Fix AC Leaking Water Inside the House in 10 Seconds | Air Conditioner Maintenance Tips
When the air conditioner works for cooling, water is formed in the indoor unit. condensate. Condensation. Moisture in the air that condenses on the surface of the heat exchanger of the air conditioner whose temperature is below the dew point.
The dew point is the temperature of the air at which the steam (moisture) it contains reaches a saturated state and begins to condense into dew.
If conditioner is functioning properly, and the main thing is that it is installed qualitatively, the condensate is safely removed outside the premise. It happens either by gravity (the drainage is laid with a slope), or forcedly (when using pumps, pumps and so on).п.)
Leak of an air conditioner, questions and answers
For information about air conditioner leaks, the following popular questions and answers can be identified.
Is it possible to turn on a conditioner if it leaks?
You can, but the problem will not disappear by itself. In some cases you risk to damage conditioner. For example, the radiator frost can crack. So you better look for the cause and fix it.
From the drainage pipe water comes out unevenly: sometimes it does not flow at all, at other times it flows quite heavily. What It May Be?
There is most likely a small kink somewhere in the drainage system. There is water build up in it, and when it reaches the maximum it leaks. It will not affect the operation of the air conditioner in any way. But in the place of accumulation of water over time can form a cork.
When I turn on the air conditioner, it starts spitting water. Then works for an hour and everything is normal. What’s the problem?
You have high humidity in the room. Moisture builds up inside the air conditioner while it is not running. After the airflow turns on, it splashes outward.
Weak airflow
One possible reason for the build-up of ice could be too little air flow through the evaporator coils. The air conditioner uses a very cold substance (refrigerant) to absorb heat and moisture from the air in your home. Heat exchange occurs in the evaporator coils (the part that is frozen). When warm air passes over those cold refrigerant coils, they absorb enough heat to prevent them from freezing.
But if not enough warm air passes through the evaporator, the heat exchangers, filled with refrigerant, will not work properly, emitting moisture.
And accumulated moisture will settle on the freezing coils, so the unit freezes. Some factors that cause poor airflow you can fix yourself.
- Dirty, clogged air filters. You need to check and replace the air filter.
- Blocked return vents. Make sure that no curtains, furniture are blocking the openings. Keep items at least 60 cm away from return vents to ensure proper airflow.
- Closed vents. Keep all vents open, even those in rooms or unused areas.
In other cases, you may need the help of a professional to check the system and can identify the following circumstances causing low airflow:
How the air conditioner works
In order not to confuse the uninitiated reader, we will not consider monoblocks. Who remembers 20-30 years ago, the climatic systems were in one case, which was installed in a window (such solutions are still exist today).
Modern conditioners are made in separate cases, so called split-systems. It is done partly to save space and convenience of installation, but the main advantage is relative quietness of work. The matter is that a compressor with one of radiators is carried out in an outdoor unit.
In normal operation it is the water dripping from outer case of a conditioner.
We are not going to look in detail into the mechanism of compressor, evaporators, heat exchangers, electric turbo-fan. The main principle of work comes to one. division of a refrigerant (in this case the freon) on hot and cold components. In room cooling mode, frost is produced by the indoor unit. At that split–system cabinets can change the assignment. If the climate system has the “winter-summer” category, the heat distribution can be turned by 180°, and then the heat will come from the indoor unit.
Now about the main thing
When the cold air passes through the indoor unit radiator, moisture is deposited on the metal. As a result, the air becomes dry and condensate forms on the radiator. Of course, it turns into large droplets, and begins to drip down.
Question: Then why the air conditioner drips outside the house in summer? In theory, no water should form on the warm radiator?
That’s right, the outdoor unit does not produce condensate in room cooling mode. The liquid we see comes from the room part of the air conditioner. For water collecting in the internal casing of split–system there is a small tub, connected with outer unit. In fact, it is not necessary to run the drain pipe into the outdoor unit. The water is just enough to be drained out of the room, or just directed to the sewer line. It’s just that in the cold season, when you turn on the air conditioner for heat, the outdoor unit itself “produces” condensation. Saw the frostbitten unit on the wall? It is frozen water in the room heating mode.
It is a malfunction, in normal operation, just water dripping from the drain hole.
Engineers have thought of everything, the extra water flows by gravity from the inside tub to the outside unit, and from there it just drops on the ground. Then why is water leaking down the wall from the air conditioner into the room?
Arctic cold in the indoor unit
Sometimes the reason of water leakage from the air conditioner can be ice on the evaporator. Open the outside panel of the indoor unit of the air conditioner and inspect the radiator. If there’s ice on it, the cause is found.
In this case there is so much ice on the evaporator of the air conditioner that it even froze the filter.
There are three reasons why frost can appear:
- The air conditioner is set for too low temperature operation;
- The room has a lower operating temperature than the air conditioner and high humidity;
- Not enough freon in a line.
Turn off the air conditioner and wait until the evaporator thaws. To speed up the process you can blow it with an ordinary hair dryer. After that increase the temperature and use the appliance.
