Did you find a pool of water near or around your air conditioning unit? If so, you have to look into the unit. The water leak may not stop until you address the root cause of the problem. Meanwhile, ignoring this issue may cause further damage to the unit.
Depending on the cause of the water leak, you may be able to fix the problem yourself or require help from a professional air conditioning repair technician in Gladewater, TX.
If you’ve chosen the DIY, here are some of the possible fixes to an A/C water leak:
Clean/unclog the condensate drain.
One of the possible reasons your A/C is leaking water is a clogged condensate drain line. The condensate drain line is the exit point of water produced during the condensation process. This line/pipe can get clogged with algae and other biological growth, preventing the water from exiting your unit.
So unclogging the condensate drain may solve your water leak problem. It’s a simple task that you can do yourself. All you need is a distilled vinegar, a wet/dry vacuum, rag, and funnel.
Shut down and unplug the A/C, and then locate the condensate pan. Use the rag to wash it. Then find the endpoint of the drain line outside your house. Use the vacuum cleaner to clean all the debris, mold, and dirt in the drain. Keep blowing the suction for a minute or more. Repeat the process until the line is completely clean. Afterward, pour the distilled vinegar into the drain line and let it sit in there for an hour. Use clean water to flush the solution out of the pipe.
Repair the condensate drain pan.
The condensate drain pan is the A/C part that catches and collects water produced during the cooling process. Condensate drain pans are made either of metal or plastic. Metal condensate pans rust over time, creating holes and leaks. Plastic condensate pans, while rust-resistant, aren’t completely safe from any damage.
The condensate drain pan is located below the evaporator coil. Some A/C comes with two drain pans, one of which may be attached to the evaporator coil. In this case, you can’t replace the pan alone. You have to replace both the pan and the coil and it could be quite a complex task. If the pan isn’t attached to the evaporator coil, you can slowly pull the existing drain pan out and slide into a new one.
Clean/replace the air filters.
Dirty air filters cause the evaporator coil to freeze. When you turn the air conditioner off, the ice will start to melt and drip. There is a condensate drip pan designed to catch the dripping water. But sometimes, the ice build-up on the coil may extend beyond the dimension of the pan, hence the leakage.
You can solve and avoid water leaks due to frozen coils by keeping the air filters clean. But before installing a clean filter, wait for the ice on the coils to melt first. If coils freezing recur, call in a professional air conditioning repair technician in Gladewater, TX.
Recharge your A/C.
Another thing that can cause the coils to freeze, which may lead to water leakage, is a low refrigerant charge. In a properly working A/C, the evaporator coil circulates refrigerant vapor at a temperature just enough to extract heat from the air that passes through the coil without causing ice to form.
When the amount of circulating refrigerant decline below specification, its temperature will likely drop below freezing and cause coil icing. In this case, the problem won’t only be water leakage.
An air conditioning unit does not use refrigerant like a vehicle that consumes fuel. The amount of refrigerant only drops when there’s a refrigerant leak. You would need a professional air conditioning repair technician in Gladewater, TX to fix this problem.
Call the Experts for the Solution!
Have you tried fixing the water leak problem, but to no avail? Or you’re just too busy or just not confident with your repair skills?
Whatever your case is, you can always contact Napps Cooling, Heating & Plumbing at 903-758-6482 for A/C water leak problems or any other air conditioning repair needs in Gladewater, TX.
