Water beneath Central Air Conditioning Units in Attic

[yfct]

Hi, I have two central air conditioning units in the attic. There is a metal tray beneath each unit. I was up in the attic the other day and noticed a thin layer of water in both trays. Is this normal? If not, where should I look into? Please advise. Thanks!

[majakdragon]

NORMALLY, if there are pans under the units, they also have drain lines connected to the pan to carry the water away. Check this out. Good luck.

[Ed Imeduc]

OK you moved your post over to where it should be. You did get my reply on the other post what did you come up with ??

ED ;)

[yfct]

Hi Ed, I got your reply and I'll check out the few items you suggested. I'll post back with my findings. Thanks!

[yfct]

Hi, here is what I found:

1) Turned on one zone:
a) Water level in the tray increased for that unit. Did not see where water come from;
b) There are two copper lines attached to one side of the unit on the upper side , one smaller than the other in diameter. The bigger one is cold and wet. I could see water surrounding the pipe but didn't see them drip down the tray;
c) There are two drain lines with P traps on the same side of the copper lines attached to the unit on the lower side. Not sure how to find out whether they are clogged;
d) On the opposite side of the two drain lines, there is another drain line attaching to the tray on the side in the middle. Looks like water level stay at below the opening of the pipe.

2) Turned on the second zone. The capacity of this zone is a bit smaller but the physical layout in the attic looks the same:
a) Didn't see water level increase. A very thin layer of water remained in the tray, right below the bottom of the tray's drain line opening.

3) What I also noticed was that the unit descripted in 2) sits in the middle of the tray while 1) sits more toward the opposite side of the tray's drain line. Could this be the reason why 1) has more water in the tray due to the tray tilted to the side away from the drain?

4) Could the water a result of condensation around the units?

Any thoughts and advise are highly appreciated. Thanks!

[Ed Imeduc]

Ckeck and see that both drain lines on the units and the p traps are clean . Can try shop vac on drain lines suck and blow. Some clorox in the drain line will help. Are the air filters clean?

ED ;)

[yfct]

Hi Ed, air filters are clean. As for the drain lines, you wrote "Can try shop vac on drain lines suck and blow. Some clorox in the drain line will help." How do I get to the drain lines that are attached to the units directly. Must I somehow disconnect them to perform those tasks, or are there tricks to get to them? Please advise. Thanks!

[Ed Imeduc]

You can try at the end of the drain can you find it, Or with the unit off take the cover off there by the drains. If all else fails cut the pvc pipe about a ft from the unit. blow and suck there both ways. Put it back with just a coupling.

ED ;)

[yfct]

Ed, luckily I found a plug a few inches above each P trap. There is a short pipe about 6" attach to the unit. The other end of the short pipe is t-ed with another vertical pipe. The bottom is the P trap and the top is the plug. The pipes don't look clogged...tested by pouring water in but will pour some clorox as you suggested until I figure out how to bring the shopvac up there. However, I can't get to the short pipes even with a snake. Looks like I have to open the cover to check the pipes in there. Can you think of anything that I need to pay special attention to before I open the cover and do some damages.

Please advise. Thanks!

[Ed Imeduc]

Turn unit off before you open it up by the coil.

ED ;)

[yfct]

Ed, wanted to report back that after sucking out the water for both units from outside I have not seen a drop of water in the overflow pans for a few days. Thanks for the guidance on solving this problem.

A couple more questions: I did open one of the air handlers to check inside. Now I observe a couple issues with this unit after replacing the cover:

1) There are aluminum foil sealing the vertical seams of the cover. I may have tore the foil while opening the cover. I found cold air leaking out there now. This can be simply corrected by resealing with aluminum foil and duck tape, right?
2) I heard a dot dot dot noise from the unit. Tried to trace the source. Then I found out if I unplug the vent plug of one of the drain lines the noise disappeared. Put the plug back in the noise came back. Any idea what this is?

Thanks!