If it leaks again over time, the problem is most likely low freon pressure. You will not be able to fix it by yourself, call a master. Make sure the repairman checks the freon line for leaks and refills the air conditioner.
The problem is that refrigerant circulation system is closed. If there is a pressure drop in it then it might be broken. But sometimes freon comes out through microcracks in pipes or fittings very slowly and caulking them does not always make sense.
The main signs of a faulty conditioner:
Before we start to solve the problem we should make a condition that the AIR CONDITIONER MUST BE CLEAN! Not to confuse the notion of “faulty air conditioner” and “air conditioner requiring maintenance”. The reason of all failures can be the contamination of air conditioner.
Probably all main malfunctions can be divided in 4 groups, which are already indirectly lead to the reasons. Let’s denote them this way:
- The most widespread case is such behaviour of the internal unit, when “the internal unit is working, but it is not cold. This sign usually means that jalousie unit opens, fan rotates, but there are no temperature changes in the room. Thus you should be sure that conditioner is adjusted correctly and the operation conditions are observed (for example, temperature on the street).
- The second as common case is the situation when water leaks from the indoor unit.
- The next case is when conditioner does not malfunction at all (does not react to the remote control).
- The fourth case sounds like this. conditioner is functioning for some time, and then it suddenly switches off. Let’s include here all the rest of the problems (fans that are not working, the compressor, etc.).
And now we are going to disassemble all four points in order, but don’t forget that the cause can be ambiguous:
The condensate from the indoor unit of the air conditioner to fix is very simple
While using an air conditioner the owners quite often face a problem when water leaks from the inside unit. Such a situation can cause a lot of problems, especially if you are caught unawares. Why is condensate dripping on the floor?? And is it possible to fix it by yourself?? I will try to give answers to these questions in our article.
How to fix the leak?
The way of removal of a leak directly depends on the reason of a breakage.
Insufficient quantity of the coolant
In this case there happens a freezing of external part of the evaporator with the further melting of frostiness after turning off the system. This problem is usually accompanied by an atypical sound and a slight blowing out of ice.
In such case it is necessary to fill up the system with freon, and in order the problem won’t occur repeatedly you will have to determine the place of depressurization and seal it.
Damage to the drain line
Such a breakdown most often occurs during testing of the system with poor-quality installation. Mechanical damage of the pipeline becomes the reason of malfunction. It must be replaced. soldering, taping and gluing is highly undesirable.
Clogged drain pipe
If the external pipe is not equipped with a grid, over time it becomes clogged with cobwebs, insect cocoons, dust or dirt. In the winter time there can be a total frosting of the system. In order to fix the situation it is necessary to clean the pipeline with a wire or a vacuum cleaner, in frosty weather you will have to gently beat off the ice.
No pressure regulator
It takes place more often in winter, when there is a considerable difference of temperature and pressure of the whole system. Heating of the evaporator of the indoor unit decreases, condensation is formed and, as a consequence, frost. When the temperature rises, the evaporator walls thaw and leakage occurs. The only solution is to install a pressure regulator.
The use of pseudo siphons
Often, when installing equipment to prevent the penetration of unpleasant odors drain pipe is bent. It leads to malfunctions that is why the deformed part should be replaced, and it is better to use original siphons.
Installation of drainage pipeline without a slope
As already mentioned, this mistake takes place when you try to install an air conditioner with gravity drainage pipe by yourself. In this case, the indoor unit turns into a large reservoir of water and becomes extremely dangerous for people in the room. Eliminating such an error would require the disassembly of the entire system and its complete re-equipment.
In the situation if for some reasons it is impossible to take water outdoors, then air conditioners with drain pump are installed, for example, in the basement or underground structures. Such equipment can also cause leaks.
- Drain pump breakage. condensate not completely sucked out. Such equipment must be repaired or completely replaced.
- Breakage of the water sensor. if there is such a problem, the mechanism does not see the need to pump water and, therefore, does not turn on the pump. Consequence of liquid accumulation in the drain of the indoor unit The only solution of the problem is to install the sensor.
- Clogged float chamber. Dirt and foreign particles block the float over time if not regularly maintained, obstructing the timely pumping of condensate. The situation is quickly corrected by a comprehensive cleaning of the chamber itself and all of its elements.
- Broken capacity of air duct pipe. Occurs at its kink or any other obstacle. The problem is corrected by cleaning and removing the bend.
In the case of an unintentional power failure or voltage drop in the network, sometimes a small leak appears. No need to worry. problem is quickly corrected when power is restored.
There is no need for repair in this case, but it will be useful as a preventive measure to check the reliability of fastening of contact terminals.
What to do if the conditioner in the apartment leaks?
If on hot days the water drips from the drain of the air conditioner. it means that your climate control equipment is working properly and is functioning perfectly. But if the air conditioner is dripping in any other place, you should sound the alarm. To find the causes of the malfunction, you need to know what causes the leak and how to fix it. This will be discussed in our article.
