DIY Tips to Cleaning Your AC Unit's Drain Tube It can happen to anyone. You’re walking through your home, when suddenlyYour feet splash into a gross, wet puddle on the floor.Unless your pet has a bladder control problem, it’s more than likely a clog in your AC unit’s drain line. What made my drain tube clog? Your AC doesn’t just cool your home, it also controls humidity, condensing moisture in the air and shuttling it outdoors through a small pipe called a drain line tube. Mucus-like algae, mold, mildew, and even ice in extreme temperatures, can build up inside your condensation drain line forming a clog that causes water to backup into lines, your AC unit, and eventuallyIf you need a flotation device to traverse your carpet, the AC condensate drain line is a likely culprit. Where can I find my drain tube to clean it? The AC drain line should be located near the outside unit, leading from your AC unit’s evaporator coil.

It is typically a ¾ inch PVC pipe – however some drain lines may be copper. Feeling brave enough to combat your own clog? Locate your condensate drain line. Using a wet/dry vac you’ve previously removed the paper filter from, connect the attachment from the vacuum to the drain line using duct tape or simply wrapping a cloth tightly around it with your hand. Run the wet/dry vac for a few seconds to a few minutes until the drain is clear. If you don’t want to fork out tons of dough to repair water damage in your home, it would be a wise idea to perform a little maintenance on your AC drains lines. Drain lines should be properly angled down and kept clear of mud, grass and debris for water to flow out properly. After the gunk has been removed from your drain line, get in the habit of performing a little DIY maintenance. Simply open up the drain line clean out or T on your inside unit and pour a 50/50 warm water and bleach

mixture OR warm water and vinegar solution through the line. use a minimum of 2 cups once or twice per year. Be advised, however, some newer units no longer recommend bleach or vinegar due to oxidation/degradationIn these cases, boiling water is recommended. Installing a safety switch to automatically turn off your AC whenever the drain line clogs can help you avoid expensive water damage. Regular, professional maintenance not only keeps your system running at peak performance, but can catch messy drain line clogs and other issues AC have you feeling stuck? Contact Aire Serv® today. Ready to breathe easier?Here’s a common question we get during Florida summers, “Why is my AC leaking water inside my home?There are multiple causes of this problem. Here’s a common question we get during Florida summers, “Why is my AC leaking water inside my home? But first, turn your AC’s thermostat to “Off” to prevent further damage to your home.

To understand why this is happening, you need to know how water forms on your AC in the first place. Your AC’s inside unit contains the evaporator coil (pictured on the right) that cools the warm air blown over it. This causes condensation (moisture) to form on the coil, just like how water droplets form on a cold glass of water on a hot day.The moisture on the coil drips into a drain pan and down a condensate drain line (a white PVC pipe) that leads out your home.air conditioner outside unit runningSo, with all that in mind, here are a few things that cause that water to leak into your home.how to repair a car air conditioning unit A clogged condensate drain line is the most common cause of water leaking from your AC into your home.air handling unit plan

If the drain line gets clogged with dust, dirt, sludge or mold, that water backs up into your home. In that case, you’ll need to unclog it. There are multiple unclogging methods, like using a wet/dry vac on the condensate line.But the surefire way is to have a professional use a special vacuum to suck the blockage material out. Got an old air conditioner (12-15 years)? The drain pan may be damaged or rusted through, so water just falls right through. You’ll need to replace the pan. Is your furnace and indoor AC unit installed in the basement? If so then there is a condensate pump that pumps the water outside. But if the pump breaks, the water isn’t being pumped outside anymore. You will need to repair or replace the pump. A dirty air filter blocks airflow over the evaporator coil. When that happens, the evaporator coil gets too cold and freezes over. When it melts, it drips an excess amount of water that the pan may not be able to handle.Check your air filter to see if it’s dirty and change it if needed.

You should be changing it every 1-3 months (depending on the season). Similar to a dirty air filter, low refrigerant will lower pressure in the AC system, causing the evaporator coil to freeze over. When the coil melts, water overflows the drain pan.You’ll notice you’re low on refrigerant when:Depending on the severity of the refrigerant leak you’ll either repair the leak or replace the whole AC unit.If you need a new one, read our article, “My Air Conditioner is Dying, and I Need a New One…If changing the air filter did not help, contact Cool Today to repair your air conditioner.Also, ask us about installing a float switch on your air conditioner if it does not have one already. This switch will shut down the air conditioner in case it overflows with water again.Cool Today provides award-winning air conditioning service to Sarasota, Florida and the surrounding areas like Bradenton, Tampa and Port Charlotte. If you have any questions, talk to one of our experts for help. How often do you need to run a bleach and water solution through the condensate drain lines (of a heat pump) to keep the bacteria away?

