Any central air conditioning experts out there?

[dennis thompson]

On the floor, next to my central airconditioner in the basement, is a small puddle about 10 inches around. I've changed the filters but still get the puddle. Any thoughts on what might be causing this? The unit is 4 years old.
Thanks
Dennis

[ROY DICK]

Check for a stopped up condensate line.

Roy

[Jason Roehl]

Do you somehow have warm, humid air hitting cold ducts or the condensate line?

My air handler is in the garage, and if I leave the garage open on a humid day when the A/C is running, I get a nice puddle by the unit.

[Al Willits]

Remove the condensate line and check for blockage in the line, also use the eraser end of a pencil to probe into the fitting the drain line hooks to on the furnace ductwork, this assuming you have the basic furnace/ac in the basement and probably a upflow furnace.

When you stick the pencil into the opening, have a towel ready, if that's where the bockage is, you'll have water coming out when you clear it.

Common problem and that's the usually the problem, could also be a evap coil starting to become blocked and the furnace blower is blowing the water off the coil and onto the sides of the ductwork too.

Or it could be a evap drain pan has developed a leak.

Or...

Al

[Ed Sallee]

I'm not an expert, unless running from air conditioned home to air conditioned car to air conditioned office and then finally to air conditioned shop counts as being an expert.... but, this happened to me as well.

I wound up calling the guy.... and what he did was basically cleaned everything from the unit outside - those fins can be clogged up that are on the outside unit....and will cause your problem... Then, the subsequent fins and filters that are built in to the in home unit could be clogged... the standard filter is to keep these from getting clogged - if your filter slipped and/or was dirty, these can get clogged up as well.

I say clogged, but what I really mean is dirty. Air can still flow around, but the effect of the fins and such are lost through the residue.

On the outside unit, he made sure the power was off and then just hosed everything down. Taking off the cover first, of course.

On the inside unit - he used a shop vac.

Been fine ever since and I conduct this maintenance myself now, a couple of times a year.

[Will Hon]

I've done HVAC work for going on 10 years. First things first, like mentioned before, pull the drain hose coming out of you A-coil and blow through line. If their is any resistance you know there is some blockage... i know its disgusting, but blow it out. Then take a really small screwdriver, stick it in the plug where the drain hose came off of the furnace, and wiggle it around to clear any blockage from the drain pan. ( If there is a 90 degree turn-down fitting or the such you can remove it to get the screwdriver actually up in the drain pan) If this doesn't seem to work make sure that the freon suction line (fatter insulated one) is completely covered WITHOUT any gashes in the rubitex insulation all the way from when it enters your house to when it goes in your furnace. The suction line produces a lot of condensation... if their are any tears wrap them with electrical tape. I take it the water is only on the floor? Have you ever noticed any frosting/icing on the freon lines or plenum? This could be a much more serious issue that can lead to water issues.

[Jim Finn]

Make sure your condensate drain line has a trap in it.