Air Conditioning - A/C issue need help

Hi,
I recently bought a town house and i already got enough surprises. I am not able to figure its my lack of knowledge or there is some real problem.

To give an understanding, my house has a concrete patio at the back walk-out from rec room. And i belive and A/C condensation drain pipe must be going underneath the rec room to the soil. Part of the open area was converted to patio last year by the then residents.

1) On the day of walk-in we figured there is some water overflow in the utility room and back of the house at basement level (walk out basement, not english basement). Neighbor figured that is because the condensation pipe was not draining.

2) Plumber came and unclogged it. And there is no water in the utillity room.

3) Now i am confused with couple of issues. When A/c unit runs longer than 30mins streatch i am seeing water leaking at back of the house. I could see that it is coming under the walk out rec room door, out side the house.(Between the threashold and the concrete patio).

i) From the people i talked, there should not be that much water coming off the condensation pipe. I can see decent amount of water coming out there.
ii) My A/C unit runs for almost 1.5 hrs when i switch it on for the first time(isn't it too long) and then it switches off and starts every 5 mins and runs 5 mins. I think it is unusual frequent. Worried about all these issues i set the thermostat at 80 +.

Seller says it is not a big deal to have water flowing from the back. He thinks its flowing because the soil underneath the concrete is soaked due to rains (I am not buying to it though).

Unit could be spitting lot of water for some reason and the water is coming up. I don't have enough knowledge to connect the frequent start/stop and the excess water from condensation pipe.

Any help or diagnosis suggestion would be highly appreciated. (Temprature during last 2 days in this area was quite high at 90F and 85F with himidity at 60%. FYI.


Thank you for any helpful information. Appreciate your help.

-A

Anandtd

From reading your post, it seems you have two separate problems.
Several clarifying questions, please.

First exactly where is the end of your condensate line located?
Do you have a condensate pump to move your condensate or is it gravity flow? How far does condensate have to move-apprx distance from evap coil or air handler?

What size is your townhouse as far as conditioned air living space?
Single story with basement? Your air handler or furnace is located in basement?
What is age, size, model of your AC system?
Putting the short cycling aside for the moment, is it cooling your home satisfactorily?

Post back. Sorry for your trouble.
:(

TigerDunes,
Appreciate your response.

1) Its a townhouse of 6yrs old, Pulti construction. Complete house is above ground and the dimensions are 22' * 36' ~. It has finished basement, main level and top level. Not sure about details of AC unit but it is 6yrs old. I can feel the cold air coming from the vents. I think it is bringing down the temperature if i run it enough. As i am worried about the coming water i am kind of not running in constantly. Yes if i switch on it runs for 1.5 hrs continues before it stops. Then it starts again for 5 mins. These are average times. But i think i noticed it not cycling that frequent later in the night.


2) Utility room is in garage at basement level. I think the furnace is also in that room. Condensate water pipe settled into another pipe which runs under ground and according to few ppl who had a look , it goes runs under my recreation room and goes out into the soil behind the house. No there is no pump. Must be running by gravity. As its running underneath, no one is sure where it ends and why there is water coming behind the house. That is what i am worried now what kind of damage it could be doing. But from utility room to the water leak it will be 15 feet.

But according to some, this kind of house will be sitting on a concrete slab and there is nothing much condensation water can do to the house.

Could there be any reason that the unit releasing more water than usual or its just me thinking there is lot of water coming out.

Bear with me, i am a new owner and don't know abc yet.


Appreciate your insight.

On a hot humid day and just starting it as you did you can expect up to and sometimes more than 1 1/2 gals per hour of condensate. The problem I see is the short cycling after it gets to set point. This is a classic sign of oversized equipment.

I think I'd call in a pro not related to these condos and have it looked at.

Anandtd,

Assuming that your water trouble is due to condensate line, then I would recommend that it be rerouted to another location. This may be something you can do. If you are not comfortable with a project like this, then call an HVAC pro.

Regarding the cycling of your AC system, it is obviously short cycling. This can be due to a mechanical problem or perhaps your AC is oversized as Matt suggested. Again, this would have to be checked by a pro. What is sq footage of your conditioned living space and size of your AC system? Is it cooling properly and maintaining a normal temperature thermostat setpoint that is comfortable for you?

Good Luck!

Thank you both for your reply and suggestion.

Rerouting of the condesate pipe is one option that sure i have to look at.
My basic doubt was could any of the unit malfunctioning could release excess condensate water? I don't know if that was a meaningful qst.

Regarding the oversize of the unit, i wonder if that could be true. This is a 6yr old house and this unit was installed at the construction. I doubt if the builder made a mistake and nobody noticed till now.
If we ruleout oversize, what else could be causing it? Today in the early hours i noticed it was starting every 12 mins for 4 mins. What is the typical cycle time?


My living area id 1800sft. I am not sure about the size of the unit.

Appreciate your expert advise.
-A

Post the model and serial number of the outdoor unit and we'll tell you what size it is.

If it's not oversized it could possibly be low on charge but the way it runs for an hour and a half and gets the place down to set-point and then starts short cycling leads me to believe it could be oversized. Another cause would be location of the stat, is it in the flow of a supply??

Mattison,
Sorry i was not able to provide the details you asked.

What is the solution to a oversized unit? Don't tell i have to replace the whole unit :)