What are the recommended parts (e.g. 1 part bleach, 10 part water)? hvac air-conditioning cleaning heat-pump I tend to pour a cup of bleach down the line once a month. Without that at least in Florida you WILL get an algae backup in the line, which if you have bad overflow sensor can cause all kinds of fun water problems. If it is already blocked, just pour the bleach and let it sit. Eventually enough algae will die and the block will clear itself out. Based on the comments, I think you are talking about the condensation line from the air handler. For the condensate, you shouldn't need to worry about bacteria. It's not like you are drinking from it, and it doesn't form a pool of stagnant water in your system (unless it is plugged). You do need to worry if the condensation line gets plugged up, however. If so, it will back up and flood your basement/attic (wherever the air handler is installed). On a humid day, the system can extract quite a bit of water from the air.

You don't want that on your basement floor. The water that drips through the lines is condensation, and therefore very clean. The water won't have any crud in it to deposit in the line. (Unless your air handler is filled with dirty air, then you have bigger problems.) Depending on where the other end of the condensation line leads, this might be a more likely entry point for dirt/scum. If it is outside near the ground, mud could splash into it, bugs could crawl into it, etc. Probably the easiest thing to do would be to attach a Shop Vac to the far end of the line and let it suck. You could also use an air compressor to blow out the line from the inside. Another option would be to pour some diluted drain cleaner (Draino) into the line, and then flush it out with the hose. Make sure you flush it throughly. You don't want the cleaner to sit in there and eat the pipe. Cleaning the condensate line shouldn't need to be done often. Once a year at most. Most people probably never clean theirs.

It only really needs to be cleaned if it becomes blocked or restricted, if you notice a build up of algae or other such grossness you can flush the line with a 16/1 water bleach mix (making sure you clear the blockage first). After the water bleach mix I would flush the line again with straight water a day or two later, just to make sure the bleach and whatever it cleans is cleared out. As for how often. It really depends on your situation, keep an eye on it and if it starts to build up flush it again before it becomes blocked. If you find yourself cleaning it often (more than once a year), you may want to do some investigation to find the underlying cause. From an A/C engineer.... Personally I would never pour bleach into any part of an a/c system. You can purchase antibacterial coil cleaning solutions specifically designed to do the job. The heat exchanger is formed from copper and coated with aluminium fins, these can be corroded in harsh environments like near the sea side, even environments where vinegar is present.

I dread to think what damage bleach will cause.. Pay the experts to do what they do best. From experience in dealing with customers who try and save a few pennys by doing everything on the cheap, it always ends up costing alot more in the long run. Don't be so mean................................... I moved into a new house in upper Florida, almost to the Alabama border and when I had problems with my air conditioner I called someone to come out to fix it. The maintenance guy told me I should be running 1 cup of straight bleach through my PVC pipe that goes to the air conditioner monthly. I have experienced several types of residential HVAC draining systems. The most common is a basic, gravity run. A simple line that runs down hill from the condensate pan until it exits the residence and drips onto the ground. The other system I have seen involves a gravity fed line from the condensate pan to a reservoir that has a float, switched pump in it that pumps the condensate when it reaches a certain level out of the residence via a line that then drips onto the ground.

I have lived in the south eastern USA my entire life, from LA,GA, To TX, and almost every home that I have lived in has had a clogged drain line at some point. The mass looks like the algae mats that grow in ponds and persistent puddles(none of those here in SA TX!). Once or twice a year, either the HVAC unit runs in short spurts or shuts down depending on the sensors and switches built into each brand/model of interior and exterior units or more often it isn't effective as normal at removing moisture from the air or heat. Some systems have drain blockage sensors that determine when either the pan is overflowing or the drain is blocked. This usually mean that moisture is getting somewhere it shouldn't. Some HVACs beep, some flash lights, some turn off, you need to consult field reference information on the model you have. In a float pump based system the blockages can occur in a few different places. The PVC line that runs from HVAC to pump reservoir. The pump reservoir itself, or the line to the exterior.

I find that the hottest water I can run from the tap and household bleach to be the most effective method dissolving the algae clumps and not damaging the plastic/copper system that is in place at my current residence. I run the hot water and bleach mixture through either the pump or the pvc tube depending on where the blockage is. I use flashlights and strategic placement or an assistant to inspect the pipes, that along with a process of elimination lets me know where the problem is. My pump has a different pitch to it when there is algae in it so that also makes it easy to pinpoint reservoir algae. Once the lines are clear, I put the bleach and the funnel that I never remember to use to regularly sanitize the lines and keep them clear. After that I resolve to add a cup of bleach once a month. Then I completely ignore the HVAC except for the occasional way past due filter change until I notice a difference in temp, humidity, or sound and then trouble shoot again. I usually promise myself a good splash of bleach at the top of the pvc once a month.