Air Conditioning - Leaking Vent from Central A/C Unit
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pphlws
09-05-07, 08:31 PM
Hi,
We have a leak coming out of one of our vents. Am I right in thinking that this isn't really helpful as an indication of what is wrong, and that the leak could be from multiple sources?
Our unit is in a two story town home so it might be a little different. The actual A/C unit is back behind our home and elevated almost to the height of our second story bedroom back window, so it is not accessible without a large extension ladder. The other part of the A/C and furnace are inside the home at the top of the stairs on the second floor. The unit faces out of a wall facing out into the living room, but is very high up. I change the air filter by leaning over a railing at the top of the stairs. There is a small metal door above the filter that I can open to access what I assume is the furnace motor or blower.
If I pull the air filter out there is a little compartment or area behind it that has what I believe is the evaporative coil which is in the top of the compartment running diagonally toward the top part of the A/C filter. On the bottom of this little compartment is some kind of insulation and I guess what you would call the condensation pipes. The pipes run through a little opening on the bottom of the compartment and down towards the vent which is leaking the water, and then, I assume, make their way somehow to the outside of the house. The condensation from the A/C comes out of a pipe on the side wall of the house. It doesn't appear to be blocked because it seems to have the same amount of water or condensation coming out of it that it usually does.
When this first started happening a while ago, I pulled the filter out and found that water was dripping out of the evaporative coil fins in several places and falling onto the insulation in the bottom of the compartment, and that maybe the water coming out of the vent was because of this water leaking into the opening that the condensation pipes pass through, which as I stated go down towards where the vent is. I decided to put several flat sponges in the bottom of the compartment around the area where the pipes go down through the opening to the vent, in the hope that the sponges would soak up a lot of the water and block most if not all of the water from going through the opening down to the vent. This seemed to help or maybe was just coincidence because the A/C ran for days after that without any noticeable water coming out of the vent, However, today, water started coming out again of the vent again, and this time much more than last time. When I looked to see if the sponges were still blocking the opening that the pipes go through down toward the vent, they were still in place and did not even seem that wet. We were hoping to at least make it to the break in the severe heat before deciding what to do, but now I don't think that will be possible.
Am I right in thinking the water could be coming from further back in the system and just happens to be leaking through the evaporator? If that's the case I am afraid it could be in the walls and doing water damage. I didn't realize even a central A/C unit created that much water from condensation each day!
Any help or suggestions would be appreciated!
We have a leak coming out of one of our vents. Am I right in thinking that this isn't really helpful as an indication of what is wrong, and that the leak could be from multiple sources?
Our unit is in a two story town home so it might be a little different. The actual A/C unit is back behind our home and elevated almost to the height of our second story bedroom back window, so it is not accessible without a large extension ladder. The other part of the A/C and furnace are inside the home at the top of the stairs on the second floor. The unit faces out of a wall facing out into the living room, but is very high up. I change the air filter by leaning over a railing at the top of the stairs. There is a small metal door above the filter that I can open to access what I assume is the furnace motor or blower.
If I pull the air filter out there is a little compartment or area behind it that has what I believe is the evaporative coil which is in the top of the compartment running diagonally toward the top part of the A/C filter. On the bottom of this little compartment is some kind of insulation and I guess what you would call the condensation pipes. The pipes run through a little opening on the bottom of the compartment and down towards the vent which is leaking the water, and then, I assume, make their way somehow to the outside of the house. The condensation from the A/C comes out of a pipe on the side wall of the house. It doesn't appear to be blocked because it seems to have the same amount of water or condensation coming out of it that it usually does.
When this first started happening a while ago, I pulled the filter out and found that water was dripping out of the evaporative coil fins in several places and falling onto the insulation in the bottom of the compartment, and that maybe the water coming out of the vent was because of this water leaking into the opening that the condensation pipes pass through, which as I stated go down towards where the vent is. I decided to put several flat sponges in the bottom of the compartment around the area where the pipes go down through the opening to the vent, in the hope that the sponges would soak up a lot of the water and block most if not all of the water from going through the opening down to the vent. This seemed to help or maybe was just coincidence because the A/C ran for days after that without any noticeable water coming out of the vent, However, today, water started coming out again of the vent again, and this time much more than last time. When I looked to see if the sponges were still blocking the opening that the pipes go through down toward the vent, they were still in place and did not even seem that wet. We were hoping to at least make it to the break in the severe heat before deciding what to do, but now I don't think that will be possible.
Am I right in thinking the water could be coming from further back in the system and just happens to be leaking through the evaporator? If that's the case I am afraid it could be in the walls and doing water damage. I didn't realize even a central A/C unit created that much water from condensation each day!
Any help or suggestions would be appreciated!
lenny56769
09-05-07, 08:49 PM
could be a few things could be freon not right could be a bad board i would call a tech out to check things out
mattison
09-06-07, 05:19 AM
Like said if this thing is that tough to access I would suggest getting a tech up there to give it a good cleaning and safety check. Could just be a dirty coil.