AC in the attic is draining.

[LFD2037]

Ok, went into the attic with a flashlight and an air hose. The inlet where we pour bleach into was holding water. I made a seal with my hand and blew air in it for about a minute. I looked into the inlet and the water was gone. There is no way to do that to the emergency drain as I can't get to it. I'm kinda afraid to blow it back the other direction.

Try some stiff wire or something similar & run it from the exit end of the emergency drain back towards the unit. Twist it around a bit.

[Smart]

Watch your emergency drain now for the rest of the day and make sure no water is coming from it. That will tell you that you cleared the primary and everything is back to normal. I have had the primary re-clog (or refill) within an hour forcing water out the backup drain and had to reshoot with compressed air. The second time finished the deal and we were good to go.

[oktx]

Put your mouth over the drain tube and blow or suck....you Sooners should be good at that....

I have it happen once every 2-3 years. The bleach thing doesn't help much. Basically an algae/gunk/crud is building up in your drain pipe from the water draining into it and you need to unclog the primary drain. I plumbed in a ball valve where I can cut off the backflow in the drain and shoot a light shot of compressed air down the pipe to force the clog on down the pipe.....

If you have no place built in off the coil to blow compressed air or run a snake, you can turn off the AC, cut into you main drain line, do the air deal (and yes actually blowing with your mouth like on a straw will work as well if the clog is not too heavy) and then repair. Make sure you have pvc coupling ready for the repair.

You are a big help!. My concern is that the tray is very full even with it draining outside.

[Smart]

You are a big help!. My concern is that the tray is very full even with it draining outside.

That's odd because in my unit, the tray is the back up to the emergency drain.. I've never had water in my tray as long as the outside emergency drain was dripping. I've never had water in there actually.

[bboswell]

You are a big help!. My concern is that the tray is very full even with it draining outside.

The emergency drain is higher on the pan than the primary drain so naturally if the emergency drain us flowing there will be water backed up in the pan. Once the primary is cleared the water in the pan should drain out pretty quickly.

[Smart]

The emergency drain is higher on the pan than the primary drain so naturally if the emergency drain us flowing there will be water backed up in the pan. Once the primary is cleared the water in the pan should drain out pretty quickly.

Hmmmm.....I guess my AC install folks screwed the pooch on that install. My pan does not get any water when the primary is clogged. They told me that if the secondary was clogged the pan would fill up as a back up to it. Is it normal for a pan to hold water when the secondary is doing its job? I need to check that out if it is. Maybe this winter when its not 200 degrees in the attic though.. .

I guess the good news is it sounds like his primary is now unclogged and he has learned how to do it so he shouldn't have an issue going forward..

[bboswell]

Hmmmm.....I guess my AC install folks screwed the pooch on that install. My pan does not get any water when the primary is clogged. They told me that if the secondary was clogged the pan would fill up as a back up to it. Is it normal for a pan to hold water when the secondary is doing its job? I need to check that out if it is. Maybe this winter when its not 200 degrees in the attic though.. .

I guess the good news is it sounds like his primary is now unclogged and he has learned how to do it so he shouldn't have an issue going forward..

That's the way all mine have been. If secondary and primary were at the same level both would drain all the time. With the secondary being higher it won't drain until there is some back up indicating a clogged primary.

[oktx]

I swear my secondary is lower than the primary. Is this wrong?

[Smart]

That's the way all mine have been. If secondary and primary were at the same level both would drain all the time. With the secondary being higher it won't drain until there is some back up indicating a clogged primary.

I don't doubt that but mine does not use the pan until the secondary is clogged. I need to look but my primary is not plumbed through the pan

[Bill M]

The secondary is from the pan and shouldn't have water and be draining unless your primary is clogged. If this the case I'd be calling a tech.

[warrington]

Mine was clogged in the sink below. A lot of time the main drain for the a/c, will tie into a sink drain in a room below the a/c. You can get that plugged up. I cleaned mine out there and then shot a air compressor up the line. This broke it up

[Bill M]

Mine was clogged in the sink below. A lot of time the main drain for the a/c, will tie into a sink drain in a room below the a/c. You can get that plugged up. I cleaned mine out there and then shot a air compressor up the line. This broke it up

This is true. Unless something has changed in our area since I built my last the primary drain is sent into the washing machine drain which now includes a second drain hole for this purpose.

I got your email.

[oktx]

Ok we ran to town for a minute and when we came back the secondary was still dripping. I got the shop vac out and sucked the secondary first and got A LOT of water from it. Went inside to the bathroom where its plumed in and too the pea (sp)? off and nothing was draining. Put the shop vac on it and didn't get much but it is now dripping. The pan under the unit is now dry. Thanks for the help...even you Smart!

[tps7742]

One of my houses always clogged up where it drained into the p traps with blown in insulation. It got to where i just ended up cleaning it out at the p traps every six months. This occurred until I changed the units out. In my case apparently my plenum was leaking. Good deal that you repaired yours.

[Man]

Just went through the same thing. Mine was a clogged sink where the A/C is supposed to drain. Go check under your sinks near the piping....on one of those sinks you will see a secondary pipe flowing into it. That's you ac drain. Take it off and clean it. Ours was full off hair.