it should be.

I had to stop and give it up until the morning because I eventually realized the pipe was deeper than I thought because 3 feet of fill was added on that side of the house later on, and this was going to be a bigger excavation than I thought.

I did find it the next morning, and it was exactly where it was supposed to be. It was, however, never plumbed out of the ground. It had been cut off and had black air conditioning tape over it (same brand the AC company used elsewhere in the house), so I knew that drain had been buried for 2-1/2 years!

Image

The ground WAS moist all around it, but surprisingly it never created a void. I'm guessing that the tape across the end of the pipe prevented soil from clogging the pipe, and the water leaked out slowly enough that it didn't create a void, but fast enough to not backup the drain... until the other night.

As soon as I ripped the tape off, it all came gushing out.

So I plumbed it out out properly. On a 20 acre ranch you are repairing broken water bibs and dug-up pipes all the time, so I have a bucket full of PVC fittings and spare pipe, PVC cleaner and glue, so no trip to the Home Depot was necessary.

I told my contractor, who is in the process of working on remodeling a couple of our rental houses right now, and he was apologetic as hell, and so is the AC guy who I've done a lot of work with, and is very good. I know he had a couple of young apprentices working with him when he installed those units, no I'm guessing one of the kids dropped the ball.

No big deal, it was an easy fix, but I still can't believe that it worked for 2-1/2 years, and I also can't believe I never noticed the missing drain before.

Image
"Turns out I’m 'woke.' All along, I thought I was just compassionate, kind, and good at history. "

Image
User avatar
psypher
Golden Member
Posts: 884
Joined: Sun Nov 02, 2014 1:05 pm
Location: Marietta

Re: Insane AC drain story....

Post by psypher »

Do you have a pump? Having it try to drain up like that, even a foot, could be a tad difficult no?
User avatar
reno
The artist formerly known as Renovation
Posts: 1781
Joined: Wed Feb 17, 2016 10:35 pm

Re: Insane AC drain story....

Post by reno »

that reminds me its time to vac out my airs drain tube. with this summers heat im sure it time to.
User avatar
psypher
Golden Member
Posts: 884
Joined: Sun Nov 02, 2014 1:05 pm
Location: Marietta

Re: Insane AC drain story....

Post by psypher »

I used these:

SimpleAir Clean Flow HVAC Drain Line Treatment Tabs, 6 Count.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00E9 ... UTF8&psc=1
User avatar
Losbot
Almighty Member
Posts: 4991
Joined: Sun Jul 13, 2014 8:59 am
Location: South Florida

Re: Insane AC drain story....

Post by Losbot »

Holy crap. I had a feeling you were going there.
------------------------------------------

Image
User avatar
FlyingPenguin
Flightless Bird
Posts: 32773
Joined: Wed Nov 22, 2000 11:13 am
Location: Central Florida
Contact:

Re: Insane AC drain story....

Post by FlyingPenguin »

Do you have a pump? Having it try to drain up like that, even a foot, could be a tad difficult no?
Nope. That's normal. It's actually draining far below the AC unit.
"Turns out I’m 'woke.' All along, I thought I was just compassionate, kind, and good at history. "

Image
User avatar
reno
The artist formerly known as Renovation
Posts: 1781
Joined: Wed Feb 17, 2016 10:35 pm

Re: Insane AC drain story....

Post by reno »

psypher wrote:I used these:

SimpleAir Clean Flow HVAC Drain Line Treatment Tabs, 6 Count.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00E9 ... UTF8&psc=1
wish it be that simple to keep my cooling system flowing . they design my system so the overflow /drip pan is in my attic and drains down the overflow tube to the outdoors by the condenser coil . Image in the summer /anytime of year we feel for the repair guys when they need to work on the systems here its a bitch. to top it off there little room there to work .it is really cramp in my attic.
User avatar
psypher
Golden Member
Posts: 884
Joined: Sun Nov 02, 2014 1:05 pm
Location: Marietta

Re: Insane AC drain story....

Post by psypher »

FlyingPenguin wrote:
Do you have a pump? Having it try to drain up like that, even a foot, could be a tad difficult no?
Nope. That's normal. It's actually draining far below the AC unit.
I wasn't referring to the entire drain pipe, I know that is sitting below the AC unit. I'm specifically talking about the piece you added with the 90 degree elbow going up vertically. The drain, like most drains, uses gravity and requires a slope. It's not like a water line that has pressure to go up vertically. Without a pump, I can't see how the water would get passed that elbow.

For example I have two units. One in the attic and one in the basement. The attic one runs horizontally out of the unit with a slope, then down the house and out. No issue there. The one in the basement has to go out the unit horizontally, but then up to run along the joists and then down the wall and out of the house. The section outside the unit that has to go up, uses a pump to move the water vertically.
Last edited by psypher on Thu Aug 06, 2020 7:36 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Pugsley
Posts: 7454
Joined: Mon Aug 19, 2002 11:54 pm
Location: NW Indiana
Contact:

Re: Insane AC drain story....

