AC duct work sweating TONS of water

kris77

Member
Jun 9, 2016
105
1
18
CA
So I thought i'd post this here because it might help someone in the future.

AC/furnace is inside the garage in utility closet. Had the AC running the other day and the garage door open most of the day which is unusual for me. The garage attached to the house is just to park the car in. The detached one is where all my tools and tractor and all that stuff are located.

So i had the door open all day and came around after 5 or 6 hrs and noticed water all on the garage floor. All coming from underneath the closet.

So i go in there and both ducts leading from the AC are sweating BAD. I'm talking gallons and gallons of water leaking down the furnace onto the floor. I'm wondering why. Then i realize i had the door up all day, and it was pretty hot so i was thinking the heat, mixed with the cold ducts = condensation.

Next day I get home from work and more water on the floor. Now i'm thinking something major is wrong. I'm thinking water line above the unit is leaking or the hot water tank is somehow leaking....who knows. Maybe a refrigerant leak somewhere in the coil. All i see is $$$$ flashing before my eyes.

So then i get to reading and decide i need to insulate the duct work better. So i do that. The next day, no water in the floor. But it was only 70 outside. Little did I know, my wife turned the AC off that day and opened all the windows. So of course it didnt sweat that day. But in my head I thought i fixed it.

Fast forward 3 or 4 days of 70 degree weather to Saturday when it hit 85. Came home to more water than ever in the garage floor. So i start tearing things apart on the furnace/ac unit to see if i can see whats wrong. I have the blower off and the exhaust fan off and I see where water is coming from everywhere. Its not obvious. Then i take the front off the AC coil and peek in there and the drip pan at the base is overflowing.

Ended up being a stopped up drain line from the drip pan to the floor drain. About 1/2" of rust had somehow gotten stuck inside the PVC drain and was backing everything up. So $1 and 2 1" couplers later, I have everything fixed.

I always think the worst and never check the simple stuff first. Maybe on day i'll learn. lol I'm just glad it wasn't anything major. The unit is over 30 yrs old and its on its last legs anyway. I just hadnt planned on replacing it this year. Glad it only cost me $1 for some PVC.

Maybe this will help someone in the future.
 

Daren Todd

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May 18, 2014
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I've had that issue at a couple houses now. The house in Florida kept having a skink (little lizard, sheds it's tail) go up the drain line and plug it ;) Used to drag an air line in from the service truck and blow the line with some compressed air to get the stuck lizard back out of the line :rolleyes:

House I'm in now, the line popped loose and filled the cabinet full of water. Kept hearing water dripping. Least that one we found quick before it really flooded.

Have issues with the one for the office at work as well. AC is over the bathroom in the shop. Drain will get plugged and start dripping water through the ceiling. The one at work is a bear to get to.
 

Ridger

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L3940 HST
Nov 26, 2014
144
7
18
North LA
I also had a plugged drain line in my A/C unit a few months ago. I found out about the alarms that D2Cat mentioned and bought a few. I put them everywhere there may be a potential water leak that is not visible. I found them on Amazon. A good investment.
 

sdk1968

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Oct 19, 2016
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Ohio
im an Insulator by trade...

so can tell you the good news that the extra insulation you put on the duct work is STILL not a bad thing.

but YES always check the drains/drip trays & loops first.

glad it was a simple thing!
 

BAP

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I hate when that happens. Of course I would have to have AC first before it happened to me. We just open the windows and let the breeze blow through.