Water has started to pool around your central air conditioner’s inside unit and you have no idea why. First, you should turn off your air conditioner because this water could harm the electronic parts of your AC and cause water damage to your home. Then you should contact a professional AC repair person for help. If you want to understand the cause of this problem before calling a professional, read this article. Why water forms in a central air conditioner indoor unit Part of your air conditioner’s job is to pull humidity from the air. The inside unit’s blower pulls in hot, humid air through the return grille and over the inside unit’s cold evaporator coil (pictured above) to cool the air down. When that happens, condensation/droplets form on the evaporator coil. It’s just like when water droplets bead up on a glass of ice cold water on a hot summer day in Georgia. That water on the evaporator coil falls into a sloped drain pan and down a condensate drain line like a slip n’slide.

That drain line (usually a PVC pipe) either exits out the home (usually near the outside unit) or into your plumbing.thru wall heat and ac units OK, so now you have a general idea of how the water forms and the parts involved. portable ac units no window neededIf there’s an issue with any of these parts, that’s why the water is forming around the inside unit.used commercial air conditioning units Here are a few common problems that are causing the issue you’re having. Clogged condensate drain line or rusted condensate drain pan If the drain line gets clogged by dirt, insects, mold, or anything else, the water has nowhere to go but back into the home. (Some home’s have a secondary drain line but that may also be become clogged.)

Use wet-dry vacuum to suck out the obstruction from the outdoor PVC condensate pipe. Also the root of the problem may be a dirty evaporator coil. The dirt will mix with the water and fall down into the pan, clogging the drain. Have a professional clean this coil annually as part of an annual AC maintenance visit. Also, the drain pan may be rusted through and is falling onto the floor and causing  damage to your home. So you’ll need to replace that. Note: Your air conditioner may have a secondary drain pan to catch the water. This pan has a float switch that turns off your air conditioner to prevent water damage. If you have a newer air conditioner, the problem may be installation related. An improperly designed condensate trap will stop the condensate from draining. So all that water builds up in the drain pan and overflows into your home, causing water damage. You’ll need a professional to examine the condensate trap to see if it has been designed properly and fix it if necessary.

Open the blower door of your inside AC unit. Is the evaporator coil covered in ice? When that frozen evaporator coil melts there may be so much water that it flows over the drain pan and then onto the floor. There are 2 common causes of a frozen evaporator coil: To defrost the evaporator coil, turn the air conditioner off. Then turn the blower from “auto” to “on.” The fan should melt the ice slowly enough for the drain pan to handle all the water. In the meantime, you should call a professional AC repairman to check your air conditioner to make sure it’s is working properly and ensure nothing was damaged. Just a few of many issues… There are other causes of water pooling around an inside air conditioning unit, but these are some of the most common.Contact us online or call us at (770) 443-1821. Did you like this article? Sign up for our newsletter to get more DIY how-to articles and money-saving tips sent to your straight to your inbox. Ragsdale Heating, Plumbing and Air has been serving Dallas, Powder Springs, Acworth, Douglasville, Rockmart and the metro Atlanta area for over 20 years.

Contact us online for more information on how we can help you.It is or should be in every lease contract that a tenant is responsible for changing the filters and if they neglect changing the filter then they are responsible for any service calls that result from the dirty filter. In some cases, it can be an expensive lesson but it is a lesson they will never forget. Guaranteed after they have to pay a $300.00 plus service call to fix the air conditioner because they didn’t change the filter they will never forget to change that filter or filters ever again.Responsibilities for the OccupantsI’ve rented before and understood that it is my responsibility at a minimum to take care of things like changing the filter. If it was my house the tenants would pay the deductible for the repair to the ceiling and any other damage caused by the dirty, clogged filter. If they have renters insurance then I would defer everything to the renters insurance or at least talk to your insurance agent about that.

Hopefully, the adjuster, or perhaps you, took a photo of the clogged filter to show it as a reason for the damage.Technically speaking the clogged filter blocked the air flow from flowing across the evaporator coil. The evaporator coil needs warm air to flow across it to absorb heat. With no air flow the evaporator temperature drops. Since the blower motor fan is running it still wants to pull air into the air handler and all the warm moist air in the attic infiltrates the air handler and ends up freezing on the cold evaporator coil. The end result is water damage as you seen after all that ice melts and overflows the condensate pans.The Condensation Drain & Air Conditioner Causes Water DamageThe drain to the condensate pan could be blocked or plugged up but in cases like this depending on the temperature the ice usually melts so fast it overwhelms the drain so it overflows the pan. Responding to calls like this I usually blow the line to make sure it is not clogged but in many cases find the condensation drain line is not clogged, that in fact, the ice melted so fast it overwhelmed the drain line.

A tell-tale of this is if the drain pan is empty or full of water. If the drain pan is empty then the condensate line is okay with no plugs but if the pan is full then the condensate line is plugged and needs to be blown out.Mechanical Code As Related To Air Conditioner Causes Water DamageIt is common for air handlers to be installed in attics. I have even seen water heaters installed in attics above ceilings. Anytime you have this there is a potential for water damage. In the case of an air conditioner the evaporator coils operate below the dew point and that means the evaporator coil is going to sweat. It sweats because it is removing moisture or humidity from the air. This water needs to have a drain and a place to go.Usually, the drain is piped to a flower garden where the water will cause no damage. By mechanical code the drain is supposed to have overflow sensors and switches installed in the line so if the line gets plugged up then it kills the air handler and everything stops until a technician can be called to clear the line.

Older systems or systems improperly installed do not have these features and that is a disaster waiting to happen.Condensing FurnacesIf you have a condensing furnace located in the attic you could also have this problem because a condensing furnace condenses some of the moisture in the natural gas and this moisture needs to drain somewhere. It is common for an HVAC contractor to use the same drain that the air conditioner condensation drain uses in the summer to drain all the moisture away from the evaporator coil. Since both systems are likely to use the same drain the mechanical code applies to both for sensors and switches to stop the unit before any serious water damage occurs.After saying that the next question is: is your unit older than the requirement from the mechanical code? Or did the contractor obtain a permit and if not did they install these required sensors and switches in the drain? Are they functioning properly? It would not hurt to check on these things. Remember, a condensing furnace can cause serious water damage also so the problem would not be limited to only when the air conditioner was running in the summer..