Post by Pugsley »

The bottom would have water in it just like a trap under a sink.
User avatar
psypher
Golden Member
Posts: 884
Joined: Sun Nov 02, 2014 1:05 pm
Location: Marietta

Re: Insane AC drain story....

Post by psypher »

Pugsley wrote:The bottom would have water in it just like a trap under a sink.
Except the bend/amount of water in a trap is a lot smaller and shorter distance. If you wanted to apply that to what he's showing, essentially his trap goes from that 90 elbow all the back to the unit :) It's easy to test, pour water in the drain from the unit. Can't cheat, has to be slow otherwise it's adding extra water pressure if you let it gush in. FYI, I'm not saying it won't work, I'm just curious as to how it's going to work based on my limited past experiences with plumbing and drainage.
User avatar
psypher
Golden Member
Posts: 884
Joined: Sun Nov 02, 2014 1:05 pm
Location: Marietta

Re: Insane AC drain story....

Post by psypher »

reno wrote:
psypher wrote:wish it be that simple to keep my cooling system flowing . they design my system so the overflow /drip pan is in my attic and drains down the overflow tube to the outdoors by the condenser coil . Image in the summer /anytime of year we feel for the repair guys when they need to work on the systems here its a bitch. to top it off there little room there to work .it is really cramp in my attic.
My upstairs unit is in the attic as well. Where my overflow drain exits the drain pan, it goes into a T with a removable cap, then runs across the attic, down the exterior wall to the ground then out. I have to change filters about ever 1-2 months. Every 2-3 months I remove the cap and pop on in. It's hot as hell in the middle of summer, so I try to get any work/maintenance done before it gets too hot. My roof was done before roof vents, so it's not an ideal setup. Hoping that helps whenever I replace the roof.
User avatar
reno
The artist formerly known as Renovation
Posts: 1781
Joined: Wed Feb 17, 2016 10:35 pm

Re: Insane AC drain story....

Post by reno »

us in a condo were limited as to whats allowed.were responsible for the heating and cooling unit. windows and doors including the garage door and florida room plus drywall in . the condo takes care of roof, exterior painting and drywall,landscaping except for 2 foot on side and rear of building ,courtyard . but we still have governing rules as to materials and plants we can put in. condo life is not for everyone.
User avatar
Executioner
Life Member
Posts: 10133
Joined: Wed Nov 22, 2000 11:34 am
Location: Woodland, CA USA

Re: Insane AC drain story....

Post by Executioner »

My last two houses have the furnace in the attic. It was plumbed with 2 drains for air conditioning. One was a safety where it would run outside underneath the rafters. We were told we should never see any water coming out if it. If we do, then the drain is plugged and should be looked at. The drain actually ran down into our bathroom and was teed in with the sink drain.
User avatar
FlyingPenguin
Flightless Bird
Posts: 32773
Joined: Wed Nov 22, 2000 11:13 am
Location: Central Florida
Contact:

Re: Insane AC drain story....

Post by FlyingPenguin »

Psypher: The photo is a bit misleading. Once buried, that pipe is about two inches above the ground.

The condenser unit's drain pan is probably 8 feet above the level of the outside drain, so it siphons fine. The other units have the drains setup the same way. All three are draining fine. There's a good trickle coming out of the one I just fixed.

Reno: Our old house had the condenser unit in the attic originally as well, and it was a miserable design. Yours doesn't seem to have a secondary overflow pan under the unit either, so I'm not even sure how they got away with that. We had a big pan with it's own drain mounted under the unit to catch any water that might leak out of the unit.

Our pan leaked a couple of times (make sure yours has an overflow sensor installed to shutoff the unit), and the tech had to cross the entire attic to get to it, and it was almost impossible not to damage the old style stiff ducts that ran along the ceiling joists anytime you walked around up there. Having been up in that attic many times I know it was miserable up there, especially in the summer.

When we had to upgrade the unit, I decided to relocate the condenser to the pantry closet. That killed off the pantry, and in it's stead I installed extra shelving in the laundry closet to use as a pantry. Much happier since we did that. I also had all the duct work replaced with modern soft ducts strapped to the roof. There were a lot of air leaks I had tried to tape up over the years in the old ducts.
"Turns out I’m 'woke.' All along, I thought I was just compassionate, kind, and good at history. "

Image
User avatar
FlyingPenguin
Flightless Bird
Posts: 32773
Joined: Wed Nov 22, 2000 11:13 am
Location: Central Florida
Contact:

Re: Insane AC drain story....

Post by FlyingPenguin »

FYI: In all my houses (main house and investment rentals) except one (and that one is getting a new AC in a year), I use AprilAire filters. These are huge accordian filters. You only need to change them once a year. Up front cost isn't a lot, especially if you install it with a new system.

I buy the replacement filters in bulk from Amazon. They're around $35 A piece that way, and that's comparable to buying 12 good regular filters over a year.

Mine are all installed under the units, beneath where you would normally install the factory filter.

I can highly recommend them. My wife is sensitive to allergens, and it helps. It's also nice to only change them once a year.

This video shows what it looks like:

"Turns out I’m 'woke.' All along, I thought I was just compassionate, kind, and good at history. "

Image
Post Reply