The
end of summer is near. The kids are back in
school. But outside temperatures continue
into the 90's with no end in sight. Which means
your air conditioning system is working overtime
trying to keep things cool and dry inside your
home... making your poor A/C susceptible to
catching a summer "head cold." The
Symptoms
Just as our sinuses clog up with a summer cold,
your A/C system clogs up due to a thick
mucous-like algae that grows inside the condensate
drainage lines.
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First
you
notice soggy carpets near the utility
closet...
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|
|
Then you open the closet door
to see water leaking out of the air handler unit of your air conditioning
system. |
| So
you rush for the phone and call a local
air conditioning service and you wait all
day for the service rep to clean out your
drain line in a manner of minutes (thanks
to a bottle of compressed air).
And you end
up paying $50.00 (or more) for the lesson.
As your air
conditioner whirrs back to life and the
repairman shoves your fifty bucks deep
into his pocket, you realize that you
probably could (and should) have tried to
clear the condensate drain line by
yourself. |
When
it happens again (and it will)
 |
If
the truth be told, unless the condensate
drain line is really clogged, all it takes
is some good old-fashioned lung power to
blow the hose clear. |
 |
Just
remember to stand clear of the exhaust end
of the condensate drain to avoid an unwanted
surprise. (Warning:
this job is not for the weak of stomach). |
Ounce
of Prevention
Once you've
cleared the drain line, you still need to make sure
that the condensate drip pan is clean.
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|
 |
The
drip pan is located inside the air handler
cabinet just beneath the evaporator
coils. The photo to the left reveals
that the pan is located at the connection to
the drain line. |
| Once
the cabinet face is removed, clean out the
pan - especially around the pass-through
connection that attaches to
the hose. A small amount of watered
bleach (one or two "shot-glasses"
full poured inside the pan and into the
drain line will go a long way toward killing
the fungus that clogged the drain to begin
with. |
End
of Story
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