Rating is 0 out of 5 starsRepairs to condensate leaks at ductless split-system air conditioners: Diagnosis & repair of condensate leaks from a split system air conditioning system. This article explains the common causes of water found dripping from the indoor half of a split system air conditioner or heat pump unit and offers repair suggestions matched to the AC unit leak cause. Condensate leaks from a wall mounted air conditioner can cause costly building damage including mold contamination of wall cavities or other building areas. This article series describes split system air conditioning & heat pump systems. A split system or "ductless" air conditioning (or A/C & heat pump) system dispenses with duct work entirely, using a wall-mounted indoor evaporator/blower unit and a separate outside compressor/condenser (below left and right). split system air conditioning design, one compressor/condenser may serve multiple wall-mount indoor units. Each of these indoor units must have a condensate drain that directs condensate, produced by cooling humid indoor air, to the outdoors.

Before it lost so much refrigerant that the split system air conditioner simply stopped cooling it had exhibited a different failure: condensate sometimes dripped out of the bottom of the unit into the occupied space where it was installed. The white pipe in our photo at left is the outdoor termination of a condensate drain for the indoor wall-mounted half of a split system air conditioner. home ac unit ratingsWe'd like all of the condensate produced by the air conditioner to empty at this point.financing a new ac unit But sometimes instead we find condensate dripping from the indoor unit. ac window units reviewsAt below left, the indoor AC unit periodically dripped water down the wall and into the room below. At below right we show the same unit with its cover removed to permit inspection of the condensate drip tray, drain line opening, and perhaps to discover other causes of dripping water from the unit.

When a wall-mounted split system air conditioner drips water (actually air conditioner condensate) out onto the walls or floor below, there are the following most-likely causes, in order of probability: Watch out: condensate leaks that you don't see but that occur inside of a wall cavity can lead to wet insulation, costly mold damage, and over a longer time, structural rot or insect infestation damage. While the AirServ technician worked outside to add R-22 refrigerant at the compressor/condenser unit we removed the cover of the inside unit and promptly observed that the wall mounted unit was connected to its mounting bracket only at one end. It was in fact hanging lopsided so that condensate in the drip tray flowed away from rather than towards the condensate drain. It was no surprise that this unit dripped onto the floors below. It was possible that the dripping was worse previously due to an iced-over coil as this unit also had now lost its refrigerant charge.

And to be sure that we were not also leaving a clogged refrigerant line unattended, we borrowed the service tech's (kindly-loaned) CO2 gun and adapter to blast-out the condensate drain's discharge tube. See CONDENSATE DRAIN CLEAN & DE-CLOG for more options for clearing a clogged HVACR condensate drain line. There we commented that while we have found this CO2 condensate drain blaster a very helpful tool that will sometimes send a condensate drain obstruction out through the condensate drain system, in working on split system air conditioners whose condensate drain opening is difficult to access you may find that you cannot get the rubber condensate drain line plug securely in place. Watch out: don't go blasting condensate drain lines without warning your partner working outside lest you startle someone and cause an injury. Continue reading at CONDENSATE DRAIN CLEAN & DE-CLOG or select a topic from the More Reading links or topic ARTICLE INDEX shown below. Or see SPLIT SYSTEM AIR CONDITIONERS & HEAT PUMPS - home

Or see CONDENSATE HANDLING, A/C - home Questions & answers or comments about split system air conditioner operation, installation, maintenance, & repairSee the Downloads tab for specifications, submittals and FanDrafter files Monitor and control the temperature of your home remotely. Want a smart air conditioner without having to buy a new one? Retrofit your existing window unit with littleBits and turn it into an internet-connected device. Forget to turn the AC off? No problem, just press a button on your phone to turn it off! Cool down your apartment on the way home from work? Save energy and save $$$ with this easy DIY project.*Note: The AC Switch, IR transmitter, and temperature sensor are coming soon. How it works:Monitor - The temperature sensor transmits data through the cloudBit to Cloud Control. You will be able to see the temperature readout in cloud control under the “receive” tab. When at home, you will also be able to see the temperature displayed on the number module.

Now you can always know the temperature in your apartment/house.Control - Use Cloud Control to turn your AC unit on or off using the IR transmitter and the AC switch. When you press the button in Cloud Control, you send a signal to the cloudBit in your home. This signal is passed on to the IR transmitter, which outputs a burst of infrared light. [Note: you won’t be able to see this burst of light because the IR spectrum is not visible to the human eye. This is the same control technology used in your television's remote control]. The AC switch has an infrared sensor that picks up this burst of IR light and toggles the window unit’s power on and off.Automate - Use IFTTT to automatically turn your AC unit on/off in response to conditions that you set. IFTTT (If This Then That) is a service that lets you connect to different web apps through simple conditional statements. Use the Date & Time channel to turn your AC on at 5pm and off at 8pm, or create a location based trigger that turns your AC unit on when you enter your home zone with the iOS or Android Location channels.